How the fuck do you take a sleep fighter out?

[Bumperlicious]

Had the shittest afternoon with dd2 (3 months). Went with both dds to a friend's for a birthday party. Dd2 was due a sleep & drifted off in the car but wide awake as soon as I stopped. Forgot to take the sling. She very quickly got crabby then too hysterical to even feed to sleep, intolerant of all the people and kids. Eventually went to friend's bedroom where I calmed her down enough to feed. She eventually crashed and allowed me to put her down asleep which I was really surprised about as she never normally does that unless swaddled and going into her hammock.

She slept for 20 mins then proceded to scream for the rest of the afternoon.

How the hell do the rest of you take your LOs out? My friend were all great as obviously they've had kids but it was miserable for me. One of my friends has her 3 month old who fed then fell asleep in her arms. Didn't hear a peep out of her.

I don't tend to take mine out unless I know she has just had a nap and we have a window to take her out before the next one. I only do this now as I had some similar sounding experiences to you and for me it just is not worth it anymore! Yes, it restricts me a HUGE amount, but I honestly prefer that to being out with her in a cranky overtired state.

Having had similar experiences to yours, I now cope by NEVER forgetting the sling! When you have more than one child, not going out is not an option, and ds2 will only sleep in the sling, maybe not for very long but enough so he doesn't scream his way through the day.

I feel your pain. DD (now 15 weeks) screamed almost the whole of Christmas Day! It is a battle to get her to nap and if I want her to sleep for a decent time and avoid crankiness I have to sit and hold her.

I haven't found a solution that works yet, just hoping if I persevere eventually she will 'get it'

Ah, didn't notice that it was your second child, so not going out is not really feasible, sorry.

Oh Bumps, I so sympathise. DS HAS to sleep after 1hr 20mins of awake time or he gets really screamy and impossible, which is rather limiting in terms of going out etc. We went to some friends' this weekend who live an hour's drive away (were supposed to stay overnight but DS had woken every hour the night before so decided not to risk it) and spent the day in a state of utter paranoia. Luckily he slept in the car on the way but only after I played him white noise on my iPhone and stroked his face (I thought babies were supposed to fall asleep automatically in the car?). DH and I then spent all day obsessively watching the clock and checking DS for yawns, then took it in turns to take him out in the sling. Had to walk up to the main road though because he will only fall asleep if there's traffic noise (I thought babies were supposed to fall asleep automatically in the sling?). Used to just feed to sleep on these occasions but he won't do that anymore. Made it through the day without any strops only for him to scream non-stop in the car all the way home - was exhausted when we got home!

Had an awful day last week when I took him to HV. Tried to time it so he could nap in pram there and back (30 mins' walk). He refused to sleep both ways (I thought babies ... etc etc). By the time I got home he hadn't slept for five hours and he screamed and screamed and screamed until my NCT pal (who has self-settling sleep-anywhere angel baby ) came over and rescued me. Shudder.

Just getting through the day is exhausting at the moment. I feel really trapped.

I too used to either take the sling everywhere or time outings between naps. Still do a bit - DS is 15 months though and we can skip his morning nap sometimes. Never the lunch one though!

DS only started sleeping in the car when he was older and in a larger stage 1 carseat. He had reflux and the carseat used to put pressure on his tummy so no way would he sleep unless he had a dummy in (I was a dummy snob but DH convinced me. Glad he did! DS didn't become dependent on it). Worth giving a bit of time after a feed before putting them in the carseat.

With the sling, I had a outer cover with a hood so could put the hood up and block any view so he'd stay asleep. Also if you make sure they're asleep for at least 10 minutes before moving indoors etc, they're less likely to wake up again.

Forgot to add - he never napped in his lie flat pram. Only once we could put him in a more upright position did he drift off when out (3 months).

oh god i have this problem too with DS now nearly 5 months and no better! he is so nosy he is also difficult to get to sleep in the pram/car!:(

i have just got a snooze shade for the pram which helps to an extent - if i'm out i just have to put that on and jiggle the pram about and after a bout of screaming he usually sleeps but the worst thing is his naps and so rubbish he's awake again 20 mins later - all that work for such little gain is soul destroying!!!

Having some success with sling but it does hurt my back.

Thanks for the advice Iggly - your tip the other week to put DS down at 1hr 20 rather than 1.5hrs was right on the money.

