Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Flip

Original poster

7 month old trying to kill me with sleep deprivation

25 replies

puffylovett · 06/10/2007 08:30

so - last night, shorty went to bed at 7. then he woke at 8, 10.15, 11.30, 2.30, 4.45 and on and off for snacks between 5 and 7 this morning, then up for the day at 7.30.

when i relented and brought him in with us out of desperation at 5am, DP said 'didn't i read somewhere that if they're this hungry start them on solids' (this from the v supportive partner i was talking about yesterday !!!!)

so of course he's gone off to work and we're not talking.

WHY ?! this is starting to become a regular pattern ! and he's stopped sleeping so much in the day... I know they're doing loads of things like sitting / rolling and he's eatong so much more - but where am i going wrong ! I do think that partly he's scratching himself awake. he has fresh scratches every morning, yanks his mitts off in his sleep.

I've been hovering on other peoples threads in the hope of some advice but finally decided i'd best start my own ! any advice ? perlease ? (i don't want to do cc btw)
TIA

OP posts:

fawkeoff · 06/10/2007 08:59

is he teething????? this can just but the biggest spanner in a sleep routine.If he is teething then dose him with bonjela and calpol before you put him down for bed

Rosyspookily · 06/10/2007 09:18

He has excema? Well... with my ds2 he had excema and I was almost suicidal with sleep deprivation.
Finally after months of torture I just brought him in bed with me from about 12 months old for the next 10 months. I had tried everything and it was the only way I could get enough sleep.
Then I moved him into a double bed with his sister, then on into his own bed. He's nearly 3 now, sleeps well, grew out of the excema...

Now I have ds3 who is 6 1/2 months and waking more for feeds and won't take a spoon feed but he will try and eat finger food but it is hard work at this stage...he doesn't have excema though so it's not as bad.

Rosyspookily · 06/10/2007 09:26

actually ds2 hasn't totally grown out of the excema it's still flares up a bit sometimes.

Sleep is so important...even now I'm loving this stage but longing for the time when I can take my sleep for granted again. On tired days I just keep things to a mimimum and remember it'll get easier.

Original poster

puffylovett · 06/10/2007 12:08

he is teething - top 2 are on the way, just cutting - but this has been going on since he had a bad cold a couple of weeks ago. before that, he still had at least 1 night feed most nights.

usually when he cuts teeth (he's already got 3) he's snippy for a couple of days and then back to normal. i think because he couldn't sleep from the cold, he's probably gopt himself into a routine of nightwaking, plus the eczema doesn't help matters - argh !!! just wish i could cure it all and have him sleeping through from 7-7 - when is my miracle going to happen !!!

OP posts:

compo · 06/10/2007 12:13

I;m confused. Your dp is right. 6-7 months is when you start them on solids.

Original poster

puffylovett · 06/10/2007 12:15

oh soz, we started BLW at 24 weweks, so he is eating - just not as much as if we were pumping him full of purrees

OP posts:

MegBusset · 06/10/2007 13:32

Re: the eczema, we use sleepsuits from these people -- then he can't pull the mitts off!

MegBusset · 06/10/2007 13:34

Just a note, though -- their sleepsuits seem to come up a bit small, so we are already in 9-12 months ones (DS is 7mo as well). They are brilliant though.

kiskidee · 06/10/2007 14:44

for eczema, i suggest aveeno 2X daily. get it on prescription from his GP. sorry but whenever dd was coming down with a cold, she fed a lot at night. in fact, it became a signal that a cold was coming on.

i work f/t and the only cure for i had for the sort of sleep interruption/deprivation you are suffering was to embrace cosleeping wholeheartedly.

Original poster

puffylovett · 06/10/2007 21:18

thanks megbusset, they look good - bit on the expensive side compared to matalan baby grows with built in scratch mitts !!

But I suspect he's getting out of those too and also that he's reacting to the material they're made from as well.

kiskidee - he had a cold a few weeks ago, in fact thinking about it thats when all this started as he could only sleep by tuning into DP's snoring or snuggling up to me. He's almost back to self settling in his cot in the evening though, it's just the night wakings !

I love co sleeping with him, but i don't sleep properly and neither does DP so we're both v tired and grumpy.

Had a fab nap this afternoon with ds though, we snoogled up in bed on our own and had a great snooze for 3 hours ! so am hoping that will help tonight. wish me luck !

OP posts:

maxbear · 07/10/2007 20:19

Maybe at 7 months he needs less sleep in the day a 3 hour nap sounds like a lot. My ds is 7 mo and when he has more sleep in the day he seems to wake for more feeds at night. It is usually only one feed but sometimes two or three. I make sure he has no more than a total of 3 hours sleep during the day, preferably only 2.5.

Tommy · 07/10/2007 20:30

I have one the same age who is doing the same thing.

Somehting I did the other night following a tip from a friend was, when he wakes, give him just a little feed and then put him back after about 5 mins or so (he has a dummy so I replace my boob with that)

Last night I fed him for about 3 seconds whenever he woke after midnight (knew he wasn't hungry by then) and it did seem to work .

