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...

Going crazy tonight. She's exhausted. Her colds much better. She's slept s grand total of 20 minutes

After refusing to go to sleep last night she slept from11.30-6.30!!!!! Had a bottle then went back down for an hour!!!!! Amazing!!!!

We got rid of the sleepyhead and she rolled onto her tummy to sleep which must be more comfy for her. She has c red cheeks this morning so I am guessing teething and a cold.

I have her cold and was up at 5 worrying about her and checking but.... Result!!!! Have we turned a corner????

That's amazing think! Bet you thpugjt you were in for an awful night too! Fingers crossed a corner is being turned and hope you feel better. Took me about a month with DS1 to start sleeping properly again. I'd keep waking at 4am stressing!

Oh no bug hope she settled and it was just a glitch.

Think that is great news!

Ds had a good night too we had about 3/4 wake ups in all but none lasted longer than 10 mins or so which is the best night he's had in a long time. He's still not napping though he woke up at 6am and was still tired, I got him to sleep again for 15 mins but woke up still tired but wanting to get up.

Oh zombie sorry to hear you're still struggling.

Will your ds nap while you're out at all?

Think he won't nap anywhere at all anymore, he will only nap at home if holding him and that's a struggle have been holding him for the last 45 minutes but he's just talking to himself and slapping me. I'm getting fed up of spending hours sat on my arse

Zombie what happens if you take him for a drive or wrap him up and go for a walk in pushchair?

He hates his push chair he tries to escape it, driving used to work but doesn't seem to anymore. Am still trying to get him to sleep. He keeps rubbing his eyes and yawning

Hmmm how old is he now zombie? Nap in pushchair is one thing that reliably works for us both in and out of the house. If in the house I face her away from me to rock it back and forth and single twinkle twinkle. If she can see me she just shouts

We're also do pushchair naps here which have worked well but last couple of days they've been quite short. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable in cot but I can't face practicing that. And when I go back to work she'll be sleeping on the go with the childminder anyway.
Last night dd was quite unsettled. Although not as bad as pre sleep training, but I guess you're never guaranteed a good night regardless of any intervention.
zombie I really hope sleep clinic helps you. Is it worth calling them again on the off chance there's an earlier appointment

Hope you have a better night tonight bug

I might give them a call and see if we can go earlier, I went to the hospital for his dietitian the other day and I noticed the sleep clinic was on... I was the only person in the waiting room the whole time and I was there about an hour

zombie. So the sleep clinic and dietitian are in the same place? I would ask the dietitian to speak to someone and see if they can move it forward. Hope you get a good night

Yes they're just at the peadiatric outpatients at the hospital. I spoke to the dietitian to see if she could speed it up but she couldn't.

The appt we have in Feb was a cancellation apparently so I will give them a call tomorrow to see if there have been any more.

Good luck zombie
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We have another night where dd won't settle

Still trying to persuade dd to sleep for more than 15 mins at a time! Yawn

Hope your night improved think

Omg ds actually slept last night  he woke up twice for his dummy then woke up at 6.20 (which is the latest hes slept in ages) and for the first time in months he didn't wake up screaming! He was just chatting to himself 

Zombie that sounds great

Well done, sounds like things are improving all round! Especially Zombie, I really hope this is a turn for the better for you.

No improvement here sadly. I've ppayed a new thread as getting bit desperate! DD's latest trick is to only settle on me. She'll sleep in her cot till 1am with one or two wakings. But after that it's almost impossible to settle her in her cot! So I give up and put her on me (in a single bed in her room so no room for co sleep).

Back aches, arm aches, I feel like I've got a cold coming on. Utterly fucked off.

Wondering if moving her Sleepyhead out might make a difference? Think someone on here said they did that and it helped? Maybe she wants to be on her side or front? We did try to remove it one night but after 3 hours of wakings and her rolling around the cot madly we reinstated it!

Any hand holding much appreciated. DH sick of me moaning on ('you're always saying you're tired') was his unhelpful contribution last night. That almost got him his divorce papers). I just feel like such a useless mum. Plus weaning isn't going well. We're doing baby led and two weeks in she still won't swallow anything! Other mums have babies who are practically gastro dining by now! I'm scared she's not gaining weight :( just feel like I'm about to flip. Please reassure me I can carry on!

Purple someone did say moving the sleepyhead helped. Maybe give it a try for tonight. Maybe she's more comfy on her side or front.

