Up 6 or 7 times a night with nearly 4yo. Can't cope with strain on family

[olivo]

Am really hoping that someone may be able to help. Have 9mo who wakes once about 4a.m and 3.9yo whose sleep patterns i can no longer cope with. i have recently gone back to work and am trying to cope on about 41/2 hours of broken sleep. I am just about scraping by but DH is foul when he is tired and this is putting a real strain on us. DD1 is also tired and grumpy.

DD1 goes to bed fine, but wakes any time from about 11, and can be shouting out for up to 3 hours. SHe still gets up at 6ish.

It started after she was poorly on holiday in March and has gone on and on. She has just had chicken pox and so I realise has become used to the attention she was getting in the night. We tried bribes, consequences, wake to sleep, ignoring her (which inevitably woke the baby). On top of this, she often has night terrors which are really distressing.

I have asked my HV for advice; she said she didnt know but would look it up and and get back to me;that was a week ago and i dont hold much hope.

can anyone help?

hello, it's really kind of you to ask. no improvement i'm afraid. we've had a couple of nights of absolute tantrums at ungodly hours of the morning which has not been fun.
I have booked an appt with a homeopath in a couple of weeks; i know not everyone believes but i used her for sleep issues of my own and, real or not, it worked.

thanks for the link, bippyhippy, i'll have a look.
DH is planning to take dd1 to sleep at his parents one night next week, it may break the cycle but at least i'll get some sleep (hopefully) as dd2 is starting to mostly sleep through.

We went through something similar with DS when DH went away with work for six months and what worked for us was going in as soon as he shouted, calming him down (which only took a few minutes because he wasn't too bad) and then saying I had to pop to the toilet or to get a drink of water and that I'd be back in five minutes if he could lie quietly until then.
We made a point of not saying he had to go back to sleep - because sometimes trying to get to sleep is the most stressful thing - but that he had to just lie quietly with his eyes closed. Then it's up to you when you go back in - sometimes it took a few goes (use a different excuse each time - the needing a wee every five minutes only worked when I was pregnant with DS2 ).

Medised for a few nights? Or Clarityn? Drugs might sound extreme but they could help break the pattern.

she only went and did it last night!she stirred when i got up with dd2 (who now has chicken pox), i went in and reminded her how much we'd like to go to the beach in the morning and she said, ok then and that was it until 6.15 this morning!!!
unfortunately i was up loads with dd2 but small steps...
btw, i learned a few weeks ago, when dd1 had the pox, that medised and antihistamines send her wild! thanks for the thouhght though!
scootergirl, i think you're right about remaining calm, it is so much better that way. it's just so hard when you're so tired and up for the 6th time in one night!

that's GREAT NEWS Olivio. I'm really pleased that things are looking up.

Hope you had a great day at the beach