9M DS has never slept through, GP suggest mild sedative to 'help him'

[jellybellybump]

My 9m DS has never slept through the night. He wakes every night either around 11.30pm, 1.30am or 3.30am. Or on all three if it's a bad night. We leave him for about 30-45 mins during which he moans and whimpers. After that he will start to get himself in a state and we can't settle him. Used to take him into our bed which settled him straightaway, but that no longer works.

GP suggested giving him Medised before going to bed to see if that would help, but it has had no effect (tried for 3 weeks). She has now suggested using a mild sedative antihistamine to 'break the habit'. (knock him out)

He has a good daytime routine with sleeps and solids and goes down at 7pm every night.

Am a bit in two minds about using something strong to get DS to sleep through. It seems a bit drastic but on the other hand I am at work full time with an hour's commute either end and struggling to stay focussed at work. So my question is, has anybody else used something like this before and did it work.

Message withdrawn

I'm going to stick my neck out and say WHAT THE HELL IS HE ON ABOUT.

Loads of babies don't sleep through at 9 months old, my 6 month old baby wakes 5+ times a night.

Medised is not the answer and neither is sedatives.

I can really recommend the no cry sleep solution, even if you don't use it for the techniques it explains all about babies sleep habits and why he is still waking. I have a copy if you would like to borrow it, I can send it to you?

I wouldn't at 9 mo, tbh. DS's sleep was all over the place at that age (waking three times doesn;t actually sound that bad!). It is completely knackering but it happens to a lot of babies at this age - I don't think it's an abnormal sleep pattern that needs to be treated with drugs. Do you feed him when he wakes at night? Could he be hungry? DS was feeding all through the night until past a year, and again I don't think that's abnormal, despite what the baby books say

If you're concerned, could you ask to be referred to a sleep clinic/specialist instead?

don;t think most babies do sleep through the night at 9 months TBH and am at your GP suggesting Medised which is an anti histamine, so not sure why using another one would work anyway

try an earlier bedtime - the less over tired a baby is the easier they can sleep at night

also 9 months is CLASSIC separation anxiety time, and can result in increased night disturbances anyway

sleep deprivation is crap and i feel your pain re WOHM and having a hideous commute but i do think sedatives are a last resort IMO

My sisters dd2 gets het up if left to cry. they used the Baby Whisperer technique with her and within 2 weeks she was sleeping through.

God,is your GP insane???
This is a tiny baby.
Sheesh!

well i am in the 'anti' camp dont drug kids. i wear my 3.2 years of broken sleep like a true martyr. no, really....in my house 9 months is only just getting started. they sleep when they are ready. ( i do realise that it can be a really rough time and in all seriousness i understand the temptation to medicate. but i personally have found that accepting that sleep will be broken, possibly for a long time to come, has helped us all function. get to bed as early as you can, if you can afford it get a cleaner and as much domestic help as poss.)

I think its quite normal for a 9m old not to sleep through the night (mine were 3.5yrs and 2.6 yrs before they slept right through. TBH they still get up several nights a week now.

I used medised for 1 week for a 5mth old with a really bad cough and trying to wean her off it after was a bloody nightmare ! She didn't sleep for two whole nights, so try it at your peril

You have my sympathy jellybellybump, dd didn't properly start sleeping through until she was about 15 months and now she is waking again because of her molars (22months).

I am shocked at your dr suggesting that you use drugs, I must say. Like the others have said, despite what the books say, many babies do not sleep through the night at this age.

I didn't actually try the no cry sleep solution, just got used to it and would often give dd a bottle of milk as it always settled her (out of bed for 5 mins instead of awake for hours) because it worked for us. In fact, I sometimes still do .

So, my long winded answer is, no I didn't try it and I don't see how it would work anyway because as soon as you stop giving it to him, the problem would come back as he hasn't "learnt" anything, just been knocked out

Some babies just do not "do" 12 hours in one go until they are much older. I know it is exhausting (I was up twice with my 17m old last night). I have always been of the opinion that if they wake they are hungry or thirsty. DD is BF so if she wakes I pop her on and within 10 mins or so she will go back to sleep. I find this much less stressful than trying to let her re-settle herself.

I managed to get her sleeping better by doing CC but that was more to get her to settle without BFing to sleep rather than to "cure" night waking. The side effect of teaching her to self settle was that she did wake less in the night.

