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Sleep has gone to pot since I went back to work and I’m exhausted

3 replies

Moonshine160 · 05/03/2020 08:22

DS is nearly 1 and has always been a fairly good sleeper until recently and I feel like we’re stuck in a vicious circle of overtiredness that I don’t know how to get out of. I went back to work doing Monday-Wednesday three weeks ago and he’s with his nanna for one day and the childminder for two days. He is fine at the childminders until it comes to nap time and he just resists it. Usually at home he naps in his cot so the childminder has tried both a travel cot and in a pram but he ends up napping much later than he usually would and when he’s finally asleep it’s only a cat nap. He’s exhausted by the time he gets home and then is a nightmare to go down for the night, sometimes he isn’t asleep until 10pm, then instead of waking around 7am like he was previously he’s waking no later than 5:30am. He sleeps through but it’s a lot less sleep than he used to have and he thrashes around and groans all night so sometimes I’m waking every few minutes because it’s so loud. We’re both exhausted. I’m at home with him 4 out of the 7 days a week and I’m trying to let him catch up on the sleep but it doesn’t seem to be happening. He’s constantly yawning and rubbing his eyes and he’s grouchy because he’s always so tired.
One thing I will add is that he had a development delay and has been for physio and within a week was sitting independently, rolling across the room and is now trying to crawl. So it’s all happened all at once so could some of this also be developmental? When he’s thrashing around he’s constantly rolling in his sleep and trying to move.
Any advice on how to get out of this rut? He is clearly so tired but just hates sleep at the moment.

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fellyjish · 05/03/2020 08:32

DS is 9 months and generally fairly OK with some sleep - slept through probably 50% of the times, maybe one wake the rest of the the time.

However since working out how to crawl he's a nightmare, both the get to sleep and then also lots of wakes. There is apparently a sleep regression which is around when they learn to move which makes sense. from my middle of the night googling it suggests that regressions tend to last 3-6 weeks so I'm just hoping it's only that and he'll go back to how he was before when it's all less exciting!

Fifteenthnamechange · 05/03/2020 08:53

I had exactly the same problem with a CM. My previously amazing sleeper wouldn't sleep there or couldn't sleep for long enough so nighttime sleep went to pot.
I put him in nursery & that was was much better as they settle them down in a 'sleep' room.

Moonshine160 · 05/03/2020 09:52

@fellyjish I hope you’re right. It’s like he’s trying to move in his sleep and making lots of grunting noises. I don’t want to turn the monitor off so it wakes me up constantly!

@Fifteenthnamechange I would have preferred a nursery for DS however our two local nurseries have very long waiting lists, and it’s also over double the cost of a childminder! For two days a week it’s half my wages so we’d struggle. However the childminder puts DS upstairs in a cot with the curtains drawn so his sleep environment is actually the same as at home - he just won’t sleep. I thought he might settle eventually but three weeks in and no change

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