November 2014 - The one where we figure it all out... Or at least try.

[Arkkorox]

Couldn't see another thread ladies! Crap title I know but I couldn't think of anything else!

Thisis how on earth did you manage to put the nappy in the wash!

It's ok cause I think I'm about to ruin it all by putting her to Bed an hour before Normal. I'm expecting at least 2 wake ups tonight!

Oh my word! I've just woken up and she's still asleep!

Every. Bloody. Hour.

And then every 20-30 minutes from 4am.

When will it eeeeeeeend????!!!!!

Lady you must be dead on your feet!

Honestly, if we weren't co-sleeping I'd be in pieces. I pop my boob out and go back to sleep (finally freakishly large boobs come in handy, I can feed her in bed without actually being that close to her!!). But I'm still not particularly pleasant to be around at the moment...

ark I will send you my DD in case she picks up your DD sleep habits. I know i should not moan with 2 quick night feeds, but one night of uninterrupted sleep since december would be nice.
Last week my mum was here, so I had hairdresser, dentist, film with DH and pub with DH. Almost felt like we had a date again. Now that I know DD and DM get along just great, i will make sure we make most of it next time DM visits us. Cannot wait, have eyes pealed for any good events around that time.

Actually, i should book DM few more flights to visit us this year, I think ;)

Improvement last night. Dd slept 9.40-1
10 in the big cot up for a long feed and then slept 2-5, again in cot. Woke again at 6.30 so at that stage I got into bed with her so she fed and then slept til 8.30.

Really a big improvement but she needed a lot of winding before settling down for the night so I reckon that was key. Also she went to sleep with dummy in which we don't normally do but maybe it helped that first stretch.

Feel for you lady it's so hard being woken constantly!

We've had a deterioration since going into Big Cot. He thrashes around like a mad thing. Last night he woke at 2am & wasn't even hungry. Still took until 4am to resettle him! During which time I offered the bottle several times and got a bit into him but he was just wide awake. I tried everything, had him asleep lots of times and then 5 mins later he'd start kicking away like he was doing Riverdance.

I'm also finding I can't prop him on his side in the big cot, which usually works to settle him. It's too big and he just slides down on his back at first wiggle. Shattered today. Jabs this morning but he was a trooper. Very whingey since though and wants to nap on me constantly.

This has to pass, right???

Anna could you roll up a towel and put it under the sheet so you can prop him up against it?

I've tried two towels on top of one another! But have just remembered I have a cushion shaped like a Swiss roll which I can try tonight. I'm also going back to my stretchy zipped swaddle after a brief flirtation with gro bags. He just flails about too much.

DH said we need a strip of velcro underneath him. I think he was only half joking!

DS has had a cough for the last few days so I've been busy soothing him and dosing with calpol. He seems better today though so hopefully will all be back to normal soon and I can take part in the thread a bit better!

Sending you and lady, I feel your pain! I've come back to co-sleeping again to make things easier. He also doesn't like the crib anna but is too big for Moses basket now so lots of rolled towels and blankets to make it feel cosy!

Floopledoop, interested in the "dosing him with Calpol* comment...DD has had stinking cold for 1.5 weeks now which makes it really difficult for her to sleep as lying down males her breathing very hard. I reckon a 2.5ml of Calpol is fine if it helps her to breathe and therefore sleep more easily but DH is concerned that we're using it as a "sedative" (his words)...

How old is your DS (DD has just reached 4 months) and for how long / regularly have you been giving your DS Calpol???

Would be interested to know other people's views too...whenever I ask at a pharmacist what else I can be doing, they all say we're doing all the right things and just have to wait , but when I mention Calpol, they always ask "does she have a temperature?" - answer: no. So am I wrong in giving it to her? It says on the box it's for use with cold & flu symptoms...

We use generic paracetamol suspension when the check list has been otherwise exhausted ie he's clean, fed, not too hot or cold but he's still impossible to settle. In other words only if I think he's in pain. We've probably used it less than 5 time.

