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

[ImNotAnsweringIt]

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.

Hello can I join please? DD is 9 mo and has decided she doesnt want to sleep anymore. I have been spoilt as she slept through from 12 weeks but over last two months things have gone from bad to worse. Just when I seem to think it can't get any worse it does - last night she screamed almost solidly from 11-4. She was happy as soon as we walked in room or picked her up. Separation anxiety perhaps?

Urgh anyway hoping I can join this group to help get me through this ' phase'. Last night I felt I couldn't take anymore and ended up shouting at DD feel like a really bad mum.

Wishing you all a peaceful night.

Welcome daisy....seperation anxiety is what it sounds like. Have you tried the sleep seperation technique? It's designed for babies who are going the SA.
Don't feel ....sleep deprivation is torture & we have all been at the end of our tether. We are here for support.

Hey all, it has been a while since I've been on here. One thing or another has kept me from coming on here. Lo keeps getting poorly and I'm just getting over an infection so really lousy recently.
Haven't kept up to date either so sorry all!

Daisy hope u have a better night, I totally understand where ur coming from and don't feel bad.
X

Hey daisy, don't feel bad. It's easy to get frustrated but your DD won't know or remember. Sorry to hear things are so tough (and slightly that you have had a good sleeper till now ). Really hope things improve for you soon. Until then we're here to share your pain!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone

I haven't heard of sleep separation technique - will give it a google now...

I think half the problem is we have 'made a rod for own back' - DD always needed to be rocked or cuddled to sleep (severe reflux until she went onto hypoallergenic formula at 12 weeks). We kept up the cuddling to sleep as it was the quickest way to get her off and she still managed to go through the night but alas now I think this may be the route of the problem. I feel so bloody tired I don't have the stamina to put her down awake - whenever I have tried in past she just gets really wound up and screams even louder. It then takes ages to calm her down and inevitably we go back to cuddling.

Hmmmm hopefully this sleep separation might help.

Hope I can be of some support to the rest of you.

Im actually starting to feel anxious about what the night ahead is going to bring....

Good luck to us all!

Thanks for the sympathy Imnot - glad to hear things are improving for you and there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

Just managed to get DD down in her cot (asleep) for the first time in ages! Lasted all of 15 mins before she stirred and realised my nipple wasn't in her mouth I wasn't there but still, it's a small improvement...

Welcome daisy! Also feel jealous of your period of good sleep but sorry you?re having a bad time,had heard that 9 month sleep regression is meant to be a tough one. Sympathy to everyone who is having a tough time. Broom hope you have continued to get more than 40 mins at a time. Thisis i feel your pain,we started at 345 this morning though as we'd got 8-12 at the beginning of the night i feel i can't complain to much. Still exhausted tho.

SB DH permanently in the spare room at the moment so no arguments about dealing with things as i just do it my way and shout when i want him to come thru and help. Think sleep deprivation does test any relationship tho...

I'mnot-yay! Glad things a bit better. Will take your advice about recording i think.

Sorry if i missed anyone out,lots to catch up on!

Yay sophiesworld. Its definitely a start. Now if she can just extend it...

Ha, that'l bloody bastard well teach me! Finally got him to sleep at 3.45 last night, passed out myself, he woke again at 4.30. I think it's teeth but he had a roast dinner last night, maybe it upset him? I stupidly thought, as he put so much away, that he would sleep soundly. DH ill so I am on ds1 duty too; while ds2 dozes in (MY) bed, I was up at 6.30. In just a few days I fad forgotten how hellish it makes you feel.

How did everyone else fare?

Oh dear, I was just logging on to moan about our 5.30 start, but I see that was actually a lie-in compared to most :s Especially as I managed to get her back down at 7 for another hour. Bizarrely I feel worse for the extra hour's sleep.

Really sorry to hear about the rubbish nights :( Anyone got a positive one to report?

I am eating coco pops to cheer myself up!

sophie....I feel worse for a bit of extra sleep sometimes...
DS went down at 8:20pm but cried out 3 times as he has now got this dreaded cold. Surprisingly he settled each time with just his dummy & came in with us at 6pm...was only meant to have a cuddle but fell back to sleep til 7pm. I feel like a broken record with these bedtime rituals but it has worked so far .

PRAISE BE TO GOD ON HIGH!!!! She slept through the night! It may well be a total fluke as she's done 8-6am before but last night DD slept....wait for it....

TWELVE HOURS!!! Yes, you read that right...12 glorious hours! 830pm to 830am!!!

