Sleep regression. Anyone else want to join!? Sleepless mums!

[pinkgin1]

Currently going through what I believe could be a four month sleep regression? For ages my son slept really well didn't wake up in the night and if he did it was for one bottle then slept. Most nights slept 9:30pm till about 8am next day.
Has alllllllllll gone out the window the past week 🤣 I always knew the good sleep wouldn't last long and I appreciated it when it did but it's kinda making me feel extremely tired now including my partner🥱
How long does it last?? Will it go on for months?? Will I ever have a 8-8 again? 😥😥🤣
The strange thing is if he wakes up. As soon as I place him onto my bed and pillow he sleeps. So if it was a sleep regression surely he would wake also in my bed?

...just tried putting him down in his cot and he instantly woke up. Third time this morning. Bouncing him again. I'm going to need all the patience for this 😬

Our night last night was marginally better. Instead of hourly wakeups he was doing around every 1hr30 mins, which while not brilliant felt a lot better 😂 it did take me an hour to get him back in his crib with every wake up though 🤦🏻‍♀️ DH is having in the evening and from 6am so I can get some sleep, so actually that was only 3 wakeups during my ‘shift’. We’re going to try him in his own room in just over a week’s time when he turns 6 months 🤞🏼

@mytigerhasstripyfeet well I felt like he needed the sleep and I needed the rest so I put my feet up for a bit! He woke up really unsettled my dd came down on facetime to her friends and woke him 🙄 he then proceeded to scream so much he projectile vomited! His asleep for the 2nd time today atm and I've just gone with the contact nap. Im like you I love the cuddles and know from experience (his dc4) he won't always be so little and one day won't even text me back like his older brothers 😂 so I'm trying to make the most of the remainder of my mat leave and time with him. Did you manage to bounce him back into a nice sleep?

@Mytigerhasstripyfeet
Definitely. I had no hope and it went on for ages. Felt it would never end but it is getting much better. White noise and a zed really relaxes him for that first hour he's in his bed then he sleeps onwards, has anyone on here given a dummy? He's had them from 3 months and can say I think it definitely helps, especially these times, he never has it in the day other than naps occasionally and to get to sleep at night. Luckily he doesn't wake crying when he spits it out. But I think he'd of been much worse without it

I’m not really sure how last night was. You know those nights where in the morning you’ve no idea what happened?! DD went to sleep in her cot at 7.30pm. She was fast asleep on me but woke when I put her down. Amazingly I managed to settle her in her cot in about 15 mins. She woke up about midnight, had a feed but I’m still battling blocked ducts which are agony so I was up for bloody ages trying to make her drain them with no luck.
She then woke again about 1.30am and I rocked her back off. Then it was about 3am I think she woke again and she kept settling herself for a couple of mins at a time but then waking moaning again. This went on for about half an hour before I gave in, fed her and put her in the bedside cot where she slept until 6am before coming into bed with me.
Going to put her in her own room again tonight and see what happens. Anyone else get anxious as soon as it gets dark because you never know what the night has in store for you?!

@LCF2021 I know people have really mixed views on it but have you tried a dummy? For comfort?
Just for night time and naps?

@LCF2021 and as soon as I wake in the morning I'm thinking of the night to come 😅
He's doing good so far but he has done this before then gone back to it all. So far three nights. He is sleeping but i however feel like shit with a cold. Isn't it convenient, the time my son sleeps my body doesn't want too let me :))

@LCF2021 I totally know what you mean about the evening dread. I used to get it when she was a colicky newborn and would scream from 6-10 every night… now I get it because I literally don’t know what’s going to happen and even if she goes down I end up with a horrible tight knot in my stomach just waiting for the wake.

@pinkgin1 Oh yes, we introduced a dummy early on. She definitely wants to suck for comfort but last night wasn’t feeding every hour so I’ll take that!

@pinkgin1 we tried DS with a dummy when he was younger to help with colic but he wasn't bothered, kept spitting it out.

@LCF2021 oh I meant to ask about the duct. And the bleb? Sounds awful. I had one once also after visiting family, think it was the longish car journey which caused it. Mine wasn't even that bad but I felt grotty. Hope it's gone soon and you're not feeling too under the weather.

@Vie8126 oh no that's awful about the vomiting! Poor you. Mine did go back to sleep...and woke again when I put him down 🤦

We've managed 2x half hour naps in the cot today. Not brilliant as he'll have 3hrs in total napping on me. I am hoping he will start to feel more settled in his bed soon and this will help with nights.

A big part of me just thinks let him contact nap and let him co-sleep. It's natural. If he was sleeping really well in our bed we might have just let him. But he isn't... I cried today because I couldn't go to the post office. I'm not usually a crier at all. I'm sad about the naps but I think if he gets better at sleeping independently it's probably healthier in the long run. DS isn't getting enough sleep atm either.

Also I get the dread more when we go to bed. I find I can't go to sleep, it feels pointless. I'm just waiting to hear crying...

Poor us eh?

@Mytigerhasstripyfeet Thanks for asking! I managed to clear the ducts by using a sterile needle on the bleb(!) but I think once it was healing the skin dried over and last night it was blocked again and so painful. DD has managed to clear it again today but I just feel like it’ll keep happening. It’s confirmed to me that I’m going to stop breastfeeding. I’m gutted about it as I’d hoped to make it to 12 months but it’s been such a tough journey right from the start and she’s never achieved a good latch so I feel it’s time to stop. She did have 3oz in a bottle yesterday and today so I’m going to keep trying and then drop feeds gradually with a view to stop breastfeeding completely in a few weeks.

