SLEEP REGRESSION part 2...Roll up, roll up folks! Swap tales of woe, ideas, enjoy solidarity and get support here

[cakebaby]

Thought I'd start a new thread as I couldn't see another one yet (will get HQ to delete if already up and running).

Tis good to talk.....

[Cakeismymaster]

Impressive weight in the cakebaby house!! That gain in ds is mega, and I am very of your choc based stone of weight loss! Well done
Wierdly I've had opposite with baby cake here - she's only put on 200g since jan 4th and has dropped from 91st to 75th centile. I think it's because she is ready for weaning..soon find out I guess!
Horrendous 2 hour play session between 3 and 5am last night...apparently her feet are hilarious!

[cakebaby]

Weird isn't it? Ds lost loads after birth due to undiagnosed tongue tie, he has been battling to regain his place on the centiles since according to the HV. He's gone from 75th at birth to below 25th now back to 75th for weight and 91st for length. It was bloody ridiculous feeding and I posted in sleep several times and under nc as I was absolutely at my wits end with 45 min wakings at one point, I actually thought I was going to lose my mind. He usually puts on half that in 4 weeks.

I firmly believe you get what you're given where sleep is concerned. You can't MAKE them sleep, just like dh can't make himself sleep and lies awake for hours on end! I can't bear the thought of 'learned helplessness' which is what some experts believe is the result of CIO.

[Cakeismymaster]

Totally agree cake re getting what we're given. I can't do CIO or similar either, it's just too harsh.
A foray into the use of a sleeping bag tonight, just to keep things fresh and new!

[roofio87]

Hello ladies, can I join please!? I have a 5mo ds, who has become an awful sleeper in the last few weeks!! last night he slept 7-7, with a feed at 10pm and 3 30. great you say, but he also woke up to cry and have a quick cuddle at 8, 11, 12, 1 30, 2 45, 5, and 6!!! he isn't even really waking up when he's crying but if I leave him it just gets worse. at 6 he was crying so much in his sleep I had to wake him up and then re settle him. he will only fall asleep on me atm so my next task is to get him to self settle in his cot!!!!!

[GingerMaman]

We previously had two good nights due to boots gripe water. Yesterday she completely refused to take it, so we were back to hourly awakenings

[Tiredemma]

between the hours of 1am and 7am I am experiencing homicidal rages towards dp.

that is all.

[Booville3]

Maybe something other worldly is effecting our baby's as we had 2 good nights & I managed a full day away from this thread but then last night ridiculously frequent wakings that I lost count of & ds1 got in bed with us as well = knackered.com!!! Going to be another long day I feel!

[NoisyBrain]

My DS is still completely randomly choosing his two wake up times.
It was 12.30 and 4.40 last night. Sounds good I hear you say. Well yes, down to two wake ups from god knows how many while he was in full regression is good. However, the fact that I have no idea what times he will wake is playing havoc with my own sleep!

He has been back in our room this weekend as we have DSS with us and whilst he's a lovely, responsible boy we didn't think it was fair to ask him to feed his little brother in the early hours So, I woke when DS did at 12.30 (I'd 'stayed up' til 10.30 as well, silly me). Lovely DP took him and gave him a bottle so I could go back to sleep. Then I woke at 3.30 ish and was still awake when DS next woke. So frustrating. I brought him into bed with me to feed, but with hindsight that was a mistake. He was super-fidgety and fed almost constantly (at least that's how it felt) til he unleashed a mega poonami at 7.00. Not sure how much proper sleep I got in the meantime. Bless him, once he'd pooed he was all smiley and 'singing' at me. They so know how to melt your sleep-deprived heart don't they?

[Cakeismymaster]

Lol emma I hear you..I admire your restraint at just the 6 hour window - I can feel like that for a whole 24 hours!
He told me today that he had noticed how much I had been eating since having dd....

[cakebaby]

OMG cake I'd have thrown something heavy at him for that! Hope everyone is progressing ok....

[fflonkl]

Can I join in? Have gone through 2 hour wake-ups, playtime at ungodly hours and taking ages to re-settle DD (11+ months). We also fed to sleep until recently which resulted in epic 2 hr bf sessions in the middle of the night. Also co-slept which tended to result in all-night snacking!

Currently trying gradual retreat as back at work in 4 weeks It feels a bit like 2 steps forwards 10 steps back! Currently DD wakes up once (!!) but this could be anytime between 12-5, and she could take anything between 30 mins and 2 hours to go back to sleep.

Oh and last night she up woke twice between 7.30-9.30, and only I would do. She sometimes has epic screams in the middle of the night and I frequently feel like Monster Mummy DH tries to be supportive but advocates letting her cry which I find difficult even when I feel like having a meltdown myself!

[GingerMaman]

We had an awful awful night. DD screamed and screamed, such that DH from the spare room came to get her. She was all fluey but I think it was an allergic reaction to something but no idea what. DH got her to sleep eventually. This is despite giving her calpol!

[Booville3]

Another rotten night here as well actually looks like my 2 better nights were flukes!! I know you ladies have done this for me before but could any of you post me your baby's rough routines?? Wake/ sleep/ feed etc??!

[ArtemisTheHunter]

Hi all, and welcome new ladies. Thanks boo for the pointer to the new thread!

