Sleep is for the Weak! we got too big?!!??!?!!??

[cruisemum1]

can you believe that?! we got too big?
we should surely get an award from Mumsnet?

Hi Effie,

He goes to sleep from awake in his cot no problem at 8pm and daytime naps are no problem at all.

He sleeps on his side or tummy if he rolls over.
Tried a grobag but he hated it. Does kick the covers off too
To big for swadling now and screams. Maybe try again? Does anyone else swaddle at this age?

Sounds like DS - sorry cos if I had any more ideas I'd be sleeping!

One thing I am going to try si getting more food and milk down him in the day - his feeds are getting longer so he may be still hungry and thirsty at night. Do you find he is feeding a lot or is it more for comfort? I think some night feeds are pretty common at that age, despite what people tell you.

To me 6.30pm seems far too late for a solids meal. DD before getting ill was down to 1 BF/waking per night at 7.5months and having last solid meal 4.30-5pm. LO may not then be that hungry for BF before bed with such a late tea. May be worth a shot.

It has only been that late to see if it made a difference. It was 5pm, then 5.30 and so on. He still has a big feed at bed time

Hi Magnolia,

No advice here I'm afraid, but lots of sympathy and hugs going your way. You sound like you are doing a grand job managing this with the other 4 - I only have one and that seems like plenty to me .

tibs, don't know how long i'll breastfeed, think i'll just wait until ds doesn't want it anymore. i think he might be ready to give up before i am given his current disinterest in feeding!

hi katie, what EP has suggested has mostly worked for us around naps as well. having consistent nap times and a little routine. i put LO in his grobag, close the curtains give a feed, say goodnight, kiss his cheek and 9 times out of 10 he'll go to sleep, or sometimes he'll go to sleep while feeding as well. sometimes he naps for 45 mins, sometimes 1.5 hours. it started out at 30 mins though, but i just persevered and one day it got longer.
must be hard with another dc though to be consistent about naps.
i feel for your lack of sleep. its horrible horrible horrible.

Tamdin - yes he does have a dummy - it's a poisoned chalice really, he desperately needed it when tiny (screamed and screamed for weeks initially) but no inevitably, he has become dependant on it (even though we were so careful in first few months not to let him sleep with it in) heh ho.

Tapster - honestly, you can hold him for 10, 20, 30 mins and he still wakes up when you put him down

ginger - here's hoping that 8 months will see an improvement! re: your LOs meltdown, don't you find that this 'kind' of baby just doesn't do what the books say. I remember with DS1 we did controlled crying at about 8 months (horrilbe though it was) and although it worked for a few weeks he then went back to the way he was and we thought "do we have to go through all this again and again then?!" books suggest that once you've 'broken' them that's it - not so with DS1.

Magnolia - much much sympathy - your nights so very similar to mine.

Effie - how are you finding the No Cry sleep solution?

thanks amber - appreciate your thoughts
it is difficult with another one to be consistent with naps

katie rocket asked about dummy because ds has one and it helps so that's another solution ruled out

welcome magnolia. have no answers either as ds still doesn't sleep through the night. does he wake for comfort?
what about your other 4. were they all good sleepers?

Magnolia, welcome although sorry you're here. Sounds like you've got a handful. Have you thought about some thick PJ's. A friend uses flanelette (sp) ones as her DD kicks the covers off. Also, will he take a dummy? I realise it's a bit late in the day but that may eliminate the need to suckle to sleep. A friend of mine has a DS who would wake every two hours and needed bfing to sleep so one night (when he was about 7 months) her DH just went in, picked him up and held him and kissed him, no feeding. He was obviously upset but they did that and within 3 nights it was cracked. Could your DH help out perhaps at a weekend? Also perhaps with school holidays just around the corner you could justify upsetting the household for a couple of nights if that's the approach you'd like to take. I haven't (and won't as too wimpy) done CC but there are lots of supporters out there.

