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Original poster

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

999 replies

cakebaby · 27/02/2014 20:05

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.....

OP posts:
Cakeismymaster · 14/03/2014 11:33

artemis still suffering sleep wise here...bed at 7.30 then up to her at 9 and 10 then from 11 she was awake until 2.20am!! Then slept till 4.40 fed again and slept till 6.30. Crap!

NoisyBrain · 14/03/2014 13:22

We seem to still be mostly on two proper wake ups here, which I suppose is good, if I try and just forget that DS used to sleep through. His daytime naps have gone totally haywire though. They're sort as it is but he's also started dropping one Confused

NoisyBrain · 14/03/2014 14:06

*short, even.

ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight · 14/03/2014 14:16

Placemarking Smile

CuteLittleToes · 14/03/2014 18:00

DS only had two 30min naps today... Dreading tonight...

I was wondering what kind of wind down do you guys do before naps and how long for? Feeling so drained from all the attempts to put him down for naps, I think my cumulative effort was about 3 hours!

NoisyBrain · 14/03/2014 19:21

Cute how old is your DS?
It's apparently normal for babies to drop a nap at around 6 months (my DS is 28 weeks). I suppose it's not an issue if at least one of the remaining naps is over an hour long. My boy used to have at least one 2-hour nap when he was tiny but when the 4-month regression hit it changed to 4 x 30-40 minute ones instead (with a few rare exceptions) and has never changed back. For the last three days he's had 3 naps. Today he dropped his late morning one and the previous two days it was the last one.

At nap time (if we're at home) I sing a little 'nap time' song - just a silly one I made up - as I draw the curtains and put him in his Gro-bag. He knows what's coming now and I can judge how easily he's going to go off based on his reaction to the routine.

Tiredemma · 14/03/2014 19:40

DD is 27 weeks and now only has two naps. Both for approx 40 mins.

she is still waking a couple of times a night- but only for 'dummy plug'- not feeding thankfully.

Cakeismymaster · 14/03/2014 20:02

Down to 2 naps here the last couple of days, dd is 26 weeks. Each nap roughly an hour ish. Although yesterday's afternoon one was 3 hours, which might explain the nighttime partying!

CuteLittleToes · 14/03/2014 20:03

He's almost 4 months. He very rarely sleeps longer than 40 mins, but at least he does 3-4 naps... I wonder if that's part of the sleep regression?.. When is there going to be progress of any kind???

I was determined to get him to self-settle tonight and ditch the dummy, as it's a bit of a double-edged sword - gets him to sleep quite quickly but if he wakes up and doesn't have it he cries... However I ended up using it and I've only been trying for 20 mins! I'm much more of a wimp than I thought!

NoisyBrain · 14/03/2014 22:35

We're having one of those nights where DS is unsettled for no obvious reason.

He went off easily enough at about 7.20, then did his usual wake up after about 30 minutes. We then usually don't hear from him for a few hours, but he woke again quite soon after and refused to settle in his cot. Well, not that we can put him down fully awake, but he appeared to be drifting off nicely until the second his body made contact with the mattress. He seemed uncomfortable as if he maybe had tummy or teething pain, but now DP has him in his arms on the sofa (we'd got to the point where it was anything for a quiet life) he's fast asleep. Could be an interesting night Hmm

Lostinspace82 · 15/03/2014 07:08

May I join you all? I've finally resigned myself to the fact that my ds is not going to sleep well any time soon no matter how many websites, blogs etc I read about trying to make him...

In short I have an ebf 18 week old, he slept great till 12 weeks with one wake up a night for feeding and then all hell broke loose. He started off waking 3-4 times a night for food which I thought was bad...that went on for 4 weeks or so...these last couple of weeks he still wakes but no longer wants feeding...he just wants to be awake and he wants me to be awake with him

The last couple of nights I've had 2-3 hours of hell trying to get him down at bedtime and then him sleeping for an hour or so, before being up wide awake for 2 hours repeatedly all night and he'll only fall asleep in my arms now when I know he can self soothe and put himself to sleep

I miss being able to feed him to sleep...actually I just miss sleep...

Original poster
cakebaby · 16/03/2014 08:38

Welcome lost

Oh sympathies, I've been where you are! Hideous isn't it? Hang in there, it does pass eventually but we are still feeding to sleep which is how we got through it. Will he nap in the day? Whatever it takes is my mantra now Wink

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Cakeismymaster · 16/03/2014 13:01

Hi all
Last 2 nights horrendous..literally every hour from bedtime to get up. About 1.30 am last night when I did not know what else to try, I put some formula in a bottle and when she was falling asleep so I could extract the boob, I swapped a boob for the bottle teat (same position though if you see what I mean). She drank 1oz and then literally conked out and slept for 4.5 hours straight - which hasn't happened for a while!
So I'm now open to suggestions - what would you all do? Try that again tonight at some point?

