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Misery loves company: to ride it out or Something Must be Done- pick your camp :)

999 replies

DreamingOfAFullNightsSleep · 29/06/2014 21:50

Hello again all- may the sleepers continue sleeping, the new arrivals due or here get the idea very quickly and the rest of us see the light at the end of the tunnel!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
HearMyRoar · 04/02/2015 19:25

Since having dd I can absolutely see the attraction of having a nanny to hand childcare to and then just having your children presented to you once in a while. If only I had been born rich and Victorian Grin

Dd is still coughing and coughing. I think she might have developed some sort of piriton resistance. I want some sleep!

ElphabaTheGreen · 05/02/2015 20:41

Well this sleep diary for Ann is as depressing as I thought it would be. The best night so far has been six wake-ups and the little bugger BFs twenty times in a 24 hour period. Literally. That is not an exaggeration. That is how frequently he feeds at six months of age.

WHY AREN'T I THINNER?!

AttitudeOfGratitude · 05/02/2015 21:54

Blimey Elph, that's almost hourly! If you're anything like me because of too much cake and too many biscuits Smile. I was told the weight would drop off, it did not. In fact I was very unimpressed by how much weight I had lost when I got home from the hospital.

Ds seems to have another cold so of course does not want to be put down. Am losing track of what is wonder weeks/immunisations/cold vs just general bad sleeping. Looks like another rubbish night is on the cards for me.

timeforsleepnow · 05/02/2015 22:31

Hello! Room for one more? DD is 7.5 months old and there aren't enough words to describe how bad her sleep has been! We saw a sleep consultant this week and are implementing our new sleep plan tomorrow night. I am a bit scared!!

AttitudeOfGratitude · 06/02/2015 01:49

Hi time, why are you scared?

ElphabaTheGreen · 06/02/2015 08:17

But Attitude with the exception of Christmas (where everyone knows calories don't count) I've been a saint! I might have one piece of cake or a few biscuits with a hot chocolate each day on top of a healthy diet, plus I've been getting an exercise DVD or babywearing fitness class in four or five times a week. If I can't have sleep, why can't I have a breastfeeding-facilitated beach body?

timeforsleep I understand The Fear of starting a sleep plan. Even less sleep with the likelihood of screamage plus no idea whether all that ballache is even going to result in anything positive. Which consultant are you using?

AttitudeOfGratitude · 06/02/2015 14:02

That really doesn't sound fair, it's the least you could expect really if you're not allowed to sleep!

scottygirl5 · 06/02/2015 15:20

Hello everyone! We've been on holiday this week and both naps and nights have reached an all time low as a result, hoping it might settle when we get home. Just arranged our first chat with Ann which at least gives me hope! Elph let me know how you get on as it sounds like you're a month ahead of us. Time good luck!

timeforsleepnow · 06/02/2015 16:00

Elph that is exactly what I am scared of. Actually, not even scared of even less sleep but I just don't want her to be upset. Which is why of course we are where we are because I always feed her back to sleep ... Even at twenty minute intervals.Confused
We are using Andrea Grace and will be going cold turkey on night feeds as of tonight. I just need to keep telling myself that she won't be on her own crying, I will be there to comfort her. This could be interesting!

ElphabaTheGreen · 06/02/2015 21:06

I went cold-turkey on DS1's night feeds when he was 14 months old and ended up with double mastitis. It'll be the last thing you'll want to do at dark o'clock, but pump! For God's sake, pump! FWIW, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be and it was done and dusted in just a few days. It didn't improve his sleep much, mind, and it made him even more determined to co-sleep, but I wasn't awake for ten minutes every hour of the night feeding.

I'm feeling very nervous that Ann is going to get me to night wean DS2. He just seems so awfully young for no night feeds at six months...Sad

scottygirl5 · 07/02/2015 13:58

elph has Ann said anything about night weaning? DD2 will be 6 months when we start with her too.

