What do you do when they’ve been awake all night?

[DisgruntledPelican]

DS is ten months and has been awake since 2am, bar the odd few minutes snooze on my chest. He went down at about 6.45pm and had a brief wake at 9ish but went straight back to sleep until 2am. We’ve had a few dodgy nights recently as he has had a cold and is still a bit snotty, so it’s probably just that.

We’re now at the point where we’d be up for the day if we’d had a normal night.

I’ll be fine, if slightly tired. But what should naps look like today? He would usually nap at some point between 9am and 10am for about an hour, then again between 1.30 and 3ish. Should I try and keep to a normal routine today, or let him sleep if he’s nodding off by 7.30am? My resolve to go for a walk or a drive is quite low, but if it will help then I’ll suck it up.

I'm here with you! My baby is 6 months old we have been up since 4am and that seems to be a pattern now. She goes to bed at around 7:30 wakes at 1am, then 3am and gets up at 4, she will nod back off around 6am for 30 mins then her naps are just here there and everywhere during the day. This week I am going to start logging when she sleeps, how's long for and how much she has drank. I also have a 3 year old who is relentless so I am exhausted! I just want her to stay in bed until at least 6am but I can't seem to get her back down at 4am. I have tried keeping her up later but it has made no difference at all. I wish I had some helpful words x

When DC had a nasty cold and temp 2wks ago I just stuck to normal routine the next day. DC was actually pretty fine and normal - it was DH and me that were wrecks

@crazybutkind I got a bit obsessed with logging naps and feeds in the early days... gave up for a bit when he was about three months but keeping track of the time between naps was much easier! That is tough with a six month old, is she feeding each time you wake? I think if you manage to sort daytime naps that could help?

@JanetBalloonist makes sense, he almost dropped off so many times but something would start him off again. Currently having some very independent playtime in the living room whilst I curl on the sofa with a pint of coffee...

I use a free app called huckleberry. You enter the sleep and it predicts the time to put down for naps perfectly.

I just let them sleep.
My 7month old was awake 4-5.30 this morning ( and about 5 times overnight beforehand), I was just thinking of heading downstairs when he fell sleep next to me in bed. He then slept 5.30-8.30am which was his longest stint in ages! So I managed another chunk of sleep myself

If you can get him to snooze at 7.30am, I would go back to o bed yourself another hour or two if possible. Even if you can just rest

@crazybutkind - my 7 month old also wakes loads still and feeds, it’s so draining isn’t after months and months ( although he actually slept well the first 3 months). He still wakes every 1-2 hrs on average and is fed 3-5 times overnight

@Caspianberg unfortunately I am also bad at napping and once it’s daytime I need to be awake, even if I’ve been up for ages. Will compensate by going to bed very early tonight. Congrats on your morning sleep!

A moot point anyway as DS just screamed when I tried to put him down in the cot, but fell asleep on my chest again. I enjoyed this with a tiny baby but he’s not done it for a few months & it is now quite uncomfortable because he’s so tall/long...

@DisgruntledPelican - yes it’s hard getting back to sleep often isn’t it. But if you can, a forced rest can help. I know I often find myself sorting dinner, tidying, work which baby naps in pram, when really after 3hrs sleep overnight I should just make a tea and chill on sofa with a book for an hour

An hour later than last night, but whinging and fighting sleep in the same way... hopefully tonight goes slightly better. I had an early night so feel more primed to deal with some wakeful hours.