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.

IC, if it's not too much hassle, I'd perhaps do the cot in your room while your sister's here but a couple of nights should be fine. In theory it only takes 3 or 4 days for them to get used to a new arrangement.

Happy birthday too! :)

PDog, I rememembered just now about a friend with a baby 7.5 months old who is a good sleeper and can self-settle for naps and nighttime. She started with a childminder recently and her naps went all over the place initially. Partly the excitement of everything going on around her made it difficult for her to sleep at first.

3 night wakings here, including up for an hour at the middle one.

Feeding to sleep seems to be working less and less well here. DS no longer rolls over and goes to sleep after night feeds. Fortunately he sometimes goes off himself once I put him back in his cot apparently wide awake.

For naps, I have to rock him when feeding doesn't, but that can take another 25 minutes. Last night he bit me hard when I was trying to rock him. I was not impressed!

Oh dear, sorry to hear about the biting AngelDog that's not good! I find that feeding to sleep stopped working a while ago for us really. She will feed to drowsy for her morning nap, then I put her up on my shoulder for a minute, just to make sure, then I put her down. But the rest of the time I tend to put her down fairly awake and either leave her to it (usually the afternoon nap) or pat/shush.

IC I wouldn't worry about just going the whole hog to be honest. I was going to try putting the moses basket in the cot for a few days but in the end I didn't bother. It took her 2-3 nights at the most to get used to it. Maybe you could get her to take a couple of naps in the cot, or just let her have a play in there in the day at a 'non-sleep' time, just to get her used to it?

Well last night was strangely good after the poor naps in the day... She went down around 7.30 in the end and woke at 11pm. I fed her and went back to bed expecting the next call at about 3.30, but in actual fact she was still fast asleep at 6.30am when I got up to go to the loo! I had to go and check she was OK as this was so unusual she woke shortly after at about 6.50.
She's already had a 1.5hr nap this morning, and is currently asleep now.

I just don't know what to expect from her each day anymore... I thought babies were meant to be creatures of habit?!

IME babies are totally random, just when you think you've got it cracked they change their mind .

Thanks AngelDog, I'm sure she will settle at nursery once she is a bit more used to it. She is very nosy so that probably had something to do with it - too many new things, people and babies to look at.

IC I agree with Curly. That is what I did with DD and she settled fine in her cot when we put her in own room. Hope you have a great birthday and your DD gives you the lovely present of some decent sleep.

Curly hope it continues.

AngelDog re the biting.

DD was up 3 times last night and awake by 5.30am. She has only managed 2 naps today, one 40 mins, one 30 mins so is seriously over tired and cranky. Took ages to get her down and then she woke after an hour. I was feeding her back to sleep but she kept sinking her top teeth into my boob - ouch! I don't think purposefully, just because she is tired but also possibly has more teeth coming . DH is trying to settle her now but she is screaming. I know she just wants boob but I have still teeth marks.

She is seriously mad but refuses to be comforted - she screams just as much in DH's arms as she does in the cot. He just tried to give her some nurofen but she spat in all out. This is so hard .

Och, PDog, that sounds awful for you. :( I do hope your night improves.

I found today that DS is getting another tooth so that may be what's causing the biting here. My arm or leg seem to be favourite targets for some reason.

I agree that babies are creatures of randomness rather than habit.

I think teeth are the culprits here too, looks like another 2 are on the way.

Was horrible. She screamed for over an hour (DH in room the whole time) and I couldn't take it any more so went in and she was so happy to see me, she stopped crying straight away. I did end up feeding her again but to start with she just wanted a cuddle. Wondering if maybe it was a bit of seperation anxiety after her day at nursery. Felt like a horrible mean mummy . Was nearly 10pm before she went to sleep.

Bad night too, she was up 3 times and awake for the day at 5.40am. Understandbly she has been over tired and nap resistant today. Feeding to sleep didn't work (I didn't persevere for long though as she keeps biting)so DH took her for a long drive and she managed about 50 mins.