Original poster
cakebaby · 16/03/2014 22:28

What did you decide cake ? We are trying not to feed at resetting but he is so jumpy when trying to nod off, anything wakes him, including himself! That's why he's been holding my hand for the last 45 mins & I can't prise it away for fear of him waking again Grin

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Booville3 · 17/03/2014 07:08

Morning ladies, I've not posted for a while for fear of being ousted anyway I resorted to CIO a few nights ago, thurs & fri it's only taken two nights first night was horrendous I can not lie took 45mins of real crying (from both of us!!) but only 20mins of distress on Friday, were now down to two brief wake ups in the night where I feed him for barely 10mins then back in his cot & straight back to sleep roughly at midnight then again at 4! I have to say that is an unbelievable difference for us as I'm sure you can all remember for us most nights was every hour/ 2 hours I was starting to feel like he was eating me alive! I know not everyone can do it & some people would happily chastise me for doing it but were definitely in a better place for doing it.

Original poster
cakebaby · 17/03/2014 07:54

No flaming from me! It's not for everyone, but you do what you need to do boo glad it is working for you. How old is your ds? Was it just the first time he went down at night you had to do it?

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Cakeismymaster · 17/03/2014 08:20

I'm on the verge of that boo...
Was every hour again last night, tried the bottle again cake but she wouldn't have it anywhere near her. She will not go back to sleep without a boob in her mouth and then wakes up when it is removed. Tried dummies again etc no joy.
I would love to get 2 wake ups back again! Arrrrgh

Cakeismymaster · 17/03/2014 08:21

To add - I did CIO with my ds1 but he was 13 mths old at that point - no way can I last that long this time..

Original poster
cakebaby · 17/03/2014 08:35

cake have you tried gently but swiftly holding her mouth closed with a finger under her chin when you unlatch her? Sorry if teaching to suck eggs but it worked for my ds and now after a few weeks I can unlatch when drowsy, he'll grumble and make a half hearted attempt to relatch before nodding off. Not 100% but much much improved.

OP posts:
CuteLittleToes · 17/03/2014 09:26

I was wondering if you ladies with DCs 6 months+ have seen a thread about gradual retreat - it's called "What worked for us"? It looks pretty good, lots of successfulstories there, and I would try this myself but my DS is only 4mo, so a bit too young.

I've had a horrendous night on Saturday - caught some kind of stomach bug, so was sick half the night... Something I really needed on top of sleep deprivation! Confused Was down with fever yesterday, but it seems to have gone away now.

On a positive note, I managed to get DS to sleep without a dummy yesterday night! I thought it would take ages for him to fall asleep, and he would also cry, but no - only took about 15 mins. I even left the room when he was almost asleep, but still grumbling, and he drifted off himself! Then 1.5h later I heard him whimper, and was on my way to him when I thought that maybe I should wait since he wasn't really crying - and he fell back asleep again! I thought great, he's learning to re-settle himself, and was feeling quite positive after his initial 3h stretch, but then he started waking up pretty much hourly throughout the night and only boob would do... Confused

Boo I probably wouldn't do it myself, but I'm glad it worked for you, and so fast! Desperate times require desperate measures sometimes!

NoisyBrain · 17/03/2014 11:17

Boo I'm sure no one who's read your posts would dream of flaming you. As I type I'm trying cc properly for the first time to try and get DS off for a nap. I'm hating it but needs must.
As I've mentioned before, my back is wrecked from having to hold him and rock him to sleep as he gets heavier so it's as much about that as anything else.

Booville3 · 17/03/2014 13:19

Cake baby my problem has never been the going to bed he gets put down sleepy but awake at 6.45/7 ish he chatters to himself but for a long time with no crying just goes to sleep, he has then slept til 10/11ish & from that point woke every hour and a half to two hours for the rest of the night!! Without even planning it on thurs he woke at 9.30 (only gone down at 7) he had eaten good amounts during that day & I just couldn't face feeding him so soon after his bedtime feed so I left him, went up & down stroked his face etc (this just made him more mad as he clearly didn't understand why I wasn't picking him up & putting my boob in his mouth on demand as expected!!) after 45mins he was asleep again until gone 1 so obvs not that starving!! Guess we all do what we have to at the time & I couldn't carry on being completely knackered all the time as not fair on ds1!

Cakeismymaster · 17/03/2014 13:57

cake I haven't tried that, thanks for the tip I will defo give it a go.

boo I shall be doing exactly that in the Easter holidays if we are still having the hourly wake ups.. Got to wait for the dc's to be off school! The striking the face also makes dd more mad so looks like I have similar problem to you (had). Am also going to persevere with a night bottle I think.

Cakeismymaster · 17/03/2014 13:58

Stroking the face!! Not striking she's not that bad!!

Booville3 · 17/03/2014 15:08

Haha that type error was quite funny I was going to say no wonder she cried more when you strike her!!! Like I say I didn't plan it I was just upset at the thought that that first re-feed to sleep was going to become earlier & earlier & I knew he wasn't hungry or unwell, it was a bit of a weird battle of wills in a way & I can be quite stubborn!! I just told myself I was being cruel to be kind as none of us could carry on with such frequent wakings not now he is on 3 "meals" a day & he is 6mo!