SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK PART 8 -- Pack the bags under your eyes and join us!

[RoRoMommy]

Well...I had to think of something! DH's suggestion "Eyes wide shut--the art of sleepwalking"

Hi Tibs and everyone

DS self-settled for his nap again today... but still woke after 30 mins and needed to be patted back to sleep (I don't have the nerves to leave him to cry and risk him only having a 30-min nap all day!).

Nights are still fab though so can't complain really

EP/Amber, I reckon Coram's Fields would be nice if it's not raining. Museum of Childhood could be our rainy back-up option. DS also has a nap about 12.30 so perhaps we could have an early lunch around 11.30? I'm hoping DS will sleep all the way home if I tire him out enough in the morning

Amber for sleep regression, hope it passes soon!

Hillbilly -- imo 15 weeks is v young to be going all night without feeds, so if it settles him quickly I would feed him personally. It is classic growth spurt time too, I would hang in there (recommend co-sleeping if you are BF) and hopefully it will settle down v soon.

Hi Rosemary, how is work going?

tibsy - it's CSB here, not Ro! Good to see you though

Thanks for asking Meg, work is a bit poo and the 4 and 2/3 days I'm doing (don't ask!) are such loooong ones (half 8 til half 6) I'm not very happy. DS has been back in the land of the farts again too so long tiring days on the back of hourly interruptions all night = dischuffed me!

We're considering moving away from this area completely to see if I can get a job with better hours. House goes on the market next week either way.

Stress? Pah!

Amber, you have my sympathies with the crappy nights. I will think of you tonight

Question for you guys.

Patting to sleep - works on DS when he's already sleepy, but the only way to get him sleepy is to feed or rock him. He's too big to rock really, he's a stone and a half and it can take literlaly hours to rock him. Poor DP's arms are going to drop off.

How do you get them sleepy in the first place? Put down awake DS thrashes his legs and arms and kicks, pushes himself up, rlls over, anything to stimulate himself back to awakeyness.

Any tips apart from chloroform?

Thanks everyone for your advice, which is pretty much what I expected to hear. About a week ago I completely lowered my expectations and felt a lot better about it, but as you all know it's hard to stay positive when you're knackered.

I remember that when my dd was about 4.5 months we had a really hard time with her sleeping - or not I should say!

Do you think co sleeping will help him not to wake so much or is it just to make it easier for feeding? His cot is right next to me so it is not a disruption for me to pick him out and feed him. When I have tried having in bed with me I find that we both fall asleep feeding which I don't like.

Anyway thanks again and I will hang out here more often now I think!

Hillbilly: I didn't find co-sleeping made DS wake any less, but I felt I was getting more sleep as I dodn't wake up full before feeding him (and I couldn't see the clock, which was a big bonus). Later on (after about a year) I found it was making gthings worse as DS was so much bigger and kicking about all night, hence Operation Cot and Night Wean (when DS was 15 mo).

Amber: at your crappy nights. Hope it's a quick phase for you. Can your DH take over for a night or two, or is he working into the small hours still?

Meg:well done on the self-settling! We still haven;t managed it for naps, most days DS falls asleep in his pushchair. It's working for us so far, so I'm not pushing for naps in the cot. DS is going to sleep at about 6pm at the moment and waking up about 6am with the occasional moan in between. We're resting between teeth atm, so I'm crossing m fingers that it will last

Effie/Rosemary: for us the key to self-settling at naptime has been dropping down to one nap a day (there had to be a downside). I tried cc at his afternoon nap one day last week when he'd had a morning nap, and it just wasn't happening -- he was standing up in the cot straight away and just getting more worked up. But the last two days I have just put him in the cot, shushed him briefly and walked out, and after a couple of moans he has gone straight to sleep. I guess he is just too worn out to resist!

I'm glad because it had got to the point where he was too big and strong to cuddle/rock to sleep, it was turning into a wrestling match.

Hillbilly: I found that co-sleeping actually helped decrease the amount of night feeds some nights, because when he stirred sometimes I could just cuddle him and he would go back to sleep, whereas if he'd woken in the cot then only the boob would settle him.

Hillbilly, I second the others suggestions of co-sleeping. It really was a life saver at your lo's age. My DD was always so much happier sleeping with us. I found I didn't wake as much. It wasn't like the heart leaping wakings when she was in her cot.

Rosemary, I lay with DD to get her to sleep and she's normally out within about 10 mins. It's quite nice, we lay looking at each other and she drifts off. I do remember though a few months of battling to keep her horizontal. I think once she started walking she settled down. When DD was still in her cot we'd just pick her off the bed and transfer to the cot once she'd been asleep for a few mins. What job do you do btw? sounds very long days. Is your DH being a SAHD? How's it going?