I'm still being woken but not for so long so am getting back to sleep pretty easily.

Don't know if that would work for you but so far, touch wood, it has improved things a bit

Original poster

puffylovett · 08/10/2007 21:43

would love to try but he's having full on feeds. last night, every 2.5 hours. the good news is that it only took me half an hour to settle him, including feed - rather than an hour !

he won't take a dummy - launches it across the room

we're currently on our 5th waking of the evening and it's only 9.40 ! went to bed at 8.....

last night i kept him a lot cooler and that seemed to help with the scratching, at least...

re the naps, i tend to be guided by him - i feel he needs the sleep because he's waking more at night. Historically he's always slept better at night if he's had good daytime sleeps, so unless this is on the change i'll probably keep it at around 2-3 hours..

OP posts:

MegBusset · 09/10/2007 13:19

When does he take his naps & for how long? Personally I would consider waking him after two hours so he's not getting night and day mixed up. And not letting him nap after 4.

Original poster

puffylovett · 09/10/2007 17:27

naps gone out the window recently !

if lucky, i get an hour at about 10ish and then another 1-2 hours about 3-4 hours after he woke up from am nap. i never let him sleep past 5pm/

experimenting - today he had an hour at lunch and that's it !! will see how we go. last night, we were awake nearly all night ! definitely teething. wish me luck for tonight !

OP posts:

MegBusset · 09/10/2007 19:54

Good luck Puffy... if it's definitely teething then it's OK to give him Medised

Original poster

puffylovett · 09/10/2007 20:38

hmm.. well he's just learnt to bounce today. From an exhausted baby so tired that he could barely feed at 6.30, he's been in his tigger bouncer for the last 40 mins.... manic !!

thanks for the luck though meg !

OP posts:

ja9 · 09/10/2007 20:48

'pumping him full of purees'... isn't this just feeding him. sounds like he is hungry...

ProfYaffle · 09/10/2007 20:56

dd2 is the same age, I'm doing blw as well and we've also had a run of awful nights over the last few weeks. I've been giving her food I know she finds easy to eat and are filling at tea time, eg pasta, potatoes etc and I find she has better nights after eating like this.

Original poster

puffylovett · 10/10/2007 08:40

ha ha ha Ja9 !! I'll hunt you down... grrr...

praps i'll give that a go then Proyaffle, we haven't done an evening meal yet as he was getting very windy and i thought tummy ache was perhaps keeping him awake.

only just to throw ANOTHER spanner in the works, he's gone and got another cold... ...

OP posts:

ProfYaffle · 10/10/2007 09:36

Well last night she had butternut squash and ricecakes with almond butter for tea, not the most filling meal in the world. Lo and behold she was bfing all night must take my own advice.

hmummy · 10/10/2007 21:47

Hi Puffy, my dd is 6 1/2 months - she is exactly the same!!! Tonight she went down at 6:30, awake at 7, 8, 9 (I probably have another 10 mins before she wakes up again aaaaggghh!) She always has to bf back to sleep, though sometimes only for a minute or two. She is quite a sicky baby so I wasn't giving her to much for tea - perhaps I will follow Prof's advice. She only has approx 2 half hour naps a day too!

Original poster

puffylovett · 11/10/2007 08:04

hi hmummy, it's hell isn't it. last night i put him down at 7.15 and by 8.45 he'd been up 5 times. in the end, at 9.15 i took him into my bed, he put himself to sleep like a dream and fed again at 2 and 5.40. he had 2 one hour naps and a 10 minuter in the car yesterday.

poor dp is downstairs on an airbed.

But what can you do, short of leaving them to scream ? which i did for 8 mins as by that point i was at the end of my tether - and he just worked himself up to be so upset, his sheet was wet from the tears.

it's like he now can't go to sleep or stay asleep without me there - how do i break the cycle ? i don't mind sharing my bed with him, but i do mind dp sleeping elsewhere - we're getting no time together at the mo !

OP posts:

Ettenna · 11/10/2007 08:07

Puffy, I could have written your OP! My LO is doing EXACTLY the same, cold, top teeth, crappy, restless sleep driving me bonkers.(29 weeks). the worst thing is that he's slept better for the last 2 nights but I can't get myself back to nod because my sleep patterns are completely disturbed.

ProfYaffle · 11/10/2007 08:28

I'm having similar problems actually. If she's next to me we have fantastic sleep, if she's in her cot she wakes up every couple of hours or so. Last night was typical, she had loads of pasta for tea, woke up at 10pm for a feed but wouldn't re-settle in her cot. I brought her into bed and she zonked out til 4am, had a quick feed then back to sleep til 7.15 this morning.

I'm torn between wanting to break the habit but not wanting to leave her to cry in the night. I think dd2 is developing seperation anxiety so I'm reluctant to leave her wondering where Mummy is in the dark Dh and I also still getting our evenings together as she doesn't wake til 10 or 11pm and that's the important thing for me. I think I'm just going to ignore it for a bit and hope the problem cures itself

Flip