Stuck in a never ending sleep regression

[PDog]

I am beyond exhausted. DD is coming up to 8.5mo and this has been going on for 2 months.

It seems to alternate between horrendous nights or horrendous days with horrendous bedtimes. She just can't switch off - I can't take my eyes off her for a second because she is not happy unless she rolling/grabbing something/putting something in her mouth.

When she does sleep, I have to feed her to sleep but as soon as I try to get her in her cot she wakes up and starts rolling.

She has only had 30 mins sleep all day today and gets more and more hyper. It then takes between 1-3 hours to get her to bed and she will be up to 2-3 times and ready to go by 6am (despite still been shattered).

Anyone offer any advice?

Or anyone in the same boat who wants to moan share experiences.

Hi all, well I tried a bath and massage then bottle at 6 on Tues with radio 3 on I wasn't convinced as he seemed to be happy and chatty then he fell asleep on the bottle. Until nearly 8 hurray!
I need this to be the last bottle and get him to stay asleep then but I don't know how to get 4 bottles in him by 7 at the latest.

Last night I nearly cried! I did massage with sleepy balm then bedtime milk then he was awake as anything! Until half ten then he finally crashed.

Does CC work if your baby can't self settle? I never thought I would do it but Im having a another baby in July I need to crack this!
Would it be better to start with naps CC or go in all guns blazing at bed time as it were?

Thank you for reading my rant!

Ah just read another thread on CC I think I mean settle and leave he cries I go back settle and leave etc. I'm nervous as he may just wail and not sleep at all :(
I had such unrealistic expectations about a baby's sleep!

Didn't we all, pip!

Don't bother with CC for naps.

And yes, there are other versions of CC to try. What you describe sounds like "rapid return".
PU/PD is another one that doesn't involve leaving the LO to cry.

BUT 6 months is still very tiny and CC etc. is probably best left until they're older.

Having said that, give it a try...

Still alive here - but must go to bed or DH will be on my case (even though he went to bed at least half an hour ago).

Sadly I've not cracked things yet although we muddle along.

Will pop back at some point - struggling to keep up IRL!

:( curly - unmn'y hugs and to PDog but I've only skimmed the thread so will be back tomorrow or the day after - or eventually...

Hi everyone,
Things have been not too bad here. My dd is generally going down to sleep at roughly 7/7.30pm and has been wakening only once still. Settling during the night has still been much better. I am still using the pantley pull off method, though sometimes I'm still leaving it too late and my dd is practically sleeping so need to work on that. But my dd is really responding to it and has started to pull off herself at some feeds then lie on me sleepily. I let her lie for no more than 5 minutes then put her into her cot. I'm still sitting in the room with her if I put her down awake. On wednesday night she slept 7pm till 5am! I was delighted.
pipplin from reading your routine I think it might be helpful if you work on stopping your dc from napping at 7pm. I know its not easy if they are really sleepy. I wouldn't let my dd nap any later than 4pm at 6 months. We have really tightened up our bedtime routine so we now start at 6pm with massage, then bath, then story, then porridge then milk feed. My dd is no longer allowed out of her room after her bath. I wish I had done this months ago as she is much calmer. I would try and be more consistent with the bedtime routine. It may take some time to plot into place but at 6 months your dc will start to respond to it. Do the same thing every night, even if your dc does not appear sleepy or ready for bed.

Try not to panic, july is a while away and your dc is very young. Start the routine now and you will probably see a difference quite quickly. Hope your all getting on Ok. curly how was your attempt at cc?
People keep telling me not to feed my dd when she wakens in during the night but I don't know how to stop!

My feeling, haverina is if it's only the once per night and you and your DD are getting enough sleep despite the interruption, I wouldn't worry about it. After all, there's only really a need to try and change things if it's causing you and/or your DD a problem. Just because "people" tell you to do something doesn't mean you should!

Hi all, the teething monster has been visiting so all sleep has gone haywire!
Am working on dropping the 7pm nap and he is no longer allowed to sleep past 4.
Friday night was a success and he getting better at staying down once I've put him down.
I think sort the actual bed time out and then tackle self settling. I just don't think he is capable right now.
Hope everyone else is ok.

Immaculada, thats what I was thinking. We cope fine on one feed, I feel exhausted ok when my DD is up once. I go back to work mid April so not sure how I will feel about it then. My DD will be over 1 by then though so I think that I will feel better about doing proper sleep training then as I know she will be older and more responsive to it.

