Sleep is for the weak part four, we're officially hardcore.

[gingerninja]

Yes ladies we've got a shiny new thread to share our woes of chronic sleep deprivation, to hail all that is gloreous when something works and throw our arms in the air when it all goes wrong again.

One bad night doesn't impress us, we're awake more than we sleep cos we is 'ard I tell ya.

Reading with interest your sleep stories. And your eczema ideas - will pass on to a friend.

We had a good night (sort of) although compared to yours probably not so good .

Our aim was for her to sleep in her own cot (in her room, not in our bed) all night. We did it!

We put her to bed late (she'd had a late nap, car on way back from seaside), about 9.30pm. Woke at 11, 2, 4, 7am - but each time she went back to sleep in her cot quite peacefully and easily (and let me leave too ) within about 10 mins. But I am hoping /assuming that a few nights of Consistent Cot Sleeping and she will stop this weird 2 hr waking. Although I am not convinced she isn't ill - teething??? - as she didn't go back to sleep after 7am (even with me) or for a nap later although clearly wanted/was trying to...

Anyway, will keep you updated. I have lots of blind faith that in a week she will be sleeping much better but we will see.

I am knackered though - 7am !!. Dh let me sleep in but not the same (we made up at the seaside yesterday! hardly ever row. only about sleep ).

MM ds wakes every 2 hours when teething. did that at arund your dd's age as he was getting his eye teeth and 2 molars at the top all at the same time. thankfully all his teeth are through now until he gets his 2year molars. What excuse can i use now!

Tam, yeah, even though I miss him sometimes, I was sooo desperate at 4 months that I moved him into his room then. I think it might have made a small improvement then (like from 8 wakings to 6 of something!), but has probably been a good move over time. Now I guess he doesn't know any different, and in a way I think he likes his cot and room. If I try to bring him into bed (even just to feed) he gets all wiggly and distracted. It's also good for me, that I don't hear his every move and noise because i think i'm quite a light sleeper.
his bedroom is right next to ours though, so it's nice to not have to go far when he does wake. he's quite close to us, but with a wall in between.

Re, the body getting rid of toxins etc. I used to go on week long detoxes, sometimes fasts, and during that time my skin would always break out horribly for a few days while everything seemed to come out, and then towards the end your eyes and skin would positively glow.
so i'm not surprised to think that eczema may be a manifestation of toxicity in some ways. i was using diprobase before, but stopped using it, because the homeopath said that it was basically covering the skin, trapping everything in, whereas a natural moisturiser would allow the skin to breathe, but keep it moist at the same time.

Tamdin, you could be right. She only has 6 teeth so far so she has got a lot to come... but I feel she has been teething forever! Constantly clutching at ears and gnawing.

I have a big list of excuses down the page - take your pick! Shame the teething one is defunct for you now... My current fave is 'she is learning a new skill' (aren't they always learning a new skill?!)

Can't wait til they're old enough to tell you what's up then you can try to find a solution (am a secondary teacher so not used to these littlies )

PS Tamdin, I don't think you should view putting ds in his own room as a problem, more the next stage. it builds on what you have done so far and is something new and exciting to learn (or something )

good spin MM i like that. Also like that i don't have to think about it until oct/nov when we move house!

my dh didn't get his own room until he was 9! lived in hong kong you see. it was parents plus brother and that was all he knew.

amber my homeopath (who is more like friend now)is from borneo and slept wth her parents until she was 9 and then slept with her younger siblings until she was teenager.
She's the best person to talk to when i'm worried about co-sleeping!

there's so many diff ways of parenting and bringing up kids,and they all turn out fine in the end. majority of mothers totally have their kids best interests at heart and i think that's all that matters. we worry too much don't we!

Amber week-long fast? I find it hard to go two hours without a chocolate digestive

back in the ol days meg! when i was healthy and fit etc. not anymore though. can't go a day without a chocolate croissant....

hi, when did everyone's LOs drop the third afternoon nap? i think we might be due for it, but am loathe to change routine just when i'm feeling settled! sigh. but he is still awake and chattering in his cot. i want to go to bed soon myself, so would rather if he could get to bed by 8. oh well. guess we'll work it out soon. i'm a bit distressed today by his refusal to breastfeed. he really seems to hate breastfeeding. he's such an odd baby

hi amber - how old is your lo? i can't remember . ds dropped his 3rd daily nap at 8.5mths(ish). I decided that regardless of the duration of his mornnig nap (which was erratic to say the least )I would stretch the afternoon one to start around 1pm(ish.) when he woke from that (usually afger around 1.5hrs he would then have to go to bedtime around 6:45/7pm. It was hard to be hard about it iyswim, but was sooooo much easier when it was established, esp as i have dd/school run etc to fit in. hth and hope things are improving for you

Well he went to sleep very gently after breastfeeding, and hasn't stirred since! Very unlike him. Chances are, he'll wake up once we go to bed, but it's the first night in goodness knows how long that we've had an uninterrupted evening.