Took well over an hour to get her down tonight. Keeping my finger crossed for a good night for all of us.

Morning ladies...

How are you all doing? Pdog hope youve had some improvement? AngelDog hopefully no more biting for you? IC did you try moving LO to the cot?

Well, things are all over the place here still at the moment. Friday night was just awful and I lost count how many wakings we had felf like I had barely any sleep whatsoever. We were then going away for the night on Sat to see friends so I know DD would sleep well in the car (which she did) and the night wasn't too bad at all once she finally settled at 9pm. She slept solidly until 4am and then didn't wake until 9am!!

Yesterday was another story as DD wouldn't nap in the day (strange place and not in her own cot - she's not good at napping in the pram sometimes) and so she had only had 40 mins sleep all day yesterday up until when we left to come home at 5.30pm. She then wouldn't even sleep in the car as she was so overtired I guess but she eventually dropped off about 7pm and slept until we got home at 9pm. Then it was a nightmare settling her into bed again and she didn't go back to sleep until gone 10 (think it was nearer 10.30 . Only 2 wakings in the night tho and the really strange thing is she is still asleep at 9.15 this morning!!! She must be catching up on it all. I would usually get her up about 8am, but I am just going to leave her today as I guess she needs it...

I also think teeth have been the main culprits here too and so I have been giving Nurfen as a precaution for the last 2 nights rather than wait until she is in meltdown. Not sure how many nights in a row this is OK for?? I think I can see the teeth now so hopefully won't be long...

How has everyone else w/e been?

Good news on the night times Curly. We've tried the transition from car to cot at night and also experienced a nightmare getting her resettled in her cot. I was very jealous on holiday as our friends have an almost 2yr who has always been a great sleeper. If he falls asleep in the car, they just carry him in and pop him in his cot and he barely stirs.

Did you have a nice birthday IC?

Any sign of those teeth yet AngelDog? Fortunately DD has stopped biting now.

I fear we have reached the 9 month regression; DD has gone back to how she was at time of my OP.

Yesterday, she had 3 naps but only an hour of sleep and a nightmare bedtime. She had a good night though, which was something.

She managed a massive nap this morning - 10 minutes! This afternoon she slept for 20 mins on me, I fed her again when she woke and she went back to sleep for another 20 mins. Hadn't attempted the move to cot yet so just cuddled and rocked her and she fell back to sleep, then woke after about 10 mins.

I downloaded some white noise on the ipod and put rain sounds on and rocked and cuddled and she fell back to sleep and seemed flat out so I put her in her cot. Wrong move as she woke up. I've left her to it (desperate for a wee) with the rain sounds but she is jabbering away to herself and showing no signs of going to sleep.

Random, random, random .

Ah, PDog, here's hoping you'll get through this one ASAP...

Bad news about the biting too, AD - yeeouch. It hurts enough when DD pinches me (which she does a lot) - I'm not looking forward to when the teeth are finally through.

I had a lovely birthday weekend, thanks! DD even gave me a lie-in until 08.00 on my birthday (a few wake-ups overnight, but not too bad) - so that was ace.

Last night she woke every two hours until 04.30 - twice I left her to self-settle, which she did within ten mins or so, twice I fed her. Thankfully, after the last one she slept until 07.00.

Today the first two naps were 30 mins (the second in my lap - but unlatched) and I fully expected to have to do some pramming to get her to notch up more than an hour for the third, but she surprised me by allowing herself to be put straight down in the pram without a fuss (after a feed...) and slept for almost an hour and a half parked in the lounge. Result!

Anyway, DH put the cot together today (in our room) and she went down into it no bother at bedtime. The test will be when I have to resettle her overnight as I don't usually have to lift her over anything to do so, so the transition has always been fairly gradual from my arms. Fingers crossed!

how was night one in the cot IC ? Hope it went well for you...

Sounds like naps have been all over the place for you PDog - hope you've had some improvement?

How are things AD - have you had a good weekend?

