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Original poster

DD's sleep - still like a newborn at 6 months

30 replies

rubyslippers · 25/03/2010 15:40

DD is 6 months (well next week)

she is lovely - seems to be happy and healthy

however, she is still waking every 3 hours or even less at night

she goes down at 7 pm (ish) after a big feed and then she wakes every 3 or so hours after that to feed

last night she woke at 9 pm but i didn't feed her - and after comforting her she went back to sleep until 10.30 pm, She then woke at midnight, 3 am and up for the day at 6.15 am

I was really hoping at 6 months she may be stopping one night feed, but apparently not

I need to balance her need for comfort and feeding with mine (which is for more than 2 hours sleep in a row)

I am going back to work in June and i honestly cannot face the thought of it - going back with a wakeful baby and on the back of 7 months of no sleep is making me anxious

DD is breastfed and we have only just started weaning (which is going very slowly)

help and advice is much appreciated

TIA

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SPBInDisguise · 25/03/2010 15:44

in a similar situation so lurking on this thread
sorry ruby i seem to do this to you a lot - we have similar dds

Original poster
rubyslippers · 25/03/2010 15:49

no problem SPB ...

i thought my DS was a bad sleeper - he was a dream compared to DD!

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SPBInDisguise · 25/03/2010 16:32

hae i killed the thread
dd isn't that bad, but she is up every 3/4 hours. obviously if it's 4 that's really only once a night so not too bad but can sometimes be 11ish, 2ish then 4ish
and desperate to get her in a cot but hoping she will start sleeping better first

Original poster
rubyslippers · 25/03/2010 16:39

DD is in her cot and in a grobag

so now i have to get out of bed and feed her as opposed to picking her up from her basket by my bed

co-sleeping was making her even more wakeful

i feel like crying most days

OP posts:
SPBInDisguise · 25/03/2010 16:46

oh dear i'm really sorry to hear that
could you give co sleeping another try?
or ask your dh/dp to comfort her in the night, with a couple of feeds?

SPBInDisguise · 25/03/2010 16:47

feeds from you, obviously, just in between you are not required

Original poster
rubyslippers · 25/03/2010 17:29

DH is away until the weekend

will have to try when he is back

have been looking at Millpond Sleep Clinic

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Original poster
rubyslippers · 25/03/2010 19:47

tired bump

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neolara · 25/03/2010 19:57

If it's any consolation, my dd is exactly the same. In fact, probably slightly worse. She seems to wake every two / two and a half hours or so during the night and is nearly 7 months. Is a complete bugger as at 8 weeks she would sleep for 5 / 6/ 7 hours in a row - I thought my luck was in. Hmmmm.

Come on someone. Wave a magic wand for us!

Original poster
rubyslippers · 26/03/2010 17:51

it is hard isn't it neolara

a magic wand would be lovely

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Original poster
rubyslippers · 26/03/2010 17:52

a friend visited today with her scrumptious newborn and he is sleeping better than my 6 month old

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blue22 · 26/03/2010 17:56

No help I'm afraid, but I'm in exactly the same boat....DD is just over 6 months and last night I was up 12 times!!!! I now view a night of up only 3 times as a great night -which is rather sad really

topsi · 26/03/2010 19:23

My DS no 3.3 didn't sleep through till after 8 mths. We resorted to controlled crying and after 3-4 nights his sleep improved. It was hard work for those few nights but it paid off eventually. If you comfort them during the night then when they wake up they will expect you to be there.

EsmeWeatherwax · 26/03/2010 19:31

Sympathy from me too, my dd2 is the same at 11 months! Its horrendous, especially since dd1 was one of those 12 hours a night from 6 weeks babies. DD2 has been a major shock to the system!

melonian · 26/03/2010 20:21

Another one in the same boat - every 3 hours is a good night, a bad one is every 1 1/2 hours. Am going slowly mad. I have put all my eggs in the weaning basket, so if that makes no difference I don't know what I'll do.

I did make some progress by doing a stricter nap routine in the day and leaving for 5 mins to whinge - went and settled her if she started crying at all or still whinging after 5-10mins, and got some self-settling, but thats as tough as I can get, and we've had a cold/?teeth so are now back to square 1. I had 1 feed at 11pm and one at 4am for 3 nights in a row 2 weeks ago.

I veer between calm acceptance that this will be the way it is to throwing the pillows round the room and swearing at 2am. My plan is to book a night in hotel when she's about 10months and just leave the 2 DCs with GPs, nightwaking or not. Just think - 12 hours in a gorgeous hotel bed and a lie-in, ahhhh.

MoChan · 26/03/2010 20:22

rubyslippers, your friend's newborn might stop being so sleepy as it gets older, from what I understand, it's often the way.

My daughter didn't 'sleep through' until she was 20 months old, but we'd got down to one 'wake' per night from about a year. I didn't do controlled crying, I just did this thing where I sat by the cot holding her hand, chatting and sometimes singing, and eventually she learned to go to sleep on her own. Really hard work.

