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Original poster

Misery loves company: anyone want to join me on a support thread for those desperate and demoralised by their 8/9/10 mo sleep?

999 replies

Suchanamateur · 11/12/2012 14:36

Bloody sleep regression. It's like 4 months all over again but worse because it felt (briefly) like we were getting somewhere. Feck. Anyone else want to share tales of woe or is it (a) just me or (b) way too depressing to post about..?

OP posts:
KatAndKit · 11/12/2012 21:24

Joining in. It's one long tale of woe here. i wouldn't call it a regression because he never really progressed much after the 4 month one anyway. If it isn't teething its a cold. Wakes up at least every 2 hours often even more. Will not sleep in cot in own room.

Original poster
Suchanamateur · 11/12/2012 21:45

Hello. DD went down like a lead weight after a day of crap naps. And has just woken as I turn off the light to sleep.. I hate wakes at this time. Never seem to be able to settle without a feed and yet so damn recent since I last fed her. A friends 5 week old wakes less. Grr.

OP posts:
OccamsRaiser · 12/12/2012 01:37

I hear you. My DS is nearly 8 months now, and is terrible with daytime naps. Or at least in his cot. Will sleep ok if we are out and about in his pram, or driving. But put him in his cot while he's still awake and he will cry inconsolably until he's picked up. No amount of 'shh-pat' or speaking in a calm voice makes a difference. Once he's cried for a bit, he will happily feed to sleep (even if he's just had a meal) He won't take a dummy or bottle, so even though it's comfort-sucking, there's not much I can do there

Add to this that his top two teeth have just broken the gum, and he's been night-waking again (noooo! Just after he started sleeping through at last!) and I'm at my wits end... Misery loves company Xmas Hmm

notcitrus · 12/12/2012 02:43

Dd seems to get better and then worse again - she's 10mo now. Actually the waking isn't as bad as her violence - punching me in the face, clawing, stabbing me in the eye, and trying to yank my hair out despite it being tied back. At this rate I'm going to have to give up bfing - had an interview lasy week with a swollen eye. At least it didn't go black.

Latest trick is to wake and crawl round her cot and then bash into the side and howl. I was cosleeping which helped but now she crawls out of bed and sits up and almost toppled onto the floor...

LadyKinbote · 12/12/2012 04:18

Sitting here with steam coming out of my ears having spent the last two hours trying to get DS (9m) to sleep! He's now playing in his cot and I know that if I leave the room he'll scream. I have to get up for work in two hours Sad

ExhaustTed · 12/12/2012 05:24

Me please, can I join too?

Dd is nearly 9 months (dc3) "regressed" at 4 months (until then would consistently sleep 7-4, 4-7) and has been pretty pants ever since. Her current favourite trick is to wake up everyday at 5am and then not o back to sleep. And she is so cross to be awake too and cries if I'm try to sit down.
I'm back to work after christmas so beginning to get desperate (although she shares a room with her brothers which limits my options )

I do wonder where I went wrong Sad

DeafLeopard · 12/12/2012 05:52

It will get better honestly.

That said I have a 14yo with ASD who doesn't sleep much and can't be left unsupervised when awake and an 8yo who has never slept well but has been struggling to get to sleep, waking several times and being unable to get back to sleep.

So you're not alone Hmm

blushingmare · 12/12/2012 07:15

Joining here too. In fact have just posted separately about my dd. She's 6mo and waking every 1.5-2 hours through the night - nothing but feeding will settle her! It's so annoying because her daytime sleeps have got so much better and she's not even needing feeding to sleep at bedtime anymore so I really feel like our nights should be improving but they're getting worse Confused

educator123 · 12/12/2012 09:45

Can I join? Dd is an awful sleeper nearly 8months and just waking constantly.

Only will go back to sleep laying on the bed with me as a human dummy :(

She never sleeps in the day in her cot, which I think must have something to do with it. She is number four and this is b shock to me, the others were napping for two hours after lunch and sleeping most of the night by now, bar a quick feed at maybe 4am then straight back off again.

Help!

NervousAt20 · 12/12/2012 10:10

My DD wouldn't sleep for longer then 1hr20min last night with a couple of 40min ones in there aswellSadSad

educator123 · 12/12/2012 10:17

I've had two angels who slept so well as they sucked their fingers and self settled...I'm willing my Dd to do it, but it just isn't happening.
So I'm the only one that can settle her with bf...I'm so desperate I've been thinking of cc but not sure I can bare it :(

Original poster
Suchanamateur · 12/12/2012 13:33

Ah educator - my Dd has been a confirmed thumb sucker but now she's stopped. Horrors! Been trying to coax it back in to no avail...

OP posts:
Mitsouko · 12/12/2012 14:32

Right here with you all! My DD is 9 months today. I don't know what a regression looks like though as she's struggled with sleep from birth. Her all time record is 4 hours - usually in the evening from 7-11 or so. She goes down a treat at bedtime now, and even self settles on occasion. No impact on the night wakings though , they're roughly every hour or two. I've been able to space out her night feeds a bit (down to 2-3 at the moment) by using a dummy and having a very helpful DH. I am tired beyond words though. I've not slept for longer than three hours at a time in over a year as I had PGP related insomnia during the last trimester of pregnancy. Brew and sympathy all around.

halfaglassofouzodestructo · 12/12/2012 14:38

Can I join too? After months of lurking on the sleep boards I think it's time for a support thread.

