Bad sleepers - success stories please!!

[SleepForTheWeak]

I need some positivity bullets!

Everyone says ' she'll sleep through eventually' but I genuinely don't believe them!

She wakes every 2 hours and will only settle when I bf her. I've tried so many different things to try settle her otherwise - all to no avail.

Has anyone just let it run its course without intervention? Did your bad sleeper turn into a good sleeper in their own time?

DD is 9 months and is worse now than she was at 1 month

My bad sleeper (5+ wake ups per night) turned into a good sleeper when he hit 1 and went into his own room.

Thank you!!

DD already in own room, has been for 4 months

My 15 month year old was the same at 9 months, plus would only nap on me and couldn't be left in bed/cot on an evening even for an hour as she would wake.
We now cuddle to sleep, and don't breastfeed during the night. She may wake once or twice for water but it's a mile away from where we were a few months ago

Have you tried giving water instead of bf? A dummy? Perhaps it's not so much the feed she wants but instead is using you for comfort. Maybe put something that smells of you into her bed?

It's definitely comfort she looks for, although she'll be used to consuming these calories during the night so would probably be hungry if I didn't feed her at all.

She won't take a dummy - have tried every brand!

I've tried my clothes in her cot with no luck, have even tried putting my milk on her comforter - she still wakes up screaming every 2 hours.

She won't take a bottle and I have a feeling a cup of water would be chucked across the room - I think I'll give it a go though. She doesn't settle being picked up and cuddles or shh pat in the cot - if anything it makes her worse!

DD2 was like this. Slept through about 22 months.

Probably not what you wanted to hear right now.

At 9 months all three of mine had similar sleep patterns to this.

It will change! Dd was similar, had a massive growth spurt at 10 months where she fed ALL night for 2 bloody weeks then started to sleep for longer stretches, by 1, she'd go 4-5 hours between feeds some nights, at 20 months it's often over 6 hours, and over 9 at least once a week ( then is ready for the day at 4am, but ignore I said that). I night weaned over a few weeks at 17 months. Have a look at the Isis ( Infant sleep information service?) website to help reassure your self.

There's also something I read on line about the 'wait it out' approach to infant sleep.

Thank you - it's just hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel.

I've managed to get her self settling at bed time which is great, a few nights of crying but now she goes to sleep with just me humming from a chair at other side of room (next step out of room!)

Have tried same techniques during the night but she just resists them. She's not one that will be easily sleep trained and so have kind of resigned myself to this night life for the foreseeable future.

It's good to hear some babies can do it all by themselves - even if it takes 2 years!

I let it run its course (found accepting it MUCH easier than obsessing over how to change it).

Before the change DS only slept on me in the day and would sleep in 2-3 hour chunks at night, being breastfed back to sleep each time (and this was even with a dummy).

Then he crawled one day and suddenly slept 10 hours straight that night. That continued and grew to 11-12 hours a night. He then started to get annoyed sleeping on me (he would toss and turn trying to get comfortable) so I tried him in his cot. He has now been having 2 long naps in his cot each day.

I honestly don't think there was anything I could have done to improve his sleep. He obviously needed to get on the move and absolutely exhaust himself so he would sleep more deeply. He was such a light sleeper before. The tiniest noise would wake him.

You poor soul! They're definitely more difficult at tha stage than as newborns. As soon as you think you've got a handle on their feeding/sleeping ritual, it all changes.

My dad was awful from 4 months onwards. Every hour for weeks on end, o thought I was going to die! She seemed to be so unsettled compared to my friends kids.

Anyway one magical night she sleep through at 15 months and just got better. There was still a few nights during the week where she's be up loads, but it was generally better and I felt better.

I fed to sleep and cuddled to sleep, because I'm a terrible person

You she's a happy little pudding though! And the toddler years have been ace

This is exactly what I need to hear - thank you so much!

She's nearly crawling so I'll keep my fingers crossed

It's so hard, especially with everyone else around you having babies who sleep through the night and being constantly don't 'she doesn't need fed every 2 hours during the night'...

I KNOW THAT! HOW ABOUT YOU COME ROUND HERE FOR ONE NIGHT AND SEE HOW HARD IT IS!

Sorry, rant over.

my 2 hourly waker now sleeps 11 hours a night, alone, in her own bed, without help to fall asleep.

I cant remember when it actually happened though... (she was over a year) but it did, with no intervention from me

These responses have honestly just put a spring in my step.

Things WILL get better!

Yes they will! Of course my DS didn't need feeding every 2 hours overnight but I still did it and didn't care what anyone else said.

Feeding meant he went back to sleep quickly with no tears! So did I.

That's DD asleep, fell asleep within 10mins of going into cot.

I'm going to be more relaxed about night time feedings tonight. Well, I'll try - when I'm dog tired I often any think logically!

I know this thread is a couple of years old, but just wondering if all worked out for you? I'm in a similar situation at the moment 😀

OP will have a nearly 3 year old now. May have name changed, but last thread on the sleep board was when child was 2:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/2821921-can-t-stand-these-bedtime-meltdowns