The dreaded SLEEP REGRESSION support and solidarity thread!

[Tiredemma]

Here we are. Sleep deprived, emotional and craving all things sugary just to survive the day.

bah.

Mama - welcome - your story sounds similar to a lot of them on here! You sound v sleep deprived. If your baby did at one point do 6/7 hour stretches - that does def count as being a good sleeper in my book.... We would literally have a party if that happened here .

Carlat- you have to do what works for you. I have begun to leave dd in the day for a few minutes and sort of feel instinctively whether she needs me or not and usually she is asleep in a few minutes. On the other hand, I think you are an incredibly lucky person to have a baby that sleepy!! You use the word desperation- with all do respect I do not think, if this is the only baby experience you've had, that you understand what some of us on this thread are talkin about. A baby waking every few hours is not a desperate situation. Annoying yes. But IMO far from desperate. Being awake more than being asleep, screaming more than sleeping, this is desperate. If I had left my dd alone for the last 4 months, she would have been a tiny new little thing unable to communicate to anyone that she had a really sore tummy and was not feeling great. I can appreciate it is a different situation but please have some respect and leave the word desperate for those who actually feel like they are about to die from sleep deprivation.

So tired. Waking every single hour. I could set my watch by it.

Flopsy - I agree that multiple wakings at night is not as bad as having an inconsolable baby. As above I was up every hour and she woke at 5.00 but I'm well aware things could be worse. I read some posts and am thankful, likewise, I also read posts and I'm envious.

Unless I've misunderstood something this is a support thread for sleep deprived mothers of which Claret is one. I'm sure she is desperate for a good nights sleep. It's not very supportive to pick her up on the use of one word.
We're all just getting along as best we can! I hope you're doing ok.

Welcome Claret.

Lo

Looks like there have been some successes recently!!!

Marushka have a nice holiday! Hope travel is ok.

Hi all,
After 2.5 weeks we seems to be heading back to normal. Half a week of 3 nightly wake ups and thats almost where we were before this nightmare began. Not only is she napping now, I'm not having to feed or rock to sleep, just beside her till she drops off. Last night waz half hour from bath to sleep rather than 2 hours

Good luck, hang in there...it will end! Now to wait for the next regression ;)

flopsy I can feel your pain coming through in your thread. I had si ilarnights. Hang in there hon.

Hey ladies...
So did 2 hours before midnight and then as soon as me and DH went to bed she woke up, then was up every two hours I think... Pretty hard to settle as well, as soon as she de-latched she would start crying again...
Overall I think I got about 4 hours of broken up sleep, have a headache and no paracetamol in the house so had to steal some Calpol, lol :D

If this sleeping nightmare continues I think we'll try going back to giving DD a bottle of expressed bm in the evening... Last time we were doing it she was sleeping for 8-9 hours (those were the days...)

In my tiredness I assumed Carlet was telling us that to get from multiple walkings to 10hour blocks cc was the answer. I must be that knackered that when I read her post it didn't come across that she was sleep deprived, or at least for any long period of time.

I am so sorry... This is going to sound awful but I need to say it... This thread has been a real source of support as I seem to be surrounded by mothers (really nice people!!) with carlets experience. This was my break from hearing about their week or two of slightly broken nights.

I came here to get away from hearing about the babes hat regularly sleep through.

Cindy - thank you - xxx

Welcome newbies. This kid is trying to finish me. Every. 40. Minutes. Then ages to resettle. That's WITH co sleeping. New record, new low. He's TIRED, why can't he sleep FFS? Week 5.........

Morning all
Week 5 here also...4 wakings before 11.30 (even with her in bed with me) then 1.30, 4, 6.15, 6.45 then got up at 7.45
I think teeth are now really playing a part in this fun and games too

I'm sorry Flopsy (that was my first brew!!!)

It must be soul destroying and I really feel for you. Hope you're doing ok today. X

Wish they came with an off switch!!

I think the fact she's waking every hour means she's not making the leap between sleep cycles. All the books would say CC so she can learn to 'self settle' but I don't have the stamina or nerves for that!

I'm worried it's just turning into bad habits now but am also taking heart of other posters successes. Also looking back there have been lots of little things which caused me anxiety - the first month or so she was constantly on me, not going in the pram etc. She came through all of those things on her own so hopefully sleep will be the same.

Good luck for tonight..... Once more into the breach and all that...

Not had time to read whole thread but just wanted to post as I've so often had great advice here that I just want to add my two pence worth (FWIW, DD is 10m and still a diabolical sleeper, she was fairly bad before the 17w regression and we have never recovered...)

