Sleep

[Rose1999]

Can I have some positive stories about babies who were poor sleepers (broken sleep, not getting the recommended hours sleep etc) who have ended up thriving?
I’m so worried about my baby and her sleep - I’m worried it’s going to affect her brain development and I feel it’s all my fault 😕

Not your fault at all! My son was a terrible, terrible sleeper (barely managed a 2-hour stretch in the first couple of years, woke hourly for a looooong time and never slept through until he was 6). He’s now 9, full of beans, seems pretty bright and is generally a lovely kid so it doesn’t seem to have done him any harm. (I, on the other hand, am a broken shell of a woman)

Some people just need less sleep.

Awful sleeper. Reflux and allergies meant she was up hourly for months then regularly up 3-5 times a night until 2

She did a bit better once in a bed but reflux and allergies are still a problem at 3.5. when she's struggling she is up every 40 minutes and sleeps whilst being held upright like we did as a newborn. Those night still feel so so long!

She had delays at 17 weeks. She didn't smile or respond to sounds and scored poorly on her 4 month development check. It was at this point her reflux treatment was increased to the top doses and I went dairy and soya free. By her 5 months assessment she was fairly average. They think her reflux and allergies were making her so so distressed she had no spare capacity for engaging with the world and that's why she wasn't responding to sounds. She had her hearing tests but it was 7 months before the appointment came through and we had no concerns by this point.
She was a bit behind with language development at 20 months but had a big jump at 26 months and we soon was close to her peers. She will be 4 in August and we have absolutely no concerns about sending her to school in September. If I could I would send her tomorrow!
She can sleep through the night. Last week she did 3 nights in a row! However, as soon as one of her needs isn't met she wakes through the night. She sleeps on a heated blanket and has a little heater in her room so we can keep it warmer than the rest of the house. When she is cold she throws the covers off and when she is a comfortable temperature she keeps them on! We use her sleep as a barometer for her reflux meds being reviewed as we are concerned with the impact of poor quality sleep on her ability to learn but she copes remarkably well.

Following!! From another mum of a poorly sleeping baby girl! I know deep down she is developmentally fine and I do everything in my power to make sure she gets good rest! But I am hoping that one day she will turn a corner and start sleeping longer stretches too!! Loving the positive stories. @Superscientist that sounds really tough. Thanks for sharing all xx

I don't know if this counts as "positive", but my daughter is now 3.5yrs. As a young baby she was an absolutely atrocious sleeper - always well under the recommended sleep per 24hrs, and well over the recommended "nap gaps". As a young toddler she went through a "stage" (of about 6 months!!) of split nights: awake for about 2 hrs every night 😴.

On to the positive: she's only 3, but so far she's hit all her milestones on time or early, her speech is great and she generally seems to be a bright and energetic little kid. She now sleeps around 10hrs a night (which is the lowest recommended amount, but at least it's within the bounds). It's possible she has ADHD or something but her behaviour and concentration etc is definitely within the range of "normal" at this stage.

The two things that helped were getting a double bed for her room and deleting the huckleberry sleep tracking app!

Good luck everyone - it's incredibly hard!