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Sleep

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Original poster

7mth dd-Not settling

86 replies

mummynumnum · 27/01/2007 19:14

My dd (7mths) has always been a good sleeeper, but I think I have made a mistake since going back to work 4 weeks ago. Was so tired the first week, that when dd woke in night for feed I kept falling asleep on the bed in her room, with her next to me. Did this when she was v tiny but had got her out of the habit. Now when she wakes in the night, she is finding it hard to settle herself without me co-sleeping with her. Can this situation be solved without resorting to cc-I really dont think I can do that. Could she be like this as she is teething and got a cold and will go back to how she was once this has passed?? Any ideas or advice/

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Original poster

mummynumnum · 04/02/2007 21:07

I am looking fwd to half term. Not looking fwd to sleep training, but know got to do it. DD cold has got better and that has stopped her waking so much at night, but she is still waking at least once and wanting comfort rather than a feed and she is def winging as she knows I will give in. And I do! But not once half term arrives!

When you put them down first thing at night do you do it whilst they are still awake and then follow the pattern or do you just do sshh/pat if they wake up at night? Hope that makes sense! I have always BF dd and tends to fall asleep on me. Should I stop this?

Glad things getting better for you both. You are giving me the courage.

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dcb · 04/02/2007 21:46

i've always bf her just before bed. she is awake thjough when i put her in her cot. if she's had enough sleep during the day she will tend to go to sleep quite quickly without too much fuss. if not she will cry for a few min or on/off for a while longer. i do the same bed routine every night which i started on the advice of a fellow mn. once she's had a good burp (usually does) i sing short lullaby (badly) then say "night, night, sleepytime" etc then "i love you" etc and make sure she can see her "sleepy monkey" is tucked up with his blanket too. recently i've started tucking a muslin under her bum, with a corner for her to suck if she wants, where she can reach it, but not so that she will smother herself. she's been quite good with this routine for a while now. if i do go in at night now i just check she's not got herself stuck and just say sleepy time..

i think kbaby was using shush/pat. i tried this ages ago and didn't get very far - it seemed to make dd angry so gave up. maybe she could fill you in on this more?

shish · 05/02/2007 11:51

I feed ds and put him in his cot. He's almost asleep by then and then I shh and pat him into a deeps sleep. I'm hoping once he's sleeping through, that I can then work on this and just leave him in his cot to fall asleep. Mind you, cos he's almopst asleep by the time he's finished his feed, it doesn't take too long.

Last night wasn't so good. I was so tired I wasn't really able to keep track of exactly how many times he cried, but I would say it was 4-5 times. Sometimes he only cried for about a minute and at other time up to about 20 minutes. I think he was really testing me last night, but I didn't give in. Wish me luck tonight. Here's hoping it's a better one. I'm just wondering when he'll actually start to sleep through...

dcb · 05/02/2007 17:20

i'm sure tonight will be better - it sounds just like what our dd did - keep going - it is worth it honest. she seems to have settled into 7-5.30. can't complain really........

shish · 06/02/2007 11:46

That sounds great dcb. Last night was a bit better. He's now atarting to self-settle. So, sometimes, he'll cry for a minute or even less and fall back asleep. I'm determined to see it through

Original poster

mummynumnum · 06/02/2007 20:19

Was v brave tonight. Put dd down to sleep after bf. she woke up, but did not pick her up and sshhd, patted and stroked to sleep. Yippee!!

OP posts:

shish · 07/02/2007 14:46

Well done mummynumnum! We had a reasonable night. Ds woke twice - cried for 2-3 mins each time and went back to sleep.

Original poster

mummynumnum · 07/02/2007 17:09

Sounds like you have it cracked.

OP posts:

shish · 07/02/2007 17:13

Not quite, but getting there slowly. Let me know how you get on..

dcb · 07/02/2007 17:33

not a great night - but was staying at my mums so strange room/travel cot. she woke at 3.30 and wouldn't settle - it's really hard when they're in the same room. must confess i fed her at 4.30 as she was still crying and was getting into a rage - my boobs also felt v full so wondered if she perhaps hadn't fed as well before bed. hmmm - that's my story anyway - better not tell dh. hope all our hard work hasn't gone to waste - back home now so will see what tonight brings. i don't want it to be that we can never stay anywhere else.

dcb · 08/02/2007 07:42

thankfully all was ok. slept 6.30-5.30. early start but then can't argue with 11 hrs sleep. will have to go to bed earlier tonight. was worried that she would wake up lots after being fed the night before - hopefully this means it hasn't all been for nothing.

shish · 08/02/2007 09:51

Hi dcb. My ds is still in the same room as us. We're moving to our new house in a few weeks and want to put him straight into his own room - hence needing him to sleep better.

