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Sleep

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Original poster

OK - I HAVE to be doing something wrong here...........

13 replies

NessieD · 11/03/2008 09:55

My DS is nearly 6 months old and we are having no end of sleep problems. Daytime naps are no problem whatsoever it's the night thats a problem. He is swaddled at each nap (in a grobag with his arms just swaddled on the outside) and has a dummy to settle himself. We have a SafeTSleep Swaddlewrap but it makes no difference.

We put DS down at 7pm ( he won't go any later) with a feed and his Dummy, we then feed him again at 11ish and change his nappy and again put him down swaddled with his dummy. He will then wake any time from 2am onwards as he is normally on his front and can't get back over again, we the resettle him with his dummy but he will then wake again up to 6 times before we get him up at 7am. I am not sure if we have a dummy dependancy or swaddle problem or both. We have tried to wean him off of both but given up after a while due to the crying . We first tried unswaddling him with his dummy in byt he just pulls the dummy out and cries, we try comforting him and have tried a bit of CC but he just gets himself sooo worked up that there is then no chance of him going to sleep.

He is on 3 meals a day plus his milk so there is no ay that he should be hungry!

Sleep deprvation is KILLING me and I am due back in work in 2 weeks - I am so worried about how I will cope.

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phraedd · 11/03/2008 10:02

What happens between the hours of 11pm and 7am - do you just go in and give him his dummy or does he have milk?

Original poster

NessieD · 11/03/2008 11:04

We juts gve him his dummy - I presumed thae he wouldn't be hungry as he is having his milk & solids.

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Original poster

NessieD · 11/03/2008 11:07

Sorry about the typing - it must be the sleep depravation!!

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phraedd · 11/03/2008 19:42

he might be thirsty maybe offer some cooled boiled water.

If that doesn't work, you may need to "lose" the dummy

Seona1973 · 11/03/2008 20:02

we got rid of the dummy at 5 1/2 months cos ds was waking several times looking for it. it was the best thing we ever did and he sleeps much better now.

p.s. my ds had 3 meals plus milk in the day and still woke for a feed in the night till 8 months so it could be hunger too (I suspect it is the dummy though)

Original poster

NessieD · 11/03/2008 20:09

Seona how did you get rid of the dummy? did you just go cold turkey? I will try and offer a feed when he wakes tonight and see if that helps.

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Seona1973 · 11/03/2008 20:14

I did it with the daytime naps first and stayed with him when he cried and if necessary picked him up and gave him a cuddle too. The first time took about 40minutes or so and was really hard but at least I didnt leave him to cry on his own. It was also difficult for the first few nights as it gets so easy just to stick the dummy in, but again he got a cuddle and then put back in the cot and then we repeated as necessary.

PuppyMonkey · 11/03/2008 20:14

Hi - the thing that worked for us with dd2 was dropping the 11pm feed and letting her try and go through. We let her learn to sleep for longer... waking her for the 11pm feed just disturbed her.

And a little later, we went cold turkey on the old dummy... nightmare for three nights then magic... it worked!

Habbibu · 11/03/2008 20:16

Nessie, I think there's a bit of a growth spurt a 6 months, so a little bit of extra milk mightn't go amiss. We started a shh/pat plus gentle withdrawal technique at around 7 months, which worked very well for dd, but did take a few weeks.

EffiePerine · 11/03/2008 20:20

At months, I'd try feeding and see how you go (Habbibu is right, it's a growth spurt time, as is 8/9 months)

DS was a rubbish sleeper from birth to past a year, but was especially grumpy round this time as learning to sit up which disturbed his sleep. Broken nights are crappy, but try not to get too stressed about sleep training at this stage - he's still very young.

EffiePerine · 11/03/2008 20:21

Oh and you are doing nothing wrong! Sometimes they just don't sleep all that well - there's a hell of a lot going on in that first year, some babies are placid and not affected, others, well, are not.

phraedd · 12/03/2008 08:08

how did you get on last night Nessie?

Original poster

NessieD · 12/03/2008 11:34

He woke on his own at 10.30pm for a feed last night and downed 6oz which is quite unusual for him, he then went back to sleep until 5am when I offered him 4oz and he took the lot! I think he would have taken more if there was more in the bottle!!! slept through then until we woke him at 7am soooo I think we may have a hunger problem here! only thing is he refused to take his bottle until 8am. Not sure if it's a growth spurt as this has being going on for weeks?

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