Well, DD's first tooth/teeth seem to be just about poking there way through now, so last night was a little unsettled again. I didn't give Nurofen at bedtime as she seemed OK and I am wary about continually giving the stuff! SHe went down at 7.30 but woke at 8.45, 10.33 and 12.15 at which point i fed her and gave the Nurofen and she slept until 7am. Think we might be back to giving it as a precaution tonight!!

How's everyone else doing?

Hope your DD managed a good night in her cot IC, good news that she went down OK. Glad you had a nice birthday too.

Know what you mean about the Nurofen Curly, as you don't want to give it needlessly but you can guarantee when you don't give it they do actually need it!

Horrid night last night, DD took ages to settle and woke up so many times I ended up bringing in with me (DH away). She managed a bit of a nap this morning on me - don't know how long as she seemed to wake every 10 mins and take awhile to go back to sleep.

We go swimming on a Tuesday so by the time we had done that she was shattered and fell asleep in the car (after 10 mins of screaming). She had about 30 mins and is now banging her sorting shapes on the radiator . Hoping for a better night later but she is teething and overtired so it is not looking hopeful.

Oh, PDog, PDog.... ugh... I'm fervently hoping you get a better night than anticipated tonight.

Likewise, hope the teething calms down, curly.

Well, Night 1 in the cot went very well. DD only woke twice between 19.30 and 07.00, which is excellent for her. Both times, she fed quickly and went back down without a fuss - and the first was after a 6.5hour stretch, so a great start.

It was probably partly because DH slept in another room - we all slept better as a result... poor old DH!

I still got kicked in the head though, when DD fidgeted her legs through the cot bars. I've now fixed on the bumper - just as well, as I see tonight she's already worked herself round 90 degrees, so at least she won't be able to get various limbs stuck, waking herself up in the process. I've heard mixed things about bumpers, but DD is very capable of getting herself out of trouble and can lift her head and roll onto her back very well, so I figure she should be fine.

Hello everyone, sorry for having been slightly AWOL.

PDog, ugh, that sounds not much fun. How's DD settling in at nursery?

IC, glad that the cot started out well at least. I am amazed that DS moves so much in the cot but doesn't ever seem to wake himself up that I can work out.

Curly, the teeth are so frustrating.

No more biting here. :) The tooth (his 7th!) is properly through, although no. 8 is already visible in the gum. Continuing the cheerful note, feeds didn't become sore & scratchy as they usually do when he has a new one coming through.

I find DS does need feeding more frequently in the night when there's a tooth on the way - think it's a comfort thing.

Well I've discovered that DS can have a delayed reaction to overtiredness. He was up for spells in the night at the w/e, I think, and we didn't have a good day on Monday - rubbish naps and in bed 2 hours later than usual due to being out. I fully expected to be up half the night. In fact, he only woke once for a feed, although he did then want to be up for the day at 04.45. On Tuesday, however, despite much better napping, he woke after every sleep cycle bar one, and wanted to be up at 05.00.

I'm relieved that feeding to sleep is still working between cycles of naps and when he's overtired, although not the rest of the time. Rocking him to sleep takes a lot longer which is irritating.

Wishing you all a restful night!

Not such a great night last night - DD very wakeful and restless. But I think she was a little cold rather than having a problem with the cot - I've put her in a warmer sleeping bag for tonight, fingers crossed it does the trick. She's gone down for the night, no trouble. Let's hope things continue on that easy note (foolish...it's the hope that kills...)

I've now started putting DD's pram in her room for some of her naps in the hope that it'll help her to acclimatise to those surroundings ahead of moving her in there. The naps were 30 and 40 mins respectively, so I don't think she's unduly bothered either way about being in there. We'll see what happens this weekend...

Good night, bad night AD...isn't that the way of it?! Here's hoping your DS chills out again soonest...

How are things with you, PDog? curly?

