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.

Ha! So true artemis

at pregnancies so close together, good effort!

Oh the joys.....we now both have a cold. Streaming noses and a cough. I ache so I'm sure ds does too. Considering a dose of calpol to keep the miseries away.

I'm not sure our issues are related to regression now, I think it may be the new normal going to go with it for a few weeks then might have to get tougher in preparation for return to work

I can't imagine having the energy to do what is needed to be done to get pregnant!!!

boo me neither!

Oh dear god. Ds not keen on sleep tonight, I've had no dinner yet, feel bloody wretched, hot, cold, nose lke a tap & burning throat [sniff, woe is me...) and DH has gone out for the 1st time in donkeys. Why is the timing always so Godamn dreadful?

It's so hard isn't it but do you know what if he is in a safe place (cot/ seat strapped in/ pram etc) sometimes you have to walk away & leave them, horrid them crying but no you're no good to him If you havnt even managed to eat a couple of slices of toast/ bowl of cereal etc!!

Another evening of inconsolable screaming. DD, not me (although sometimes it's close). Finally asleep. For now.

She generally goes down for naps pretty well so I can't understand why going down for the night after bath and bottle is so problematic. The hysterics start when she is having her last bottle and it just gets worse. It's also got worse day to day recently. She's not overtired and not hungry so I don't know what's wrong.

It is just so sad that every evening she is like this, for all of us . I find it genuinely traumatic.

As you say Boo, sometimes you just have to step away. She wasn't calming down with anything we were doing rocking / holding etc and all her needs had been met. I figured the rising stress levels weren't helping so just had to put her down and walk out. Deep breath and then back in.

In other news, I've not had a period since having her 16 weeks ago. Fuck. Now that would send me over the edge.

Wishing good nights all round, although would settle for reasonable / adequate / anything better than bloody awful.

Well...I unashamedly pleaded with ds to go sleep, put him on my bed propped with sausage blankets....and he did! Won't last but have wolfed some leftovers and having a cuppa and some paracetamol waiting for the wake up.

wine and AF returned at 6 weeks FFS and we're ebf WTF?

Good luck all!

Hehe winespider im on a similar level to you in terms of hoping for anything less than 4 wake ups here between 11 & 7 were not being unreasonable at nearly 5 months the frequent wakes are becoming very draining!! My expectations are certainly reducing rather than increasing though!! I've had issues with his weight gain - although he hasn't ever lost or even stayed the same, he has put only small amounts of weight on each time, id been told no matter what not to neglect my meals (as ebf) & to ensure I'm getting extra calories so I've been making an effort to eat more & I must admit he is a touch more settled!!!

He is currently asleep not sure how long for but for now rubbish tv without a baby in my arms!

boo I eat so much chocolate i'm surprised ds isn't having a milkshake! Doctors orders, have some... !

For the second night running DS has gone down easily at 7.30 but woken up crying at 8.00. DP has resettled him for now.

cake after 4 and a half weeks I also fear that this is becoming the new normal

for you

Ds still asleep, watching him on monitor as paranoid about him being on side even though he puts himself like that when we co sleep & can roll easily. I think he's even more exhausted as a bit poorly. Or was it that I did his bath & bed routine without the iPod blaring 'relaxing' music and with low lighting......

God, he's woken up again. I think I preferred it when DP and I used to put him down at 9.30. All the 'experts' say a baby needs to go to bed early. Presumably that is under the assumption that said baby actually stays asleep when he's put down...

I'm now BFing ds after spending nearly an hour sitting next to the cot trying to get him to settle because DP gave up.
The really frustrating thing is I could see his eyes starting to close but he was fighting sleep so hard. It's only night 3 of us trying the earlier bedtime, I must remember that before I declare it a failure!
Is your little one still asleep cake ?

Oh nooooo, he's woken twice since I last posted but we are co sleeping & we both keep sneezing and coughing so disturbing each other. Still got to be better than traipsing to another room every time he has a scratchy throat!

Not sure who it was I briefly discussed positioning with earlier on in this thread but I can not lie my ds has been a really bad sleeper still not great or I wouldn't be on this thread at all hehe but I've started putting him to sleep on his front & he is going for at least one four hour stretch & is settling much easier so (not sure who mentioned putting dc on their side) I would say not to worry!! Only thing with side sleeping is to ensure you alternate the side you put baby to sleep on not always the same side.

How can someone so small take up so much room?

And how does he end up in the middle of the bed when he can't crawl?