I have noooooo idea why. Nothing was different to nights she's been up loads, she still has a cough, she had similar bfs and solid intakes. She'll probably never do it again no, but I am so so so pleased cos now I know she can do it. She will sleep normally some day!

She cried out at 240am but stopped before I'd opened her door, same again at 415 and then one little wail at 730. I couldn't sleep past about 530am cos my boobs were so so so hard and painful. Couldn't lie on my front (obviously) or even my side. Then started leaking at about 6am.

She's asleep again now and had a good nap in the push chair this morning. I did think before that maybe she was over tired (not good at napping) and not getting into a deep enough sleep, but couldn't see how to fix it..all seemed a bit chicken and egg.

So, we'll see what tonight brings.....

Hope everyone is doing OK, will go back and read thread now.
xx

Yay Pip!!! Fingers crossed its the start of many. How old is your LO btw?

pipoca .

Need I say more!! Yay!

Congratulations pipoca, that's great news . You give us all hope!

Imnot I've been reading through from the start of the thread and totally agree with you about the iPhone. I got one a few weeks ago and it was an extravagance but such a lifeline in the wee hours and when I'm stuck on the sofa all evening.

I did promise myself it would be my treat for focussing on sorting out DDs sleep but has just ended up being a coping mechanism as I have no energy to do anything more than survive!

pipoca wow!! I'm and all at the same time! Now if only there was a secret trick you could teach us all.........!

I feel like we are making very slow progress, although we do seem to go backwards a lot too. Dd 'only' woke up 4 times last night and we only had a 30 minute wakeathon instead of her usual 3 or 4 hours.

Thought I'd post what I think is helping:
Sticking to my sleep plan from no-cry sleep (on day 6 now)
Cranial osteopath
Pitch black room, we ditched the nightlight last night
Sticking to a strict bedtime routine with a longer quiet time in dd2 bedroom (away from noisy dd1)
Keeping a sleep diary - which has made me realise that things are not quite as bad as I thought and we are making slow progress

Naps are still rubbish. I can get her to sleep now which is an improvement but only for 40 mins. Any tips?

Sweet dreams everyone

Omg just noticed comment about 9 month sleep regression. I'm still suffering from 4 month regression!

DD is 8.5 mo in answer to someone's question. She conked out about 2 hrs ago and we'll see what happens tonight...can't really believe it was anything more than a fluke, so steeling myself for night wakings. I wish I knew why she slept last night and not the other nights, so I could make sure conditions were right for her to do it again, and of course pass on the secret, but no idea really.
Glad a sleep diary has given you some insight thisis and sorry to hear you're back to crap nights Imnot, do you think it's dairy that's the problem then?

Hi Thisis - what parts of No Cry are you using? I'm working out a plan just now, but too much of a wuss to start it until DH is around more for moral support...

SB

Thisis I'm already dreading the 9 month sleep regression. Wasn't too worried about the 4 month one cos I thought things couldn't really get much worse.

Now I realise how wrong I was and can only imagine the atrocities that 9 months will bring...

I feel the same.

Last night DD alternated an hour of sleeping with an hour of crying ALL NIGHT! We're away for a few days,don't know if that's thrown her? Feel like i did in the early weeks without the new parent hormones and adrenaline to keep me going. Gave up at 5am. Even gave co sleeping a go again as I'm desperate for her to take to it but no dice . Pretty upsetting when you're trying to snuggle up to your baby and they're still screaming blue murder. On reflection think maybe she actually wanted fed every hour but i didn't as she doesn't even need fed that often during the day anymore but maybe i should have just kept feeding her. Advice???

Scotty I co-sleep and feed DD every 1.5 hours in the night. It's the only thing she wants when she wakes. If I try just lying next to her she wriggles, yells and roots so the co-sleeping really is just for ease of feeding.

Rod for back? Maybe, but we do what we can to survive.

She does also feed every 1.5-2 hours in the day though and is still only gaining slowly so I can't say for definite she doesn't need it.

Sorry, should have also said lots of sympathy - that sounds rubbish, especially when you're away from home

Thanks! May try just offering repeatedly tonight and see what happens. Its a shame as we're at center parcs and had been looking forward to taking her for so long but at the time we booked we assumed sleep would be better by now but its worse,although she was still sleeping on my chest then... I have a sneaking suspicion that we're still in that darn 4 mo sleep regression with a healthy dose of feeding added in!

Hey ho,at least she seemed to enjoy her first experience of swimming

Glad she enjoyed the swimming . DD likes it too and I read that it helps them sleep . Might work for though, you never know!

We've got a Center Parcs weekend booked for October. I was hoping DD would be sleeping well by then but am actually beginning to wonder...