9moDD, also regressed badly at 4 months (though we never got down to less than two wakings before that), and has never really improved. I thought she might possibly be improving on her own a few weeks ago, and then we had two colds, two teeth, and an ear infection which have made everything ten times worse. I now think two hours of unbroken sleep is a good thing Sad.

Mitsouko my DD also settles well at bedtime, in cot, sometimes without us even in the room, but during the night only feeding to sleep/cuddling will do. And she screams blue murder if my DH picks her up in the night. I'm back to work in 5 weeks and really don't know what to do about it. But I can't be getting up 4 or 5 times a night.

Suchanamateur I also have a friend with a newborn sleeping more than this. It makes me very Envy.

artifarti · 12/12/2012 17:28

Me, me, me! I'm in. DS2 (8.5 months) fooled us at the start by sleeping wonderfully, even a couple of 10 hour stretches. Then it all went tits up at 4 months, a familiar story it would seem. DS1 was sleeping through by 7.5 months so this is a shock. DS2 will only nap in his buggy, which is not such a big problem. He wakes 3 or 4 times a night and I have resorted to co-sleeping. I haven't been for a night out since he was born as it has been impossible to leave him - although DP can now shush him sometimes so I am making an escape attempt net week. We also have endless colds and teething which really doesn't help. My whole body aches with exhaustion.

So what are we going to do about the little blighters?!

ElphabaTheGreen · 12/12/2012 20:09

Here as well. Four-month sleep regression started at 12 weeks and is still going at almost 7 months. We have tried everything, including CC (don't flame me please - y'all know how desperate sleep deprivation makes you) with very little success. I get stretches of sleep of two hours (max) at a time and up for the day at 4:30am-ish. Naps are only on me. They could, theoretically, be in the pram as well, but I'm too bloody shattered to do that much walking. Got two perfect naps into DS yesterday which lead to an amazing night of sleep, but it required four hours of driving (2hrs in the morning, 2hrs in the afternoon) with him in the car seat to get them. Those are expensive naps, given current petrol prices...

Nightmoves · 12/12/2012 20:52

Budge up, me too please!!! Started at 12 weeks. Since then, progressively worse. At the mo settling him in our bed as he won't go down awake and can't get him into cot without waking him. He was in crib at start of night but is too big now. He wakes every 40 mins AT LEAST till I come to bed. After that it varies, can be hourly, more or less at varying points during the night. I too consider waking every 2 hours to be a good night. Have tried gentle sleep assists and he resists resists resists. Too knacked to do anything more hardcore. He is magic in other respects. It soooo helps to know there are others out there. Yay!!

LadyKinbote · 13/12/2012 06:39

No flaming for CC Elphaba - seriously considering it myself!

KatyJ26 · 13/12/2012 06:48

Oh, such a relief to know it's not just me- too tired to post at the mo (oh the irony!) marking my place to come back later Sad

blossombath · 13/12/2012 08:20

Oh hooray a support thread I'm not too late to join (I hope!). Another morning of sitting on sofa staring at ds cruising round room and wondering how I'll get through the day to bedtime, except I know that at bedtime I'll be anxious and grumpy anticipating the night ahead. Just four more weeks of mat leave, wish I had the energy to enjoy it.

Considering cc though I said I never would, but I'm running out of other ideas.

We need a guest lecture from someone with an angel 11mo who started sleeping through after months of hell, so they can share their secrets

ElphabaTheGreen · 13/12/2012 09:17

I hear you blossombath. The most stimulation I can give DS is listlessly dangling toys in front of his face. Long since chucked in the baby groups on account of fatigue. Six more weeks of mat leave left and I have yet to manage a night on the sofa with the DH with baby sleeping peacefully upstairs or resume any kind of exercise (I was formerly something of a fitness junkie).

How the hell am I going to cope with working full time?!?

blossombath · 13/12/2012 09:21

Just had to come back on and vent to stop self crying into tea. Just fed ds to sleep for his first nap and feel an utter failure. Not meant to be feeding to sleep but cannot bear him crying in my arms anymore as I rock/walk to sleep. Feels like my life is 90 per cent made up of walking him to sleep. I know he will sleep better eventually but WHEN??! [desperateanddepressedemoticonwithsantahat]

blossombath · 13/12/2012 09:25

Elphaba so glad it's not just me, I feel awful that I don't play enough with ds but I find it hard to muster energy and frankly most days he seems to prefer just crawling and climbing round on his own looking for things to chew. So I sit and watch, moving him away from danger and stalking the sleep board in search of new ideas.

blossombath · 13/12/2012 09:28

Oh and at risk of patronising, exercise would probably help Elphaba, gives you energy and all that. if I can do morning chores in time I am going to try and get to a buggy exercise class today so I have something else to think about.

LadyKinbote · 13/12/2012 09:32

Btw for those of you worried about returning to work, I've been back for a few months and in some ways it's easier because at least you can go to the toilet / drink a cup of tea in peace! I think my body is starting to get used to no sleep as well!