ElphabaTheGreen · 07/02/2015 15:12

I've PMed you scotty.

scottygirl5 · 07/02/2015 16:08

Thanks elph have PMed you back Smile

timeforsleepnow · 07/02/2015 19:06

Elph - which sleep consultant are you using?

timeforsleepnow · 07/02/2015 19:11

Last night was the first night of sleep training. DD cried for 2 hours which was pretty harrowing. I was doing my best to comfort her by patting, shushing and saying "it's sleepy time now", holding her for some of it. I have been beating myself up all day about it. She did sleep 11-6:30 though, which for a baby who used to wake up every 20 minutes is pretty good going.
Tonight, night 2, she started crying during the story, she knew what was coming. I put her in the cot and said its sleepy time now and....SHE JUST WENT TO SLEEP QUIETLY!! I wonder what the night will bring....

Oh and Elp- you were right on the pumpibg. By 11pm I had leaked through 2 sets of breast pads and then pumped 11oz before going to bed. I was ok for the rest of the night after that! Looks like I will be stocking the freezer!

ElphabaTheGreen · 07/02/2015 21:17

We're The fAnn Club on this thread. Me, Dreaming, PoppyAmex and Peregrin have all used her. Peregrin was the only one who didn't get a sleepy clone of their child at the end of it. Dreaming and Poppy you don't hear from often anymore because they're too busy catching up on sleep. I would be too, but I went and had World's Worst Sleeper Mark II. Confused

ChocolateIsMySleep · 07/02/2015 21:31

Hello fellow sleep-deprivees.

Elph - 20 feeds in 24 hours?! Blimey, how do you get anything done?! I know what you mean about night-weaning at 6 months. That was my vague original plan with DD2 but I just kept putting it off and off because she seemed too little. I think partly she seems littler because DD1 is a galumphing toddler. In reality, she is bigger for her age than DD1 was. I think all of the sleep consultants say night feeds are no longer required after 6 months though don't they? Could you keep a late feed for a little while? I did with both DDs although DD2 dropped it after only a few days shame she won't do the same with the early am one

Dreaming, long time no see! How's it going with the nightmares now?

Well, DD2 certainly showed me for shouting my mouth off... Had a pretty crappy week sleepwise, no doubt in part because OH and I thought we might try and have an actual life or something. Forgot that was totally against the rules! Went for dinner Friday night for OH's birthday and came back at 10pm to find MiL sat in front of the fire, DD2 chuckling in her arms. Took me two bloody hours to get her back to sleep Angry then she woke hourly after that and complained bitterly about not being picked up and cuddled. Thanks MiL. Glad you listened to the chat about sleep training and consistency then.

Then Sat night we stayed with friends. I know, I know, when will I learn?! It won't happen again for a long time. Birthday or no sodding birthday.

We were all in one room so when DD2 started screaming in the middle of the night it woke DD1 who also started screaming. Couldn't wake OH who'd drunk too much red wine. Ended up with DD1 in our bed and BFing DD2 back to sleep. Then it was bloody freezing so DD2 ended up in bed too about 4 am and I got no more sleep because there were no bed guards and I was panicking about (a) her falling out or (b) OH or DD1 rolling on her and suffocating her. I was delighted when OH got up early to go out mountain biking leaving me exhausted with two overtired and grumpy children Angry Angry

So its been back to square bloody one this week and I've given in and fed her at 4 ish a few times out of desperation. Am really struggling after 6 weeks of gradual retreat not actually seeming to make much difference any more. Sad She is better than she was, we're down to usually only 2 wake ups - but sometimes she'll be up for 1.5 hours plus each time which kills me. Sometimes she sleeps well. Sometimes she doesn't - and nothing I do seems to make much difference to that!

timeforsleep if one night of night weaning gets you an 11-6.30, you're very lucky!! If she continues doing that I'll be Envy!!! (And possibly getting a sleep consultant on speed dial!!)

ElphabaTheGreen · 07/02/2015 21:51

Chocolate, my sympathetic face for you is long gone. Stop going away you crazy moo! Grin

Well, half of those feeds are overnight so I've not got to 'do' anything except will him to hurry up so I can go back to sleep. During the day, I'm so bloody tired that I can really only do things in short bursts anyway before feeling pooped, so when he starts grizzling and face-planting my cleavage, I'm very pleased for the excuse to park. It's how I post on MN so often. Hungry Horace renders me stationary with iPhone in hand.