Hi to Angeldog, PDog and Crikeybadger....I so wish I'd found this thread sooner. I'm so fed up of being the only person in RL whose child just won't sleep through (everyone's else's DC sleep from 12 hours straight grrrrr)

I've skimmed it and I shall be back in the next day or two to read it thoroughly for ideas as I'm also going mad from interrupted sleep (not as bad as some but the constant sleep interruption is starting to really grate and I'm very fed up).

DS is 9 months next week. At about 12 weeks he would be dreamfed at around 9pm then I wouldn't hear from him until 6am. This ground to a halt at 6.5 months when he would be dreamfed then wake again sometime in the night to be fed again. Bar a couple of nights he has continued this pattern. I dropped the dreamfeed so now he wakes up late evening usually and frequently again once in the night - 3am is the current favourite time but it has also been 4 and 5 . Most of the time I don't actually think he needs a feed - its not a full one and he eats well during the day both solids and BF. During this time he has had 2 colds, cut 2 teeth, cut out his 3rd nap, had 2 nights of being woken up by leaky nappies and at least one growth spurt. I think more teeth are coming through as well as he has been a grumpy, bitey so and so for the past 4 days. We've given nurofen at bed every night for the past 4 but he's still been up.

I feel really frustrated, fed up and exhausted.

Thanks for listening to my whinge.

Hi LovingKent

No, you have a good whinge! 9 months of sleep deprivation is enough to turn anyone a bit mad!

Sounds like your LO has really been suffering too with the colds, teeth and growth spurts.

Can't really offer much advice - there's already plenty of tips on here. But with all these things, it does get better. I was at my wits ends when I first posted on here not that long ago and now DS will sometimes sleep till 6ish, sometimes he'll wake once in the night. So that's a definite improvement from where we were. Mind you, he's going to be one next month so I don't know if that has anything to do with it?

Oh and all those people who say their babies are sleeping through- I think their pants must be on fire.

Don't worry, you'll get there.

Welcome LovingKent, frustrating isn't it? I have a friend whose DS has slept 12 hours a night since he was about 5mo and is still the same at nearly 2yo. He also has a 2hr nap every afternoon .

Know what you mean about the overtiredness AngelDog, it seems to take awhile to catch up with DD too.

Sounds as though the transistion to her own room is not going to phase your DD too much IC. Will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

DD was so tired and very grumpy last night I ended up skipping the bath and going for a very early bedtime. Still didn't get her down until 7pm though . She slept well until 11am and then woke every 2 hours for the rest of the night. She settled quickly after a feed and stayed in her own bed so better than the night before.

She wouldn't nap this morning, not even in the car, but eventually fell asleep in the pram while I was out shopping. She slept for about an hour but wouldn't settle this afternoon so I ended up taking her out for a drive again. She slept for about 30 mins but went down much easier tonight. Have just been in to feed her and resettle now.

Part of it is definitely due to teeth - I can see them under her gums and she is refusing all food other than banana. She is the right age for growth spurt and regression though and seems to be taking ages to switch off - this could be overtiredness though .

She is at nursery again tomorrow [AngelDog]. I still have 2 weeks before I go back to work so we are easing her in gradually. Don't know how I will cope if things don't improve before I am back at work though. DD doesn't seem to mind if I lounge sleepily on her play mat while we play but think my boss might feel differently!

Morning ladies...

THis thread had been so quiet over the last few days I thought everyone must suddenly be having better nights!! Obviously not, as I can now see

AD nice to see you back. Yes this teething thing is nasty isn't it. DD has beed waking lots more and I'm sure it must be connected. She's also gone off her (solid) food slightly too... I am with you on the 'scratchy' feeling - it feels like DD is rubbing a cheese grater on my nips at the moment while this tooth is cutting

IC did the warmer sleeping bag do the trick? I tend to use a 1.5 tog for daytime naps (as the temp is usually higher in the day) and a 2.5 for night time.

