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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask when bad sleeper starting sleeping better ?

44 replies

Firsttimemum892 · 29/08/2018 08:22

Baby 9 months and not yet once slept through or even close. Best I get is two wakings if I am very lucky, I am back to work in 4 months and don’t know how I will cope , any positive stories of baby sleeping better post 9 months but before 12 months ? Grin

OP posts:
Littlebluebird123 · 29/08/2018 08:29

Erm, I counted it a win when I got 4 hours in a row uninterrupted. That was my functioning baseline.

I've got 4 dc. Various different ages for sleeping through the night and I ended up being sleep deprived for 9/10 years.
I functioned, held down a job etc.

Blooming amazing when I was able to sleep properly though!

(Sorry, probably not all that helpful, but it is survivable.)

Witchend · 29/08/2018 08:31

Dd2 when she was given medised (no longer licenced for children)
DS when he had grommets put in and was no longer in a permanent ear infections.

Loughrigg77 · 29/08/2018 08:32

When I night weaned at 21 months

FittonTower · 29/08/2018 08:34

My 2 were both just over 2 years old when they started sleeping through. Up until then they slept in roughly 2 hour bursts. I was dreading going back to work with both of them but actually i managed pretty well! I tended to go to bed early when i could and my partner was "in charge" until midnight and then he took over again at 6. Co-sleeping was my savioir.
When they did sleep they slept well tho, and it happened almost overnight. One night they were up every couple of hours, the next they slept for 10 hours. So weird.

HollyBen · 29/08/2018 08:34

DD was 3 months when she slept through. DS was 3 YEARS OLD! That was a shock to the system. He is now 3 and a half Band it pretty good though still not as good a sleeper as his sister

Dreamingofkfc · 29/08/2018 08:35

14 months for first, closer to 2 with second. It feels like they'll never sleep then without changing anything they just started sleeping better!

BestBeforeYesterday · 29/08/2018 08:35

Both DC improved massively at 9 months when I had completed night weaning.

Fakeplasticcheese · 29/08/2018 08:36

Yanbu to ask the question but you probably don't want to know the answer!

RedPandaMama · 29/08/2018 08:36

I stopped feeding at night at 10ish months and she stopped bothering to wake up after 3 days.

ipswichwitch · 29/08/2018 08:37

DS1 is almost 7yo and we’re still waiting...

Clutterbugsmum · 29/08/2018 08:38

DD1 didn't sleep through until she was 5yrs always woke at 3am (still does now if she ill or nightmare and she 14yrs, does wake me up now unless she ill). But by then I had dd2 and DS.

So for a good 6 months I had DS last feed at 12am, DD1 waking at 3am and DD2 waking up for the day at 5am. That was a fun time because although both dd2 and ds slept through from 6 weeks, I still had very disturbed sleep as it would take me up to an hour to get back to sleep.

tomeyourelikeasettingsun · 29/08/2018 08:38

DD started sleeping through just after her 8th birthday.

LalaLeona · 29/08/2018 08:39

When i night weaned at 20 months there was improvement but he finally started sleeping through age 2 when I got rid of his gro bag. He does occasionally wake up again now at two and q half with nightmares though..

Magpiefeather · 29/08/2018 08:41

My tricky sleeper got better as soon as she started walking. Sleep through the night at just over 12 months I think. Always sleeps through now (shouldn’t have said that should I.....) at 15 months.

Naps however are a different story. It’s an almost constant battle to get her to nap! Consoling myself with the fact that naps aren’t forever!!!

strugglingpuggle · 29/08/2018 08:44

When we moved DD into a bed 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday (we also moved house so he got a much bigger/quieter room) Since the 2nd night she was in her bed she has pretty much slept through, other than the odd night here and there. She even slept through when she had chicken pox!

I went back to work when DD was 7.5 months old and was pretty much getting 2 hours sleep at a time, and some nights would be up several hours trying to get her back to sleep. You do cope. Not sure how but you do.

Ijumpedtheshark · 29/08/2018 08:45

My bad sleeper is two and a
half and I’m still waiting for him to sleep through!

CatRen27 · 29/08/2018 08:55

Errr i don't think you want to know! Dd slept through once at 6 months, not again for another 6 months, then slept through for a few months, then started waking 3-4 times a night at 18 months.. you get the drift. She's 3yo now and still wakes for a shout 1-2 times a night, 3-4 times a week. The girl just hates sleep! Sorry i can't be more hopeful, hope yours turns round soon

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 29/08/2018 08:56

My DD was a great sleeper from birth, then at about 13/14 months she just stopped. From then until she was almost 3 yo she would wake 2-6 times a night every night and It would also take anywhere up to 1.5 hours to settle her at bedtime. We made mistakes though. As a baby we always cuddled her to sleep before putting her down in her cot carefully without waking her and then when she moved into a bed we sort of carried this on as one us would stay with her until she went to sleep. This meant we had no time together in the evenings and often had to eat dinner in shifts. I wouldn't do that again.

I was working full time in a very high stress (literally life and death) job at the time and looking back I don't know I functioned on so little sleep but you just do. You have no choice so you just get on with it.
The good news is she's now 4 and is good as gold at bedtime and sleeps from 7pm-7.30am.

Original poster
Firsttimemum892 · 29/08/2018 08:57

Ok maybe I was beinf too optimistic hoping for loads of replies stating baby fell asleep at 10 months Grin I feel huge sympathy for a lot of you ? Why is it everybody you meet in real life/ friends etc has a baby who sleeps all night ? In my experience anyway

OP posts:
Fightyfish62 · 29/08/2018 08:58

I had a bad sleeper too - it's so tough! I went back to work at 7 months and I didn't think i'd cope so if it's any consolation you'd be surprised what you can cope with.

She got slowly better and better and was waking about twice by 12 months (but going back to sleep very quickly) and now at 15 months is a tiny log and sleeps though the night. In fact I often have to wake her in the morning to get ready. Good luck OP!

Oysterbabe · 29/08/2018 08:58

DD started sleeping when she was 2.

Queenofthestress · 29/08/2018 08:59

DS is 4.5 years old and still doesn't sleep through most nights, DD is 1.5 years old and does!

Cuppaand2biscuits · 29/08/2018 09:01

My first was just turned 2 years old. My second was about 18 months but would wake at 5am , every day.

Somewhereovertherainbow13 · 29/08/2018 09:02

With ds2 I was lucky if I got a total of 4 hours sleep a night and that wasn’t even a block of 4 hours just an hour here and an hour there. I was so tired all the time. Then magically a week before I went back to work after ds3’s maternity leave ended, he just started sleeping through, nothing changed and there was no reason for it. He was 2years 5 months by then though

mindutopia · 29/08/2018 10:24

Well, I didn’t really consider mine a bad sleeper. To me it just seemed normal. But my first didn’t sleep through til she was 3.5. It did get easier though by 2.

Honestly though, you’ll be fine. I went back to work part time at 11 months, was commuting 3 hours to London a couple days a week for meetings and lectures (I’m a lecturer, many times gave my weekly 3 hour lecture on about 5 hours sleep with a 5:30am wake up to get the train into the city). You’ll be fine. Lots of coffee. Have your partner take over the bulk of nights before any important days. Mine didn’t have night feeds anymore at that point so my dh did lots the nights when I had an early commute or big meeting.