Cuddles and co sleep through sleep regression?

[blue2014]

Am I doing the wrong thing? DS seems to have hit a sleep regression - he will settle back to sleep with a cuddle but won't sleep for more than an hour unless I bring him to bed with me (usually in a sleepyhead)

Am I creating bad habits - do babies just grow out of the sleep regression or do I need to be teaching him to sleep somehow?

Thanks Tea

Just realised I never replied to you inneed - I have on occasion brought DS in to bed with me to co-sleep but found that he just loves the boob too much. He'd nap for 10 mins then feed/suckle for 10 minutes and he'd do that for hours. It caused a couple of problems:

1. He'd make my nipples really sore as he'd suck them in rather than latch properly

And

1. He'd be ok when lying down but when we sit him up after co-sleeping he would do an epic projectile vomit

So yes, I think it is possible to overfeed a bf baby. They kept saying that it's not possible in ante-natal classes, but DSs obssession with the boob and the resulting throw up suggests otherwise! He did jump up from 50th centile to 75th centile a month or so ago, he's levelled out now and hasn't gone higher so I can't say that I definitely overfed him but he seems to be a greedy guts (much like his parents!) when given unlimited access to milk!

Hope things are improving for you. A small win - we had 3hrs sleep tonight from 10.30pm-1.30am. Downside- he hasn't been able to stay down since and I can see the sky lighting up- morning has come! Zzzzzzzzzz......

Another one with a regressioning 5 month old here had a horrible 6 weeks of it but the other day I was running out of ideas so took away the sleepyhead (had tried for part of a night before but was just as bad so put it back) and after a rubbish few hours she suddenly got the hang of rolling over onto her belly to sleep without thinking it was tummy time! She literally went from hourly wake ups (or even shorter ) to doing 3-5 hour stretches in one day I think part of what was waking her up was not being able to fidget when she wanted! Obviously it won't be the same for every baby but it might be worth a try

furry You shouldn't put a baby to sleep on its tummy. If your baby can roll onto her tummy herself then that's fine, but it's not good advice to recommend people try putting them on their tummies. My older DD always sleeps on her front, I think a lot of them find it more comfortable. They just have to be able to get there on their own.

Their sleep often gets worse when they're mastering a new skill (like rolling!). It'll probably happen again with crawling, walking... 😴

Oh I know I didn't mean my post to come across like that at all I did specify it took a while for her to roll and sleep not roll and tummy time I was just trying to say that I hadn't really considered her sleep would be any better out of the sleepyhead but she must be more comfy!

Furry I've also wondered about him wanting to be out of sleepyhead but am not brace enough to try!

Sorry if I misinterpreted Furry! Just didn't want anybody to read it as that.

Honesty I really recommend giving it a go! I was watching her the other night and it just seemed like she wanted to move about a bit, and I figured it can't get much worse than hourly wake ups anyway! I said I'd give it until 2am and if she wasn't sleeping I'd put her back in it but she was in a better sleep than ever!
Tea no worries! I'm still paranoid about her being on her front even though she's a good roller so I really didn't mean it to seem like I thought everyone should put them on their tummies!

We've not used a sleepyhead at all with DS. I did notice this morning that during a very short 30mins nap at 5.30am that he kept fidgeting and his arms were hitting the sides of the chicco next2me -I wonder if he needs to be in a cot where his arms can stretch even more...

DS is almost rolling but he's not there yet.

It could be! I moved DD out of the next2me at the same time, I try and think of something would wake me up then it could wake her up it's just so hard to figure out if there's anything that might help but not wanting to make it worse isn't it

blue dd is on infant gaviscon, I think it helps a bit. She was prescribed ranitidine but I never gave it to her as the doctor said it wouldn't prevent the reflux just make it less acidic & she's never been unhappy with it, it just wakes her up a bit in the night. Since the gaviscon is more of a thickener it seems better as a strategy but is a massive pain as she'll only take it in expressed milk - so another job for me!

Bella yes I think you're right as DD does that too (endlessly on boob then projectile vomit after cosleep). Haven’t had her weighed for ages but I can tell she's getting heavier. Must get her weighed again.

Last night a bit better for us in that DD was only waking every 2 hours. I'll take that over 1 any day. She decided she wanted to chat at 5.30am and lovely DH took her and let me get an hour and a half sleeping alone! I never knew it was possible to be so excited about this much sleep!

DD is in a bedside cot and I'm not looking forward to her rolling as then I'll have to put the side up.......at the moment putting an arm over to pat her is so easy!

Yep. I end up analyzing everything even if I put his head or bum down first when transferring him into his crib asleep and which does he prefer! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Just wondering how thing are going with you?

My dd is 5 months old and only really sleeps if cuddled all night (we tried a sleepyhead early on but it made her sleep worse!), she also feeds to sleep. I kind of swing between not minding hoping she'll grow out of it when developmentally ready to worrying that I'm creating bad habits and sleep associations. It's so confusing!

