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.

OMG OMG OMG
She just PUT HERSELF TO SLEEP FOR HER NAP!!!!!!!!!!

cakeis thats just shitty. DH piss off!

cindyrella- how old is your DD now?

I do think that minus the odd blip now and again you may be starting to turn a corner. Last night and just she has put herself to sleep so you know that she can settle herself when she wants to.

Fingers crossed for you.

cake- I think thats why I found my DS2 to be so difficult and stressful in terms of sleeping because DP was quite inconsiderate, so I became resentful and when I think of the days where I was tearing my hair out and crying, it was mostly in frustration at feeling that DP was being an arse, as opposed to DS2 keeping me awake.

With DD my DP is still useless at night- but he knows he is useless and tries to make amends in other places (practical solutions/'chores' etc). So although I still want to rip his throat out through his neck, I dont feel as bad as I did with DS2.
I hope your DC settles soon. Im sure they will

That's great Cindy. Hurray.

DD2 has also self settled into her nap by rolling onto her tummy and face planting onto the rug. Still in her pramsuit too. She's sound. I should probably put her in the cot but am so knackered I just want to sit and have a quiet cup of coffee.

She was given to DH at half 7 this morning and I went back to bed for half an hour of blissful being on my own.

Had a quiet moan in the school playground and had a chorus of people telling me she's hungry and needs food. Wanted to stab the lot of them. She bloody feeds before bath time and after before bed so she's plenty full thank you very much.

Think the next plan of attack is to put DD into the spare room in a week or so once she's past 6 months, as I just automatically feed if she gives a wee cry.

I know she can self settle as if she is napping I leave her to grumble and don't rush to pick her up during the day and she'll usually fall back over if she's slept for less than 45 minutes, even an hour.

Wow, Cindy! Let me guess: "it didn't do you any harm"...
I am absolutely not wondering where to get antihistamine with sleep drugs in

After crying all evening DD finally slept next to me sometime after 1.30 then woke up at 5.45 and has been crying on and off ever since. Finally DP took her downstairs so I could have a big cry myself go back to sleep. I shouted at her this morning and frightened myself and had to walk away for a few minutes. He's off work at the moment, don't know what I'll do for sleep when he's back on Monday and getting up at 6am.

Oh FFS, missed a load of posts again before typing that. Will read back.

Artemis, feel free to disregard this, but your DD sounds a bit like my DD1. She didn't sleep well during the day until about 9 months, she would take ages to get off to sleep and then only sleep for half an hour, she was often cranky and screamed a lot during the day. She did however take a bottle and had a dummy. She also threw up milk a lot of the time, most deeds in fact.

At night she'd go down after an hour or so of being really cranky, with bath time being the only respite.

I took her to GP and HV who both poo pooed my suggestion that she might have some sort of reflux. But in hindsight I think she did have reflux. I wasn't confident enough to push it, so just got on with it as you do, but wish I hadn't. It's just miserable listening to what I now know was a sore cry/scream.

I know you disregarded reflux in a previous post but when you said about your DD being sick it brought back memories of DD1.

soupmaker

I KNOW now that my DS2 had silent reflux- but this was 10 years ago and all health professionals told me it was 'colic' and i should just 'get on with it'. I used to literally hold him right next to me every night to console him. What I then ended up with was a baby that associated my 'hold' with sleep and it wasnt until he was THREE that I had a night without being literally attached to him by an arm or a hand.

With DD I recognised she had silent reflux at about 2 weeks old. I told the GP I knew what it was, didnt want fobbing off- just give me a prescription for Gaviscon please.
Gaviscon worked wonders straight away and I managed to get her off it at about 12-13 weeks.

Her poor sleep currently is either one of or a combination of -
teething
sleep regression
hunger

I just wish she could sit up and tell me!

Soupmaker thank you. I had been wondering about taking her to the GP to ask about physical issues, reflux or maybe an ear infection. She will sleep on one of us or in the pram when her head is slightly elevated, or will drop off while drinking. She cries when laid flat and stops crying when I hold her upright. Can reflux start at any time? She slept OK until about 17/18 weeks old. The thing that made me reject it initially was that she is happy laid flat on a play mat during the day and doesn't struggle with feeds, it's just night time that's awful. I have a GP appt for myself tomorrow so will ask.

Tired yes, if only they could talk!

cindy terrific news on self settling dd! It sounds like progress at last.

I'm no expert Artemis - I listened to my GP who told me I just had a cranky baby - but that sounds so like my DD1. She was happier upright. Sometimes she'd be happy on her play mat too, obviously when she wasn't feeling sore. I don't think that when they have reflux they have to be sore all the time and I also don't see why it couldn't start/get worse with age.

Worth getting investigated?

emma she's bang on four months, this all started exactly 4 weeks ago.
artemis yup think theg were her exact words! Mind you, I had tasted my first easter eggnby four months & would travel on a beanbag in the back of the family sedan. Things have changed mum!
Think its worth talking to dr about reflux! You never know....
soup just smile & filter the annoying well meaning advice out!

Went to dr just in case & was told she's bonnie/its just a stage/ride it out. That the fact she has got 4 teeth within 4 weeks will have a lot to do with it. So no news there then!

Urghhhh. That's just it really. Another night of sticky, milky, sweaty, wriggling, screechy-where's-mummys-nipple co sleeping ahead. Sigh.

Nice to hear some good news though!

(Thought it was just me with the night sweatiness)
Have no idea what tonight will bring, given up trying to guess!

