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Someone help me with my 11m.o. terrible sleeper - please!

2 replies

SuseB · 17/03/2009 21:24

Wondering if anyone has any bright ideas as I'm at the end of my tether (again) with DSs sleep. DD was a terrible sleeper for a while so I thought I knew all the tricks but DS has me stumped. As a newborn he was fine, waking to feed a couple of times in the night, but from about 4 months it all went to pot and since then he has been waking between 5 and 10 times every single night [yawn]. He sleeps in his cot, in my room (DH has moved to the spare room and looks after our toddler in the night). I am and have always been demand bf - but now he does not always want to feed when he wakes. He cries in his cot, I pick him up and rock him, sometimes he goes back to sleep, I put him down, if he's not fast asleep he wakes and cries...repeat ad infinitum, often for at least an hour at a time. I would try PUPD if he would settle when I picked him up! If I feed him to sleep sometimes he stays asleep, sometimes not. Coming in bed with me doesn't help. I have also tried cranial osteopathy (three sessions), several doctors (for ear infections, nasal congestion, possible allergy), raising the head of the cot, playing white noise... have tried humid room, decongestants, Piriton, putting him to sleep on his side. Don't think it is reflux (DD had this so we tried Gaviscon with no results). He naps fine in the day - will bf to sleep, or sleep in the car or buggy. He is worse when teething or poorly. He has been congested since his (v.fast) birth - seems to have a permanent cold - and for a long time we thought this was the root of the sleeping problems, but nothing we've done to tackle that has made much difference.
Your thoughts please...

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singalongamumum · 18/03/2009 13:51

Hi SuseB, my DS sounds very similar to yours- now nearly 18mo and sleep much improved (hopefully this will give you hope). Like you I tried a thousand things but in retrospect I think these things helped the most...

-practising going to sleep in the cot with no feed for naps. This was TOUGH but I had the energy in the day and it meant DS had some practise behind him when it got to 2am.

-loads of fresh air. And always pushing him to his physical limit; when he could sit I made him sit unsupported frequently. As soon as he could walk we would go to the park and toddle for as long as he could manage. Now he's older I can see that he has amazing stamina and energy, and this was probably more beneficial than I realised, even though I felt like cruel mummy at the time (I was desperate)

  • playing sleep/reading about sleep/watching people go to sleep (Night Garden was great for that)/ putting dolly to bed. Initially I felt a bit ridiculous but it did seem to make a difference- once he started 'playing' sleep unprompted at about 1year I knew something was going in.

All that said I think the thing that has made the biggest difference is time and maturity. Stuff I did helped, but in the end he just started to grow out of it. I'm talking in the past tense, but don't be fooled... we still have some tough nights now.

SuseB · 19/03/2009 19:47

Thanks singalongamum - that does give me hope, I was worried he might not improve until he was three! And thanks for the suggestions, I think I need to have a go at those.

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