By the way, MM - my DS usually wakes every 2 hours. No idea why as he's perfectly fine.

Ah. He's just woken. Still, that was almost 3 unbroken hours. Hope DH can get him back to sleep easily.

Hope you all have lovely nights.

Amber, what kind of detoxes did you do? Thinking I might do something gentle when I stop BFing, though my toxicity levels are apparently v low (had hair test some years ago) so maybe it's not necessary. Anyway am interested to hear more.

MrsTH - I've added a message to your original thread asking about modelling so I don't clog up this one! Hope you get some sleep tonight!

well not too bad night here. ds went to bed late (took him to bbq)so he was in bed by 9.30 and woke at 1 (gave him bottle) and then he slept until 7.30

Sounds better than it was though as he cried out in his sleep alot last night and was very fidgety so not sure i got the best night's sleep i've ever had.At least he managed with only the one bottle. we're getting there

morning all
tam yey for the one bottle, you are getting there my love

cruise hope things are still good for you in the sleep stakes

fri night good for us, last night dd was restless and woke several times i dont feel too bad this a.m tho as 1) she let me lie in til 7am and 2) i went to bed at 7.45pm last night

MrsTH glad to hear youre feeling more relaxed since your 'epiphany moment' i'm in that zen zone atm too and dd falls asleep whilst feeding or in my arms. doesnt seem to improve or worsen her sleep patterns so i'm going with it atm....

hope everyone had good nights

oh and ginger, glad to hear that theres some good news on the eczema front for that lovely girl of yours. Did you see in the news that they were looking at an eczema 'gene' that caused the itching? Didnt read it all

morning tibs. for fri night for last night. glad you got an early night though and don't feel too bad.
She's till in prime teething territory so could be that?

have had a lovely morning in the tamdin household. ds and i have been sitting up in bed since 7.30 eating toast and drinking tea (well he's drinking apple and mango fruit smoothie) but he thinks it's tea!

Heading to friends for breakfast this morning. Her dh does the best cooked breakfast around. means i'll have had 2 breakfasts! greedy moi?

yeah, am sure its teething ........ no seriously, i really do, every afternoon, her cheeks flame up, and we're having some seriously bad nappies [yeuch emoticon] shes also pulling at her gums again poor bubba its the pits for them. cant wait for it to let up for her
your morning with ds sounds fab and as for 2 breakfasts,...i thought everyone had 2 breakfasts

tibs teething is the one thing i think really messes with their sleep. Poor thing. I tried all sorts of natural remedies with ds to ease the pain but it ended up the only thing that helped was baby nurofen
Hated giving it to him but calpol didn't make any difference. glad teething is over

Sounds like lots of improvements out there!

Our night not too bad, asleep by 7ish, woke once and shushed by DH, woke 10:30, took a while to get back to sleep but then slept a good few hours till 2:15! 2-hr wakings after that and wide awake and grumpy at 6am - went back to sleep eventually after waking DH and I up thoroughly. He did stay in his cot until this point, so we're getting there slowly. And he settled in his cot first thing.

MrsTM: completely agree with the chilling out thing. Whenever I try sleep 'training' (and I still have a go sometimes) DS and I both get stressed and his sleep invariably gets worse!

Right, next week am going to persist with the trying to get him to sleep all night in his cot - he does get restless if he's in with us, although it's worth it if we can get an extra hour or two! Easier during the week as I have to be up anyway for work (boo!).

Ginger: hope the biotic things work well.

Re immunisations, Hackney is having a measles outbreak atm, so I firmly think that immunisation is a Good Thing . I didn't have any problems with immunisations myself (polio, TB etc.) and personally I think the diseases are aly, lot worse... interestingly, now measles rates are up lcoally more parents are getting their children vaccinated

I want two breakfasts!