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Original poster

Let's all meet here for a sleep deprivation support group

811 replies

ImNotAnsweringIt · 15/11/2011 11:56

I though it might be helpful to have a general thread with survival tips for dealing with the exhaustion and misery of the long or short term effects of lack of sleep. I bet we can all find someone worse off than ourselves, and that's always a help, hmm?

My little tips for making things more bearable:

Make sure you are warm enough when you have to get up in the night. Have dressing gown and slippers by your bed if neccesary. This also helps you get back to sleep quickly, should you be fortunate enough to have the opportunity!

Have lovely breakfast things in. I always have expensive cereal in the cupboards Just For Me.

Anyone else? Hang in there everyone, I am having a very down day today which is what inspired me to start this.

OP posts:
buggyRunner · 14/12/2011 07:20

Hi all,

Well we had a miracle night! After dd2 not eating much in the day and me dreading the night she actually slept from 730-430 then went back after a feed until 6. I can't tell you how much more glorious life feels (actually having suffered mental ilness in the past I would liken it to recovering from that/ waking up the day after a mega hangover and being delighted not to feel so crap anymore)

I hope it's going back to normal but I am realistic thinking it's a fluke.

Dp is finally understanding the pain as he realised how me sleeping well has a positive effect on our sex life Grin

wifey6 · 14/12/2011 07:30

Blimey buggy...that's excellent...well done babybuggy! Smile
DS went down at 8:30pm & woke up at 1:30am coughing then went off til 7:15am.
I'm so sorry to hear so many of you have been having a tough night. Sad

Original poster
ImNotAnsweringIt · 14/12/2011 07:39

ams I am at the end of my tether. There just doesn't feel like any way out though. Dh took a day off last week and has done several times. Can't keep doing it. My pils will come and help but when they come to take children out for an hour or two I just can't sleep and feel worseand have to find the energy to ring them/see them etc. Sounds pathetic but it is just beyond me.

I just want it to be better. Last night the longest he went was 2.30 mins and I felt great. The other times he didn't even sleep 2 hours.

He isn't being sick or really anything obvious. Just wakes up with some discomfort (moaning and groaning, pulling knees up) and needs settling (I just feed in desperation, which must have made it worse). He is 6 months now but cannot tolerate any solids, even a tiny bit of rice or fruit mixed with ebm. It just causes him to be awake all night with bloating, flatulence and, I don't know, just makes him wide awake and he won't feed.

I know I M in a bad way because I become utterly self- indulgent!

buggy good news, you must feel wonderful

OP posts:
wifey6 · 14/12/2011 07:47

ImNot....sorry if you have already posted this...is it colic?

wifey6 · 14/12/2011 07:53

I agree with the poster who said about keeping on to the hospital ImNot. You are obviously doing everything you can. It's awful isnt it when they are uncomfortable & sleep seems like a distant memory. My DS had colic & still suffers on/off with wind & bloating. We use (tut tut) boiled water with a pinch of brown sugar...it works for him but HV would not approve.

Starshaped · 14/12/2011 08:18

Oh I'mNot, that sounds completely hellish. Poor you, and poor miniI'mNot. Is your DH having any time off over Christmas? I know it's not a long term answer but if the two of you are at home, you might be able to take it in turns and give each other a bit of a break? Feel free to be as self indulgent as you need to be - sometimes it really helps to vent!

Sounds like a mixed bag of nights. Ours was actually pretty good. DD woke at 1:30 and was only up for 45 minutes rather than the usual 2 hours. I managed to get her back to sleep without feeding her (I'd said I wouldn't feed her if she woke before 2) and then she went back down until 6.

The night would have been perfect had I been able to get back to sleep when she did. However, I just couldn't drift off and lay awake for an hour or so. Grrrh. I'm a bit worried because I developed pretty bad insomnia last night she had a terrible patch of sleeping and am scared that it might start again. I need to try be positive about it and will be digging out my Paul McKenna stuff again as a preemptive measure!

buggyRunner · 14/12/2011 09:59

imnot my friends son had similar symptoms- he ended up on prescription milk. It was hell for her initially but when she got it sorted he slept so much better

Original poster
ImNotAnsweringIt · 14/12/2011 10:01

Hi, I have no idea what it is. Dietician suspects cows milk allergy. All I know is he has not slept more than 3 hours and is now 6 months! First 3 months were dreadful at least now he is happy by day!

OP posts:
BroomBuBuBum · 14/12/2011 18:44

Sounds like your having a tough time Imnot, hope they work out what's wrong soon.

I have just been battling with DD to go to sleep as she woke up from her last nap at 3.30 so thought I should get her down for bed earlier than usual. I put her in the Moses basket and did the usual stroking of her face and she was just getting more and more annoyed and so was I. I sort of huffily said fine, stopped stroking her and just lay down on my bed holding her hand but not really paying any attention to her and she has fallen asleep!! She's never gone to sleep like that before. So hopefully I'm making progress. Absolutely determined to keep putting her down awake, I feel like its the first step and maybe if I can achieve that then I can hopefully get her sleeping better.

wifey6 · 14/12/2011 19:49

Grin broom!!!
That's great.

BroomBuBuBum · 14/12/2011 19:52

Thanks wifey Grin

She woke back up 40 mins later but she's settled back down now.

Good luck for tonight everyone.

pipoca · 14/12/2011 20:53

Sometimes I think they can just get fed up with all the "settling" and need to be left to it for a few minutes. Doesn't always work though. Hope you get some answers soon I'm and hope everyone has a reasonable night. xx

Ams25 · 15/12/2011 06:36

Great night! Went down awake at 6.45, woke at 10.30 for a quick feed then went straight back down (awake) same again at 3.30 then slept til 6am! Each time settled himself back to sleep. Of course, toddler decided to push wake up time back to 4.30 hmm but we just went in to him briefly, said its still night time then left him til 5.20. Think we are going to push this back to 6am because it is ridiculous him getting up this early, leaves him tired and ratty for the rest of the day, especially as he doesn't nap anymore.