No, not just you two cakes who get sweaty. I particularly hate how sticky and sweaty my poor décolletage gets. I feel like I smell of eau d'milk constantly.

I brace myself for two hourly awakenings anytime from 10pm every night in the hope I might be pleasantly surprised.

Yup sweaty here too. I used to be a cold person, now I feel I'm in a permanent hot flush. Can lack of sleep bring on the menopause? I do feel like I've aged 10 years

DD has had a bad tummy today, we've had 7 or 8 yucky green nappies which might explain why last night was so awful but doesn't bode well for tonight... She is currently asleep on the couch with DP. Took her to my mum's today so she had a walk with grandma while I got some rest roamed the house searching for biscuits. Yet more unsolicited advice from a friend today. The word 'rod' was mentioned and I thought wistfully of the sharpened end.

Sending sleepy vibes to everyone... Cindy here's hoping for a re-run of last night's self settling feat!

Every 90 minutes. Again. FFS :(

Sorry artemis didn't see yr post. Thanks, she was asleep when I put her down and didn't fancy waking her up!

Heres something interesting. Woke at 4am, not due for a feed but as she had a dirty nappy, changed it and fed to put back to sleep. Didn't work. Put down in cot and walked away before I lost temper. Sat in kitchen. She's wice awake, talking to herself then crying but its more a yell so I let her go fir it. Goes quiet. Go in. Realises I'm there, she crys again. Cries harder when i try to shush pat so i I walk out after giving her a pat. 5minutes later she's quiet. Manipulative little....
She's still awake but quiet.
I'm now considering sleeping on the uncomfortable couch and leaving her to it.
Maybe she IS ready for own room. Pity we are in a one bedroom.

Well, meltdown 10 mins after putting down asleep which took 2 hrs. After the upset, bewilderment and hysterics of the previous night, trying to get him back off, I threw in the towel and went to bed early with him but without dinner. I felt like a scolded child! Result was a much more peaceful night, proper feeds at 10 and 3, little stirrings with a quick comfort suck at 1 and 5. I guess it's the lesser of two evils, at least we are both more rested today.

I really am at a loss as to the best thing to do. Ride it out on path of least resistance and deal with potential consequences later, or bite the bullet and prepare for howling for a few weeks?

Oh cakebaby no dinner? Extra cream cakes for your breakfast this morning!
Its a tough one, I think you will get to the stage where enough is enough & you'll decide you have to do something as it cant go on. Then you'll be ready to endure the tears and howling. Until then, keep on keeping on.

I'm nearly there. DD just about broke me last night. Have been up since 4am. She settled at 5.30am by herself while I was in living room sobbing my heart out having a cup of tea, waited till I crept to bed and fell asleep at 6am before waking up screaming again. Been awake till now. Gave up and let her cry in swing (am toughening up quick) now asleep.

Self settling ability makes f#@* all difference to the wake ups.

So WHAT THE JOLLY IS CAUSING IT!!?????

Morning everyone. Well, we had a midnight, 3 and 5 awakening. Proper feeds at midnight and at 3. So a fairly decent night here.

I'm keeping on, keeping on as I can't bring myself to let her cry in the night, but in a few weeks she is going into the spare room to see if that'll help. I suspect it won't.

Here is for you Cindy and Cake. Anytime after midday is respectable!

Not slept still here since 4am. Not fed either...

cakebaby I know what you mean. We are in a similar dilemma: ride it out and hope things improve (ie it's 'just a phase') or do some kind of sleep training to try to improve things? My instinct is to carry on with the gentle approach as she is still so little but if we haven't had major improvement in a month or two I think we'll decide enough is enough and will have to try a tougher approach. I certainly can't go back to work on so little sleep.

cindy did you get chance to have any sleep today? I was really hopeful that self settling would be the answer for you.

We have managed to get DD to nap today so we'll see if that makes any difference tonight. Last night wasn't the worst, a long time to settle and several wake ups in the early hours but managed to get away with just one feed. We co slept again and I managed to get her to go back to sleep with a hand on her tummy and shushing. We are still getting a lot of runny green nappies though and she's been subdued and clingy today so clearly not very well.

cindy hope you got some rest today

artemis my ds is 20 wks, still too young for proper sleep training, not that I have the heart for it. I think at this age they are still reactive little beings who need comfort and security from us. I 'm trying to gently stop our bad habits but still giving ds the comfort he craves. It doesn't help that I've taught him these habits I now want rid of. He doesn't know there's other ways to fall asleep and stay asleep. He was in such a bewildered, frightened looking state the other night when he woke crying and I left him, albeit for just a couple of minutes. I know some will roll their eyes at this, but I can't bear the upset. But.....come back to me in 2 months! I may have a different perspective!

Can anyone recommend ones of those night light things that project a light show on the wall/ceiling?

Fecking Ewan has had his chance and I'm sick to death of that harp music. No wonder ds cries. Makes me feel like crying too.

Cakebaby, I'm with you, 20 weeks is teeny tiny. My DD2 is 26 weeks next week and I can't leave her when she gets to proper crying mode as opposed to grumbling. I just do not think making babies feel secure and calm is a bad habit! There comes a point, yes, when enough is enough, but it all depends on babies personality and yours as to when that is.

Hope you are okay Cindy.

Cake I've got a tomy Dream light show thing from amazon, was only about £10. Only slightly annoying but can't say if it's that good, dd likes it but it doesn't send her to sleep.