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.

Oh wine spider it's so hard if def not hungry it may be there is no other way than to use a form of CIO when you feel ready, saying that I've not been able to do it yet seems so cruel but sleep deprivation may be even crueller!!!

How's everyone else getting on?

Sorry to hear about your night winespider. How was yours Boo?

Ours wasn't as good as the previous two (I said I didn't dare hope!) but in the context of the last 6 weeks it was bearable.
DS was a nightmare to get settled, as I mentioned previously. After I fed him to sleep at around 11 he then slept til 4. Not brilliant, but I got a 4 hour chunk of sleep which is the longest I've managed for a while!
When he woke at 4 I brought him into bed with me, as I knew he'd only wake again an hour or two later if I got up to feed him. He fed a few times in bed til we got up at 8. When DP then changed his nappy he'd done a poo, which I'd totally failed to smell, so I'm wondering if that's what woke up the poor little chap at 4!

I meant to say, when we move DS into his own room in a few weeks we are considering trying CC to settle him at the beginning of the night. Never thought I'd say that.

At the beginning of the night we know he's definitely not hungry and I can hear a difference in his cry - it's a shouty, 'I'm tired but I'm fighting sleep' kind of sound. At the moment what happens is one of us rocks him while he wails til he zonks out. Given that he's crying anyway, I'm not convinced that rocking him is making much difference (other than slowly destroying my and DP's backs!) We'll see.

Our night was touch better as well ds slept 8-12.30 I got him in bed to feed him with the intention of putting him back in his bed but next thing it was 4.30 so didn't bother then awake & up for the day at 8! So actually typing that out that was a very good night, dp gave him a bottle at bedtime instead of me feeding him though so maybe formula at bedtime could be key as he certainly wasn't rooting round for me through the night else I wouldn't have slept as soundly as i did! Mustn't see this as a failure I've got him to 5 months with just a handful of formula feeds so I've done quite well really & I'm juggling ds1 this time!

booville- feeding him some formula isnt a failure. So dont even begin to start feeling like one.

Hey Boo that does sound like a decent night.
We've been giving one bottle of formula a day, before bed, since DS was about 12 weeks old. He was a mammoth cluster feeder when he was younger and just having one feed someone else could give him saved my sanity and helped me carry on BF.

Thanks I suppose it goes back to the whole mustn't compare to what I did with ds1 thing that I've said before! Different circumstances & different baby's!!

Can tell it's been hard going this time around as I've put my return to work date back as no way I could go back the way things are at the min. I work community based so driving round finding addresses & doing my visits would be a nightmare with little sleep!

Don't want to sound too dramatic but I'm starting to think I'm really loosing the plot ds is desperately trying to roll over & I'm actually sat here getting upset at the sounds he makes as he is struggling to get his arm out (finish the roll!!) How on earth am I going to stick out the CIO!!! Maybe the exercise involved with trying to complete the rolling will help him sleep???

Noisy how much does your son take from his bedtime bottle? I have no idea how much milk the human (my) boob contains also I know not really comparable as completely different composition to breast milk but ds took 5oz tonight so is that about right or would you expect him to take more?

Booville DD takes about 5oz/6oz before bed.

Well that seems ok then!! I used to be so laid back not sure what is happening to me!

DS usually takes 200ml (just under 7oz) these days but 5oz is pretty good. I think that's about the amount he was having a few weeks ago. Tonight he only had 4oz but he had eaten quite a lot of solid food early evening so I assumed he didn't need any more.

I have to say I'd love to know how much he gets out of my boobs in one sitting!

Well don't think the formula has done the trick tonight awake & upset now - he keeps rubbing hi dear hope it's not a sign of an ear infection? His movements regarding that sort of thing (ailments) are still involuntary surely?

Could be teething. DS does it a lot.

Better night in the end again so I'm def going to continue with the formula before bed! Slept 7.15-11, then I fb him quickly as he wouldn't settle but slept 11.30-4 which is really good/ amazing for ds!! Back to sleep til 7.30 in with me as well so I'm really happy with that!

boo thats so much better isnt it? And you must feel better yourself this morning?

I think hours like that are easy to 'cope' with- if you went to bed every night and expected a night like that I think it would be so much easier for the sanity.

