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.

Ok ladies-
Last night DD went down at 6.45.
Slept through until 6.15.

Ive done NOTHING different- changed no routine- stuck to everything she was used to prior to 16 weeks.

She might wake up tonight- she might not but I can see that she can sleep through.

So ill bow out of the thread for now because I know from experience with DS2 (who truly never slept unless I was attached to him) that there is nothing worse than another mother telling you the baby has slept through. It gave me homicidal rage

Have hope, they will start to find a pattern back to sleeping properly. I truly understand how horrendously shit it is to have a crying baby who wont sleep and you dont know when you are going to get any sleep again- look after yourself, dont beat yourself up- you are doing an amazing job. It will eventually all fit into place.

If we slip back into no sleep then ill come back, but I dont want to be the nause on the thread every morning saying "oh DD slept through'.

Big Un-Mumsnetty hugs xxxxxx

Well just as we get back to good sleeping, DS has got yet another cold and so keeps waking up coughing! Up about 7 times last night and up for good at 6:30am.

I'm dreading colds and teething. If it's every hour from 11pm just now what the hell is it going to be like when poorly. DD2 out did herself last night. Every single hour until DH took her downstairs at 7.30 to give me 30 minutes peace. I actually cried in the shower. Poor DD1 was virtually ignored and just given instructions this morning. At least school run done. Now for a cup of few and paracetamol to try and get rid of the sore head.

It's just a phase, it's just a phase, it's just a phase ......

*Cup of tea that is

tired well done you, thank you for starting this thread and your support

Fellow sleep deprived mamas, some of your posts make me lol, ....must keep sense of humour....!!!!

Our night was the same, wake up, feed, hour to settle, awake again in 30 mins til I want to rip my eyes out, give up and co sleep when we both get 2 hrs ish

Oh and here's a laugh, a month ago when he was very easy to settle (literally minutes) but waking to feed every 2 hrs, I said to a friend, pah sleep regression, how much worse can it get?!

Yeah thanks tired x good luck

Well we're not thru as i thought.

Some good things shining thru. She slept 3 hoir nap in sling yesterday, self settled last night.

But up at

Stupid bloody

Aarrggh

Aarrggh!
Try again
but up a lot last night. Tried to get back to sleep without feeding but worked once. Maybe jags set us back? Try again tonight i guess. Naps not happening today :( crying inconsolable by everything but my nipple. sigh

...and thats 3 hoirs in sWing.

Our 3am wake up lasted until 5.30am in the end but she did finally go back down. I'm having a less awful time than most people on here but still feel dreadful today. Totally sympathise with wanting to close the door and just leave her to it even though in the cold light of day that's not what I want might just swap her for a cat instead

I asked the HV for advice and all she had to offer was controlled crying. No thanks. She also said to give baby rice because the baby MUST be hungry or she wouldn't be waking, but not to give it at night in cas it upsets her digestion. I don't honestly see how a few spoons of rice at lunchtime is going to help her sleep at night. I explained it's the settling we have a problem with, not the frequency of waking, but then we were back to cc. So no real help there.

Really pleased to hear you had a sleep through tiredemma, it doesn't annoy me to hear that, it gives me hope and I reckon you've earned your stripes!

Waves and sleep vibes to all. No doubt I'll be back tonight...

Seriously whats up with these health visitors? Surely alternatives to cc!?!

I've trained her (i think) to self.settle at nightime. Without cc i night add. Now i need to get that to work in the middle of the night without feeding her when she expects to be fed. Any ideas or suggestions?

Hi ladies... Just marking my place. Haven't read the full thread yet but we're just entering the sleep regression phase I think! DD turned 4 months this week, and has gone from waking once for feeding in the night plus one dummy re-plug / settle, getting gradually worse to waking 5 times last night. Naps have weirdly gone from being crap to ok now in the day but she's cranky and demanding too, growth spurt time as well I reckon!

I thought that controlled crying wasn't recommended on such young babies?

DS is only sleeping in my arms today, last night was pretty bad and in not holding out much hope for tonight either!

Just when he had sorted himself out from last illness, along comes another to bugger him up!!!

cindy pleeeeeaaase tell me how you achieved self settling. Its the holy grail apparently! HV I spoke to yesterday hadn't heard of shush pat or PU/PD which I thought odd.

No worries! Disclaimer: may not work as all babies are different & it took A LOT of patience & icecream.

Got her used to lullaby toy that played same music every time she slept.
Routine = bath/book/boob/bed. Play lullaby at boob stage. Goes for 20 mins
If she was asleep at boob, i'd put her down. If awake, i'd put her down, kiss on forehead say "night night darling" & walk away. Go to freezer, obtain tub of icecream & spoon & wait for crying/yelling noises.

Go back into room, sit by cot & shush/stroke forehead (between eyebrows pressure point for relax). Also found out she loves tummy rub. Shush & tummy rub constantly, thru crying, can take up to an hour on & off but she'd go to sleep.
Dont. Give.. Up. Dont pick up. Look for signs of eyelid drooping...itll keep you going. Eat icecream between shushing. Did this for a whole week. Took ALOT of patience. When it got too much, i'd walk into living room, moan at dp, go back in & continue
Second week same but instead of constant shushing, waited till almost asleep & walked away. If cried, came back & shushed till almost asleep.
Then one day she suprised me. Cried, by time i got to crib, was asleep.

Am going to replace book with massage this week to see if it helps longer sleep

Thank you, very comprehensive explanation. have been trying shush pat but ds hates it! PUPD even worse. Takes so long to settle him then he only manages 30 mins, seems ridiculous effort for such little effect

You could try singin, humming or white noise instead of shushing!

Big effort to begin with but only for a week (!)

We're on day 5 with no discernible progress at all. This is all a result of putting a stop to feeding to sleep. I think I'll give it a couple more nights and if no progress still, regroup and try something else as neither of us are enjoying it!

Have you stopped feeding to sleep in middle of night with success before!? If so, how??? :)

Pretty much, yes. But all went to rats during illness. I used to lean into the co sleeper to feed, but put a stop to that as he was snacking apart from anything! I made sure I got him up, fully awake, which went totally against my instincts, so he fed properly, both sides instead of a 5 min slurp. Spent time winding before holding in arms in the dark, bum patting til drowsy and putting him back down. Then shushed him off. If he nodded off in arms then I'd put him down and he'd briefly stir/wake before going off. Worked most times, in saying that its not bloody working now, he's wise to it! I think it worked at that particular point in time, now he's more aware he's not so easy to manipulate!