Sleepless of Mumsnet - join us if your LO consistently laughs in the face of sleep!

[Purpleboa]

Hi everyone. I thought I'd create this thread when I saw that there were quite a few of us lingering on the 4 month regression thread, with babies that clearly didn't get the memo about things getting better!

I've seen another thread for parents whose children are long term poor sleepers but I think it's been relegated to zombie status. So I hope nobody minds if I start another one! If your LO consistently struggles to sleep, whether it's down to diet, night terrors or just sheer bloody mindedness, please pull up an armchair and join in! I'll supply the espressos, hugs and chocolate, wine and tears served after 4pm.

I'll start: my DD is 25 weeks. She's gorgeous, adorable and the absolute light of my life. Unless it's between the hours of 7pm and 7am! She's struggled with sleep always. I thought things would improve following the 'fourth trimester' but she got a cold, reacted badly to her jabs...and before I knew it we'd cruised into the 4 month regression. Which she's either still in, or she's teething, or developing, or wonder weeking, or fck knows really!

The past two weeks have been particularly painful and I feel I'm reaching the limits of my endurance. I love being her mum, I love spending time with her...but not sleeping makes it oh so very hard.

I have found Mumsnet to be a wonderful source of support during those dark and lonely hours when you feel like you're the only person in the world going through this. So I wanted to give back and support others too.

I'll put the kettle on...

Dixie, 2.10?! That doesn't fill me with hope. Stupid question but, what is asd?

Jelly () I stopped counting my wake ups now. I know he was wide awake at 12.30/1amish and we had a few more wake ups between then and 5 when he always gets up. I try and keep him entertained in his cot though until 6 as I worry he will think he can just wake up at that time and go play down stairs.

Can I join too? Ds is 3 next month he had cmpi when a baby and has never slept.
It's exhausting, I can be in to him up to ten times or more on a night. Feel like a zombie

Omg I always thought ds was too old for sleeping problems maybe not!

I read I read too much in the hope of finding a miracle cure. That bad sleep can be a sign of things like autism. Don't know how true it is.

Have either of you seen a sleep consultant/clinic really wondering how you guys do it for so long as I'm really struggling

So fed up. Put him to bed and it started the second he went down. He's just screaming at me in his cot. I'm just lay next to him hoping he has a good night..... Not likely

I'm in too. No allergies here. Just an 11 month old rubbish sleeper. Started a couple of threads and got some good advice but I just can't seem to break the feed to sleep cycle. Hoping we all get a decent night tonight...

My brother's son is mild ASD and is and always has been an amazing sleeper - 12+hrs a night and 2-3hr nap until 2.8 years old. So I don't think ASD and bad sleep necessarily go hand in hand.

I agree, IME night sleep improves when the naps stop and when teething ends too!

Yes, I'm in. DS is 22 months - yup ladies, nearly two years old. Still wakes 6 out of 7 nights for anywhere between 45 mins and 2/3 hours. I've been on countless sleep threads. Is this as weary thread when things get desperate?

Sweary. I meant sweary. I know we're all weary and shattered.

Yes yes yes to the sweaty, that was meant to say sweary thread but my phones version made me chuckle.

Ds has been in bed about an hour and been up twice already.

Sorry if my posts make no sense, my brain doesn't function on such little sleep, but I'm sure you all understand

Zombie does your DS settle himself? As in, is he waking so much because he can't 'self soothe' (whatever that is!) Or is something bothering him to make him wake?

My DS wakes every 30-40 minutes, particularly before midnight. He stirs slightly, then after a few minutes starts spluttering (that's the only way I can describe it). He then gets frustrated and starts crying. He can't settle at all and if he moves slightly or hears a noise, he wakes and cannot settle at all.

Any tips on how he might be able to soothe himself back to sleep?

Jelly, could it be reflux bothering him? Does he feed in the night at all?

Queendedede- He does sometimes. I don't think he necessarily needs it though (but then again, I don't know this is my first baby), as sometimes he will have a dribble and fall straight back asleep. So I think (maybe?) it could be a comfort? Sometimes he doesn't have any. It varies really

I don't really know tbh. Very randomly (and not often) he will sleep 6-6. Some nights, again not often he will only wake 4-5 times for his dummy and go to sleep but the majority of nights he will wake every hour, worse nights more often, then he will be up in the night for a few hours.

I did think before it could be a self soothing problem but sometimes he manages it. He is very much a mommy's boy, so don't know if that is something to do with it.

I Am seeing the sleep consultant in Feb but I'm terrified they will only say controlled crying. I tried that one night, we both ended up hysterical and dm had to come round to sort us both out I just can't cope with cc.

Haven't rtft but im sure I'll get the chance. Dd is 21weeks (nearly) she was doing well, sleeping 8-3 5-8. Last two weeks waking more and more through the night. Last four days she's just screamed if I put her down in her cot. I set a timer on my phone after the first night, according to that I've had around 8/9 hours of sleep since Wednesday. Last night was the worst she eventually went to sleep at ten to five, awake at 6.05.
Ds is 5 and wakes at least twice a night (easily settled though most of the time) and is UP between 4.30-5.45 every day regardless.
Today has been rough. Im physically sick and a miserable cow today.

Zombie my DS is a Mummy's boy, always has been. Also always been rubbish at sleeping but takes amazing naps and has improved to waking 2/3 times a night, occasionally only once (he is 19mo). The only time he wakes every hour is with teething - he is getting his last four molars at the moment and is waking every 2 - 3 hours, so better than when he was younger!

My point is that even if it was a self soothing thing, he still shouldn't be so restless - waking every hour or less or taking a long time to settle at bedtime signifies to me something is preventing him from getting into a deep sleep and completing a full cycle, which is around 90 minutes long. Could he be teething? Have you tried cutting out foods other than dairy, like soya, eggs and wheat?

Don't let a sleep consultant fob you off with CC being the answer - poor sleep to the degree you are experiencing is usually a symptom of something underlying which CC won't solve.

Is it just me or is this thread quite depressing....I'm hoping dd will improve when she gets more mobile. I remember ds' sleep improved once he could roll round more and sleep on his tummy. Although of course there were also the nights he'd get stuck wedged in a corner of the cot/hands through the bars/ spend hours practicing sitting up etc....

Yep, it's depressing but it's life! When they will improve is anyone's guess really, don't have hopes or expectations and you won't be disappointed

Queen he is cmpi and under a dietitian. He is 1 tomorrow and no teeth yet but I can see two top ones, but would they have been uncomfortable for months on end? Maybe they have calpol doesn't seem to help either though.

Aye it's depressing...but also comforting, I always check this at night to confirm I am not alone! And there's humour too :)

How was everyone's nights? Actually not too bad here. Wakings at 1130 and 3, then up at 5.30. Not ideal but better. She's still taking a while to settle after wakings, but I'm just trying to be consistent. She's now in her own room but I'm sleeping next to her on the guest bed.

Currently trapped underneath a ton of sleeping baby - that's been hour and a half! May need to wake her soon as my leg is going dead and my bladder is uncomfortably full...