4-5 month olds sleep club, - come and join..........

[SnowlightMcKenzie]

Hiya,

There have been so many threads lately about babies who were beginning to sleep better, but suddenly hitting this regression to newborn hell.

So I thought I would start a support thread for us all to compete whinge about how little sleep we are all getting, and tips on how to cope.

Baby Starlight was up just twice last night, but the previous night it was 6 times, and because of that I kept putting off going to bed at all last night, so even though it wasn't too bad, I still had hardly any sleep

hi everyone. glad to see that this thread is still going strong

DS2 is getting worse feeding 9 times last night. its not even just a quick suck - he's on the breast for 40 mins at a time.

have started weaning as he's now 27weeks but its not made any difference

sleep is a distant memory

oh boo it's so grinding isn't it?

shockingly we had another good night here - DS didn't wake till 2.30am , had a halfhearted suckle for 10 minutes and then went back in his cot then woke at 5.30am and was whisked away by DP who was having an insomniac moment. so i've had the closest thing to a full night's sleep and i feel amazing!

sorry, that is probably the height of tactless, but i had forgotten what it feels like and am still reeling.

Oh lordy, I can hardly see this am. Fed fed fed and now DS is having unheard of 1.5 hr nap so far and the sun is out and I want to go out with DD! Don't want to wake him as usually his naps are only 30 mins. What is this about a 6 mth growth spurt??? La la la, I am not listening.

last night another ok night, sorry to those who are still suffering. I await the 6 M madness in trepidation. I dont know what time ds woke but it was about 2 or 3 I think then around 5am, then shouting at me at 7 (I could not wake up).

Although ds is only 25 weeks dp has fed him some roast parsnip and he swallowed some - the last 2 days large lumps have appeared in his nappy. Am wondering if they have kept him feeling 'full' the last 2 nights hence the longer sleeps?

our night last time i posted got worse, i'd just fed him when i'd posted too and he'd refused anymore - finally settled after another feed at 11pm, the was awake and screaming 1-1:30, 2:30-3:45, 5:30-6:45 when he finally accepted a feed and started for the day. he did a massive poo about an hour later so hoping that's what it was all about

last night much better, hheard him wake at 1:20 but he settld himself til 3:30 when I fed him, he went back to sleep but woke 10mins later, DH tried to settle him but 10mins later called for back up...ds had prob been crying for 3mins by the time we got back to his room and he suddenly went quiet! 2 self-settlings in one night, I'm amazed, clearly i need to let him do his thing more often rather than immediately jumping in...we all then slept til 8am and he's just woken from a 1hr2min nap!! yay.....(touching as much wood as i can find!)

So glad to have found you all!!
My ds is 4months this week, and boy do I know it! In the last 2 weeks he has gone from sleeping from 7-7 with 1 or 2 feeds to what feels like constant feeding! He fed for 1 hr last night, then was awake at 9.40pm wanting more. He also seems to think daytime napping is for small babies, not him - I can only get him to drop off during the day after a feed or out walking the dog - whereas at night he is easyto drop off
please tell me it gets easier
ps= why did I find mumsnet so late on?! x

Not a bad night for us here either - took a while to get her to sleep but bed just before midnight then up at 1.30, 4.30 and 7.30 and had to get up at 8 anyway for baby massage. Three hour gaps now seem positively luxurious, so I'm happy with that! She's 22 weeks tomorrow and getting quite good at sitting, so perhaps that's helping ... And another who hasn't weaned yet, so glad to hear positive stories about others in the same boat

Will be interesting to see if massage helps now we've been taught how to do it properly (though my main reason for not bothering so far is that it's so bloomin' cold in our house and that hasn't really changed).

Mousey congrats on the self-settling and decent nap!

Fantastic gwtmh!

sambo - I doubt the parsnip has made any difference. Ds also had a one off bit of food (some banana) on Tues, and his sleep has still been atrocious since. He also hasn't managed his daily poo since then .