I do think the answer is some kind of sleep training, though, if co-sleeping isn't working (I know that it sometimes doesn't. I would have been happy to co-sleep with my daughter for much longer than I did, but it got so that I was very obviously keeping her awake, so she went into a cot).

Sorry to be no help whatsoever.

Original poster
rubyslippers · 26/03/2010 20:30

thanks for all the posts

i can identify with ALL of them

DD is so beautiful and happy but i have to get a balance between her needs and wants and my sanity

i will have to do some gentle sleep training before i go back to work if she doesn't improve

i could deal with one wake up but 2 or more means i don't get a single stretch of sleep which is longer than 3 - 3.5 hours from her, which means around 2 hours for me

she can self settle - she has done for ages (for all naps and when i put her down at bedtime)

I too fantasise about a night in a hotel

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LadyMetroland · 26/03/2010 20:57

Another one in the same boat - dd a week away from 6mths

We co-sleep and a good night is waking up twice and up at 6.30, a bad night about four times then up for the day at 5.30. We're about to move house, so I'm thinking of perhaps putting her in her cot then and seeing what happens

Lack of sleep is killing me slowly

Maybe we should start a support thread?

Lionstar · 26/03/2010 21:03

ruby, like SPB I'll elbow my way into another of your threads! DS is exactly the same, with pretty much the same pattern of waking. We've had few and far between improvements - like he does now settle back in his cot after night feeds. Also for about a week he showed signs of dropping the feed around midnight and I was ecstatic, but then he got a nasty cold and started waking even more for comfort . To add to my woes 3yr old DD still wakes at least once in the night, sometimes more. Between the two of them I still often see every hour on the night clock.

So not much to add to help - only that you are not alone

Maranello · 26/03/2010 21:34

oh lord, me too. dd is 23wks and is waking every couple of hours through the night for a feed (she is exc bf) - and she really does feed. i think - my memory is shot - it was a bit better than this a few weeks back! certainly she slept well as a newborn, then had a cold, then a growth spurt, then was 4 months old (aagh), then another growth spurt...

like ruby, i feel like crying. in fact, i have done this evening, as she's so far woken 5 times since she went to bed at 8.

she also doesn't really self-settle at all, but i haven't got a clue how to get her to start - ds was a natural self-settler and is still a good sleeper. i don't want to leave her to cry.

blue22 · 27/03/2010 06:38

I'd be happy with a support thread - have been tempted to join the misguided illusion, but their babies seem a bit older than ours now - it'll be us in 6 months time - NOOOOO!!!

RubyBuckleberry · 27/03/2010 07:25

same here - sooooo tired... ds occasionally awake at 10 then 3 but that seems once in a blue moon.

he sometimes puts himself back to sleep after chatting, sometimes he refuses to let me put him down until he's had a good hug . at 3 in the morning.

he's back to waking for a really big feed at 830 after bed at 6 (he also as a big feed then too [shock0. the boy can chow down!

i too am putting all eggs in weaning basket but have a sneaking suspicion this is a total red herring .

my mum says 'it'll pass and then he'll be old and he won't want a cuddle, enjoy it.' i want to take her advice but when he cries out the 4th time in the night, frankly i'd rather stay in bed.

i seem to be doing everything - naps well, feeds well, apparently thriving, just wants comfort in the niht i think. something he'll grow out of???

i feel everyone's sleep deprived pain!

Original poster
rubyslippers · 27/03/2010 09:36

yes to support thread ....

it is weirdly reassuring to know there are others in the same boat - so it must be normal if utterly knackering

DD was up at 10.45 pm, 2.10 am and 5.15 am - that is a good night for us.

we have been weaning for a week or so - don't think the miniscule amounts of food are going to make much of a difference right away

am off out - need some fresh air

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blue22 · 27/03/2010 18:46

We've been weaning for a couple of weeks and hate to say it, but hasn't made a difference. It just seems so random if it's a 'good' night or not. And there isn't any sign of any teeth yet, so can't even blame that!|!

Galena · 27/03/2010 19:25

You'd be very welcome on Misguided Illusion - we've all been there and suddenly our DCs are older! There are some newer folks whose DCs are nearer 6 months

For me, DD is now 11 months (although only 8 months corrected due to prematurity) and wakes up to 3 or 4 times a night, although it is veering more towards 1 or 2 times unless she's got a cold which is all the time at the moment! She HAS done a few 8:30 or 10:30 till morning stints recently though.

Last night she went to bed at 7, woke at 8, 12 and 4. Then she stirred at 6:15, DH replaced dummy and she slept until 8:15!!

I will warn you now, I'm afraid she's weaned and it made no difference, she also has formula during the day and that also made no difference (I still BF at bedtime and overnight as I'm too lazy to get up to make formula overnight when I can't guarantee when/how often she'll need it!)