Cakebaby poor you, colds are dreadful. I've got one too but so far DD is just a bit sniffly. You do need to eat! I'm amazed at how hungry I get BFing, I get really wobbly if I don't get enough food.

Noisy my DD has been doing the same, goes down easily but wakes after half an hour. It's pot luck whether she goes back down after that.

She's up again now, BFing in the hope she'll go back to sleep. We started weaning last week, she's just on bits of puréed fruit & baby rice but all those people who insisted it would help her sleep are wrong, she basically farted herself awake and wants the boob anyway, whether for food or just comfort I don't know. I really hope she settles for a decent amount of time, I don't fancy another night like last night.

This can't be regression any more, she's almost 6 months and had now been a crap sleeper for twice as long as she was ever a good one. And we're only two months off the next apparent regression at 8 months! Surely it can't get any worse...

I spoke to soon now battling to get ds back to sleep in his cot I wish I could still sleep comfortably cosleeping but after nearly five months I'm finding it increasingly difficult & uncomfortable I feel like a contortionist some nights!! The current crying though is really horrid & hard to stomach!! Am I being selfish I see from lots of posts even the co sleeping doesn't settle all baby's yet I know if I got ds into bed with me now he would be asleep very quickly!!!

Aargh someone said to me once motherhood is all about worry & guilt - I fear this was accurate!

Boo co sleeping stopped working for us. DD cries when I put her down irrespective of whether it's next to me or in her cot, so I figure I might as well use the cot. At least that way my 2 hours of broken sleep a night are a bit more comfortable.

Tonight is just getting worse and worse. She's been awake for the past 2 hours and crying for most of it. I've changed her, given calpol, rocked, fed, none of it works. DP has rocked her to sleep twice but she's woken and cried within 5 mins of being put down. He's now stropped off to the spare room swearing about having to go to work tomorrow, as if the baby (or me for that matter) gives a shit. Am now BFing a baby who cannot possibly be hungry for the 2nd time in 2 hours as it's the only way I can stop the inconsolable crying. It's got to be teeth, surely? If it's not I don't know what the bloody hell we're going to do when teeth do finally appear.

My DP didn't even bother trying to get in our bed he went straight in the spare room, we also had terrible night every hour & a half awake not screaming so I can't complain there just wanting to use me as a dummy to get back to sleep, I kept trying the cot but he only lasted an hour at the most - feels like it's going to be another long day!!

I know nothing about them but have recently heard the rave is amber necklaces for teething!

Oh goodness sounds like some terrible nights all round. And for DH with crap attitude.

Two hourly wakings here for boob.

Posted too soon....

But

Oh FFS.

Only every other waking was for a proper feed, others just a stirring with a comfort suck and back off again. Can't com

Argghhhhhh forget it.

I am going to flush this phone down the loo.

Ah cake baby you are tired! Maybe we should start a thread on coping strategies for tiredness i won't be able to have as much tea as normal as trying to reduce caffeine!!! Any tips anyone??

Yes DP's need to get a grip & support us all more !!

I was posting before under juvenilesuccess. Just thought I'd give you all an update.

We co-sleep, feed to sleep etc and the regression hit when she was about 4.5 months old, it lasted about 3 weeks and she was waking up hourly.

We're now back to previous pattern which is about every two hours and feels much more manageable.

At the time I was convinced it was just bad habits and I had myself to blame but having come out the other side I really don't think that's the case. There was a general correlation between the end of the regression and weaning BUT I honestly think it was a coincidence.

Next step is the allusive 'sleeping through' and getting her in cot! Must admit I still go to sleep every night thinking what if this is the night (in the same way you imagine yourself winning the lottery etc - very unlikely but somehow you convince yourself it might happen)!

My best advice is to just do what you need to do to get through - forget the rods. Like Tiredemma suggested baths are good for that 'me' time if you're not getting a chance to catch up on sleep during the day.

Also, I think for me the anxiety these things cause is almost as bad as the lack of sleep. I have a baby who wakes up every two hours, hates the car seat, is very hit and miss with her pram, is always the noisiest baby at groups etc. For the most part I deal with those things but really find it hard when I start the 'why' thought process and compare us to other mums/babies that can do all those things. That's because the inevitable answer is either I'm a bad mother of I have a "bad" baby - both of which are bollocks! ... A bit heavy, but I think I'm just trying to say I find things easier when I just accept it. We're all doing brilliant jobs and the sleep regression is NOT our fault and doesn't mean we have bad babies!