One step forward three steps back.

[Stefka]

I really thought I was making progress at the start of the week. DS was self settling a couple of times in the night then he started to sleep from 12-6 which was amazing for him.

As the week has gone on he has gone back to what he did before then actually got worse!

Head banging against brick wall.

Hi Stefka.

God, I know how you feel! My DS (6mo) is just the same. I think I've found the solution to all my problems, then he suddenly deteriorates again. There's always a thousand reasons it could be and I've given up trying to figure out which it is tbh!

My DS has had a few good nights recently, which seems to be down to me leaving white noise on in his bedroom (radio crackle) through the night.

I'm just starting to feel excited, but at the same time I'm pretty sure my little fantasy of sleep filled nights will come crashing down soon enough! I just keep telling myself EVENTUALLY he'll have to do it. And I try to enjoy the good nights when they come along.

But somehow good nights make it seem harder when the interrupted nights make their return!

I keep trying to use the pantley pull off but I just end up with a totally awake baby and have to get DH to rock him to sleep.

DS is almost 6 months. He has a lullaby CD. Does the white noise work well for you then? Does it not drive you nuts coming through the baby monitor?

I think Im am my wits end with sleep!
My dd is 8 months and shes a nightmare! I think she finds it hard to make the transition from being tired to falling sleep...and then from light sleep to deep sleep.
She really fights sleep at nap time and it takes me ages to get her off. At night time shes always woken alot, and Ive always breastfed her...but shes prone to waking 2hrly, sometimes 1hrly for feeds! She miraculously slept through (dont ask me how that happened!) for one night...and since then Ive not fed her in the night (this was about a week ago)...but it has become a battle of wills! She'll wake up about 1am-ish and it'll take me about 2 to 3 hours to get her back off to sleep. I can be in there with my hand on her back and she'll appear to be sleeping, but as soon as I get back into bed....Waaaahahahahah!!!
Ive completely run out of ideas!! I'm so exhausted its beyond words!

But I totally know what you mean about finding something that works...and then a few days later it stops! Its so frustrating!

I have used a few of the ideas from 'No Cry Sleep Solution' which have seemed to help. Has anyone else used this?

OMG mumof2pixies, I know what YOU mean about the putting down to sleep thing... that drives me round the twist and does my back in!

My mum tells me it's a sign of intelligence! I don't really believe her, especially as I always slept through as a baby (!) but I think of it at 2 am and try to raise a smile, then again at 3.30, 5, 6 etc!

Ive got the No Cry Sleep Solution, and read it a couple of times, but Im cant seem to get anywhere with it! (I suppose Im looking for an instant cure...but I know that there isnt one!). We already do the bedtime routine thing, and she has a comfort object...I cant really remember what else it suggests. I havent done the 'pantley pull off' thing, because dd doesnt fall asleep at the breast when I feed her anymore. Was there anything specific in it that helped you yetihed? i do find it so hard with my dd as she doesnt have clear tired signs, so I think shes often overtired when I put her down for naps.

I meant to say that we also use white noise, it really helps cut out the sound during the day (I also have a 3yo ds who is very noisy!) and i dont think she would sleep at all without it on! Ive tried weaning her off it at night, but I think she gets a bit freaked out when she wakes up and its not on! You sort of get used to it through the monitor!

I am using NCSS. It seemed to work to start with but now it's not. I can't get past stage one and I keep ending up with him totally awake.

I had a similar thing with NCSS. It seemed to be working miracles then wore off.

I started by having my DS back in the bed with us, which meant I could settle him with patting and key words before he had roused properly. This worked best but was impossible to sustain as he tosses and turns so I ended up with hardly any sleeping space at all and a very bad back! So then we had the cot by the bed. This worked well as we still hardly woke, and he was doing 4/5 hours, then 3, then 2, then 1 which was good enough for me at that stage. Also, not turning ANY light on really made a difference and still does. But trying to do the push off thing in near total darkness has it's problems!!! (How soon do you pull off your DC Stefka?)

He's in his own room now and I have gone with him temporarily. I am not being noble, I just don't want to be walking back and forth across the landing all the blinking time. Good thing I did, too, coz for the first fortnight he woke up every hour! SCREAMING!

So, now we've introduced white noise (I bought a CD yesterday which has washing machine noises on- this is making a lovely change from radio crackle and doesn't do my head in quite so much) and that seems to help sometimes, not others. Sometimes it seems to settle him for hours, and he wakes when it's off. Sometimes he seems to wake anyway and nothing helps. But I have managed to rock him to sleep with it on, which is PROGRESS. You're one step ahead of me Stefka, my DS will not go to sleep on anyone but me- if my DP tries, he just cries til I get there.

I also try to strap him down with a blanket (over his legs, tucked in tightly) so he can't wake himself up tossing and turning.

But I'm not suggesting any of this is anywhere near perfect!

mumof2pixies- I know what you mean about being overtired, but my LO doesn't seem to want to go to sleep 'til he's completely overtired anyway. If I try before that I can be there for hours while he's laughing and smiling away.

The weird thing is he doesn't seem at all bothered by these weird sleep patterns, and is bright eyed and bushy tailed, a smiley and chirpy little boy who takes great interest in the World around him. It's definitely affecting me more than him!

I am trying to accept it as part of his nature, but I just have this nagging feeling that if he can't settle himself to sleep I must be doing something wrong. Do you guys feel the same?

I totally feel the same...only I wish I knew what it was that I had done wrong, and then at least at could try and put it right!

I also feel the same but the really the whole getting a baby to sleep through is a cultural thing.

DS is ok being in the room on his own he just has trouble getting off to and staying asleep. I usually feed him to sleep trying to do the Pantley pull off. Sometimes I can take him off my boob, rock him then pat him in the cot and he will go off. He's practically asleep when he goes to bed though. Other times he just wakes up and is totally awake and I have to get DH to rock him to sleep. Then he just wakes up a lot and needs the same stuff to get him back off.