Err, until this very second that is! Off to change a nappy.

sorry to disappoint but ds2's night was not as good as i had hoped or had been previously. he went down awake again and was asleep within a few mins with a bit of cooing and gurgling. he woke at 11.30 screaming (i guess it was wind)and only fed from one side, refusing any more and crying. He never cries at night as i always shove a breast in until he's asleep so i'm guessing he had more wind. he finally settled at 1.30 and woke at 6.45 so not too bad (and i know, much better than others!!)

i am wondering if i have eaten/drunk something that doesn't agree with him as he's been grouchy all day and very sick/windy (he has reflux as well) off to work out what i ate yesterday....

here's hoping tonight will be better for us all

hmm disappointing night here - I Think ds was cold again - I left his grobag off as the night before he seemed too hot, his skin was a bit damp around his chest. I was up 4 times between 11pm and 4.30, then he was awake and chortling and pooing at 6.30. Hope others had better nights

Ugh, not me. I thought it was going to be when she woke up at 4.45 after having gone to sleep after a feed at 11.45 (so 4.5 hours sleep for me!! as didn't go to sleep till after midnight due to an afternoon snooze which was making up for the night before ).

I was thinking 'great job - 5 hours straight' and 'good old feed and back to sleep till 7ish'. Oh but no. Almost 3 hours and lots of waking up everyone with crying/gurgling/excited screaming we came down. Now sitting in a sleep deprived haze while DD1 watched HSM and DD2 still shrieking happily. You gotta laugh

Decentish night here ... Bed just before 1 (oops) then up something like 4.30 and 7.30, when she eventually came into the big bed because she wouldn't settle in her cot (and because I slightly wanted to Make a Rod for My Own Back by cuddling her ) and then we had a patchy couple more hours' sleep

better night for us too - lost the dummies (ALL of them!) so did PU/PD to get him to sleep, he cried and was really upset at some points which was hard but took about 20mins (he wasn't crying that whole time) and he then settled himself down by 8pm. Woke at 10:15 but we normally dream feed then anyway, then aside from a few wake ups throughout the night which he settled himself from, he left us alone until 5:50am - fed him and tried to convince him to go back to sleep but he was up then, though happy to play in his cot on his own til 7am. Shame I didn't really sleep for fear of having to get up and PU/PD for hours in the middle of the night!

Oh Girlwithmouseyhair, I am often unable to sleep when DS is asleep. Grim isn't it? Better night here. DS up at 11 rather than 9 or 10 and then down til 4!! But he was so bunged up with latest cold at 11 that I chucked down some medised and that might be the cause of more sleep. Still, I feel half human today and am not complaining. Although yesterday DS's feeding seemed less frantic and he posseted up quite a bit during the day which made me think perhaps he's getting more milk and growth spurt waning. Here's hoping!

Woo-hoo! Much better night for us last night (apologies for my jubilation but what a difference a few hours consecutive sleep makes).
DD went down 7.30 ish, stirred at 11 but settled after drink of cooled water and a few minutes sucking my little finger, then woke at 2.30 and then 5.30 for feeds, and did her usual restless snoozing ( in my bed) on and off until 8 yes that's 8!! and DH then brought me a cup of tea
Of course I have learned that this is probablt a fluke one off just to lull me....(doom, gloom natural pessimism surfaces...)

I'm back in the club, after 3 blissfull weeks of dd going to sleep from 7.30 till 5, that 5 wake up has gone backwards as she reaches 5 months till we had a night from hell on friday - screaming and then passing out at 7, then awake at 12, shhhed back to sleep but awake again at 1.30, fed in bed but instead of sleep thrashing about and talking for the next two hours untill dh taes her down stairs and watches movies while she sleeps but only while he rocks her,wakes up instantly he stops. Last night i am alone and she is upset at bed time but goes down at 7.30, screaming at 8.30 but still asleep, finally comforted with boob and back to sleep;awake at 1, then 3.30/4.00, then 6, we get up at 7.her sleep seems very restless and noise-y and she is napping so poorly, 20 mins/40 mins max and only on the boob or the sling,any hope this is a phase and what can i do!!!!!!

I think that ds is making a bid for us being club president! Other than his first sleep of the night, where it seems that he can manage around 3 hours (starting around 7pm, so no use in terms of me getting any sleep), he seems incapable of going more than an hour at most.
Today he then also decided to start cheerily at 5am. He's then wanted to sleep most of the morning, but will only do so on my lap, or else he wakes very frequently.

How are you getting on now Leonie and everyone else?

argh so PU/PD is working at bedtime and getting him down for naps, he's angry and cries but asleep within 5mins - but it's not working when he wakes at night (takes 40mins-1hr to get him to sleep) or to try extending his horrid 30min naps (fights and cries til he's hungry which can also take an hour) and since starting PU/PD stroke getting rid of the dummy, he's goone from waking for the day all smiles and happiness at 7:30am to screaming at 6am and refusing to be settled or fed until 7am...a really awful start to the day. Am also convinced he's not as happy as he usually is, which my mum and husband say is rubbish.

Am a complete wreck today, I hate my baby crying and feeling like it's my fault for a) giving him a dummy in the first place and b)for taking it away

Must remind myself he was still only napping for 30mins with dummy and was getting up just as much in the night and taking as much time to settle

Ladies, I am 'graduating' to the support thread for 6 month old babies that dont sleep as ds is 6 months old tomorrow

Last night he only woke twice I think - 2am and not sure when, then up singing at 6.30am so not bad at all but I feel knackered. The previous night was about 4 times - including 45 mins of chortling at 4.30am - I tried to shush him with feeding for poor dp's sake, but he chortled with my boob in his mouth

Am wondering if the 6 month sleep regression is where they wake for about 1 hour around4am as this has happened a few times over the past 2 weeks. Ho hum

I wish you all luck and hopefully some sleep soon!!

Girlwithmousey - 'fraid I haven't read all your posts on this thread but I used a dummy for DD, now 2.3, until she was about 10 mths old. Got her through the awful bits and it was really not a prob taking it away when she was older. If I could get DS to take one I'd be delighted! But he won't. If he likes it and it gets you more sleep why not just stick with it? We're having okayish nights. DS is getting to about 2 but then wakes every 1.5 hrs or so til morning. That feels ok right now...

would do but it started meaning we were getting worse nights - he sleeps better now without it to be honest, I'd be more than happy for him to keep it but he started waking more and more for it and taking ages to settle because it would pop out as he fell asleep

My DD seems to be having really bad re4sltess sleep - she wakes me up thrashing about and grunting but she's asleep, her eyes are closed, and this goes on for ages, I have to wake her up to stop it and then she won't go back to sleep. Gonna have to try setteling her in the nursery tonight as if I can sleep through some of her sleep noises, it might just cut down the times she's awake and really needs a feed. Ho hum, got so down today thinking about going through this again but can do it, have to do it, so must think chin up and carry on. Have booked her into the osteopath in case it's teething, have been told be all it helps

Haven't read the whole thread - waaaaay too long!! but can I join?

DS2 is 18 wks ( I think, keep losing track due to sleep deprivation) and was up at 9.30, 1.30, 3.30, 4.30, and 5.30 last night - yawn.

He's never been great - we've had a few nights when he's only woken once between 10.30 pm and 7 am, but they're in the minority, generally it's twice, but sometimes more than this.

He can self settle himself to sleep, as long as he's swaddled, which is fab, and he's generally a very quick feeder who goes straight back to sleep once he's done, so it hasn't been too killing.

Last night though, he was crying and unsettled a few times in the night, which is really unlike him now - he was like it A LOT in the early days though - but he's had a rosy cheek today and has also been pulling at his ear.

So he may be teething or have an ear infection, not sure. I've given him Calpol and he's gone off ok so far, so we'll see what the night brings.......

My sympathies to everyone having a rough time at the moment - it's grim isn't it, esp if you're working or have other kids to look after. But we shall not be beaten.........!

Jojay I'm having a similar problem. My 4.5 month old naps like yours, 30-45 mins at a time during the day about 3-4 times a day. Sometimes longer if we go for a walk he can sleep for 2.5 hrs in his pushchair. Night wakings are similar to yours and he won't settle in his cot once he wakes up. We have to put him in his rocking chair or on the boob to get him back to sleep. He ends up sleeping most of the night in his rocking chair because we're desperate to get some sleep. He can go 3-4 hours in his chair where he'll only sleep about 1.5 hrs in his cot. (Though about a week ago he slept 4 hours, woke for a feed, and then slept another 4 hours in his cot!)

It seems like he can't settle himself to sleep without help. He has done it on occasion in the past but it is very sporadic. I worry about him sleeping in his chair but then think he'll grow out of it. I don't know what to do to get him to sleep longer in his cot.

I suppose this is no help to you except to say I know what you're going through!

I think we're through the worst of it - for the past few nights DD has only woken two or maybe three times between around 11 pm (when we go to bed - if we're being virtuous) and 9.30 am-ish. Not perfect, but I can live with it as long as she's going back to sleep immediately after being fed

Her naps have been a different story - had two days of tears from both of us as I tried to get her to sleep, then googled last night and found that they drop a nap (and can go longer between naps) at around six months anyway (DD is 24 weeks on Saturday). Doh! So today we have been going with the flow and both been a lot happier as a result (I also learned with interest while googling that they "should" be sleeping through the night at six months, but I'm ignoring that ...).