Hi Tibsy, I've missed you, have you been back at work?

Hi Amber, EP, Meg and everyone else. Sorry for your lack of sleep Amber. We're having a bit of a regression since the MMR jab last week. High high temp this evening so filled with calpol and ibruprofen. Not very optimistic about this evening.

Charliemama, forgot to say hi to you. Hope you're ok

Hi RosemaryEater -

Don't know if this helps, but for a week now my DS has completed settled to a lullaby CD I got- it's full of harmonies and tinkly things. Even if he's crying, I put it on and he zones out! Might work? It's this one...

and during the day he often calms down to this one from NCT

My LO is much littler than yours, though, and he has always loved singing/ music: yours may not be the same, of course.

Hey Ladies! I've been rubbish but I just got five free minutes and was trying to catch up when I saw a possible meet-up in London, and maybe even Bethnal Green? I am literally ten minutes' walk from the museum and would love to meet up. Have you decided a day/time?

Work last week was hell--worked until midnight each night from Tuesday to Thursday. I haven't been apart from DS that much ever, so it was really difficult. My expressing volume has gone down quite a lot, which is a tad distressing, even after a lovely weekend away in the country with DS practially attached at boob.

I cannot believe he's nearly a year old. This year has FLOWN by.

I miss you all. Okay, back to thread to catch up! xx

Okay, roughly caught up...

Meg, fab on the self-settling, and I totally get you about the wrestling matches that rocking to sleep is becoming. I might suggest to my mum about the one nap a day...that might work a treat for us.

Amber, sorry about your rubbish nights plus DH working late. I remember how exhausted I was after just 9 hours with DS on maternity leave, and cannot imagine doing 12-13-14 in a row. Pile on coffee, I imagine!

Tibs, I hope DD is going down earlier now that you've tried waking her from the later nap.

Beal, congratulations, that's great news!

RosemaryEater/CSB, sorry to hear about work sucking. Not sure if it helps, but it took me the better part of six months to get settled back in so that I am actually liking it, though working far too many hours even still. I wish you the best of luck.

Ginger, I hope your LO is feeling better after the jab and settling down sleep-wise

CM, how's my favorite super-mum? Really missing you. (((hugs)))

To everyone else, hello and welcome...I am a co-sleeper with an 11mo DS who loves to bite my nipples when my milk flow begins to slow down, and I work part-time (M-F 9-5) as a solicitor, so happy to help with any related topics/issues.

It's nice to be back!

EP! I didn't mean to forget you! I hope your LO is doing great and sleeping loads. Hopefully we can catch up if I can get away for Wednesday at Coram's Fields; we'll have to see if I could get a few hours away from work. Would it be all right if I joined you ladies?

Fingers crossed! xx

csb duh, sorry...was wondering how you were getting on at work. hope you find something more suitable soon i lie down with dd until she goes to sleep. sometimes takes aaaaaaaaaages, but sometimes just 5-10 mins

meg and EP WOW!!! so pleased that your nights are good for you both. EP, you must be chuffed, i remember that your nights were pretty shocking at one point

hi ginger cant blame my absence on work, just been busy for some reason i am, however returning for a day in the week and the occasional sat. how is dh now?

roro that sounds like the pits.....that and expressing, youre a star x hope it eases up this week. glad you had a nice weekend

RoRo: you would be most welcome . I think a Bethnal Green meet up a good idea later on - maybe we could try for a weekend?

Really must get to bed- DS woke up at 5 this morning (hopefully not to be repeated)

RoRo would love to see you. the weather is a bit cold today though - do they have that indoor play drop in thing just in case?

Great! Now I just need to figure out how I am going to get away for an hour or so...erm...doctor's appt, perhaps...

I think it is supposed to be a bit warmer tomorrow. Where exactly shall we meet? I haven't been there before...

i remember there being a playground kind of thing outside the drop in playgroup - maybe there?

Sounds good to me, I should be there 10ish, trains permitting!

See you all there . Weather looks good so far...

Morning all

Trust we are still on for this morning!

Have a lovely morning folks

have a great morning girls

we had a crappy night so am feeling a bit sorry for self ds woke me to say he'd thrown up all over his bed poor love, then just as i was dropping back off, dd kicked in with teething arrrrrgggghhh........
hope there were some better nights out there

Ladies, I am so sorry I couldn't make it...nanny reminded me that this is right during DS's nap time, and heaven forbid you meet DS whilst he is cranky! I hope you have a great time...

Tibs, sorry for your rubbish night. I hope your DS is feeling better this morning. Poor thing! And then teething...it's relentless as a mum, isn't it?

Hello everyone else! Last night was not great, DS kept waking up and preferring to be held on my chest whilst bf...didn't actually know that my boobs could stretch like that