New SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK thread - are we still here?

[PavlovtheCatthatgottheCremeEgg]

Another thread. My didn't we get full quickly! night sleeping good. Naps...not even 5 mins so far today...

I agree Ginger - I found that DD has made most of the sleep changes herself. I just think that providing the routine and consistency helped as she knew where she was when she was ready.
Daytime naps tho, well she just did what she wanted, and still does really! But sleeps a lot more than usual!

Ginger and Pav: things are looking up! You're giving me hope for the future

Tibsy: work is going OK though I do miss DS. DH much better than me at structured days, which is good!

We've had a bad few nights but now have a second tooth! and looks liek the tops ones won't be far behind. Am hoping for major improvements after they are through

Just want to say hang in there for all of us having bad nights atm - things will gradually improve and we're all doing a pretty fab job of parenting. Sometimes I think I worry too much about the sleep thing when DS is a happy, active baby - can't be doing that much wrong!

Swiz how are your Los teeth? Biting yet? DD bit me whilst feeding today, really hard. I had a t shirt on and a bit of material got in the way, she hates that, and she bit me instead of suckling, omg it hurt soooo much. She now has 6 teeth! and they are sharp! I found DDs sleeping seemed to settle into a pattern of hours at a time and then all night once her top teeth came through. I am wondering if she was in more pain/discomfort than I had realised.

Although like you Swiz - her mood was always great in the day so i dont think her probs with sleep at night or the short naps have done her any harm at all, but I do still worry!

aaargh! waking every two hours again . i despair

cruisemum - it's soooo frustrating isn't it?!
ginger - well done!

yesterday I got all gina ford on ds's ass! he fed, slept etc when I told him too, instead of on demand. everything was great - he did everything EXACTLY how he was meant to - settling in 5 mins for a nap. We had o help extend the naps, but still an improvement.

then last night happened. he woke at 3.30, I held jis legs as they were jolting around. doing the stevie wonder thing - what Is that?!
then I gave in and fed him at 4 (which I don't think he needed, as he refused his 7am feed). Still not settled. So I creamed his eczema, and gave him some bonjela. All this took until 5am.

So I puthim in his bouncy and bounced him for the rest of the night. And he still woke at 6.30 (with me bouncing for 1 1/2 hours to keep him awake)

WHY is he waking?! What does he need?!

Cruise I'm SURE it will get better. I know that's no comfort but he's proved that he can do it if the conditions are right so cross fingers that he will soon.

We didn't feed all night after her last feed at 7. She was, as usual, unsettled between then and 11 but kept patting her back to sleep. I think she's a light sleeper. 11 ish DH couldn't settle her and we had tears so brought her into bed and she slept until 6.30 with 2 wakings (patted back to sleep). She got a bit upset at 11 and routed for a bit so I was tempted to feed her but she settled before I had chance. We did give her some water in case of thirst.

I want to stress 2 things tho 1) she is 8 months and on three 'meals' a day and about 4 bf and I'm confident that she's not waking through hunger. This has been a long slow process. 2) it hasn't made any difference (so far) to her waking in the night. so what I'm trying to say to those with young babies is that this isn't necesarily an approach for everyone. IMO My DD did need to feed in the night until about 7 months when solids became more established.

Can you fill out your personal pages so I can remember who is who and what is what? Ta, my memory is terrible

Ratfly and Cruise: sorry to hear about your bad nights. We had a 1.5 - 2 hour waking night as well, think it must be teeth. Brought him into bed with us at 4 but he decided it was time to play (yaawn).

Pav: no biting yet but no top teeth.

Hope the rest of you had better nights!

tibsy, thanks for the links. I think stopping the bfing to sleep is our biggest challenge right now.

Last night we had one of our better nights. He went down at about 8:30 then woke at 12:30 to feed then again at 1:30 and then not until 5:30. I think he would really like to get up at 5:30 (we think he must have been a farmer in a previous life, lol) but after a feed he went back down until 7:30. If he would just do something similar to this on a regular basis I could at least function...

Agree with some of the other posts regarding sleep going downhill at 3 - 4 months. Ds2 was actually doing pretty well until that point.

