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Original poster

Melatonin - did it work for your little blighter?

97 replies

suzywong · 26/01/2005 22:21

goodmorning!

Another morning ripped open at 4am by my ds2.

He is 17 months old and every and I mean every night of his little life he has woken up and roared at 4am. Well actually it is about 6 or 7 times that he has not.

Most of the time he goes back to sleep til 6 - which I can deal with.

We have tried everything and I mean everything. Ds1 was a bad sleeper and we got him in to bad habits so we have learned from our mistakes and been very careful with ds2. Nothing makes a difference to him: not time of going to bed, not milk or breastfeed, not quantity or time of last meal, not cc, not whether or not I'm in the room or dh has to deal with it, not blackout curtains, not anything - please don't suggest anything as we have honestly tried everything even a few Chinese spells from my MIL. It doesn't work.

A wise woman suggested I ask the doctor for Melatonin. Have you tried it on your kids, did it work? How long do you have to give it for?

any advice greatly appreciated before I am committed to the asylum

OP posts:
lou33 · 27/01/2005 09:51

go and ask the gp about it sooz.

I only posted the first link as someone asked what is melatonin, it was the first one that came up. Wasn't trying to sell it.

jangly · 27/01/2005 09:58

Yes Carla - I wondered the same. And it says on Lou's link that you shouldn't take melatonin during the day as it regulates your sleep pattern! Very confusing. Perhaps there's not enough in the milk to make that much difference. (and its only semi-skimmed. could be fattening!)

Bagpuss30 · 27/01/2005 10:22

Am panicking now, can someone do me a link to the bedtime milk please? Can't seem to find it.

Carla · 27/01/2005 10:49

Can't do links but it's www.night-time-milk.co.uk.

Bagpuss30 · 27/01/2005 10:59

Thanks Carla. Will know what to look out for now when I go to Waitrose later .

Aero · 27/01/2005 11:58

Is Waitrose the only place where you can buy this milk? (she asks after another gruelling night).

Bagpuss30 · 27/01/2005 12:31

No, according to their website, Sainsbury's have it too. DH will now be instructed to stop on the way home as I am too tired to drive without the possibility of a crash .

Aero · 27/01/2005 12:32

Great - thanks Bagpuss - will look for it.

fimblesfan · 27/01/2005 12:38

The web site doesn't say anything about babies drinking it, does anyone know if it's safe for 10mths? Is there anyone who has tried it already & does it actually work?

dramaqueen72 · 27/01/2005 12:46

oh my goodness, must buy milk. must look into suplements too....i have three children, the first 2 never needed much sleep, but at least they slept. dd2 just doesnt need sleep, and wont fall asleep until gone 11pm most nights, to bounce up again at 5/6am and crash out just as we need to get up and do the school run. has been this way since birth and i am VERY TIRED after 19mths of it.
so will bathe her in milk, feed her the milk, bake her stuff with milk in...etc etc.....
sending dh to waitrose on his way home
was also nice to hear its not just me - or rather dd- with sleeping problems!

Aero · 27/01/2005 12:48

Yes dq - very reassuring to know there are rather a lot qualified to join this club! weary

Original poster
suzywong · 27/01/2005 13:07

fimblefan, it's not recommended to give cow's milk to children under 12months - sorry

OP posts:
Original poster
suzywong · 28/01/2005 21:42

Goooooooooood morning fellow club members!!!!

Well the little lad shredded the night's sleep at 4 am again, gee whizz, but he's punctaul! Me and ds2 who share bunk beds - yes I sleep in a bunk bed - have been in zombified limbo for, ooh let's see, an hour and three quarters now. Ds2 is happily playing with his lego whilst I am teetering on the edge of being very zen and Paul Caheoloho about it all and going bell tower sniper with an ouzie.

So where better to share my thoughts than with you lot xxxx

OP posts:
Original poster
suzywong · 28/01/2005 21:47

I can't even distinguish between my children anymore,

It's ds2 who wakes us all up then goes back to sleep, it's me and ds1 who are awake, poor little boy, he'll be cranky and irritable with tiredness by midday

I really don't expect any replies btw, just writing this is keeping me from runningn out through the door and finding a bush to curl up under and sleep for a few weeks

OP posts:
dramaqueen72 · 29/01/2005 20:26

well i found the milk, and fed dd LOTS she slept like shes never slept before..okay so it could be a fluke...or it could be the milk. shes getting it again tonight! fingers crossed!!
suzy i do hope you get some respite...... dd drove me -literally- to the very edge when she was younger....i went absolutely crazy once at dh in the morning, after another night of him sleeping and dd NOT!!!
then of course whats MOST upsetting are the fifty billion 'helpful' comments everybody and their dog gives you..because of course, your child not sleeping is your fault!!!!!!!!!
my inalws were terrible for telling me exactly how i had gone wrong....absolutely crushing to hear. then i discovered their youngest had slept in their bed til she was 3, and had never made it thro the night with out waking them. so i felt VERY smug telling them just where they 'had gone wrong' too!!!