Have a look at the Baby Whisperer etc and give one method a try for a few weeks and see if you get results but I suspect he may be waking through hunger as he is still so young.

Have you seen the Sleep is for the weak thread? I found it very supportive when DD was your los age as it made me realise I was not alone (or the worst case on MN )

I wouldnt use it just yet ...but have you tried Cow and Gate goodnight sleep milk? Is a new product out there and it has really helped my 7 and 1/2 month old settle at night. Worth a try?Good luck !

Message withdrawn

To add to everyone else's comments - not sleeping all night not usual at 9mths imho. Neither of mine did.

If it is impacting on you hugely, could your GP refer you to a sleep clinic/similar rather than going to the drugs option?

No Cry Sleep Soln is good...

I think that being up between 1 and 3 times a night is pretty good! I don't think it's uncommon either or a habit that needs broken at this age. If you're struggling, I would suggest that you try some form of sleep training first.

DD (age 1) woke/wakes (is improving though) frequently. She actually gets an antihistamine (piriton) a fair bit for her eczema and it does have a mild sedetative effect. But not enough that it would stop her waking. Just means she goes back to sleep faster after feeding and is often grizzly the next day too. We did notice that it improved the early part of her sleep for us though (7:30pm- 10pm ish) as she was usually up every 45 mins at this time. We gave her it every night for 2 wks, even though her eczema was improving in a week or so just to see if it would help break the cycle. It didn't.

GP has offered a sedative now if we want to give her it, but since she's making some improvements it doesn't sit right with me at all. I'll need to be at the "dropping her out of the window" stage again before doing that.

Mine too - infact my nearly 4yr old dd still wakes in the night a few times a week - we have the silent wanderer who arrives at our bed sometime between 3am and 6am complete with pillow and teddy.

It took dd1 until she was 5 to sleep through regularly.

Please don't do it.

sounds like your GP is way too free with the prescription pad. That would be a seriously dodgy route to go down imo

I meant to say that I did take dd to a cranial osteopath who diagnosed a problem with her ear and some tightness in her back (she had been transverse and back to back). We noticed a real difference after a few sessions so that might be worth a try too.

I think you've got your answer but I'm also in the 'no' camp. I used Medised for congestion (DD an awfully snotty baby and I was too knackered to get that the 'sed' meant 'sedative') but went right off it the night I gave it to her (aged maybe 9-12 months?), went into the kitchen to wash the spoon, came back and she was fast asleep sitting up.

Thank you everybody for your sweet replies today. (at one point I was worried I'd get slaughtered for even considering it) And as Scampmum says, I've got my answer. It just feels that there is a lot of pressure on us that DS still is not sleeping through. One colleague even suggested it might have been because he was BF for 6 months, and there's sth wrong with him.

He also started rolling over in his sleep and I think he wakes up confused, no quite sure how he ended up on his tummy.

He did have cranial ost when he was between 1-3M, so might give that a go again. Then again, I could just go to bed early and be grateful that during the day he is the sweetest little DS I could have wished for. And who knows, One Day...
XX

My DS is 10 mo and has slept through two or 3 times. at the moment we are having a very bad run of nights, down to teeth / cold.
because he was bf for 6 months!
there was a point to this post I think ... oh yes, according to mum i was a terrible sleeper, until 10 mo then i started sleeping through no problem - it might happen

I do see what your GP means by breaking the cycle - could you give a dream feed as you go to bed? Asume this is about 10.30 / 11. anyway, i'm the last person to be giving advice on sleep

The 10 month thing is interesting. Apparently, around this time, babies internal clocks are fully developed. I wonder if that's why babies get better? DS was the same and improved a lot at 10 months. DDs been a bit later so far and sitll has a long way to go, but I think age is a factor.

wow that's interesting and has given me hope
He is 10 months tomorrow

I know what you mean about the pressure jellybump, I had it from about 3 months - when you put her in her own room, when you give her solids, when her teeth are through, when, when, when.... I do think that when you just accept that that is the way it is and, as you say, be grateful for what a little star he is in the day (dd is the same, an angel in the day), you actually just see it for what it is - a stage like all others that will pass in time. Now seeing that in a completely lost-perspective-sleep-deprived state is pretty difficult, but it will pass.