Still, a much better night on balance, hope it was for everyone else too?

wifey6 · 15/12/2011 08:23

Grin Ams...!
My DS went down at 8:15pm....coughed & cried out at 10:30pm but went straight back to sleep & woke up at 8:15am!! I'm she'll-shocked....I feel human again!! Grin

Starshaped · 15/12/2011 09:38

Wifey and Ams - that's brilliant (particularly Wifey - wow!) Xmas Smile

Ok night here too. DD went down at 7pm, woke at midnight but resettled quickly by DH and was then up again for a feed at 4ish. I was up with her for about 40 minutes but managed to settle her in the cot while she was drowsy from the milk. She finally woke for the morning at 7.15am.

And I managed to get back to sleep again after getting up with her. Paul McKenna was not required last night - phew!

Hope that everybody else had a reasonable night too.

wifey6 · 15/12/2011 09:41

star....that's a great night! Well done to babystar. SmileThere must of been something in the air last night!!
Hope everyone else had good nights too.

ItsTimeToBurnThisDiscoDown · 15/12/2011 11:24

Glad you had good nights Wifey, Ams and Starshaped! Unfortunately mine bucked the trend! He was asleep by 7 then up at about 8, then didn't go to sleep til 12.30 (on me) and woke up about 20 mins after I put him in his cot. Then he cried every time I put him down so he slept on me til 2:30 by which time I was losing the plot a bit! I put him in his cot and left him for a few minutes in case he'd just settle himself but he didn't, then I gave up and brought him
into our room and when he was settled put him in Moses basket. He cried so I flipped him over onto his tummy to attempt shush pat and he went straight to sleep. Tried to flip him over but he woke up so put him back on his tummy and he slept for 3 hours (until I woke up slightly more with it than I had been and freaked out I'd left him on his tummy so turned him over - he woke up!). Then I brought him into our bed and he slept til about 10 and so did I!

I know I did so many things wrong here it's untrue, but mainly I was wondering should I get him up at 7 am no matter what to try and get him to sleep earlier in the evening? Sorry for the long rambling post!

wifey6 · 15/12/2011 11:41

itstime....sorry to read you both had such a bad night. Don't beat yourself up over the 'wrong' things...we do what we have to when we are so exhausted.
My DS slept loads better on his tummy from 6months...first few times I woke up to find him on his front made my heart stop! But he is now a firm sleeper on his front. Helps with his wind etc. how old is your LO? Sorry if you have mentioned all this before...but have you spoken to HV about it? I got some tips from mine which helped settle my DS when in his own room.

wifey6 · 15/12/2011 11:44

Have any of you read babycalming... Simple solutions for a happy baby. I have just started reading it. I find some stuff helpful...but am also reading supernanny toddler care as well so I can understand the toddler-world more!

Starshaped · 15/12/2011 12:01

Itstime DD is also a tummy sleeper and has been since about 5.5 months. Although we used to put her down on her back, she was always on her stomach when she woke. Now (7 months) we put her down on her tummy or side. It has made the world of difference to her sleep.

ItsTimeToBurnThisDiscoDown · 15/12/2011 14:09

He's 4 and a half months old, we've been having problems with sleep for about 4 weeks now. I mentioned it to the HV and she said it might be time to wean him onto solids, but I said he's still only feeding at 12 and 4 and she said she didn't know then. Hmm He can roll from back to front but not back again, which worries me about regularly sleeping him on his front (feel even more shitty about leaving him on his front now writing that!). He used to sleep on his side when he was tiny but stopped at about 4 weeks so might try putting him on his side instead. Thanks for the book tip Wifey, might order that later.

ItsTimeToBurnThisDiscoDown · 15/12/2011 14:12

Thanks Starshaped, think I'll try him on his side tonight.

wifey6 · 15/12/2011 14:18

You are very welcome itstime...
I hope the side sleeping helps.

BroomBuBuBum · 15/12/2011 16:18

DD sleeps on her side when she ends up in bed with us. I wonder if letting her sleep like this in her Moses basket would help? DD can now roll both ways so maybe not as risky?

ItsTime my hv is also useless really old fashioned, so I've stopped asking her for any advice now.

birchykel · 16/12/2011 04:01

Hey all well we aRe slowly going back to square one. For about five nights she was going for 7.30 thru to 1 or 2 where I'd feed her then she would go till 6. Lovely. But past three nights waking again at 3.30 or 4 and screaming uncontrollably till I either feed or take her downstairs where she will calm but still want feeding shortly after. See my rule was only one night feed. And just settle other times she wakes which worked abbey still dies up until 3ish.. think I give in too easily cos I'm tired and think I've got to take other girl to school in morn. Plus I worry she will wake everyone. But although I know she is still doing heaps better than before I'm shattered, proper tired. I just want a full nights sleep....as do we all.
Plus my Dh is tired so we bicker a lot lately, he had the cheek to say 'what do u all day cos the house is a shit hole' I just burst into tears.....the house isn't dirty just has clothes drying in kitchen, toys in living room and little bits that need putting away. So now I'm on top of it all and making a point of doing housework plus everything else that goes with looking after children.
My poor eldest is getting called fat at school and has now missed three meals, teacher is suppose to talk to the little prick today I hope it stops.
So feeling stressed and I could almost just put hands up and say that's it can't do it.
Still can't see how I'm going go throw work into this situation too come Feb.

Sorry for rant just badly needed
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