DD slept through again last night. DP is telling everyone he knows about the banana- we have some friends who had a DD in November- I overheard him on the phone to the man last night discussing the benefits of banana at teatime. Myself and the mans wife have nicknamed DP "supernanny'

I've felt much better not necessarily less tired as def some catching up to do in that dept but reassured ds can sleep a decent chunk of time & with a bit more coaxing we might get there!!!

Are others faring well?

Also your DH sounds hilarious yes def supernanny material!! If I can't get ds properly straightened out maybe he can come & give me a few more tips or is the extent of his advice the banana thing??

Sounds promising at your end Boo

We have poor DS full of teething misery this evening. He had Calpol, granules and gel before bed, just to cover all bases! I got him settled by 7.45 but based on his usual form we'll have his first wake up in about 5 minutes.

We've scaled back the solids a little today as I think I was rushing him in progressing to three times a day so quickly (the perils of listening to what other people are doing). The change in diet added to teething has been playing havoc with his nappy contents!

Ah bless him noisy!! My ds has been dribbling, snotty, rosy cheeked, runny nappied for several weeks now & no sign of any teeth yet aargh!! Could be the longest teething session ever if that's even what it is!

Ds took nearly 7oz tonight followed by a bit of a mucousy vomit, he's been ok today as soon as I get to bedtime full of snuffles again, he did of down fairly easily though so fingers crossed! I'm going to bed myself shortly just making myself stay up til after 9 as who goes to bed before 9!!

Tired sorry to be the exception that proves your DH's rule but we tried the banana thing and had the worst night in ages! DD was up for hours pulling her knees up and screaming, and we had a really spectacular nappy the following day... We are having random unsettled nights anyway though, it's anyone's guess whether she'll be up 6 times or 2, and whether she'll settle in 20 minutes or 2 hours .

I think the core of our sleep problems is she has such a strong association between feeding and sleep that she wants/ expects the boob to be able to go to sleep every single time. When she was tiny we had problems with weight gain and struggled to establish BF so I fed her every time she woke. I didn't realise I was creating a dependency and now it's come back to bite me on the arse. I tried refusing the boob and rocking etc instead but she gets herself so wound up I can't cope. Half an hour of screaming is the most I've tolerated so far. I don't think there is going to be an easy way.

Things sound good with you Boo. I wish DD would take a bottle, I'd try the formula thing myself

Oh Artemis I hoped you'd gone quiet as things were resolving for you!! After two better nights I had a rubbish one again last night so formula maybe not the answer!!! We're not quite 6 months yet so not started weaning but I'm hoping the knowledge he can't possibly be hungry will give me the impetus to do CIO as I really feel as our sleep problems relate to the same -associations between feeding & sleep, so unfortunately the only way is potentially going to be breaking the cycle/ association & I don't know any other way?? Funnily enough he goes to sleep easily in pram/ car and I'm obviously not feeding him then!

Artemis settling is a total lottery in our house too. Last night was good, in that he woke after his first sleep cycle but DP got him back down after about 20 minutes.
He then woke at 10.50 (I had not long dropped off grrr), fed on both sides, asleep by 11.15, then woke up at 2.20. I thought (wrongly) that he'd pooed and changed his nappy. He was then wide awake so i fed him as I had no energy to try the whole resettle thing. Got him back to sleep by 3, but he woke almost straight away. So, it was into bed with me, where he fed on & off almost constantly til 7.15. He was often whimpering and chewing his fingers so I'm sure it was teething. It's just one thing after another eh!

I've been really lucky with the initial bedtime stage, settles with next to no fuss & pretty much always does 3 hours that first nighttime sleep 7/7.30-10/10.30, this has only been since I've had & maintained a more structured routine day & night, obviously it isn't really strict it's impossible with ds1, today however (being half term) we've had a day out with friends which basically means we have had nothing resembling the routine!!! As a result (not long home, car journey later than normal) ds2 (baby) has had a later sleep than normal is full of beans & I'm really hoping this isn't going to lead to a nightmare even/ night of old!!!

At the end of my tether - 17 week old DD has been night wakening for 2 weeks now after sleeping through from 8 weeks - some nights have been better than others but tonight is bloody dreadful, 10 crying episodes since 9.30 pm. She's not hungry or soiled but spitting dummy out (have used dummy since 4 weeks and its never been a problem til now). I'm exhausted. Any advice would be greatly welcome.