I am a big believer in better napping = better sleeping at night. I had bought an Amby bed which ds2 initially seemed to like then dislike. Now, he will nap in it fairly well but still does not want to sleep in it at night. So, now we have a co-sleeper beside our bed and the AMby bed in the nursery for naps.

Jabberwocky: that soundslike a good night . Hope it's repeated tonight! DS can also do a 4 h stretch, but generally early on in the evening when I'd love him to be sleeping say 12-4.

Cruise for you, just when you thought it was sorted. Really hope it's a blip.

Ratfly too.

It has all gone tits up here too . DD has a cold so will not settle without feeding. Back to feeding every 2 hourly wake up . I feel like I've lost the previous week's hard work where I got to feeding her only once in the night. GRRR! But I think she needs the comfort of the boob and may need the fluid too. Will I have to start all over again when she's betta?

Also she has just developed little sharp ridges of teeth (the bottom two). Will things get worse as they develop or is the worst bit when the ridge pushes through? They are her first (she's 5 months).

Lilysma, my DD seemed niggly for a couple of days following the gum cutting on the first. The second it was a bit longer, like 4 I think. Having said that she's become a NIGHTMARE to settle in the last three days and I have had to pick her up to calm her down so while we were sitting at the cotside last week, I'm holding her today. I'm hoping that it's a blip and she'll go back to her more 'settled' self soon.

cruise, just wanted to say I can totally sympathize with what you are going thru. I never know from one night to the next if ds2 is going to revert to the every 2 hour thing.

jabber - how old is your lo? my ds willnot settle without boob. more about that tomorrow as i am so tired now but will share tales of woe tomorrow!
ginger - sorry your nites are going to crap. hope it recovers itself soon.

He is 5 months but was 3 1/2 weeks premature so I try to keep that in mind with stages IYKWIM. I guess I'm trying to be pro-active early on as ds1 was a horrible sleeper and I truly thought I would go mad from the sleep deprivation.

Here's hoping you have a better night.

jabber - i too feel like i am cracking up

I really don't want to post this, as I think telling people will make it not happen again, but last night DS woke only once for a feed again...

It's amazing how different I feel this morning!

Now, to recreate the circumstances under which he slept well, we will need him to have his jabs every day....

ratfly - for you! lets hope it was nothing to do with the jabs . my nightwas crap again. fed at bedtime, fast asleep, woke on contact with cot sheets, awake for 1 hour, woke again 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 5am and 7 for the day . i raelly do despair. it is really getting me down. don#t know which way to turn. feel mighty down about it

amazing how much better you feel isn't it ratfly. we've had a couple of mixed nights again. few more wakenings than usual and been in bed with us 2nd half of the night but don't feel too bad so hopefully it's just a little phase. He had a 3 hour morning sleep yesterday so at least i got a really good break to get a few things done.

cruise is there anything at all that you can think of that might be upsetting him? teeth are usually the major culprit aren't they but the problem is until they come through you've no idea it was them iyswim.
would you allow him to co-sleep until he's feeling more confident again or would that not work for you guys with having dd too?
don't despair you've cracked it once before and he'll do it again. x

hi all had a really good night but after awake up of an hour at 10 so not too bad still cant crack 6 hours madam is going in her own room this weekend tho so wish me luck

comiserations to all if they had a bad night

cruise big hugs chick nothing worsemthan sleep deprivation

cruise, we're having major trouble settling DD in cot this week. Screaming as soon as she goes down which isn't like her. could it be seperation anxiety? excuse 154 in the reasons not to sleep handbook i think you'll find. oohh this is so difficult one handed. dd wants to type

ginger - separation anxiety had crossed my mind too. will not be helped by any form of sleep training me thinks????...

cruise oliver james says 'love bombing' can solve any childhood issue. although when i've heard him talk about it it has always been in the context of older children but i'm sure it must apply to babies too. maybe a few days of being attached to your hip (i'm sure he is anyway) and co-sleeping might help him 'get over' this little blip. i'm not a fan of the 'making a rod for your own back' theory. hope this doesn't sound patronising as the tone of it isn't meant to. x

wtf is oliver james? i just looked it up and he is an estate agent in teh home counties!