Tips for coping with sleep deprivation

[firsttimemum889]

My lottle one, 18 weeks , is a terrible sleeper for the last 6 weeks he has been waking up every 1 hour 2 if am lucky. I sleep when he sleeps to try and get as much sleep as possible . This means i go to bed at 7 . Its starting to really get me down i am exchasted and dreading night time . My husband helps alot but i am not comfortable with him not sleeping and driving to work in the morning . Am looking for any tips on how to cope with the physical and emotional aspects of thia period
Is really getting me down . Am not against sleep training and i think i will try it if things dont gwt better by the time he moves to his own room but am looking of ways to cope in the meantime

I understand as it’s what I went through with mine at the same age and it does improve but that’s not helping now.
Is it wind or tummy ache? Mine developed a cows milk allergy at this age and also of it was poo day would have a bad night.
Have you tried a dummy, the mam ones are good. Some people swear by a bottle of formula at night fills them up more and if they take a bottle dh can stay up late and do a few feeds.
Survival tips for you are eat plenty, take a couple of paracetamol if you get the exhaustion headaches, and see the gp for a blood test for anemia.
You’re doing an amazing job and it does get better

Speak to your HV on Monday ( mine was really helpful)

I trained my ds to go to sleep in the moving pram which means he naps well during the day ( I’ve failed spectacularly at nighttime sleep though)
I don’t put ds to bed until 10pm and I keep him awake in the evening. Is your baby hungry or cold? I have to put a cellular blanket over sleeping bag on cold nights. I’ve ended up co sleeping for part of the night just to get a reasonable chunk of sleep

@betterbemoreorganised funnily enough i was told he might have milk allergy as he has silent reflux and has developed some eczema ( another doctor says is not exzema just dry skin as is not itching him) recently. I saw a private ped and she told me to put him o neocate ! I am waiting for the nhs to prescribe it as i simply cannot afford it . I did get one box and tried it with him but he absolutely hated it and wouldnt take any of it he also spit everything our.
My gut feeling says that is not milk allergy as he takes his milk fine no tummy issues he is happy in the day his poo are normal etc . His reflux is much better now hardly has it so i really doubt milk allergy .
Am going to take full advantage of cheaper medical care when i go back home and will take him to a couple o ped to see what is their opinion
We started our first solid foods yeaterday (early weaning advised because of reflux) i wonder if that caused the terrible night

Solids had a really bad effect on my DS at first and I didn't start weaning until 6 months and had to stop and restart after 7 months but I do know other mothers whose babies have improved dramatically after beginning solids at about 4 months. Porridge or veg didn't work for mine, but fruit and custard did.
I tried a small amount of one food for every meal for three days so I could identify any problem foods.
I do have prescription milk for an evening feed to take the pressure off me and it was prescribed by the GP.
Did you try propping one end of the basket up a bit to help the reflux? And try adding a few drops of vanilla essence to the milk. It took me a fortnight to get my DS to take the prescription milk and I only mixed 30 ml at a time so I didn't waste it.

@betterbemoreorganised i think the problem is not just the taste but the consistency as well he is formula fed so he was on anti reflux milk before which is quite thick .what symptoms did ur baby has that let to milk allergy diagnosis ? Did you have any tests done ?

No tests were done. Very smelly farts, they could clear a room. Explosive nappies, being sick a lot, colic and arching back in pain. He would be crying and no matter what I did I couldn't comfort him and he wanted to bf for comfort but that just made it worse. I cut dairy out of my diet and the improvement within a week was dramatic.

@betterbemoreorganised see my little one has none of those things normal poop bery happy during the day drinks 6 bottles of 7 oz a day .he didnt have any redlux issues since being on renidetine . He has been on it since he was 3 weeks though. That is why am questioning the "milk" allergy diagnosis . I will be getting a second opinion on that