ChocolateIsMySleep · 07/02/2015 22:05

If I wasn't still BFing I'd have sent him off by himself with the kids Grin hmm maybe next time?!

scottygirl5 · 08/02/2015 08:52

Oh chocolate really sorry your nights out didn't work out. Sad

I don't have a pump so will not be night weaning in one go, I'd explode!

ChocolateIsMySleep · 08/02/2015 21:07

Scotty, whatever you do I recommend roping in your DH - it's much easier for them to settle LOs as they aren't expecting milk from Daddy (and means you might get a chance of a few hours kip!)

Well decided to try and hold out till 5am last night. Poor DD cried on and off for two hours, nothing I did seemed to help, rubbing, patting or shushing. Fed her on the dot of 5 and she went out like a light till 8.30...

Maybe the poor thing was actually hungry? Felt like such a horrible mummy putting her through it just so I can get more sleepHmm

ElphabaTheGreen · 09/02/2015 08:51

Well, last night was interesting.

DS2 ate a rather large amount of Ready Brek and pureed pear just before bed last night. Most I've ever seen him eat, plus he gnawed a piece of toast so some of that may have gone down. Fell asleep in his cot in his usual lah-di-dah 'why, yes, I can self-settle, mother' fashion. Awake an hour later needing cuddles to go back to sleep. Awake three hours later and...fell asleep as soon as I took him into bed with me without boob! Shock Huzzah! Thought I. Weaning will make a difference!

Then he puked. And shat. And puked some more, and shat again for good measure.

Interestingly, he didn't want any feeding at all last night, much to the dismay of my boobs. He cuddled back to sleep every time and/or wanted one of my fingers to suck on (he's long since fallen out with the dummy). I did find this slightly encouraging as, when DS1 had vomiting bugs at the same age, he would only feed back to sleep, so stomach bug nights were an endless cycle of feeding and spew, usually in my hair.

I'll see how well he keeps milk down today then try stuffing him with some rice pudding tonight before bed. I've just expressed 10oz off my groaning boobs in about 5 minutes so maybe I could make the pudding with that to keep it baby-gut-friendly.

Hear Has the cough fecked off yet?

timeforsleep How goes the sleep plan?

scotty Maybe you could start trying to extend time between night feeds to three hours instead of two? Although I'll totally understand if you CBA until you've got someone that you've paid telling you what to do. Ann's very pro-BF, though, so she probably wouldn't advise anything too daft.

timeforsleepnow · 09/02/2015 20:23

Sorry to hear about the poorly baby Elph! I hope you don't get any more puke tonight.
The sleep plan is going pretty well actually. Last night she woke up 3 times between 7 and 10 but each time just needed a quick pat to go back to sleep. She then slept until 4:45 which seems to be her wake up time of choice at the moment. It is just mental the difference 3 days have made. I can't believe it has had such a huge change so quickly. She was definitely ready to drop the feeds and sleep. 3 more nights until DH has a go. DD has only ever been settled by me and I was starting to think I would never have any freedom back!
Anyone who is pondering getting a sleep consultant... DO IT!!!
I had a good chat with Andrea this morning and apparently the early morning wake up is usually the hard bit so I am preparing for a 5am battle tomorrow to see if I can get her back down.
I hope everyone gets some sleep tonight.

ChocolateIsMySleep · 09/02/2015 20:57

Elph, hope you have a less vomit filled night! Was it a bug do you think or just a too full tummy?

Time, I'm impressed (and just a little jealous!).

Well I stuck it out last night from the 3am wake up until she fell asleep with my hand in the cot. Think it was sometime around 4.30/5. She then slept till 6.15 and had a feed before going back down. DD1 promptly woke but I managed to bribe her to stay in her own bed by giving her my hot water bottle (by now lukewarm). Meant getting back into a cold bed (OH is away) but at least I didn't have a toddler attached to my head...

ElphabaTheGreen · 09/02/2015 21:20

Most definitely a bug. I've been dodging Exorcist-style projectile vomits all day. Maybe he'll sleep well tonight as a consequence

timeforsleep Don't get complaicent! There's usually a fifth day regression then another one a couple of weeks later with sleep training. Also don't assume you're fixed forevermore. Illness and teething will always push a baby/toddler over the edge, particularly one with a chequered sleep history.

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