BUT if it gives anyone hope (can't believe I'm trying to offer hope because as I say we're still not exactly great, we're just very very very slowly getting into a better state) - Naps improved out of nowhere at about 7m. God knows why. I did some wake-to-sleep for a few weeks before that but it wasn't showing all that much effect. Then quite suddenly - bam - she went from catnaps to proper, easily identifiable long naps, morning, after lunch and until a month ago a brief one mid-pm. So if anyone has dire nappers, take heart!!!

My advice fwiw on multiple wake-ups is just to do whatever you have to do to get through - I was ADAMANT that DD would never co-sleep with us... until one night leaning over the cot AGAIN at 7m when I hauled her into bed with me. Yes, I miss having DH there (he's in the spare room). Yes, I do have mild panics every time I think about it that she will just expect this every night until she's 3 or 4... BUT it's got me a bit more sleep, so I have stayed sane. I think you can only ever do what will help right now, I just don't think it helps or works to worry too much about the medium or long term. Sleep is VITAL, if getting baby into bed with you at 2 in the morning gets you even a couple of hours extra, I really do think it's worth it. And I was sooooo anti the whole idea a few months ago.

Getting the naps right and co-sleeping have really taken the edge off for me... just hope things improve for everyone - we're still in Sleep hell in many ways - I would kill for a 5 or 6 hour stretch - but it's become manageableish and not so overwhelming.

Also, finally, I honestly don't think it's worth panicking about the regressions because these blasted babies seem to change every five minutes anyway, usually with no rhyme or reason. I'm the last person to be Zen myself but I am trying to preach zen-ness, cos I just don't see any other way of getting through it!!!

for you all, I do think it helps to talk on here and NOT to listen to smug mothers-of-sleepers in RL.

THEY LIE btw... :)

thanks emerald

Giving you all a bleary wave. My DD2 is almost 6 months. She was a great night time sleeper until just before 4 months. Now she feeds anything between 4-8 times a night. I co-sleep as it's the only way to retain sanity. DH is in the spare room. DD2 is EBF and I can't see her giving up anytime soon as she refuses bottles. She won't take a dummy either. So feeding is the only way.

Hello soup co sleeping here too. Only way to get through it for me. Dummy refuser too....

Hi all, another weary fellow traveller here. Soup my 5mo dd is much like yours. Sleep had been improving until xmas eve but since then it's been 2 - 3 hours to settle to sleep at night, waking at least 3 times nightly, taking an hour to settle each time and today she was up for the day at 5.30am. That's with cosleeping. Refuses bottles and cries inconsolably if we try anything other than BF to sleep which can go on for hours and still result in waking & crying the second she hits the mattress. Considering exchanging her for a cat. I'm going to read back & see if I can glean any hints as I'm all out of ideas, and in the meantime wish us all a peaceful night.

How's everyone doing?

I got 3 hours straight sleep last night. Now I've just got to work out whether it was sleeping in sling 8-9.30 (usual bed time is 7.00), bonjela before bed or not putting her in a sleeping bag!

Still up every hour after 1.00 and up for good at 5.00.

Co-sleeping is getting me through!!!

Juvenile - we've taken dd out of sleeping bag and does seem to have had an effect we think. She's sleeping in pram pouppuse which looks more padded..probably high risk of SIDS, but we're desperate!!!

Dairy free combo diet so far so good, only two wake ups btwn 8 and 6 which for dd is AMAZING. Please continue xxx

flopsy awesome, well done!

Well, he managed 2 hrs after bedtime, then an hour to settle, another 2 hrs, took 3 hrs to settle so I gave up and co slept. I woke at 6, no idea if he fed or not but I suspect he was limpit like on nipple too tired to notice

Flopsy we've had DD2 in her pramsuit to sleep at night! I use it for day time naps and she does seem to associate it with time to go to sleep. Shame it didn't keep her asleep at night! I got a 3 hour stretch last night between half 4 and half 7! The rest I the night was a blur of feed, sleep for an hour, awake, feed, sleep for an hour ......

Ok- last night- down to sleep at 6.45.

woke up at 2245 - put dummy in.

woke up at 0130- fed and changed- put back down to sleep by 0150

awake at 0600- fed, brought downstairs as defiant and wouldnt return to sleep!

the 6 oclock waking wont be an issue in 7 weeks when I return to work as ill have to be up then anyway. Just at the moment it feels like the middle of the night! its so dark.

tired that's a great improvement isn't it? Have you done anything differently?