Original poster
suzywong · 29/01/2005 22:40

Ha! glad you got your own back on those inlaws DQ

That's interesting about the milk, but of course you know just by uttering that, even in type, she is duty bound to stop doing it

Thanks for the sympathy, ds2 woke up at 3.57 today and was back asleep by himself by 3.58 then got up for the day at 5.10 which isn't so bad really.

Hope the milk continutes to work for you guys

OP posts:
Aero · 29/01/2005 22:47

More sympathy from me too. Ds2 has already wakened twice tonight and we haven't even gone to bed yet.
Against my better judgement, I went to bed verrry late last night (2am-ish) after far too much wine and true to form he woke up an hour or so later, then again at 5am and there was no way he was going back to sleep then! Actually, I'm amazed I'm still awake now, but am fading fast........goodnight founder member of the mn wide awake club - hope you have a good day while we on this side of the pond rest (or try to)!

Aero · 30/01/2005 18:33

Well I got the milk today, so watch this space..................fingers crossed!

fimblesfan · 30/01/2005 21:37

Hi dq & aero plz could u keep us updated I am very, very interested to know if it really works.

dramaqueen72 · 30/01/2005 22:47

well okay it could be totally UNrelated..but shes still sleeping!!! last night she slept from 11pm til 9am! 9am!!!!!!! shes hardly EVER slept more than five hours in her life.
tonight shes down by 10.30pm. which is early for her. thats 3 nights of good sleeping. i think its the milk, and i think i'm buying shares in it! if it ISNT the milk, well shes getting a heck of alot of 'good for you' stuff in the milk

Aero · 30/01/2005 23:01

Well ds2 has been in bed for four hours now and has already wakened once so I'm not convinced, but will check in again with news tomorrow!
Also, could only find it in semi-skimmed and I'd prefer him to have full cream, but if it works I won't knock it - just top his full cream quota up in daylight hours!

LapsedGymJunkie · 31/01/2005 00:02

Wellll...................

Has any one tried this, and I am feeling a bit of a fraud, as we had no problems that I can really remember with DS. We did have a minor hiccup at about 6-12 months and it was the seperation anxiety thing, we took to wearing t-shirts under our clothes during the day and putting it in the cot and it stopped a lot of the upset.

Over a period of 6 - 8 weeks we wore them less and removed them from the cot earlier in the evening and it stopped.

Now 3.5 and if he is in the right frame of mind, will wake up at 6.30 or silly o clock, and shout. Hello Mummy it is morning ? , I used to go in and say Darling it is still early, never worked. One morning, whilst short on sleep, late night , I did the following before I knew I had done it.

GO TO SLEEP, IT IS NOT MORNING AND I AM NOT GETTING UP

It worked...........tried it a couple of times since and he now shouts out, is it morning ?? If you ignore him you can get another hour

lilybubble · 31/01/2005 00:02

hiya, i think i need to join your club too please! dd has never been a good sleeper, although to be fair she has got a bit better lately and is sleeping for longer. the problem i want to tackle next is that she is currently going to bed anywhere between 11pm and 1am and it's proving really hard to tackle. she's 18 months, and is still b'fed, refuses any other milk altogether.

is a gp likely to recommend melatonin or phenergan? also, we are flying to australia in 4 weeks time, so it would be rather nice to be able to get her to sleep for a while on the plane! can you buy either of these in the shops? I know you can get melatonin in the US, but am not aware of it here??

Original poster
suzywong · 31/01/2005 03:01

Hi Lillybubble

deepest sympathies and welcome the club, I think you should wear your membership badge upside down as your problems are at the other end of the night

If you do get hold of melatonin can you drop some off to me in Perth when you get to Oz, cheers

OP posts:
dramaqueen72 · 31/01/2005 05:33

LGJ- sounds like a good trick to remember to try on 'next' baby!
lilly- i dont know about getting hold of actual melatonin. my dr is absolutely reluctant to give anything, unless you've been to the sleep clinic for serveral weeks. i wonder if your dd would improve once weaned? i have just weaned my dd from b'fing and her sleeping has improved greatly. that and the bedtime milk of course! shes drunk loads tonight. she has woken twice, but been really easy to get back off quickly, with shushing and back rubbing -great change from screaming insistant monster i normally get greeted by at 2am!
she also wasnt fussed by cows milk, but we got a soft teat cup (abit of a backward step i know, but frankly if it got her sleeping.......) and now she has this a bedtime and enjoys the novelty. you could always express some milk to get her into bottles or cups?
as for sleeping on the plane.....hmmmmmm, does medised work for you? it crashes dd out within half an hour of taking it.
hth.
i hope someone else can help too!