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6 months old and still a shit sleeper

66 replies

MYA2016 · 21/07/2016 21:58

I've lurked on these threads since the birth of my first baby 6 months ago.... I'm still here... still wondering why he hates sleep so much.
I don't think I'm even hoping for advice anymore... just a rant.
Goes to bed at 7.30 after the same routine of dinner, bath, massage,in the night garden, book, bottle, take upstairs, lullaby, then the hell begins.
I've stopped bf to sleep at night (was very hit and miss anyway), put him in cot and either shh to sleep or if he is upset we hold him and rock him.
Usually takes 15 mins tops. Goes down easily.
40 mins later will wake. Always try to get him back to sleep without taking out of cot. Rarely works. Will never bf at this point.
And then it continues. Every 40-90 mins till midnight he wakes,crying. He just cannotated get through a sleep cycle.
At midnight he will not be put down. Cries and cries and cries every time his head hits the cot
So we bring him to our bed and some nights he'll sleep and wake once or twice, other nights he'll wake hourly still.
He eats loads and really well in the day, I've tried him on his back and tummy,he won't take a dummy and never has.
Feeling quite trapped as I'd love a break (all day naps have to be in my arms so I feel like I never get time to breathe) however I wouldn't put anyone else through the nights we have
Dh is very supportive of cosleeping and will always get up throughout the night to help, despite having work at 6am but ds will never settle with him.
Hv told me yesterday that when I made the choice to bf, I made the choice to not sleep as you can't have both.
Have enjoyed bf but really feeling like I won't do it again right now with any subsequent dcs .
Rant is over.

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MYA2016 · 05/08/2016 15:02

I just wanted to update and say that things are improving!
I know this is all subject to change but we seem to have nailed the 234 routine and the last few nights he's slept 7.00pm - 6.30am waking just once at 4am.

You have no idea how much I'm hoping this lasts.

Thanks everyone who came along with advice or just to let me know if wasn't alone.
I'm sure you'll hear off me again in the very near future though Grin

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Jayfee · 05/08/2016 16:59

Brilliant...hope it lasts!

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uhoh1973 · 05/08/2016 17:04

Do as many day time naps as possuble in cot. No sleeping in your arms. If you do this he will feel hard done by at night. Bottle of milk to top up last feed. Send DP to see him in the night. He will soon lose interest...

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LapinR0se · 06/08/2016 07:26

That's brilliant well done

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MYA2016 · 15/08/2016 09:43

I can't believe how much has changed in a month. Ds was 7 months old yesterday. For the last 6 days every single nap has been in his cot and not my arms and always goes down within 5 mins.
And guess what - he is also currently sleeping through 11 hours straight.
I am in shock.
You have no idea how much I am praying this continues (obviously apart from the usual illness / teething etc where I know it wont).
Just thought I'd update in case anyone else ever comes across this thread. I know things can change all the time but a month ago I honestly could not see a light at the end of the tunnel. I had spent 3/4 months of not having more than around 90 mins sleep at a time on average. It was absolutely awful and I have full sympathy for anyone who has to go through it

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MYA2016 · 15/08/2016 10:51

I feel I should add he is NOT self soothing to sleep. He is having a bottle of milk and falling asleep in our arms straight after then we put him down after 2 mins.

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seri0usly · 15/08/2016 13:41

Have you changed anything or done anything different?? Is he eating a lot of solids now? I'm in the same boat as you were and am/have trying/tried everything. It's awful!

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seri0usly · 15/08/2016 13:44

Have you stopped breastfeeding??