Two steps forward and 10 back here too. I decided at the weekend that I was going to stop feeding to sleep after a miserable night on Thursday in which I felt DD was eating me alive, up every 15-45 minutes and just would not bloody well get off me. I've tried the 'Pantley pull off' and various other gentle options but none had worked so I couldn't think of anything else to try but cold turkey, I feed her at bedtime as normal but don't let her go to sleep on the boob and try to rock her down instead and the same with wakings through the night. I'm not stopping night feeds but trying not to feed before midnight and not use feeding to get her back to sleep. Friday night was predictably awful, Saturday not too bad, last night she went down OK but woke up at midnight screaming blue murder then again at 4am and would not go back to sleep. Tonight DP is trying to settle her, she started wailing when I unlatched her and was just getting more and more upset with me. I have no idea whether this is going to succeed in breaking the habit but I've just got to try something, nights were just getting worse and worse. The thing that might scupper it (aside from my own desperation) is DP, he is nominally on board but in the middle of the night just wants me to do whatever will shut her up.

Sorry that was a bit of an essay! Fflonki how is the gradual retreat going? My vague plan is if we can break the feed to sleep habit, then try something like gradual retreat to try to teach her to self settle, but I've no real idea where to start with that.

Cakeis I'm joining in throwing a stale rock bun at your DH! Tired I often know how you feel...

[fflonkl]

Well the retreat is extremely gradual! DD normally has 7oz before bed, and in the past if she didn't fall asleep on the bottle I would then bf her to sleep - which took anything from 10 minutes to 1 hour. Then during the night I would bf her to sleep every time she woke up, and bringing her into bed when I got too tired to bf sitting up (which was most nights!).

So I decided about 10 days ago that this had to change (had tried NCSS previously by the way which didn't work for us!); saw this thread and thought I'd try it.

On the first night I gave DD a cuddle after her bottle, then put her in her cot. Took her 1 hour to sleep with lots of crying, pick ups and shushes BUT she didn't wake again till 3am (slept at 8) - although she then stayed awake till 5.30. The second night she slept for 11 hours and I thought my problems were over!!

The next few nights however were a bit of a nightmare, she would not self-settle in the middle of the night, had epic screamfests and would eventually whimper to sleep held in my arms (oh all this took about 1.5-2 hours), so I very reluctantly went back to bf to sleep for a few nights after. Which is where we're at currently.

She was at nursery today, and only had a 45 minute nap (did I mention that she doesn't nap much during the day either??), so was completely shattered, took her about 13 minutes to self-settle. So far still asleep, so I'm hoping she'll continue for a bit!

I've retreated from being right next to the cot to being about a foot away, where she can still see me. So not very far really!

[ArtemisTheHunter]

Thanks Fflonki. Your situation sounds similar to ours - DD also can't self settle and is rubbish at daytime naps. I'd seen the thread you linked to and considered it but as I've been feeding to sleep warned to tackle that issue first.

So much for my resolution. It's proving an epic fail this evening. She woke up crying at 11, DP had a strop and is being the polar opposite of supportive so I'm having to feed her as the only way I know how to quieten her down. Did someone mention homicidal rage?

[Booville3]

Another ridiculous in the boo house!! I really don't know what the answer is I hate the thought of CIO but it does seem to work according to lots of mums who have done it!! Were only at the start of our second week of weaning but I'm thinking another couple of weeks & I may have to try it!!! Ear plugs & wine may be required!!!

[Cakeismymaster]

Talking of self settling...I want to know why:
-in her pushchair, or car seat dd will, even when not moving and still, just go to sleep herself - ie shut her eyes and go to sleep. Woo!
However..if you put her in her cot awake OH NO that is unacceptable!
I just don't get it (bang head icon)

[GingerMaman]

Cake, put the car seat in the cot?

[Cakeismymaster]

Ha, good idea!
I'm wondering if there is a 6 month growth spurt (please no) as we have had 2 hourly feeds day and night since Sunday, whereas normal pattern in the day is 3 hours or more and sometimes even then not fussed.

[fflonkl]

Cake yes I think there IS a growth spurt then, or a wonder week. At 6 months my DD overnight suddenly woke up every 2 hours for feeds - she'd never done it before and it left me absolutely shattered (it wasn't weaning either as she did this just before we started weaning).

It calmed down a bit after 2-3 weeks though.

[Booville3]

Seriously?? Another cold how many colds can a baby catch!!! This is ds's third nasty one he isn't even quite 6mo yet!! Another even more horrendous night lies before me & DP is snoring already, someone may not survive the night in this household & as I could never bring myself to harm my dc, well it's not looking good for DP!!!

[ShesADreamer]

Can I come and sob gently on your shoulders? One-year-old twins playing merry hell with our night times here.
They're still in our room as our building work is taking forever. They end up in our bed for feeds then won't go back in their cots. DH has to curl up on the bottom of the bed like a faithful hound while I spend the night sandwiched between two snackers, carefully flipping from side to side.
It's madness!

[ArtemisTheHunter]

Goodness me Dreamer, two of them, you deserve a medal! Do you get any sleep at all? I can't get DD back in her cot after feeds either. We co sleep after the first wake up which is getting earlier and earlier, 10.30 tonight which suggests I'll be up at least twice more.

Boo my DP may not survive the night either. He made a two minute effort to get her back to sleep before getting in a strop and dumping her (literally) back on me. Doesn't know why he bothers coming to bed apparently. This from the man who spent last night in the spare room, took this afternoon off work and spent it in bed, goes out pursuing hobby stuff at least one night a week and won't get up in the night unless I get desperate enough to ask. He's not normally so unsupportive but over the last few months has turned into a right knobber

[Cakeismymaster]

Artemis I think the novelty wears off around 4 months for the men...
Well, last night I only had 2 wake ups - 12.30 and 4.30 and I am in actual shock (and massive boobs). Therefore tonight I shall painstakingly recreate every last element of yesterday evening! Only notable difference yesterday - very early start 6.15 ish and baby rice and apple for tea, about 6 spoons of.