Welcome LovingKent sorry to hear you're feeling so fed up. I too am not convinced my DD actually needs some of the night feeds she is having, but it is just easier all round to give her a quick feed and get her back down again. DH has to be up at 5am, so not fair on him if I try leaving her to whinge to see if she settles.

PDog hope things imorove for you soon, and in time for you going back to work.

Well, DD is just getting more and more random by the day. Don't know what happened to the 2hr naps she had started to regularly have. They appear to have gone out the window, and she is waking after 1 sleep cycle - not sure if this might be teething related? She is also waking a lot more some nights than others, one night she could be waking 2-hourly, the next she will sleep a 6hr strech (although usually Nurofen-induced!)

Anyway, yesterday DD ended up having a late nap as we were on our way back home and she fell asleep (at 6pm ) so I didn't put her to bed until 8.30 or I knew she wouldn't go down... Anyway, she went down like a dream (unlike the night before which took 1.5 hours ) and didn't wake until 11.45, but from then on it was 2-hourly wakings until she decided at 6am that enough was enough and woudn't go back to sleep. I didn't give her Nurofen last night as I am concerned about giving it too much, but she does sleep better with it. She fed on each waking, but I think this was more a comfort thing tbh as she definitely has her 2 bottom teeth on their way - one has broken the skin (just) and the other one is just below.

Someone said to me that the first 2 teeth are the worst, but judging by some of your experiences on here, that is a load of tosh!
I just really hope this sorts itself out soon as I could seriously do with some decent nights kip!!

Welcome LovingKent. Sounds like your DS (and you!) have had a rough old time lately.

CurlyLJ, we definitely found the first teeth to be the worst - and they seemed to go on for much longer than the others.

PDog, I hope those teeth come through and she settles down quickly.

crikey, it's amazing how fast things can change, isn't it? It gives us all hope when we think how much your DS & InmaculadaConcepion's DD have improved.

A good night here last night: 3 wakings during the evening, then a feed at 3.30 and woke at 6.15 which is positively a lie-in.

Only 45 mins nap at lunchtime though (usually 2 hours) - no idea why. I'm struggling a bit with timings still, and sometimes rocking to sleep works, sometimes he wants feeding and it's hard to work out which to try first!

Welcome to the eye-bag club, LovingKent!

Well, curly, I'm pretty sure DD's first tooth has now broken through the gum, but she's been okay about it (so far...) - I guess it's different for all babies. And DD may well have a sudden crisis, I guess. My friend's DD cut her first two teeth without noticing, but had a harder time with the first two at the top, so I guess like everything it varies enormously...

Great news crikey - gives us all hope!! (Nice to be bracketed alongside such a positive story, AD!)

PDog, I echo AD - come on teeth, for gawd's sake!

Good to hear about a better night for you, AD.

Not too bad a night for us last night, I think the thicker sleeping bag did help. DD was definitely less restless. Still woke up thrice, though: 12.30, 03.30 and 05.30 until deciding to start the day at 06.40, which isn't TOO bad...

Naps seem to have settled into a weekday pattern of first two in the static pram lasting between 30 and 40 mins respectively, the last ending around 12.30 then nap number three in the pram with Mummy pushing for an hour and a half. I'm getting to see quite a few areas of Madrid!! But it's the only sure-fire way of making sure she has a longer stint. Thank goodness the weather's still okay here.

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah it has just been one thing after another .

Perhaps I should have posted sooner...last night DS woke up only once and didn't require a boob - hooray! DH was a saint and got up as if I appear boob is required but his crying wasn't a feed me cry. Tried soothing - didn't work. Eventually gave him water. He drank loads then went back to sleep !!! His teeth were terrible yesterday so he had Calpol mid afternoon and then nurofen at bedtime - perhaps success was drug induced?????? We'll see tonight.

Many many thanks to Angeldog and Iggly for all the sleep info. Never realised that tired signs might not be reliable anymore...no wonder we have had a nap battle. DH and I worked this out eventually ourselves and we now go for the "put him down when he looks like he might pass out whilst playing" approach. Was interested in the naps at specific times - looking back on the past week that has been what has happened (accidentally) and he has been much better. Still mostly a 40 minute napper (with occasional forays into 1 hour or so) but I think he just is a short napper.