Hope you’re doing ok. It’s so hard not to get down about naps, especially when you see people on Instagram being productive “whilst baby naps”. Sleep is such a BIG thing and it becomes almost impossible not to be totally consumed by it. I definitely thought I’d be calmer about it second time round but apparently not!

@LCF2021 bloody hell a needle 😱brave woman. Sorry that bf isn't going well - it can be hard work and not very rewarding. I had latch issues too which are solved now. Had a lovely 6wks or so of son having peaceful feeds... Then he started being all distracted and wriggly. He actually managed to cut the inside of my nose the other day with one of his little nails. Lucky I had a muslin to hand as the blood was dripping out. Whenever you stop, it's a good thing to have done 🙂

Hi all, sorry I've been rubbish at keeping up with the thread the last few days. Hope you're all doing ok and welcome to new members of the club we're all trying to escape! Is anyone else awake just now? Really struggling over here : ( LO won't go in the crib, but won't co sleep either....so I'm just sitting up in bed while she sleeps on the boob. I have no other game plan for the next 6 hours but I am so tired...feeling pretty hopeless and like a crap mum. Hope you're all having better nights!

Hi @Sleepymama285 just feeding mine. He's been a pain tonight too.

Will she go down on the bed with your arm/hand under her?

Any help from your partner at all?

Going to bed isn't so much a problem with my ds in that 7ish has always been his natural go to bed time. He has his last bottle and can guarantee his good to go down. He was going to bed awake but recently asleep not sure if that's also helped with his waking now.

Last night we were 12 till 1.30 then 3.45 so I fed him in our bed with my arm under him and he had 3oz of milk and went to sleep. I popped him back in his his bed about 5and by 5.15 Well we were up!

Hi all, hope it's okay to join. I think DD finally came to the end of a 15 month regression last week...only for her sleep to go to shit again these last few nights. Last night was terrible :'( she would be up within 5 mins of being out down in her cot. No problem, I thought. I'll just cosleep. Terrible idea. She would just toss and turn WHILE latched onto me, so really neither of us could sleep like that. I lost count of how many wake ups, it's just all one blur. I've just put her back down now even though it's past 7am because I just really need the sleep (hence I'm here posting on Mumsnet...DUH). Goodnight all X

I read a helpful article related to sleep regression. nurturey.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sleep-regression/
Hopefully, this will help you out as well!

Hey @Mytigerhasstripyfeet thanks for your message. Hope your feed to sleep was successful. I finally managed to wiggle down into a lying position so I could doze while she feeds/sleeps. Out of interest, when you say put hand underneath, how do you mean? Like under her legs? DH is here and tried to help with some rocking earlier but she just got even more worked up!

Thanks for the article @Lyla24. My DD clearly hasn't read it because her 4 month regression has lasted way longer than 2-4 weeks 🥴

@LCF2021 that sounds so tough and the last thing you need. Sometimes when it rains it really does pour. You've done amazingly well to get this far with BF though. I'm also going to try and wind it down for various reasons altho my DD is already combi fed, it's a sad feeling.

@Sleepymama285 same as you last night. Dd did 9-2 in her crib (was very chuffed when I checked the clock when she woke) but then after I fed her she wouldn't be put back down so slept on me til 7. It just cant be restful for her like that cause she is constantly latching on and wriggling. And obviously it's no rest for me either

I was hopeful last night because when I put her down (fed) it was a whole two hours before she woke again, usually it’s an hour or less in the evening. However just had another night of 1.5-2 hourly wake ups and this morning I’m just a crying mess. Two months of this and I’m absolutely on my knees and just don’t want to do anything :(

Thanks @JammyRedRooo. I’ve got such mixed emotions about it. I fed my son until he was 15 months so I feel guilty that she won’t be getting the same. But at the same time I’m at the point where the benefits of breastfeeding can’t outweigh me being in pain every day and I feel proud that she’s had over 5 months of it. Just hoping stopping won’t be too stressful for both of us.

Oh @BadgerBum it's horrible isn't it. Being sleep deprived makes everything so difficult. Please look after yourself. Have a little treat today or a nice bath. Maybe a walk? I'm also feeling crap this morning... I really should follow my own advice. Do you have any plans for today?

@Sleepymama285 hey no more under their neck/shoulders. I do have to be sitting on the edge of the bed for it to work, but basically I hold him lying flat with my arm supporting his head and then carefully lower him down so that my arm is under his neck on the bed. I think he feels like he's still being held but then I can lie down next to him.

First nap of the day done and he went down in his cot first time. Only lasted half an hour but at least it wasn't on me.

How was everyone’s night last night?

Ours was one of the worst yet. I fed him back to sleep 6 times in the night. The previous night he did a few 1hr 30 stretches, but last night he was up every hour, and once after just half an hour 😭

How long into sleep regression is everyone? I’m starting to worry this is going to go on a long time. We are two weeks in now x

Mystery solved!!! DD produced a massive poo (literally the biggest I've ever seen) this morning. That's probably what was bugging her all night!