You're not gonna believe it - He slept through last night!! I still can't believe it myself. Although, ironically, I didn't sleep too well myself, as I had stuff on my mind! Thank you so much for all your support

Let's see how it goes tonight. I'll definately let you know..

I think you have it going really well. Maybe it was a different environment, or just a one off.

dcb · 08/02/2007 10:22

that's great news shish - overall controlled crying wasn't too bad for us and the end result is great in a short space of time. how have you found it? i can't believe how against it i was.

dcb · 08/02/2007 10:24

mummynumnum -how are things?

shish · 08/02/2007 16:33

I was really against it too, but I would have to agree that it didn't take as long as I thought. I hope it continues to prove to be a success. I'll be in touch tommorrow to let you know.

Original poster

mummynumnum · 08/02/2007 20:42

Things are good and the ssh/patting thing is working well and I have not picked up to settle for two days now.

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shish · 09/02/2007 09:45

Great news mummynumnum. Ds slept through again last night, although woke nearly hour earlier than he normally would, which does happen occassionally.

Mitchell81 · 09/02/2007 16:08

It has been so encouraging reading your posts. I will be trying this with my ds who's 7 months. At the moment he falls asleep with bottle in our bed and then goes into cot for afew hours in our room and then wakes for another feed at about 1am and then from then on is in our bed. Do I still feed him everytime he wakes, he has 3 or 4 bottles between 7pm and 7am, only one bottle during the day. Waiting for half term so if he wakes DD it won't be a huge problem. Also moving him to his own room. Don't know if I will cope with the crying,but have got to do something. He used to settle straight after having a bottle, but now cries before falling asleep.
Sorry for the long post and intruding on your thread

shish · 09/02/2007 17:27

Hi Mitchell81. I was really not up for controlled crying, but I got desperate, as the nights were getting worse. It was reading these posts that gave me the courage to do it. The first night is really hard, but then it's gets easier. It got a bit worse before it got better, as you can see. We've been at it for just over a week now, and it's definately been worth it.

Is your ds eating weel in the day?? How is his weight? Why only one bottle in the day? You should aim for him to be eating and drinking well in the day - then you can cut down on his night feeds. A baby who is drinking and eating well in the day, at 7 months, shouldn't need to be feeding in the night, provided their weight gain is ok. Maybe he's feeding for comfort?

Let us know how you get on

Mitchell81 · 09/02/2007 17:47

He has 3 meals a day and just refuses milk during the day (too much going on maybe??) But then proceeds to drink a full 210ml bottle at 7pm, then another 210ml at 10pm and then sometimes another 210ml at 1am or 4am.
Will have him weighed next week, last time he was weighed he was 8kg. He is growing and putting on weight. Just fussy about milk.

shish · 10/02/2007 11:25

I guess your 7pm and 10pm feeds are fine. You need to try and shift you 1am/4am feed to a bit later - say as a first feed when he wakes. Maybe try speaking to your HV??

Are you going to give the controlled crying a go?

Dcb - ds slept through again last night - well, cried once and I gave him teething gel and he went back to sleep. On the whole things are on the up. I never really thought this was going to work. It was my last hope really..

shish · 10/02/2007 11:26

Mummynumnum, how's it going?? Any progress?

dcb · 10/02/2007 14:56

5.15 this morning. early starts are killing me despite being asleep by 9.30 last night. i fed her (tried waiting for 20 mins but just got louder) and then went back to bed as dh offered to get up (hooray). didn't have to think long about that one. have seen on another thread that sometimes putting them to bed earlier can help. she was in bed by 7 last night but didn't sleep til 7.45 due to singing then crying for a bit. might try a bit earlier tonight - anyone have any other ideas?

Original poster

mummynumnum · 10/02/2007 19:49

Had a bad night last night and was sooo tired I let her get in the big bed with me. On half term now and really got to try and crack it this week.

OP posts:

dcb · 11/02/2007 21:06

5.0 this am but went in to her straight away s had a blocked duct (ouch) i was actually awake before her today just waiting to feed her. anyway i put her back in her cot just in case and she went back to sleep til 7.30. will prob od the same again. she did go to bed early tonight - 6.15 so hope this will also help. mummynumnum hope it gets better

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