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nearly 5months old wont sleep at night, wont sleep during the day

8 replies

littlehuman · 15/05/2011 16:38

hi my daughter will be 5 months in 10 days and she wont sleep , she must sleep about 6/7 hours in 24hours!!! she s grumpy all the time( so are we!) but seems wide awake the all time. i gave up breastfeeding as i ve been told formula was better for babies to sleep but it didnt work. i let her cry or i pick her up...does not make any difference.she sleeps when i push her buggy or in the car, but as soon as i stop walking or as soon as we are stop at the trafficlight she wakes up straight , big wide eyes like she never been asleep. just not sure what to do now?... anybody with a similar experience?

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littlehuman · 15/05/2011 16:40

oops lot of spelling mistakes...sleep deprivation i suppose

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Zimm · 16/05/2011 16:22

Sounds like she is overtired and you need to break teh cycle - can you post a typical day for us including feeds, bedtime routine and any naps?

littlehuman · 17/05/2011 12:47

hi zimm
she usually wakes up at 4am sometimes goes back to sleep after her feed until about 6/7 am but most of the time she want to stay awake, then she wont sleep the whole day unless she is in the buggy(or in the car), she feeds then sort of falls asleep at the end of the feed but wakes up crying as soon as i put her down. around 6ish pm bath time , 7pm feed and sleep , usually manage to settle her around 8pm (occasionnaly there is nothing to do she wont go to sleep) then she wake up around 11/12 at night for a other feed, she ll normally go back to sleep quite quickly after that feed. hope i gave enough details.

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kellieb7 · 18/05/2011 18:03

Hi, we are in a very similar situation with DD (5 months old, EBF), the only difference is she isn't grumpy (thank goodness!!). I really worry that she (and me) aren't getting enough sleep but there is nothing I can do (and I have tried) she doesn't respond to shush/pat, PUPD or any of the other suggestions that have being made so I know exactly how you feel, she won't even sleep in her pram now :-(

I will keep my eye on this thread in anticipation for the magic answer but if we don't get it at least you know your not alone! x x

littlehuman · 19/05/2011 11:16

hi kellie, thank you!!! if something magical happen , i ll definitly post it for you!

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ComradeJing · 19/05/2011 11:49

Hi ladies I'm in the exact same boat. I'll watch this thread with interest.

narmada · 19/05/2011 11:53

Littlehuman, I agree, she sounds very overtired and needs more sleep as you definitely do! Poor thing, how are you managing to cope??!

Have you ruled out any physcial causes, e.g., reflux, ear infection, cow's milk protein intolerance? All of these can contribute to poor sleep.

I have a baby who until recently slept very little. My first DD (now 3 and a fab sleeper) was also terrible as a baby. With both of them we only made any progress when we taught them to sleep in their cots as opposed to on the move (they were both movement junkies like your baby and couldn't drop off in a stationary environment).

With both, this has involved putting them in their cot and staying with them until they went to sleep - PUPD didn't work for either of mine, just got them more agitated. It took a very very long time the first time with my DD, around 2 1/2 hours I seem to remember. It didn't take quite so long with DS. With both of them there was quite a bit of crying. I just patted them on the bum to let them know I was there. If they got really upset I did pick them up. With DS, I sometimes jiggle him in his sleeping bag in his cot so he thinks he's moving IYSWIM. I think the key thing is getting them to fall to sleep in their cots, one way or another. No dummies or anything like that because as soon as they fall out, they'll be awake.

As I say, proper PUPD did not work with either of mine, nor did shush pat calm them down enough to actually sleep really. With both I'm afraid to say that they've had to whinge themselves to the point of exhaustion the initial few times.

This might not be for you - some people are unhappy with anything that involves crying, but for us, it felt like the only solution and I am very glad we did it because I am a much better, calmer parent with more sleep!

I do hope you find a solution soon.

littlehuman · 20/05/2011 10:54

hi DS has no medical problem ,not in pain or anything ( i know cos i soon as i pick her up she s all happy...cheeky bugger). i do let her cry til she falls asleep again after feeding her and changing her nappy especially in the middle of the night, it depends what "sort of crying" it is!but she wiggles so much when she cry that i have to go and check on her now and again cos she ends up with her legs through the rail of the cot, or stuck in a dodgy position in a corner or under the blanket...and as for the dummy she never had one...
i ll keep relying on coffee just now lol!

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