Pipplin, sounds like you are doing well. Its not easy trying to implement a routine, but I think that it will pay off. We really seem to have cracked the bedtime routine and I see other changes in my DD's sleep as a result. I think you are right to tackle one thing at a time. Otherwise you may feel overwhelmed. How was tonight?

Hope you are all managing to get some sleep

Sorry you are struggling a bit AD - thanks for the hugs! We do miss you on here and hope to see you back soon once you've settled into being back at work...

Glad you seem to be getting somewhere Haverina - I think consistency is definitley the key to it all, esp after the week I have just had...

Pipplin sounds like you have a better routine going now and I hope it's going well still.

Hope things are still OK for you IC?

Well, after starting CC, very reluctantly but out of sheer desperation, it appears to be paying off. We started 4 nights ago and last night DD slept solidly from 8pm until 5.30am - the longest she has slept without waking in months . It hasn't been easy that's for sure, and I was beginning to falter when I thought she wasn't responding, but we kept at it consistently both at bedtime and during the night and finally we are getting somewhere. I got her up when she woke early today (even tho she wanted to sleep again after feeding) as there will be no more night feeds now (may as well do it all in one go), so hopefully she will sleep later tomorrow.

Good for you, curly. It's a tough thing to do, but worth it if your family as a whole will get better sleep. I saw your other threads and my heart went out to you...

Good stuff, pip, fingers crossed things keep on improving!

DD was awake for an hour last night from about 01.40. Not helped by our upstairs neighbour and his LOUD surround-sound cinema system . DH went up in the end and asked him to turn it down. Luckily he was fine about it and turned it off straight away, much to my relief.

After that DD slept until 07.00.

Previous night, she technically slept through, given that she woke at 10.30 (resettled after a quick feed) and then slept until 05.30. She cuddled up with me for a while, but didn't go back to sleep until I eventually returned her to her cot and she got another three-quarters of an hour, waking just after 07.30.

My own sleeping has been cack, though. I think the randomness of DD's awakenings impacts on my sleep because I never know when I'm going to get woken up so after every one of my own sleep cycles, I wake and find it hard to go back to sleep again as I'm half expecting DD to stir.

I've ordered a book from Amazon on improving insomnia using CBT. Really hoping it'll work, DD's overnight wake-ups wouldn't be a problem if I could get myself to sleep reasonably between times...

Last night went ok he only woke up once and was asleep by 9. Woke up ready for the day at 6 but working on mcing bedtime forward now I have sorted his bottles out.
Bedtim needs to be earlier I just hope this doesn't mean waking more in the night.
A fellow mum was boasting how her DS goes down nice and early and how wonderful it is to have their evenings back. I later find out that she is up in the early hours feeding him. Conviently left that bit of info out! Hmmph.

Mcing? Bringing that should say :)

'Fraid it's often one or the other, pip - gain evenings and be up early or lose evenings and get up at a more humane hour...!

My DD tends to need around 10.5 hours of sleep per night and wakes when she's had it. So if she sleeps through, she'd be awake from 06.00. Which is just about bearable.

At least I get a bit of a lie-in if she has a more restless night...!

Yeah Pipplin, early bedtimes do usually mean at least one wakening . I prefer my DD to go to bed early. She is usually in bed these days around 7.30pm. My DH and I then have dinner and watch tv for a couple of hours. Bliss! I feel that during the night wakenings will end at some point and I can cope ALOT better if I have some time in the evening to relax. In fact, even if I was guaranteed that my DD would sleep ayy night from, say, 10pm, I think I would still prefer an early bedtime and one wakening, but everyone is different.

Glad last night was better Pipplin.

IC, sounds as though things are improving?

My DD was in bed REALLY early tonight - 6.45pm. She is starting to want two naps again during the day but today I tried to keep her awake, plus she had a friend over so was so distracted and hard to settle. Think I made a mistake and should just have tried to get her to nap. Will go back to the two naps from tomorrow. Not sure whats going on! This past week she has coped really well with the one nap

Not sure if the really early bed will mean we are due to have a nightmare tonight ...will have to wait and see. Meanwhile, I am off to make the most of an early-ish dinner!

Hey, how is everyone doing? This thread's gone really quiet - does that mean we all have sleeping babies and blissful nights?

