right, had enough- im calling the doctor, but will he think im neurotic!!!!

[tiredemma]

if you have seen my "am i being cruel" thread you will know that ds2 is being a nightmare.
every night now for the last couple of weeks he has woken approx every 1hr 45 mins/ 2 hours. im pissed off to the max as im so tired i dont know wether im coming or going.
the only thing i can think of is to phone the doctor- but what can he do? im looking for some kind of divine inspiration i think.
if i go to the docs and say im at the end of my tether as ds2 is 17 mnths and hasnt slept for longer than 4 hours at a time since birth, is he likely to laugh at me and throw me out the surgery?

veryveryverytiredemma

he will probably refer you to a sleep clinic or something. or maybe get someone in to help you. hope it works out soon.

contact your health visitor - she'll be able to advise you on the sleep issue or refer you to someone who can help

Oh honey, I feel for you! What a nightmare. Sounds like you;re doing a brilliant job just getting from day to day.

I kept hoping my GP would refer me to a sleep clinic or something but he insisted there was no such thing, and what could a "sleep clinic" teach a baby anyway? (his words)

He gave us phenergan forte. This is an anti-histamine which can be given to infants for sleep as it has a sedative effect. However, it can also send some children a bit hyper. I found it worked fine for 2 nights on the trot, but after that the effects were limited. At that point, though, 2 nights of slightly better sleep was like a gift from God to me, so I was happy with that.

DS is about to be 3 and sleeps very well now, if that's any consolation. It took a very harsh bout of sleep training at age 2 to get us there, but now he's OK. Shame about DD (6months)...

See your doctor, get some help. He/She will not laugh at you.

No respectable doc should laugh - sleep deprivation is a recognised form of torture! Phenergan can help in the short term but you need to give multiple spoonfuls to have any real effect. Sleep clinics do exist - they will probably suggest controlled crying or some other form of sleep training. It's hard work and may take a few weeks but stick with it, you need to break the habit with ds2 otherwise he'll never improve! I suggest reading 'Solve your child's sleep problems' by Dr Richard Ferber (it's on Amazon), it helped me understand the natural rhythms of sleep and what was stopping my ds1 from getting himself back to sleep - which is what you really need him to learn. It may also give some references to sleep clinics and/or other organisations (don't have it in front of me at the mo) if your doc is being unhelpful.

Failing that get the doc to prescribe YOU some sleeping tablets!!!!

I do feel for you tiredemma, it's absolutely knackering and so demoralising and not doing any of you any good. Good luck!!

He shouldn't laugh at you - sleep deprivation is YUCK!!!! Been there, done that and at the time I literally felt myself going insane, get as much help as you can - you deserve it!!!