I have one chance to sort DS2 sleep problems and it's tonight. need support and advice pleeeeease

[missingthemountains]

DS2 is 12months and still waking every 3 hour (on a good night) for breastfeeding. Needless to state I am exhausted (although gratifyingly slim ). DH is disabled so I never have any back up and we don't really have any family anywhere near to give support

However - suddenly tonight my mum is coming up for 3 days so I can recover sleep in the day and my lovely friend has taken DS1 for the night so he isn't disturbed by screaming DS2.

So tonight I MUST start the sleep management but would really like some advice;

since he's normally bf at 10pm, 1am, 4am can I reasonably expect him to drop all feeds at once? I will be offering him water but I know he'll wail and refuse it. I am about to stoke him up on porridge etc etc but I know he'll struggle without the milk

I am such a wimp but really want to be strong about this.

Hi missingthemountains, I don't have any advice I'm afraid (DD is only 4 months - 3 times a night would be bliss at the moment .

You might want to post this query on breast & bottle feeding? I think you'll get more answers over there. Good luck, I hope it works out.

12 months and wakes up every 3 hours?
I can see your point!

Do you sense he really needs the feeds when he wakes up or is it his method of resettling himself?
Does he lots during the day?

Difficult to answer your question without some background knowledge
but happy to support you.

i'll be watching this in the hope i can solve my regularly waking DS!

it is tricky without anyone else to settle him. i stopped feeding between midnight and 4am and then you can just sort of space it out further each side.

my ds is 16 months and wAKES UP FOR BF EVERY TWO HOURS, MY DH WORKS NIGHTS SO i KNOW HOW YOU FEEL .

sorry didn't mean caps lock, anyway
i think one night is a bit much to expect. I would maybe try at the one o clock feed just cuddling and patting, - it will take at least until four until he goes back to sleep ime.

have you thought of trying dr jays night weaning programme - its on internet - sorry can't link.

I think i would not sleep train at the moment but use this time to catch up on a bit of rest whilst your mum is here.

i am psyching myself up for dr jay, although i did hear that at around 16 months they start sleeping better, without you doing anything. I stayed at my mum's last week and one night he only woke once! this is a miracle for me , never been repeated but i'm hoping its the start of something.

good luck

thanks everyone - wasn't too bad

he woke at 11 and cried for nearly 2 hours but then eventually went back to sleep without BF - woohoo!!!

slept til 5.30 when i did feed him then he went back to sleep til nearly 8

not bad for a first night but am conscious that we are not out of the woods yet

Just hang in there and be prepared to go a few steps back before the long term progress is noticiable. Thoughts are with you. My ds is 4.5yo and still has sleep patterns like your dc some nights so will send as much moral support as needed, when needed.

how did you get him back to sleep without a BF? (i'm looking for tips!)

Well he's teething a bit so I put some teething gel on his dummy - I also gave him some calpol cos I figured that after hour and half of crying he probably had a headache. He also drops off better in his pushchair so i put him in it and rocked the puschair for ages (lucky for us we live in a bungalow)

hoping tonight goes better as I have to go to work tomorrow (although mum still here so she'll be cleaning the house whilst I am out at work )

that's a really good point about crying giving him a headache, i hadn't thought of that

here's hoping tonight's alot better for you!

thanks - sorry forgot to say that this is all being done without leaving him at all - I don't believe in controlled crying - besides which I am a total wimp. I either held him or rocked him in the pushchair..the main issue is to get over the whole bf thing - we'll sort the pushchair dependancy at a later date!

i'm with you on the controlled crying thing. i've got a 10mth hourly waker here so its encouraging to see improvements for you already. sorry, another question.. do you manage to transfer him successfully from his pushchair to cot without waking him?

it's about 50/50 whether I can get him into his cot without waking- sometimes I just leave him to sleep in his pram - he had bronchiolitis at 5 months so we find the slightly elevated sleeping position helps with his breathing when it's bad.

if i do move him to his cot I put a fleecy blanket on top of the sheet so that it's warm and snuggly to lie on - not suddenly cold sheets which tend to wake him.