Misguided Illusion Part II - Baby still not sleeping through by six months? Come and join us!

[MomOrMum]

Thought I would start a fresh thread as, sadly, we have almost filled the first one.

Feral, Kiwi, Chulita, et al...shouldn't we have graduated from this thread by now?!

Now welcoming a new crop of 6 months+ babies determined to help us reach new heights/depths of sleep deprivation.

Here is the original thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/713951-Support-thread-for-those-who-were-under-the-misguided-illusion

He was still wide awake after I fed him. I don't think he settled in bed with Daddy as when I got up this morning he was in his own cot. I think Ran must have been keeping his pa awake with face patting/clawing. It's not teething crying as initially he is making happy noises then starts making bored moans.

I can't remember if this has been talked about before but do you all use baby monitors. Sorry i can't do question marks or capital i's as typing and feeding!

Hahahahaha baby monitor hahahahaha. DS is in the room next to ours, and the head of our bed is against his wall, so we can pretty much hear every murmur whether we want to or not.

I've just remembered something. The last time after we did CC with A, for about a week after it had "worked", he had these long wakes at night where he was happily chatting but not asleep. We decided to grit our teeth and try leaving him so long as he wasn't crying (in which case we started doing the timed visits again). He did it for about 5 or 6 nights and then stopped iirc. We figured it was harder for him to get back to sleep in the middle of the night once he'd already had some sleep, compared to bedtime, and he just needed a little while to get the hang of it.

We have a baby monitor, even though Skye is also in the room next to ours with the head of the bed against his wall. I generally rely on it more during the day when she's upstairs for a nap. I think it's the ex-prem thing - we spent 9 weeks being able to monitor her heart rate, oxygen levels and respiration rate 24 hours a day... And she had an alarm so that if she didn't breathe for 20 seconds it would go off. I think we were very restrained not to buy one of those AngelCare movement mat things!

Guess what? Skye's got another cold. Only mild at the moment so keeping my fingers crossed. ARGH! Spring starts in 2 days - is it a magic day when cold bugs disappear?

Got a bit carried away there. We also have a baby monitor that we use for naps during the day, and in the evening before we go up to bed. Don't know why I thought you were only talking about when we were in bed...

The parent unit is also A's music player, he likes to wander around with it playing the lullabies. Not sure it's up to the rough treatment it gets though. Oh, and he randomly turns the volume down/mutes it, so earlier today I was just ignoring him while thinking, ooh, I can hear somebody else's child crying really loudly, I wonder where they are? He was standing indignantly at the end of his cot when I finally got up there .

Think the sleep deprivation is really getting to me now!

That's funny IsIt. Poor, wee, neglected A ! I ask about the baby monitors as R's chatting is keeping us awake even when he is happy. I don't think I have the nerve to switch it off yet.

I just quizzed DP on his back to sleep technique. He said he just breathed heavily in R's ear and he went back to sleep. There we go, hey presto, the answer to all our sleep problems .

BB - I think you'll be surprised how easily sound travels at night when it's quiet. How about just turning it off for a minute while he's chatting at night, and seeing what you can still hear? As I mentioned above , I could still hear A even downstairs...over the telly...

Morning ladies

I'm feeling very sorry for myself today. O is sleeping seriously badly - poor little blighter has still got that word I can't spell beginning with d (stool sample results should be back today) + a cold. He's been waking a couple of times in the night and then starting the day at 4.45/5.00am for the last couple of weeks. Arggggggggggggh.

The Plan is all well and good but only works if he isn't poorly. Not a lot you can do about a baby who keeps waking at 4.45am to have an explosive poo

And I've got a cold and my back really hurts from all the picking up and putting down

We have baby monitors for naps during the day but just leave our door and O's door open at night - he can definitely yell loudly enough to wake us

At least it's sunny

Grumble grumble grump moan

Right. DS is in bed so I might as well have a chat with myself as no-one else is around

I am trying something new tonight having chatted to a friend about it today. O has been waking earlier and earlier in the morning so I've put him to bed earlier (he fell asleep at 18.25 where it would normally be closer to 18.45) in the hope that he will sleep for longer.

Will it work? Anyone's guess. Fingers crossed though.

Oh Bicnod, that sounds bad - those are some early starts!

The sun does help a bit when you've had a bad night, I agree.

We have also been waiting for DS to be well (for the first time since early Jan ) so that we can do something to help him sleep better.

My tip for the day: When you are going through an extended period of sleep-deprivation, it may not be the best time to invest in some lovely, sharp new kitchen knives. Today's plaster is on my left thumb .

Hey all. I am in a grumbly mood today. Shocking night, early (5am) start and minimal daytime sleep (builders in upstairs)-resulting in bad tempered mummy and baby...and barely any sun today. Bicnod tell me the earlier to bed, later to wake thing worked its magic.

IsItMe I think you showed considerable restraint in the 'my baby sleeps through' thread. Any comment I would make today would be filled with vitriol.

I can still hear the builders-if they wake my baby-grrrrrrrrr!

It's funny. I think back to when I started on this thread, and I would never have believed where we are now. After our good night a few nights ago, we had a night where she woke twice, which felt awful. Then two nights of waking at 10:30 and then going through till 6:30, at which point I was celebrating. Then last night she woke at 1 and 2:30 (by which point I was grumpy), and then slept till 8!!!

Sorry to hear so many of us are still suffering from sleepless nights/early mornings. Hopefully it'll start to improve as our little ones become bigger ones!

(as an aside, I sent Skye's birthday card off to CBeebies, so hopefully it'll be shown! A month today. Amazing!)

Yes, I was quite proud of myself BB . Mind I just had another peek and only just resisted the temptation to make a pointed remark about the ones saying how they tried hard to feed their babies as much as possible during the day. IIRC, at that age I was feeding DS 1 hour on, 1 hour off all day...

Much better night with DS last night, only one wake which I don't think I noticed, as DH dealt with it. Bit of a day though, think DS might be teething? He has a rash all around his mouth and under his chin, although I hadn't noticed excess dribble. He's stll not asleep now though, and DH is trying to settle him as I type.

Skye's got a rashy chin too, but still no flippin' teeth!

I REALLY REALLY want to be able to gloat when that woman's son starts waking again in the night, but I have a feeling I won't be able to because a) Skye'll still be waking 73 times a night, and b) he probably never will so she'll always be able to gloat!

I love that the solution to all our problems is to put them in a gro-bag and let them nap whenever they want!

Ha. Just saw you two on that 'my baby sleeps through' thread. grrrrrrrrr.

Well O went off to sleep at 18.25 last night and slept through until 05.15 - so an improvement in that he didn't wake during the night, but still bloody early. Sadly I woke at 3.30am and couldn't get back to sleep. Why oh why oh why does my body not let me sleep when he sleeps?!!

Hoping he'll wake a bit later tomorrow morning - still put him to bed at 18.30.

Yes, we should really have stayed away from that thread - I only went on it initially as I thought it might be one of us moaning types who had finally got to the sleeping through nirvana. I think we have to give the OP a free pass as we were all probably a bit "out there" at 8 weeks. I remember I thought I should have got the hang of it all by then. Obviously I didn't!

Bicnod - one or more of the sleep books I read a while back said that the thing to try with early wakes is to actually bring the bedtime earlier, but DH and I have never dared. That does sound like O is already having a reasonably early bedtime, too.

A is a veerrrrryyyyy slow feeder at suppertime, so he's usually not getting into his cot until between 7.30 and 7.45. He's been so disrupted at nights since Jan it's a bit hard to say what a typical morning wake is, but I'd guess between 6 and 7am. So maybe O doesn't need any more sleep than he's getting by 5ish? It's hard to be brave and try anything different though, isn't it?

So sorry you're struggling to sleep yourself, that's just not fair. I've seen hypnotherapy CDs recommended on another thread. When I was pg and having problems sleeping, I used to get up and read for 20-30mins and found it helped me.

The grobag thing really made me chuckle. That is the answer to all of our problems. If only...Bicnod we will get an adult sized one for you .

Tonight is going to be a good one. I can feel it in my weary bones.

Hmmmm maybe not. R just woke! Quick settle but he also has a rashy chin.

What is it with all these rashy chins?!

Ooh, adult sized grobag for Bicnod. Good idea, that's bound to work. That and feeding her to the gills during the day.

Excellent - so I now have a bona fide excuse for stuffing myself all day. I honestly wish I had an adult-sized grobag, then DH wouldn't be able to nick the covers.

Well last night wasn't too bad. Put O to bed at 6.30pm. He woke at 01.40, quick settle. He then woke at 5.25am. I was all for just giving up and getting him up but DH, wonder of wonders, managed to get him back to sleep (took until 6.15am) and he then slept until 7.15am.

Soooooooo I'm going to try dropping his morning nap (he's been sleeping shorter and shorter at lunchtime) in the hope that he'll sleep longer at lunchtime and be less knackered come bedtime so he can go to bed at 7pm instead of 6.30pm.

How was everyone's night last night?

mutter mutter. Glad your night was better, Bicnod. And if you don't start sleeping better I may need to start mixing babyrice into your milk - like my neighbour's ExH is doing with his 5 WEEK old baby!!!

She woke at 10:15 and fed so I thought she'd do her 'sleep till 6' routine. woke at 3:15 and fed then at 5:30. By now I refused to feed her so we left her to an hour of cry for a bit, sleep for a bit. 6:30 came into bed with us and was ok, but very tired and wouldn't sleep. In the end I managed to get her to have half an hour's nap. Brought her downstairs, nappy and milk, and even before her weetabix she's asleep again - on me admittedly, but I haven't got the energy for a fight!

Can i just butt in to tell you how fab you all are? (or does that sound patronising) after only 10 weeks of usual newborn sleep i'm destroyed. Ithink anyone who copes with it for months on end is a saint. Hoping i won't join you in due course of course...

Hello DrDoobs - that's very sweet of you. Sleep does tend to settle down around the 12-14 week mark for most people, so fingers crossed for you.

And if it doesn't, you know where to find us!

Oooh, I'm fab! Thanks DrDoobs, sometimes that's all it takes to make me forget just how tired I am!

Skye has ANOTHER temperature. ANOTHER cold. ANOTHER blooming broken night.

ARGH! Maybe we'll emigrate somewhere without germs!

Poor Skye! That's really not fair. Really hope it's just the one night and she's back to normal tomorrow.

Aw DrDoobs, that's a nice thing to say

Oh Galena poor Skye-baby, that is RUBBISH. Fingers crossed she will have had all the germs in the world soon and will never ever get ill again.

So I dropped Oscar's morning nap yesterday. He slept for 2 hours after lunch, was more awake in the afternoon, happier going to bed and went to sleep around 7pm. He woke once at 2.20pm and needed to be settled, then he slept until 6.30am when I heard him briefly squeak, he then fell asleep and woke up at 7am!!!! I am soooooooooooo happy

He's currently down for his post-lunch nap having skipped the morning one again. Fingers crossed it will all go smoothly again.

Looking forward to our Wimbledon meet up a week today

at O's performance Bicnod - that's pretty amazing! Hope he does the same for you tonight.

I'm waiting for A to be properly well again, so I can think about trying dropping his morning nap again.

Have we fixed a place and time to meet next week? I've just got the whole day marked out !