I fully expect that last night was a fluke for me, so I will be here for hand holding. Dh's can be useless buggers at times (although some are amazing I hear!..... Not mine though).

Fwiw, ds hardly ate anything at all, and I mean hardly anything, until he was 10 months. I sat and cried one day as I was so worried about him not gaining weight etc. We were doing blw but switched to purees for a bit which seemed to help, I still offered blw type snacks or as a side to his puree. That was still hit and miss whether he would eat anything with puree but I had a better idea of what he was having. He's still not a big eater now but will have a go at things most times.

You are most definitely not a useless mom and can carry on were here to cheer you on!

purple i could of written your post i'm in the exact same position as you re sleeping & weaning. Anyday now our DC will turn a corner.

*zombie- hooray for a good night!! Really hope it continues for you as you so deserve it

purple - food is for fun until they are one (apparently!). I did BLW with DS1 and all he ate was cheese and raspberries for weeks whilst NCT friends were dropping milk feeds and having 3 meals plus snacks. Your DD will get all she needs from your milk. I'm only doing puree with DS2 because he was dropping centiles due to his milk allergy.
I'm sorry to hear things aren't improving. It's shit isn't it? I saw your other post and people suggesting to drop naps. I personally think your DD is having the right amount of day sleep... you said 3 hrs right? She will naturally lengthen the first 2 naps and the 3rd will no longer be required in the coming month or so. I guess it's worth a try tho...
Also you CAN keep going and you will. You are made of strong stuff

purple could your dh sleep in the single bed and you bring dd into your bed? At least there would be more room.
It took my dd a couple of weeks post six months to stop tongue thrusting and that's when I noticed she ate more. I started blw but she loved purees when I tried them so went with that. She was more interested in finger foods around 8 months. I hope tonight is better

We ve had 2 good (for us) nights in a row. Not so optimistic to think this is more than a fluke but we have done the following:-

Ditched the sleepyhead and put her down on her side. She's rolled onto her tummy and slept on tummy. Not sure if that's just more comfy for her as she has a cold and isn't coughing as much on her tummy or if it's just more comfy for her

Calpol just before bed. It's a really rotten cold plus think she's teething.

Carbs before bed on the basis that carbs make me sleepy so should work for dd. I'm not a fan of blw. No one has really convinced me of the point of it. We do traditional weaning ie purees with finger food to play with. Dd adores the purees and often has seconds. She mashes, gums and plays with the finger food but spits out most of it. I just can't see how little babies fill their tummies unless you help them to.

Extra blanket on top of sleeping bag - she feels cold in the night to me

She hasn't settled for long until gone 11 those 2 nights so perhaps it's pure exhaustion plus we re making an effort to entertain her/wear her out during the day with walks, time to bounce, kick, play, tickle etc

It's exhausting but will not be forever. Crossing fingers and toes for tonight

Think the next step must be night weaning but not ready to try they yet. She has half her formula overnight so not quite sure how to fix that

Purple you can do it! Can your dh do a night over the weekend or take dd in the day so you can nap? I find after a few hours with dd dh is in awe of how I do it, especially if I ask him to remember to feed and change her and get her dressed.

It's difficult when other people have easy babies and it just makes me feel I'm crap at looking after my babies. But it gets easier once they're older and time really flies.

I find this messes with my sanity. Lack of sleep is excruciating. The physical and mental exhaustion is awful. The boredom and loneliness of trying to entertain s baby. Plus I keep thinking for all sorts of reasons why did I have 2. Things were great before. But I know we ll come through it.

I'm struggling with my looks at the moment. Have piled on so much weight through exhaustion. I'm bigger now than when pregnant and need to fit back into work clothes in 3 months or spend a fortune buying more. My skin and hair are awful and my nails keep cracking. Feel like a bag lady most of the time and have constant splashes of puke/snot/chocolate somewhere. Today it was mayonnaise down my trousers courtesy of ds.

Think do you just use a thin blanket? I wonder if ds gets cold at night but he wriggles so much I worry about putting anything on him.

I also have problems with my looks but I lost weight dr reckons it's stress related I went from a size 12, am now wearing size 6-8 I look horrific. No bum and my boobs have vanished (I'm now a b cup ). After ds my hair fell out so bad I had bald patches but luckily that is growing back which means I have hair sticking up all over the place I have problems with my skin that are getting worse so I have had loads of blood tests and have been referred to a dermatologist. I know if I slept it would probably sort it out but not much chance of that god I sound so attractive!