Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Original poster

17 months and sedation isn't working

51 replies

tegan · 20/09/2005 11:28

Please help me my baby is 17 months and won't sleep. She has 40 mins in day but wakes every 40 mins to 1 hour in the night and wants to get up at between 2 and 3 am.
She has been on sedation for 6 weeks and even that isn't working any more. please help me

OP posts:
Original poster
tegan · 22/09/2005 13:24

Thanks for all that info. Yep matress is a low as it goes but I still worry that if she thought about it she could push her bedding to the end and get out or even fall out.
I really want to try this method but wonder if I will be strong enough at 2am

OP posts:
ajmum · 22/09/2005 13:41

I'd just like to second koalabear's advice. Please give it a try for as long as it takes. It will work but might take a while.

The fact that you have been given sedation (valium for a baby!) rather than good advice like this really worries me. Did your doctor/HV not talk through your routine with you - once I read your daily routine, the problem was really obvious to me. Poor you and your poor dd. I hope you both get a good sleep soon.

Original poster
tegan · 22/09/2005 13:48

thanks - tonight is the night. dd went for a nap a 12:20 and is still sound asleep but not had dinner yet - so hopefully when I do this my life will change for the better.

OP posts:
yummyummy · 22/09/2005 21:59

tegan stick to koala's suggestions it will work!! I have stuck religously to pick up put down and the changes have been amazing.....more sleep in the day has really helped my little one sleep at night as she is no longer too overstimulated or too overtired to get into a deep relaxed sleep....the baby whisp has been an absolute godsend....when doing pick up put down keep reminding yourself you owe it to your little one to give them the right to sleep independanlty, and you owe it to yourself to get a good nights sleep once your little one is sleeping through! I bet you will be amazed at the difference after just a day or two......

lilsmum · 22/09/2005 22:05

it is correct about the daytime nap....my dd (20mth)sleeps better in the night IF her daytime nap is between 1pm and 3pm, than if she had a nap earlier..very strange but very true.

you really need to move the daytime nap imho.

koalabear has given some excellent advice

geekgrrl · 23/09/2005 06:47

tegan, I agree that you really need to go down the behavioural route and sorting out the daytime nap - just wanted to add though that there are so many sedatives out there for young children and I would question your GP as to why he gave you valium, as it is highly addictive, has loads of side-effects and seems like a bizarre medication for a baby - is a GP even licensed to prescribe this to a child under 2? Can you stop it suddenly or would your dd suffer withdrawal effects?
I have a daughter with special needs and sleeping has always been a problem as behavioural techniques don't work well on many children with developmental delays, so we have been down the sedation route. Phenergan and Vallergan are both non-addictive and at least one of them should work for a child but they're only licensed for over-2 year olds so need to be prescribed by a paediatrician for a younger child. Vallergan completely knocked my daughter out when we first started it - she went from up 10 times a night to sleeping a 15 hour stretch.
My youngest was also prescribed sedatives when he was 10 months old - he was going through a terrible sleeping patch, his sister was up all night anyway and dh was working away from home so I was at the brink really. The sedative he was given is called hydroxizine and is licensed for under-2s. It worked extremely well.

It sounds as though you have been given absolutely terrible support by your GP. Where is your HV in all this?

koalabear · 23/09/2005 09:05

tegan - been thinking of you all night - how did you get on?

koalabear · 23/09/2005 11:55

tegan - you around?

Original poster
tegan · 23/09/2005 12:57

I'm here and feeling great.
7.30pm last night I put dd down and she screamed but we persivered by just going in and lying her down staying until she was settled and leaving. by 8.20pm she was asleep but wimpering, she woke at 11.30pm and was hysterical so I picked her up calmed her and placed her back in her cot and never heard a thing until 4am when she just wanted her dummy. she finally got up at 7.30am.
Yesterday she had a 2 hour 10 min sleep but I had to wake her to go and collect my eldest from school but she was in a really good mood.

OP posts:
Marina · 23/09/2005 13:03

Wow tegan, that is marvellous! I didn't post before as I had no helpful experiences to offer but I felt so sorry for you (dd is not a brilliant sleeper but compared to your situation...)
I hope it continues.

koalabear · 23/09/2005 13:05

yippee de do dar!
keep it up (pick up put down) and you will be sleeping through in no time
well done well done

Original poster
tegan · 23/09/2005 13:08

thanks
I told my dh last night about this website and about the great feeback I have had, this morning he rang me from work to say how pleased he was that i had received some advise that had really seemed to work.
A huge thanks to everyone for their support.

OP posts:
yummyummy · 23/09/2005 13:18

woohoo, way to go tegan amazing what a good nights sleep can do!

Original poster
tegan · 23/09/2005 13:21

geekgrrl - the doctor gave my dd vallergan but on a high dose scale and my local district nurse delivered it to my house. it was perscribed by my gp but was not licensed for under 2's. my gp was very clear that she could lose her job over giving it to me

OP posts:
Original poster
tegan · 23/09/2005 20:13

she's not giving in tonight

OP posts:
Seona1973 · 23/09/2005 20:20

thats ok, she will just be testing your boundaries. It is important that you stay consistent so you dont give mixed messages by giving in. Please hang in there and dont give up cos then you have to start from scratch again next time. It will get better I promise

Original poster
tegan · 23/09/2005 20:33

I take it that by the silence she must of gone to sleep now. but I'm too knackered to do the ironing now.

OP posts:
yummyummy · 23/09/2005 21:26

moral support being sent via this message.....when i've done p'u p down each time i got close to giving in i though back to how things were before and that made me stick to my guns. it will get easier

clary · 23/09/2005 21:41

tegan just seen this thread and wanted to say, what good advice from koalabear, glad it sounds as if it is working.
We had to do pick up put down on ds2 (nothing like yr nightmare) and it really does work, teaches the baby that they have to learn to sleep on their own, which is basically a lesson worth learning!
Good luck and thinkign of you.

Original poster
tegan · 24/09/2005 06:41

Yet another successful night. once she had gone that was it out for the count. my dd woke at 5.30am because she could.t find her dummy but I stuck it in and she is flat out again but sadly I'm wide awake

OP posts:
geekgrrl · 24/09/2005 06:49

oh tegan that's great! sounds like it's working a treat. Did you mean Vallergan then rather than valium? Vallergan's just an antihistamine. It's sedative effect wears off really quickly.

Original poster
tegan · 24/09/2005 07:00

this is confusing me slightly the bottle says vallergan but when the district nurse delivered it she explained to me that it was from the hospital and unlicensedand this was because it was valium, so as a result I am unsure. doesn't really matter now because she is sleeping like the preverbial baby and I'm not tired anymore

OP posts:
Beabea · 24/09/2005 07:12

Just read this thread. How do you move the day time sleep from earlier to later when they are obviously tired?

My DD goes down to sleep ok but wakes anytime from 4.30am and its killing us. We dont know if its coz her nappy is wet or she is hungry, teething or just wants a cuddle. We have been trying the CC method but its time to get up before we have been successful. Maybe its time to try another method?

thanks

geekgrrl · 24/09/2005 09:12

well, if the bottle says 'Vallergan Forte' - trimeprazine tartrate - with a white, black and green label then that's what it is. It's not licensed for under-2s though so still not good of your GP to prescribe it. It's also not the first choice of sedative anyway as it stops working so quickly.

Good to hear it wasn't valium - valium must not be stopped suddenly as it is addictive and sudden withdrawal can cause seizures.

Original poster
tegan · 24/09/2005 09:44

BEABEA I am also having the struggle now of trying to move dd nap from morning to afternoon especially today when we will be out in the car for most of the day

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread