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Original poster

Those of you who had babies not great at sleeping - when did it get better?

101 replies

tinierclanger · 14/12/2008 14:32

Just looking for a bit of encouragement and something to look forward to. When did DC start sleeping for longer stretches at night, and get easier to put down for naps?

OP posts:
Niecie · 14/12/2008 14:37

DS1 was a terrible sleeper - awake 3 or 4 times a night for at least 1/2 hour usually longer.

He started sleeping through at 10 months, almost out of the blue and then would sleep through 3 or 4 nights a week until about 18mths when he reliably slept through most nights. It was never a gradual thing - it happened suddenly. As soon as he slept through the first time, I stopped feeding him at night as I knew then he didn't need it for nutrition and I think that helped.

As for day time naps, no regular long nap until he was over a year.

Umlellala · 14/12/2008 14:54

Dd improved at 8mths did some gradual withdrawal thing, then much better when we put her in a bed at 14mths - and self-settled too after this. Daytime naps much better when I had an epiphany and realised I could be napping/resting with her and put her in bed with me (can't remember when - 9mths??).

Ds is now 5mths and sleeps 2-3hrs (with the odd 4 - one 5hr - patch!). He is getting more settled every week.

CharCharGaboriaInExcelsisDeo · 14/12/2008 15:03

16 months, ie. now. DD's just getting over a long patch of teething and illness and she's sleeping longer every night. She didn't start napping well until over a year either.

mamadoc · 14/12/2008 17:39

16 months also I'm afraid for full on 7-6 every night and 1.5-2hr nap in the day without need for rocking/bf to sleep.

6-12 months was the worst as I recall. Up at least 3x night needing bf +/- rocking to sleep every time and no-one has any sympathy when they aren't newborn anymore.

12-16mo gradual improvement up only 1x night. At 14mo I stopped breastfeeding and did a bit of gradual withdrawal to wean her off rocking to sleep but none of this produced instant results.

Would still love her to sleep just 30mins longer in the mornings but 6am seems to be non-negotiable.

trixymalixy · 14/12/2008 17:40

18 months for us.

StealthPolarBear · 14/12/2008 17:42

18 months after one night of hell - CC.
Had tried CC before but it had never been right.
One night then all of a sudden it improved drastically (although not sleeping through). Still tryto limit his daytime naps though

MrsMattie · 14/12/2008 17:42

2 & a half for me (sorry!). If it's any consolation, he is now (aged almost 4) a terrific sleeper - asks to go to bed at 7pm latest and sleeps 12-14 hours most nights.

MuchLessTiredNow · 14/12/2008 17:42

all were utterly rubbish at the start. ds1 by 14 months; ds2 by 10 months; dd by 6 months. hug for you - it's awful.

Original poster
tinierclanger · 14/12/2008 18:31

I guess the message is it's entirely unpredictable! So I will hope for the best. .

Thanks all for your input. In a twisted way, the more bad sleepers I hear about the better, as so many of my new mum friends seem to have good sleepers...

OP posts:
Umlellala · 15/12/2008 08:01

(how old is your dc? IMVHO they are all lying all my friends started telling the truth at about a year... even the one with the amazing super-sleeping-baby didn't sleep well when teething/growth spurt/ill/wind was blowing wrong way bla bla bla)

Original poster
tinierclanger · 15/12/2008 09:02

20 weeks now! And currently waking to feed every 3 hours or so, with the odd extra wake for a cuddle thrown in. Occasionally it's better than that, and sometimes worse.

OP posts:
LurkerOfTheUniverse · 15/12/2008 09:22

um, about 5, she's 6 now and still struggles but at least she sleeps in her own bed now

SheherazadetheGoat · 15/12/2008 09:26

4 months dd started doing 7-7 (cue smug parents) at 8months she stopped and then aged 4 started again sporadically. it is a killer but they are all different.

ladymoo · 15/12/2008 11:27

Hello Tinier! Am also looking for hope - fed up with NCSS don't think it's doing anything to help. I am resigned to the fact that ds is a bad sleeper & threads like this make me feel better that he will just grow out of it.

jafina · 15/12/2008 11:53

dd slept really well (i.e only up once or twice in the night) from nb to 8 months, then really difficult from about 9 months to now (14 months) but now getting much better. I think for my dd it was getting her teeth, she now has all 4 first molars through and that seems to be why she has improved recently.

jafina · 15/12/2008 11:54

oh and my older ds was 18 months before he slept through regularly and now he is a fab 6yo who easily sleeps 11-12 hrs a night with no wakeups.

LilySwalLoosHerTurkeyBaster · 15/12/2008 12:01

ds was 3 goes to bed great now (he 6) but still early riser
dd1 6 wks (now 3) still has 14 hrs a night and has always been a fab sleeper
dd2 i am same boat as you she 11 mths and up 3/4 times a night am exhausted and hope it sorts itself soon!
Sympathy!

Andthentherewerethree · 15/12/2008 12:06

shouldn;t really tell you mine as its awful.
ds1 was a great even though b/f slept through form 10-6 from about 2 weeks old.
ds2 utter nightmare awake every hour and half to two hours for 2 and half years!!!! we tried everythign controlled crying, letting him come into bed with us, being strict and putting him back to bed, obviosuly when he was a baby we weren;t so tough on him we would comfort him and settle him makign sure lights were off and not feeding him unless he was hungry. even tried a dummy but he wouldn;t tkae it.
dd she was about 12 weeks old beofre she went through from about 9.30 to 5ish then feed for about an hour and then would sleep again until about 10.

Original poster
tinierclanger · 15/12/2008 12:41

I wonder if babies just do whatever they do and how much you can influence it really. Will potter along feebly with NCSS but TBH DS is feeding so badly in the day at the moment I think he just really needs those night feeds. Oh well...

OP posts:
moopymoo · 15/12/2008 12:43

many many years old here for both of them. but it got more manageable from about 2.5years. sometimes i think its better to give up the battle a bit, shift the focus from getting them to sleep and go to bed when they do. Doesnt make for much 'adult time' but better than constantly exhausted.

hillbilly · 18/02/2009 13:03

DD was about 10 months when she turned from being a terrible sleeper to the best onbe could wish for.

DS is now 16 months and such an absolute horror at night that I am considering controlled crying because it's really getting to me and puts him in a grump too because he is so tired.

Supercherry · 18/02/2009 15:08

I think it was a gradual thing when I think about it, there was a slight improvement at 6 mths, but still not great. Now at 1, he only wakes once a night for a bottle so for us this is brilliant! Bit scared of jinxing it though to be honest

CaptainKarvol · 18/02/2009 15:29

Still waiting.

DS will be 3 in a couple of weeks. Though earlier this week he did sleep from 8pm - nearly 5am, his best ever by a long, long way. I have no idea why though. And he hasn't done it again, he was up 3 times last night.

6-12 months was the worst though, he was up 8 times a night, every night. CC was a disaster for us, we just got a hysterical child who clung to us at bathtime weeping, and still didn't sleep.

I got better at coping when I stopped trying to change things and just went with it.

Thankyouandgoodnight · 18/02/2009 21:19

Suddenly changed at about 6.5 months - dropped to 11pm and 4am feeds and had been between 3-6 wake ups every night before then.

mumof2rugrats · 20/02/2009 09:24

hi my dd2 is 20 months and im still waiting for her to sleep all night.