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Sleep

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Original poster

Going insane!! 9 month old not sleeping at night...please help!!

43 replies

Steph3007 · 19/05/2014 22:03

Hi there, this is my first post and I'm desperate for any any help/advice on getting my 9 month old son to sleep at night. Since day one my son has been a very challenging baby with sleep patterns all over the place and just generally being very hard to please. Then at 6 months he started sleeping through the night...and I mean the whole night, full 12 hours 7pm-7am..hallelujah!!!
I enjoyed this blissful time for around 2 months and then he got his first two teeth, caught his first cold, boiler broke therefore had to bath him elsewhere thus taking him out of his routine and it's all been pretty much downhill from there. He has no problem getting himself to sleep during the day taking 2-3 naps however these are all in his pram (not sure if this is where I'm going wrong) but at night he will just constantly fight his tiredness and stand in his cot crying until I go in lay him down and repeat, repeat, repeat until he literally has no energy left to stand anymore. He also wakes several times during the night and wakes before the birds to start the day.
I am totally exhausted and absolutely dread his bedtime, tonight it's taken 2 hours for him to actually go to sleep.
Please....any advice would be a great help, thank you.

OP posts:

Original poster

Steph3007 · 26/05/2014 19:20

Sympathy from me too Sosotired, the up and down sleep patterns drive you crazy don't they especially when you think you're making progress. I have also put LO in bed with us as a last resort when your eyes just simply cannot stay open!! But as soon as he's in with us I can't sleep I'm that paranoid he might wake up and crawl off the bed so can't win either way

OP posts:

sososotired · 26/05/2014 20:00

Thanks :)
He has gone to bed completely exausted due to nap refusal today! So I'm hoping for a miracle!
Hope everyone has a good night!! X

sososotired · 27/05/2014 09:48

I think my child is following all the babies on this post dropped his morning nap but had a better night! :)

Binkybix · 29/05/2014 07:46

We have had him in our bed for about a month now. It didn't work last night though. He woke a few times before midnight then awake from 3am until about 6am (fed him). Despite being in bed with me. I put him in cot in end as was worried he'd crawl off the bed if I drifted off (ha!) He then woke at 6:45am. Now is a grizzly mess.

He must have realised his dad has a job interview this morning.

No idea what to do.

sososotired · 29/05/2014 08:46

I had that the night before in the end at 4am I put him in his bed and I slept on the floor for an hour and started the day at 5 I decided that's not the way forward I go back to work full time in 2 weeks so last night stuck to my guns he woke 4 times I rocked him a little put him in his bed and I went to mine he ended up sleeping till 6:30 latest ever for us! So I guess what I'm trying to say binkybix I feel your pain!
Good luck for daddy's interview!

Binkybix · 29/05/2014 10:20

Thanks! I'm ashamed to admit that I curled up in his cot to feed him last night. Glad your night went better though!

sososotired · 29/05/2014 11:14

Don't be ashamed I've done that many times :) in the wee hours of the morning I will do anything for sleep like I said I slept on a hard floor for an hour!

Binkybix · 29/05/2014 13:53

I'm also back to work in 2 weeks so keen for this to pass! Fingers crossed - tonight's another night :)

sososotired · 30/05/2014 07:53

I'm so excited I can pop he had one afternoon nap yesterday so was a little grizzly at 6 so I decided to start his bedtime routine my DS slept from 6:30-7;30 waking only 2 times!! :) had to just tell someone!!
How are you getting on? X

Binkybix · 30/05/2014 21:56

That's great - well done baby soso!

We're not so good - just dealing with first wake up now. But on the plus side he went to sleep in his cot with me just sitting with him.

sososotired · 31/05/2014 06:13

If he falls asleep like that he can self settle SUCCESS!

We had a moany night last night I gave him 1minute felt like 5 hours every time he stirred and when the time was up he had gone to sleep again so we had a disturbed night but I only had to share my bed with DH and only got up once for DS he did however start out day at 5am

sososotired · 02/06/2014 06:04

:( we woke every hour last night I'm shattered And we have our first childminder visit today :(

LizzieMint · 02/06/2014 06:21

I'm so sorry, sleep deprivation is the pits. I'm not sure my story will help, but anyway. My son was a terrible sleeper, just awful. He'd be up every 90 minutes at night, feeding. All health visitors did was tell me to let him settle himself - he already did that no problem, it was just staying asleep that was the issue! During the day he'd go hours between feeds (impossible to decrease it, he'd flatly refuse before he was ready) then feed all night. He finally slept through the night at 18 months old and then only about half the nights. When I started giving him formula at about 10 months I could see quite how much milk he was having - 27 oz overnight!!! I worked on cutting down his nighttime milk and eventually (12 months) got him down to one feed a night. I worked on his daytime naps - he'd have two but very short ones, like 30 mins, so we worked on getting those to proper naps which helped.
I'd say what we did improved the situation slightly but in the end he just outgrew it. It was his temperament and his needs - some babies sleep easily, some don't. My sons 6 now and still has much more disturbed sleep (he suffers from night terrors) than my eldest (slept through from 10 weeks, still would sleep through an earthquake).
It's important to remember it's not your fault! Good luck.

sososotired · 02/06/2014 06:28

Thanks LizzyMint! It does help knowing that it's not only us! The mums I met at baby group seem to think the same as your HV he can self settle I've watched him find his dummy pop it in his mouth roll over and go to sleep but some nights he seems to just need me! I've worked hard and we are down to 1 bottle a night but he still wakes!
I was hoping to have him sorted by the time I return to work but looks like we will just work around this!

LizzieMint · 02/06/2014 06:43

It's crazy isn't it, I felt like all the hvs could do was parrot out some phrases without actually listening to a word I was saying. I had no help from my h either as he was ill at the time and doped up on sleeping tablets and painkillers. It really affected my bonding with my son, I feel now like I was a zombie for that first year, just going through the motions to get through it. Things did improve later on but it's a special kind of hell having no sleep day in, day out. I went back to work in the middle of it and it was a bit of a break, to be honest!

sososotired · 02/06/2014 07:06

My DH is having a rough time at work 1 member of staff down and 2 on holiday so he is picking up the pieces working 16/17 hours a day so I can't expect him to be up all night!
My HV doesn't have a family so I honestly think she has no idea what she is saying! The theory she has in her head is very different from how my child ( and your youngest by the sound of it) works!

Binkybix · 03/06/2014 07:31

Hello. Sorry to hear about your night soso. How are you today?

We had a couple of awful nights (2 hours crying, me and him!) but last night was better because I've just accepted he's going to be in bed with us for the time being. I feel vaguely human again.

Good luck with the childminder - we're also doing the last introduction today. Try to enjoy the time to yourself.

sososotired · 03/06/2014 09:16

It's so strange how he had good nights and bad nights when we've not changed anything in his routine? Last night was better only woke twice the 3am however was a battle he just screamed might be more teeth I guess! I did have a nap on the floor again while holding his hand!

Glad your feeling better Binkybix! In a selfish way it's nice to have the cuddles in bed!

He loved the childminder yesterday which helps takes a little guilt for leaving him away!

How are you getting on with your visits?

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