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MYA2016 · 15/08/2016 15:13

Hi seri0usly - if I am completely honest Yes I have stopped breastfeeding apart from when he wakes in the morning and I will give him the first morning feed.
I didn't want to stop and was actually pretty scared because it was the only way he knew how to get back to sleep but since he isn't given it now he is so much better.
I know that may not be the case for all babies but we were having to cosleep most of the night because he just wanted me for comfort all the time. If he does ever get upset in the night now I still let him in our bed but he snuggles dh instead of me and slowly he's realised there's not much worth waking up for.
He's eating 3 x a day and having 4 milk feeds during the day too.
I'd hate for anyone to stop breastfeeding thinking it'd solve all their problems and then not work but for us it actually appears that it has
The other thing that has worked which never has previously is white noise. We were waking him up all the time going to bed and even one of us coughing in the night
We now leave the ipad in the nursery with fan noise on quite loudly and now he doesn't flinch when we go to bed or anything.
I hope you find something that works for you very soon. It's so shit

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DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/08/2016 15:22

The only thing I can suggest is if the wake to sleep thing doesn't work- sounds fabulous, wish I'd known about that, then I would feed him even if he's only taking a couple of ounces but not past midnight just in case he's having a growth spurt and needs more. At 6 months he's so little still.

You have my sympathies, it's awfulFlowers

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DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/08/2016 15:24

Oh ffs, that'll teach me not to read the thread fullyHmmGrin

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MYA2016 · 15/08/2016 15:34

Dame Grin Grin i do agree though I was feeding him if he woke and wouldn't settle and he gradually just dropped them on his own.
I honestly think that the 4mo sleep regression blended straight in with when his 2 bottom teeth came through and then that blended straight into his 6mo growth spurt, which for me ended up being 3/4 months of 2-3 hours sleep a night!

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seri0usly · 15/08/2016 15:44

Thank you for the info! Can I ask what times his 4 milk feeds are and what times his 3 meals are? Just trying to get strict with our routine now to see if that helps so always interested in hearing timings :)

When you stopped breastfeeding through the night did you attend to him or DH? How did he take it the first night or 2? Did he adapt quickly?

Sorry so many questions, it's just that our situations are identical - my son has just turned 6 months though and doesn't sleep Confused

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MYA2016 · 15/08/2016 21:22

That's okay :) His routine was never really there before but it's really good now. Here you go:

6.30am - wake and breastfeed
7/7.30 - breakfast
9.30am - formula and down for nap (1.5hr)
12.00 - lunch and formula (doesn't take much milk maybe only 1 or 2oz but often none)
2.00 - formula and nap (1 hour)
5.30 - dinner
7.30 - formula and bed

Before he was sleeping through I would then give him milk throughout the night if he woke but only every 3/4 hours, not less than that unless he was very upset and unsettled.

To answer your other questions:

When I stopped bf overnight he adapted very very quickly. I started with formula at bedtime and he'd fall asleep quite quickly. Then I could settle him by cuddling till midnight when he woke then he would want a feed so I started giving formula here too at 12am. Any other wakings after that I breastfed but after a few nights the formula was seeing him through from 12-4 so then at 4 I'd give formula again and then that would see him through till morning when I would then offer a breastfeed. Over a few weeks he has seemed to just drop them although if he does wake it's usually around 12.30

My dh and me both attended to him to be honest but when he coslept during the night he always was latching off and on. We stopped that and just let him cuddle into dh instead and that helped loads.

Someone told me that babies memory spans at this age are so short (just day's) that after a couple of days they don't remember what they used to do. And honestly after 2 days it was like he forgot he ever breastfed to sleep. He never tries to latch on now and seems to know that boob is just for when he wakes for the day.

If you're ready to stop breastfeeding then try and give this a go but hopefully things will settle down soon regardless for you.
I would try the white noise if you can for definite.

Keep me updated seri0usly Smile

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seri0usly · 17/08/2016 20:25

That is all really helpful, thanks so much. I'm going to try this as it seems like a good way to remove the attachment to breast at night. It's nice to know it's possible to do so without giving up entirely Smile

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Zara87 · 20/11/2018 00:06

How funny, just came across this thread from over 2 years ago. I was the OP. i reported that finally at 7mo ds1 started sleeping through after months of hell. He's now almost 3 and still a brilliant sleeper (2 hour nap and 12 hrs at night).
Ds2 on the other hand has gone from sleeping through since 7 weeks old to the last 2 weeks being up hourly. He's 7mo. Here we go again Grin

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