But I found this series of articles quite useful www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201302/normal-human-infant-sleep-feeding-method-and-development%3Famp

It basically says it's completely normal for babies to want to co sleep, cuddle and be nursed to sleep! Especially as they're born way too early due to brain/head size.

Has anyone got any older children who they co slept with/nursed to sleep as babies? How are they sleeping now?? Did they just grow out of it?

I'm completely the same with 6.5month old DS....Toy between happily accepting the co-sleeping as a phase that will pass...then panicking that if I don't 'sort this' we will be in trouble down the line!
I've just been chatting on another thread with some lovely ladies and I've decided a cot pushes up to my bed is the way forward for me...I feel it's a compromise?...he's right next to me so can settle/offer reassurance over night but he's still in his cot rather than actually in bed with me?! (Just hoping you can take 1 side off a space safer cot and wedge it up against my bed?! He's currently in snuzpod which he is far too big for really 🙈) x

ducks I'm currently co-sleeping with my 4 month old DS and did so with my DD until she was 17 months. At 16 months we moved her into a single bed in her room, I'd feed to sleep in her bed and co-sleep if she woke up. A month later, I carried on feeding to sleep but DH took over any wake ups and then at 20 months DH started putting her to bed. The process might have been too long for some but suited us. She's now 25 months, DH puts her to bed and she sleeps through. All worked out well for us! Just hoping her little brother will be as easy...

Thanks Tea, that's good to know she now sleeps through! Dp was saying the other day about moving her to her own room at 6 months! Ha, definitely not going to happen anytime soon (she woke to feed every hour last night!).

Hello Bella, ducks, tea, Robyne and all others suffering! DD has been a bit better last few nights.....2-2.5 hours sleep at a time, frankly I'm happy with that after the 1 hour waking of last week.......I do sometimes have to pat her bum mid-sleep when she starts to wake but this is a lot less disruptive for me than having to pick her up! (She's in a cot pushed up against our bed).

I have a school aged DD who was an even worse sleeper as a baby - coslept with her for a long time, but now she happily (most nights) sleeps through in her own bed. She does need a parent to tuck her in and some nights wants us to stay until she's asleep, and she seems to develop lots of energy at bedtime and isn't great at going to sleep (will often take an houror more) but once she is asleep she usually (barring bad dreams or illness) stays that way until 7 or 8 am. She stopped waking up so much at night when she dropped her daytime nap at 2 yrs old. I've come to the conclusion she doesn't need as much sleep as other kids. If you look at the ranges for ages, she's always at the bottom end of the range. Tried for years to get her to sleep more but given up now - she's doing well in school so she's obviously getting enough....so, even with my terrible sleeper DD1 it did get better eventually.......!

I co slept all the time with my eldest then 8 years later I had the baby and the midwives told me off and said not to do it! I met in the middle and brought a next to me bed I highly recommend them haha he had he's own bed but was attached to me and I could give him a cuddle when ever I wanted to. You do what's right for use in totally agree you'll miss the cuddles when they grow up haha xxx

Glad to hear you're getting more sleep inneed we're up to 4 hrs before midnight and then down to 1.5hrs after that. But last night he did a further 2hrs and 1.5 hrs all in the next to me cot after midnight- wooop! (Agree presley the next to me is great) Then he joined me in bed and I managed another hour out of him after much boobage.

Nice to hear so many positive cosleeping stories! I like the way you gradually moved DD into her own room tea and same here ducks I'm not going back and forth every other hour to feed DS in his own room at 6months!!

Ah bugger I spoke too soon...DS decided that we are bloody well not back up to 4hrs sleep before midnight. it is currently 12.45am and I'm on my 4th wake up! 4th!! Last night wasn't great either. I jinxed it! no more bragging for me when things get better

I feel your pain! Dd has woken up every hour the past few nights. Someone suggested it could be overtiredness so I'm trying to concentrate on better day time naps.....although it's just taken me 40mins to get her to nap for just 10mins, argh!

bella me too. Last night horrendous. She just kept semiwaking, arching her back. Spent most of last night rubbing her back. Exhausted. Also had bit of a meltdown yesterday evening as had exceptionally stressful day and it affected poor big DD and now feel dreadful about that too

ducks same here! My DD can be visibly tired for hours, then only sleep for a short time. She seems exceptionally sensitive to sound - the slightest thing wakes her, despite having a fan running in the bedroom. She also startles when awake at a lot of things.

My dd is 7 months. She has just started pulling herself up to stand and we have had a big upset with sleep too. It seems that we have a sleep blip just before/as she learns to do the next big thing everytime.

She has always been an awful napper. Will not sleep in the car or pram and needs to be jigged in a completely dark room to go off. It makes planning anything a nightmare.

I too find that she nods off much easier in our bed, whether we are in it or not. She has never dropped off to sleep in her cot, even when exhausted but if I put her down on our bed she arches her back and goes off to sleep. I wonder if it's because it is softer? She's not too bothered about touching us etc.
I do worry constantly that I am creating bad sleep habits with rocking her to sleep and letting her come into our bed though.