Thanks for all the replies. Count, I know what you mean, dd will sleep in the car but only after a fashion & if we are moving. I spend a lot of car journeys 'amber gambling' and praying I don't get stuck behind a bus so we don't have to stop. She rarely stays asleep once we've stopped and whatever she is in (pram, carseat, sling) she will almost never stay asleep once we get back in our own house, it's like she smells it!

I dread going to my inlaws because of a 45 minute car journey she'll sleep half hour max then spend the day getting past around and my (lovely) sisters in law try and help by taking her off me and jiggling her but it just gets her even more worked up!

Yesterdays crap afternoon turned into a hideous evening whereby tired dd struggled to feed (when tired she gets too impatient for the let down) so basically apart from a very short nap on the way home from my friend's at 5, she didn't go to sleep till 12.30!

And dh really pissed me off as he just sees me obsessing over her sleep and can't see the connection. When I told him about my afternoon he couldn't see what the problem was and said 'but she slept this morning' and things that if she's tired she would sleep, and if she is over tired why is she crying? And 'babies don't need that much sleep'. God I nearly killed him yesterday.

Oh bump, I feel your pain!

I think we have the same DD and same DH.

Repeat - its a phase, it will pass (because if its not, im buying a flight to somewhere warm and leaving DD and DH to it)

bump and countbapula i feel your pain. my DS of 12 weeks is the same - an impossible napper, makes me feel utterly trapped too. If he doesn't sleep, we have evenings of screaming, writhing, wriggling and pacing. My DD aged 2.5 has had to go into nursery for 4 days a week partly for the reason that I cannot cope with the two of them alone.

have you got a mechanised swing? that works with my son, but only rarely... yesterday it worked a treat, today no chance.

PS my Dh also thinks I am obsessed by sleep, but that's because i am, and for a good reason!

We have got a swing but never use it because it has an alarmingly frantic swinging action that puts me in mind of the Nemesis ride at Alton Towers. Doesn't seem very relaxing. What do you do, just put them in and cover with a blanket? Might have to try again.

swaddle, plug dummy in, insert baby and crucial, this one, time it right. a minute into overtired flailing and the motion seems to have a stimulating effect rather than send him off. ours is a bit like nemesis too.

Seriously, sling sling sling, especially if this is your second DC. I hardly ever washed my sling as I needed it every day for DS2 to make sure I was covered if he needed to sleep while we were out. Kari Me was the one I used - just lovely.

Thanks sleepwhenImdead, I have a Kari Me which I love, the problem was I forgot to take it - won't be making that mistake again!

arrrrgh. My 12 week old DS has been fighting sleep all day today. He has so far slept for 2 x 30 minutes and is practically bouncing off the walls. My mum has taken him out for a walk in his pram in the hope of sending him off. To make matters worse, I have some sort of bug which has given me an upset tummy and aching legs :(. Feeling very sorry for myself today.

Another shit day today & yesterday. It seems like if dd misses her window for a nap the rest of the day is shot to shit, feeding & sleeping all go out of the window! Having a really miserable time at the moment.

Hello, no answers but the tone of your thread title appealed to me ;) my ds (10 wks) fights naps and night time sleep and I was actually in tears yesterday after seeing and hearing about the other babies in our NCT group and their fab sleep. Well, one apparently wakes 3-4 times a night...that would be massive progress for us!

It is shit, shit, shit and you have my sympathies.

Fortunately she doesn't fight night time sleep nice she has actually gone down for the night. When I feed her in the night I've taken to feeding lying down. She is then easy to scoop up and put back in her hammock. Getting her down for the night is another story. There is no pattern except that no sleep = crap day = crap evening.

Sympathy.

I now basically don't take DS (4m) out in the afternoon if the lunchtime nap hasn't worked as he is just too grumpy. That said, I have started enforcing the lunchtime nap, so if he wakes after an hour I make him go back to sleep for another hour, even though this usually involves tears (his) and gritted teeth (mine).

It's a bit limiting as means I have to be home between 11-1 or 12-2 so he gets that nap but worth it for a better afternoon.

However, it's obviusly a lot harder when you have other children

how is everyone getting on with their sleep fighters??

i took my DS out to see a relative visiting from overseas yesterday with the result that he had only 3x 25 min naps all day and boy did we know about in come the evening and early hours.

Hi

I just came across this thread from a search of 'sleep fighters' and I was wondering if you can kindly share your experience of what worked and how your DCs are now? Thanks!