To want to shout from the roof tops that my four year slept through the night

[ReallyTired]

I want parents to know that there is hope. Your baby who wakes up ten times a night will one day sleep through and wake up at a nice civilised time of 7.30am even if you choose to avoid all sleep training.

I tried controlled crying with my oldest and we still had broken nights until four years old. He happily sleeps throught he night at twelve years old, but we do have issues that he wants to stay up and read half the night.

Parenting has its ups and downs. It is horrendous when children constantly wake and you have to get up to work. The mantra "This phase will pass" is important.

I expect I have now jinxed tonight and I will have a little girl in my bed in the wee hours. If this lasts then I will have think about changing my mumsnet user name.

I remember when dd1 slept through the night once at 2.5. I thought it was the end. I was wrong. She slept through again when she was 4 and has done so for the past 3 years! I remember the joy'

Dd2 is 19 months and up 2-3 times per night. I swore it would be different with this dc. It isn't.

Well done to your school - hope it lasts!

It's great isn't it. My DS got there at 3.4 and it was amazing to actually have a good night's sleep after years of being up.

The only downside is now I'm spoilt with all that lovely sleep again, I feel like death warmed up when he does have a bad night.

Well done!!!!

My 5yo is still only around 50/50 on sleeping through.

2yo still hasn't got there, and still bloody teething! Suffers badly with it.

Can't wait for that magical night, ds is almost 8

peppinagiro what a cruel thing to say to you and what complete bs. My son's sleeping went from fairly shit to mega shit at that age. His naps disappeared and he was waking for a feed every 1.5 hours. It was teeth, it's (almost) always frigging teeth and it WILL get better! And it is nothing you are doing! I think sleep training is a load of utter crap that only works on kids who are good sleepers anyway. Nothing worked on my son but time. And he still at 13 months only naps in his buggy, although he sleeps ok at night.

peppinagiro how very helpful that person was I am sure most mums on here will testify there isn't always a magic cure and what works for one LO doesn't work for another. I don't know if you have looked at the Sleep topic in Body and Soul section but there are lots of MNers waging the sleep war with their babies and toddlers. The exhaustion is hellish no wonder you feel drained and discouraged. Don't let some clumsy words knock your confidence.

I agree with curiousuze a likely cause of the worsening sleep pattern will be cutting teeth. A lot of the cherubic "good" sleepers change their habits at this stage so the smug person who talked to you on Monday may rue her words.

Cut yourself some slack, the zombie phase won't last forever, try and keep eating nourishing food and getting fresh air every day. Your patience and libido may have flown out the window and it is tough trying to concentrate but YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT A FAILURE AS A MOTHER.
Are you taking iron, I was advised to take a vitamin B supplement.
Keep hydrated, drink plenty of water.
Talking of water, treat yourself to a daily shower.

www.cry-sis.org.uk/

Oh sorry pressed Post instead of Preview (and not even sleep deprived).

I meant to say that you have probably already looked at the link but if you're not sick of well-meaning people and suggestions, might be worth a look.

Donkeys and curious thank you so much for your really kind replies. Another very lovely poster also pmed me the link to Crysis, and I think I might give them a call. Thanks for the reassurance - glad you both mentioned teeth, as I have been wondering if it might be that. Either that or a growth spurt perhaps, as she's actually feeding every hour or so - not just comfort sucking. Anyway, I'm considering a spot of calpol before bed tonight to see if that makes a difference.

Luckily DH got her to sleep in the sling last night so I had a couple of hours' sleep in the evening before the all-night wrigglefest began. I feel much more human just for that tiny bit!

Will head to the sleep board for a nose about. Thanks again, and sorry for the hijack OP. Hope you had another good night!

My dd who is now 3 sleeps in cycles of 2-3 hours & wll only fall asleep next to me. Which is fine as she isn't awake for very long but once I am awake, I find it hard to go back to sleep. It actually takes a long time for her to fall asleep once I put her to bed & she screams if I leave the room.

Peppingiro - it might be linked to developmental milestones too.

DS' sleep was hideous from 6-10months. In that time he went from not moving to walking. So learnt to roll, crawl, standup and walk in 4 months. He practised a lot in his sleep so would wake up distressed and disorientated. Not to mention banging into his cot bars all the time!

Got a lot better after that but still not perfect...

Yay to your new found lovely un-interrupted nights sleep, long may it continue

Peppinagiro, ignore stupid comments about brain development etc being reliant on babies sleeping.

My darling was just an awful sleeper from day 1. He took 4 30 mins naps a day until 8 months old when he suddenly could stay asleep for 45 mins at a time instead. He was also wide awake from 2-5am every single night till 7 weeks old and then again at 9, 13 and 18 months for 2-3 weeks each time on top of being up countless times every night. He finally started to consistently STTN at 3.4 yrs old.

Clearly has not impacted on his brain development though did possibly on my sanity and definitely on any desire to have another child! In fact a HV told me when I was sobbing at the lack of sleep at 6 weeks old that some children's sleep is very affected by their brain development and that his sleep would probably revert to the same pattern every time he hit a major developmental milestone - this was totally true in his case.