And a terrible mother to do this?

[daimbar]

DD (14 months) has been waking in the night screaming hysterically for about 3 weeks.

Teething? nightmares? Tummy ache? Who knows. She is usually awake 1-3 hours in the night and will only settle after a bottle and / or being cuddled back to sleep. I work full time and am struggling.

She's exhausted, I'm exhausted, DP is exhausted the neighbours are probably exhausted too.

A week or so ago she had a heat rash and had a spoonful of baby piriton before bed. It made her drowsy and she slept a solid 11 hours.

DP is away this weekend. WIBU to give her piriton tonight as a one off, just so we both get a night of sleep?

I have to say I used to very occasionally give my horrendous sleeper piriton for a rash I would have otherwise ignored.

If there are no medical problems and it's a matter of self-soothing, my sister tells me that the Estivill method works wonders:

blog.cognifit.com/estivill-method-teach-children-sleep-alone/

I must admit I relied on a spoon of Medised (anti histamine) on a four hour flight as it made my toddlers sleep for the plane journey.

When we sat down next to an older couple and the lady asked my 3 year old if he was going to be good, he piped up, 'It's ok my mummy's drugged us'.

OP you have my sympathy.

I'd be more inclined to figure out why your child has been screaming for 3 weeks. How do her gums feel? If it's her teeth maybe give a little calpol before bed and try teething gel.

My DD has problems sleeping and the dr suggested I gave her piriton at night to see if it helped but I didn't as it didn't feel right. A few weeks later she had a rash so I gave her some then, it cured the rash but made no difference to her sleeping. Its hard when they don't sleep well isn't it xx

You say she needs a bottle to get her back to sleep... What's in the bottle? Milk? It sounds crazy but my eldest had terrible night terrors. Went from sleeping soundly 7-7 from 7 months to waking up screaming at 1.5 years... I always thought it was an old wives tale but Other half suggested cutting out milk before bed and as soon as we did he slept soundly again... Maybe worth a try... But before anything I would defo make sure it's nothing health related ❤️

45 years ago we were advised to give baby ds Phenergan (?) to help him sleep! We used it very occasionally and it was a blessed relief for everyone except me. When he cried I feared he was dying, when he was quiet I feared he was dead...With my second child all was well.
My mum said that back in the 40s she used to put a teaspoon of sweet sherry in my bottle at night. I slept through.

I gave Dd piriton instead of calpol by accident once she slept for 14 hours I phoned the Dr thinking i had poisoned her

To be honest, we were prescribed phenegan for our son, when he wouldn't sleep, but that's a different scenario to waking up screaming. If o was as exhausted as you sound (and I got to that point) and just wanted a one nights sleep, I'd put her cot next to my bed so I could hold her hand when she woke up. I'd barely wake up, didn't have to get out of bed to wake fully, wasn't worrying about rolling on top of her,must a hand hold through the cot bars.
You will get through it, but it's hard. We all know how hard. 🍷

I read an article recently about giving a toddler half to a whole banana before bed. The magnesium in the banana helps to relax you. There were quite a few comments from parents who had tried this and it helped their children sleep. Don't know if it's a cumulative thing or instant but it would be better than giving drugs, provided your child is not allergic.

Banana works for mine now they are older

OP I think the very fact that you have posted on mumsnet means that you are not altogether comfortable with doing this, which is the only thing that's really important as you're not exactly proposing 'drugging' your baby! It's the weekend, presume (perhaps wrongly) that you're not working tomorrow, and you're on your own. Why not "as a special treat" (ie: so she understands this is not going to be a regular thing) let her come in with you when she wakes (or bring her in with you when you go to bed). That way you will hopefully both get some decent sleep. We do what we have to do. Hope you get some rest x

Although she may be a bit young for this, it could be night terrors? Is it around the same time every night?
My grandson did this every night around midnight, waking up screaming and unable to settle for hours. Years ago, I read somewhere that you need to break the cycle by shaking them awake about 1 hour/30 minutes BEFORE the usual time it starts. (Sounds counter-intuitive, right?)
We had him overnight so I shook him awake about 11 ish, not awake awake, just enough to get him to open his eyes but not enough to sit up and be properly awake. Slept all night. My DIL carried on with it for a week, stopped it altogether.
FYI in my day, Phenergan (think it was spelt like that) was bloody good at getting them to sleep. I believe they still sell it but I don't think you can give it to children under 2. Not suggesting you do, but I can well understand why anyone might do it.

I'd be binning that night time milk.

Are you giving your baby rice with her meals? Some children can suffer a huge amount of pain at night as the rice works its way through the intestines as it swells up. My DS would start screaming in pain and arching backwards every night at 10.30 pm like clockwork. It took 10 days of removing rice completely for it to stop, but the pain reduced significantly after just a couple of days.

There's all sorts of crap in baby formula, baby rice and porridge that can cause babies digestive problems.

My eldest did exactly this at around the same age. It was horrific, so distressing for him and me I took him to the gp, who checked for any physical problems then said. "There's a lot of chickenpox going round. I'm prescribing some Piriton just in case." This was followed by a meaningful look and "it will make him sleep". I used it for one night and the sweet blessed relief of getting some sleep did both of us the world of good. I'm firmly in the 'do what helps' camp. It really isn't the end of the world.

Thank you so much everyone for the constructive advice, it's really kind of you to take the time.

Unfortunately she is allergic to bananas so we can't try that.

She doesn't have baby rice, just normal meals and the Hipp Organic goodnight milk. She was BF until 9 months. when we switched to formula she stopped needing a feed in the night (but still woke up quite a bit)

I am starting to think the goodnight milk is to blame, she eats loads in the evening followed by a big bottle so is probably waking with stomach pains like someone suggested earlier.

I always think it's funny when people say if you do something then the child will want it again and again.. They will stop when they are ready!! I can assure you the baby will not be waking up in the night crying at 15!! Do what you need to do, we have all done things we shouldn't have with our babies but that doesn't mean we are harming them xxxxxxxx

Woweeeeeee there are some perfect parents on MN aren't there!
Sleep deprivation is a form of
Torture in some places you know

Yes saucisson but most bad sleep habits - such as feeding to sleep at that age -
can be broken in under a week rather than subjecting yourself to months of sleep deprivation until 'they are ready'.

Have you tried her on cows milk? Is she OK with that by the time she is on solids properly do they need formula? Mine are adults so guidelines have probably changed

Just not a good idea because then you might get used to using it and it not be a one off. But this is from the woman that gave ds infant acetaminophen for three weeks straight at night because of teething pain and when we went for his checkup I was informed he wasn't teething at all! Oops. Well that was 15 years ago and he's still here.

Both my dses went through stages (lasting MONTHS at a time) of waking on the hour or every two hours. I was never tempted to drug them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!