Does he sleep on his own room or with any of your other children? If he's on his own, would it be worth experimenting putting him in with one of them for the night see what happens? Sorry I don't have any guaranteed solutions but I sympathise.

Katie, I bought a sheepskin on the advice of many who had the 'baby won't be put down' problem. (I opened a thread about it) A friend swore blind that her DD would only be put down on the sheepskin. My DD never really woke on impact with the cot and I can't really ascertain whether she sleeps better on it but it is lovely and snuggly and at lunchtime she slept for 2 hours on her tummy on it. Maybe worth a go

magnolia, sorry you're here. sounds like you're really doing it tough at the moment.

Right here is The Blog. I've put some random content in with a couple of pics, a link etc. so you can see how it might work. You can identify each post under certain categories, so you can search for posts on specific topics. I've added a few obvious ones.

Could you have a look and think about

• what to put in the static pages (the tabs at the top - about and resources are the only 2 atm) and any other pages to add
• more categories for posts
• more web links
• any other data to go on the RH menu

and anything else, including whether you think this could work!

Is the title and basic design OK?

I can set you all up as posters (you'll need to register on Mypress) and would suggest at least a couple of us are administrators (can change design, edit other posts, screen comments etc.).

EP, that looks great! Will have a good old think about other stuff to have on there.

DS has already woken 3 times and been fed once - temporarily settled now, but I feel like there's hardly any point going to bed cause I'll just be up again in half an hour! Still, hope everyone else is tucked up in bed for a long quiet night.

Morning all,

How was the night?

EP - the blog looks fantastic. I'd be interested in posting if that's ok.

Meg - I was with you last night. LO didn't turn in until 9.45. Still, after that wasn't too bad. She woke at 1, 2.30, and a few times from 4.30, but from 4.30-6.30 seemed to be practising the art of self-soothing .

EP Blog looks really good. very clear/easy to navigate. I am very computer illiterate so i may suggest things that are ridiculous in which case just say so!
what about a tab labelled 'the facts' where we could cobble together a few facts about sleep (as pantley does at the start of ncss). it made me feel better knowing that ds wasn't some kind of weirdo!

Is the 'about' tab intended to be like mn's profile page?

for the right hand side what about night feeding as well as night wakening as it seems to be a common thing that are dc's wake to feed?

will carry on thinking. think if we get this going we need to meet up some afternoon for a group photo. plus i want to meet all of you in person

EP, i can't you how brilliant that blog looks. well done! will have a think about ideas.

EP, happy to be an administrator if you want - gives me another procrastinating activity to do on the computer!

tamdin, would be cool to meet up wouldn't it. wonder if its possible.

Am scribbling down comments - all good, keep them coming!

Tam: was thinking the About page would be a general intro, but including info about posters (not personal stuff, but how we got to be here) is a good idea. Will add night waking to categories - good point. Like the idea of a Sleep Facts page - you're right as everyone just assumes that babies naturally sleep for 10 hours or so a night - hah!

Amber: thanks for volunteering, would be a good idea as my time is limited to evenings and weekends as I'll be working 4 days from the end of the month. Can't take any credit for the basic design as I used one of their templates . DH helped me getting the layout right as he is very anal about such matters. He thinks we need a style guide for posters, but we can talk about that later.

Last night for us: co-sleeping really worked. DS went to sleep pretty easily at about 7, woke at 9, 10:45 (when I went to bed), took aaaages to settle then woke again at 1:30. Brought him into bed with us, he fed a couple of times but I was mostly asleep, woke at 7ish for a big feed and a kick about then dozed off again till nearly 9 ! DH and I don't sleep as well with DS there so not ideal, but a massive improvement on previous nights. Feel like I've actually had some sleep!

(note to self: add co-sleeping to categories)

am also up for a meet-up. Think I must live quite close to you Amber, but didn't want to sound like a stalker

EP, no it occurred to me as well (stalking you of course ). happy to meet up one day if you're keen!

And `meg mentiones ally pally

yeah, she can't be far away either ...