Same here, if nothing else works when settling her then we give it. Its reeeeeally tempting to give it at the moment because she's not sleeping but that's just because she's being a sod not becauae there's anything wrong. I have given it when she's grizzling with her teeth too. She's had it way more than 5 times though!

So, woke every hour til 4 then awake until 7 when we got 45 minutes more. Woke up and cried (me not her, she was perky as you like). Pathetic but it's just so hard :(

Crap night here. Thanks to the bloody wind! It woke her up loads and in the end she just burst into tears cause she wanted to sleep so much but couldn't. So I ended up with her in bed with me from 4, she slept till 7 but I just don't sleep properly with her in the bed.

Jabs today, dreading it :(

Hi guys. I haven't posted on mumsnet before but I've been lurking for a while and hoped I could join you all. I have a four and a half month old DS who seems to be going through an awful sleep regression - have been up every hour in the night for the last two or three weeks and I'm getting worn out (he's EBF and won't take a bottle or dummy). DH has decided that Something Must Be Done and wants to leave him in his cot to cry himself to sleep. I can't face doing that but if anyone has any softer ideas for getting a baby to self settle in cot they would be hugely appreciated. I saw the discussion about calpol and I have the same (probably irrational) worry about sedating him although do resort to it occasionally in desperate times!

Hi Pink !

I don't think calpol is a sedative, it's just paracetamol and sugar. DD has had some in her bedtime bottle and it does seem to make her sleep better. I don't think leaving him to cry is going to help any of you but I haven't really got much more I can help you with advice wise. I'm sure one of the other ladies on here will be able to help you, failing that you could post in the sleep section?

Pink everything I have heard about the four month stage is that its useless sleep training as it keeps changing!

You can try but conventional wisdom is that you won't succeed!

That said, if you're desperate you could try cuddling instead of feeding every second time to stretch out feeds. He's old enough not to be hungry every hour. Expect him to get pissed off as he expects to be fed, but at least you'll be doing something comforting.

Last night technically he slept from 11am to 3.45am. Sounds great, right? Not for me as he was so bloody noisy in his sleep that Mum got no sleep! He was singing/whinging in his sleep the whole night. He also sounded like he was about to wake up about 10 times so I was on high alert, and had to put dream sheep on a few times.

Still, he dropped the 2pm feed which is exciting. Huge hugs to those with shittier nights!

DD woke up 4 times tonight, it was so frequent that at the beginning I thought t might have been wind she was moaning about and didn't pick her up for feed, which caused her kick off big style. I think the windy weather has to do something with this. Call me lazy, but I am still chilling in bed, DD finally got down for nap.

pinkfrench, I really wouldn't leave him to cry. Even people who don't think cry it out methods cause damage (studies o permanent effects on the production of stress hormones,) tend to agree not before 6 months. I know it's horrible, utterly draining and grim in the thick of it, but the 4 month regression is generally a shortish phase that passes. Ds1 went through it and ds2 has just come out of his - neither lasted more than a few (admittedly godawful) weeks, if that's cheering?

Thanks so much everyone. I really didn't want to leave him upset but DH felt quite strongly and I wasn't sure what to do. It's good to know I haven't somehow missed a magic parenting trick! I think I'll just tough it out with feeds and cuddles and DH can go in the spare room for some peace. Anna - we love Ewan too. Pretty sure that DS will be trotting off to uni with it tucked under his arm

Hi pink! This sleep regression sucks doesn't it. The only really useful advice my HV had about it was that if you can avoid it (eg have a spare room), don't let both of you have an awful night. I actually find it easier to deal with DD in the night if DH is in the spare room, as I know I can try to settle her and let her whinge a bit without waking him. Then a couple of times a week i go in the spare room and just come in to bf her (but she's only waking once for food so not as bad as yours!). I really think we should probably put her in her own room but I'm not quite ready yet. We're off on a holiday in a couple of weeks where she'll have to be in with us, so I think after that we'll do it. Eek where's my teeny baby gone!!

Is anyone else's baby awake all feckin evening?!