Wishing you us all a good night and sympathy to those with teething babies - why can't they get them all at once????

Hooray crikey, I agree that sleeping through is a development thing and that they do it in their own time.

I was thinking the same thing curly and wondering if everyone else was off enjoying themselves after a fab nights sleep - seems we were wrong.

Glad you had a good night AngelDog, hope it continues tonight.

Seems the sleeping bag did the trick IC.

Good news you had a better night LovingKent.

On the subject of teeth, the first ones seemed to cause DD a lot of pain (think hour long scream-a-thons) but it was more the movement and once they got to the stage of cutting through she was fine. This time it seems to be the cutting through that is causing the pain. Tues/Weds all she ate was banana and yesterday I gave a frozen flannel to chomp on.

After another night of 2 hour awakenings and an early morning, she has been a bit brighter and started eating again. Glad as she had another day at nursery today. She cried when I left her but when I rang to check she was OK she was asleep .

She managed 2 40 min naps, which is better than I have managed to get out of her this week. She was fast asleep by 6.30pm, which is a first but I've just had to feed and resettle her. Think I might have to cope with some reverse cycling on her nursery days as she is hardly having any milk when she is there.

Wishing you all a good night.

Hi all

Three awakenings last night and DD was a bit fidgety at other times. Today she seems to have a bit of a cold - not too serious, she's still cheerful - but that may explain the fidgeting and desire for more feeding.

We had a midnight nappy change as well - she'd leaked after (presumably) peeing with her legs in the air, hence new nappy, vest and sleeping bag. Despite my sense of foreboding, she went straight back to sleep after the change...thankfully!

Hope the better sleep continues, without requiring drugs, LK!

Likewise, let's hope that nursery nap was a good'un, PDog!

Well it seems that teething was definitely our issue here. Now the tooth (or it maybe even teeth as not sure if I can feel both bottom ones) has broken through the gum and we went back to 2 wakings last night (1.30am and 5.30am) after going down about 8.15pm. She has also had a one hour nap and a 2 hour nap today . Hooray - Lets hope it continues!!

SOrry to hear your DD has a cold IC hope it's not too bad. Don'tcha just hate middle-of-the-night nappy changes!!

Hope your night was good PDog after a promising start...

Sounds like you had a miuch better night LovingKent

Great news, Curly.

One night good, another bad here. DS only napped 40 mins yesterday lunchtime instead of 2 hours. He was pretty overtired and slept through the evening - which made me very twitchy - then woke after every sleep cycle for the rest of the night and wanted to be up at 5am.

Another 40 min lunchtime nap today so who knows what the night has in store? It took 25 mins of patting to get him off after feeding. I so wish the bf still worked properly!

Hope your DD is feeling better tomorrow IC. I dread night nappy changes - DD tends to cry the whole time and then take ages to resettle.

Good news on the arrival of the tooth Curly. My DD's bottom appeared more or less together, followed very quickly by her top 2.

Oh dear AngelDog, do you think you have hit the next regression? I do wish they would behave the same way for more than one night/day in a row.

Not a great night for us - DD up 3 times but she did sleep until about 6.45am, which she hasn't done for awhile.

She went to sleep quite quickly for her nap. I fed her to sleep, put her in her cot and she was snoring away quite happily. I went to get ready and within 2 mins she was awake . I left her to it while I had a shower but she was showing no sign of going back to sleep so I recused her when she started crying.

She did the same thing at lunch time but this time when I left her she went back to sleep and slept for 2 hours .

I fed her to sleep as usual tonight but she woke up when I moved her. Usually she would cry until I re boob her but she seemed fine so I popped her in her cot and she settled herself .

Not holding my breath that this is a sign of things to come though, given her tendency for complete randomness!

Wishing you all a happy and restful weekend.