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Sleep

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Original poster

Lack of sleep is so bad it's affecting my relationship....can anyone please please advise?

13 replies

QueenEagle · 02/10/2005 21:26

ds4 is 9 and a half months. He previously has been sleeping 10 hours per night but over the last month has taken to waking up several times a night, sometimes it can take me an hour to get him back to sleep but within a couple of hours he's up again.

Last night was especially bad and I have spent today feeling so tired I am on the verge of tears and I am irritable and snappy with dh and my other 4 dc's. I feel like a zombie and seem to have a permanent headache due to lack of quality sleep.

I can't cope without a decent night's sleep but I am at a loss at what more I can do with ds4. I have put him on SMA White which has made no difference at all. This evening I practically force fed him a sandwich before his bed-time bottle in a desperate hope of filling him up.

He goes to bed without fuss, is no problem getting off to sleep and eats well throughout the day.

I am hoping someone can give me some tips on getting him to sleep through the night again.

OP posts:

starlover · 02/10/2005 21:28

is it teeth?
i don't really know but ds has been doing this as well!

i have been giving him calpol and milk abd putting him back to bed, but last night he was up for over an hour

is it possible to grab some sleep during the day while he naps?

spidermama · 02/10/2005 21:30

I know you've probably thought of this but ... is he in bed with you?

Not everyone likes this approach, but for me and my 8 month old (who wakes 2/3 times every night) it's the only way. It means I can feed him without waking up properly.

Original poster

QueenEagle · 02/10/2005 21:32

dh literally dragged me upstairs this afternoon and I managed to get 2 and a half hours sleep which was brilliant. Still got a headache though.

Not sure whether it's teeth or hunger? When it gets to about 4am and he's been up for the fifth time, I have taken to giving him a bottle which he guzzles in 60 seconds flat (ok, slight exaggeration - but you get the idea).

OP posts:

starlover · 02/10/2005 21:34

maybe yu could start giving him a dreamfeed when you go to bed?

i sometimes just give ds some water or juice if he wakes... i think he just is thirsty sometimes

Original poster

QueenEagle · 02/10/2005 21:35

Yes spidermama, I have been bringing him into bed with me, which is ok when dh is at work. ds tends to go off then as he seems comforted that he's close to me.

Problem with that is I don't sleep properly for fear of rolling on him or him rolling out the other side of the bed.

OP posts:

spidermama · 02/10/2005 21:40

Yes I know what you mean. I'm thinking of putting the cot right up against the bed so he's sandwiched between me and the cot and can't roll out.

At the moment I put pillows down so if he does fall out of bed he'll have a soft landing.
Before anyone calls social services, it hasn't happened yet.

Original poster

QueenEagle · 02/10/2005 21:51

So, do you reckon it's teeth or hunger?

Still haven't figured that out yet.

OP posts:

spidermama · 02/10/2005 21:52

Teeth.

starlover · 02/10/2005 21:55

i reckon teeth too.

so try teething gel, or homepathic teething granules. i think with the granules you have to keep using them so that it kind of builds up in the body before it has an effect.

if all else fails then calpol or nurofen and some milk when he first wakes... then hopefully he;ll go back to sleep quicker

ScreamEagle · 02/10/2005 21:56

So instead of filling him up to bursting, should I be drugging him?

starlover · 02/10/2005 21:57

that's what i do, and it seems to work! lol

bakedpotato · 02/10/2005 22:04

By feeding him at night, you're kind of conditioning him to wake up for a feed at that time every night. At 9 mths, he should be easily getting enough by day to take him through the night. Maybe it started off as a teeth thing, and now it's turned into a food/sleep issue. Either way, if it's happening every night over a long stretch, and (the really key issue) you are keen to change things, please get hold of Dr Ferber's 'Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems'. Ferber could sort you out in a flash.
DS4 probably needs a full night's kip as much as you do...

ScreamEagle · 02/10/2005 22:08

bakedpotato - that's what I am worried about in the long term. A few nights broken sleep isn't too bad and I expect it....but this has been going on for over a month now.

Does the approach you are suggesting involve leaving him to cry himslef back to sleep? As he shares a room with ds3 that wouldn't be practical. What I have been doing is tucking him back in with his bear and stroking him and he goes off most times. Over the last couple of nights though he has woken himself right up and he seems to want to play - but 4am is not the time for it!!!

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