Well, as you probably know I was at the end of my tether and very reluctantly ended up doing CC. Well, it worked fairly quickly I'm happy to say and within a week I was no longer feeding in the night, nor getting out of bed for the most part until 6am
It certainly wasn't easy (I had to get out of earshot and let DH deal with her the first few nights) and we have had ups and downs with it eg tonight she is taking a while to settle. She does still wake in the night - thankfully the 2 hour awake sessions have stopped though - but we just don't rush in to her like we were doing before and usually within 5 mins of moaning/whinging she puts herself back to sleep again. I only go in if it sounds like she really needs me or it's escalating. It makes it far less painful than spending hours in and out of her room getting cold! and she gets a better sleep too.
I know not everyone agrees with it/can do it, but it has given me back my sanity!

I hope the rest of you are doing OK...

Hi everyone, am new to this site and am desperately looking for some napping tips! My DD is 5 months old and has decided she fro the last month that she doesn't want to sleep in her cot- I have tried the cry it out method for weeks but all she does is cry/grizzel/chat for an hour with no result. This then has a knock on effect to feeding as she is then too tired to feed properly and will fall asleep feeding- I don't let her stay asleep though and wait for her next nap to try again. She will sleep in the pram (my last resort for her afternoon nap) for up to 2 hours but that means I have to be out of the house for every nap- not so great this winter!! Weirdly every so often I will put her down in her cot and she will go to sleep within 5 mins (she only ever sleeps in her cot for 30mins max)- night times are normal though she is starting to resist more at bedtime which I am afraid is a knock on effect from the day. I have tried everything- dark room, dim room, mobile, dummy, blankie etc... and welcome any tips as I am beginning to loose the plot!

Hi curly, well sleep has been alot better here...my DD is sleeping through most nights - not all, but most. We havent done anything different, I don't think

We are being really strict with her bedtime routine...massage, bath, story, porridge, breastfeed, bed. It all starts at 6pm and she is usually in bed between 7pm and 7.30pm. The last two nights I was away and she fell asleep without milk. I was back today and all ready to breastfeed her but she fell asleep before I had the chance, just after her porridge! Not sure if she is dropping her night feed? Should I maybe start offering a breatfeed just before her bath instead?

Of course on the plus side, it means that she doesn't need to feed to sleep anymore , however, naps are all over the place. Some days one, some two, but I am taking it in my stride and not worrying about it!

Hope everyone is well. Glad you are getting some more sleep curly

summerday, are you waiting till your DD is sleepy to try a nap or are you trying to do set times?

Hello Everyone

My, hasn't it gone quiet!

Good news haverina and curly!

I'm not anti-CC personally, curly - sometimes it's the only thing that saves the parents' sanity and if the baby gets more sleep too as a result, then fair enough.
I'm glad it didn't take too long to work.

summerdays my DD is the same, so every nap (2 per day) is in the buggy. However, I've just got a pram-rocker thingy (Baby Dream Machine). I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping it will save on the shoe leather...

The good news here is that just short of 13 months, DD slept through for the first time. As predicted, it meant waking at around 06.00, but still...!
She's now slept through for 5 out of the last 8 nights and this morning didn't wake until 06.50....
Result!
It feels like a small miracle.
Long may it continue.

IC. That is brilliant. Hope the pram-rocker works!

Glad things are better for you, curly, and hope they are still. It makes such a difference having sleep, especially when you're going back to work.

I'd meant to pop back here a while ago - I wrote a post after curly's last one, but the computer lost it and I lost the will.

DS is 14 months now. I was waiting to get through the 13 month sleep regression before trying some gentle sleep encouragement again. He ended up with multiple illnesses and a nursing strike though so I didn't do anything, although he was getting easier to get to sleep and waking slightly less often.

However, in the few weeks since being ill he only wakes once a night on roughly 2 out of 3 nights. On 1 night out of 3 the more frequent waking is due to wind / coughing / overtiredness from poor naps.

His one waking is basically habit - I always get him up, put him on the potty & change his nappy so he's used to waking up properly then. It is always before I go to bed too.

Oh, and we're still co-sleeping, and I still feed to sleep at bedtime and when he wakes, and for naps sometimes. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd settle himself a bit more with some encouragement but both he and I enjoy the cuddles. :)

I'm currently trying to work on persuading him not to wake in the middle of his nap.

I can't believe that so many of us with such long-term poor sleepers have had such progress. Here's a to you all. :) :)

Just marking as I want to know if IC's pram rocker works - same situation for us re naps!