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Telly addicts

Related: Film discussion forum.

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Original poster

is anyone going to watch the sleep "experts" programme on C4 tonight?

142 replies

choufleur · 03/08/2010 18:50

I'm getting ready to write a letter complaining about it before I've even seen it. Apparently it helps people whose babies don't sleep through at night

OP posts:

Gigantaur · 03/08/2010 21:57

this is the most ridiculous "experiment"

The mums seem so competetive. surely the only thing that should matter is that the child sleeps or not?

so annoyed by this programme.

Tibni - Ds has ASD and he is now on Melatonin. He wold go for 3 days without sleeping. he would literally not even cose his eyes for more than half an hour in 72 hours.

The meds have been a godsend. They aren't perfect but we do now manage an average of 5-7hours a night. He does wake on occasion but it is normally sleep walking, we just steer him back to bed.

Haliborange · 03/08/2010 21:57

Am now agog wondering how on earth next week's "expert" is going to bring back national service. Or did I mishear that?

kveta · 03/08/2010 21:57

the least scientific study ever, surely?! they needed more than 1 child each to test, and control children.

anyway, I think both methods worked, and we'll probably be trying the softly softly approach since we tried CC with DS and he projectile vomited across the cot, then started banging his head off the bars.

PussinJimmyChoos · 03/08/2010 21:57

He brushes his teeth before his bottle. He drinks it within about 2 mins (only 4 oz or so) so no lingering in mouth/risk of bottle mouth

undercovamutha · 03/08/2010 21:57

That's an hour of my life I'm never going to get back .

rokersmum · 03/08/2010 21:58

totally unscientific and they picked easy wins that on the surface looked hard ... there are parents who don't feed in the night/get into bed with their kids and are still suffering - that would have been a real show.

tibni · 03/08/2010 21:59

Gigantour ds is on liquid melatonin which helps him settle but not stay asleep. We have been offered slow release melatonin but it is in tablet form and we can't get him to take it. The liquid we put in a drink.

Poshwellies · 03/08/2010 21:59

Gig-did you get the Melatonin prescribed?

I've been reading about it online,we've not tried it yet.

LadyBlaBlah · 03/08/2010 21:59

Wank

wrinklyraisin · 03/08/2010 22:01

Exactly rokers, the children had "reasons" why their sleep was not "good". I would like to see them deal with an autistic 5 year old who just cannot lie down for more than 2 minutes and hates closing his eyes. HIS parents are desperate.

Gigantaur · 03/08/2010 22:02

Yes we have it on prescription.

We have the slow release melatonin. It is in a capsule. We break it open and mix it in with a drink or yogurt.

DS will now ask for a tablet as he knows he needs to sleep so he is happy to take it straight as a pill but he finds them difficult to swallow.

They really are my saviour. The first night we tried them and he fell asleep i cried my eyes out. Mostly through sheer relief but quite a lot from exhaustion.

Gigantaur · 03/08/2010 22:03

forgot to say, there are two types of pills. One has a kind of powder inside and the other is full of tiny balls.

The powder form is obviously much easier to dissolve into juice ro whatever

Poshwellies · 03/08/2010 22:07

I will have to try and push for it via our GP.

I only hope he will prescribe (tiny rural surgery) ,he's quite 'old fashioned' in his presciptions, maybe worth taking in some evidence on melatonin as well as my wizened face due to lack of sleep!

Gigantaur · 03/08/2010 22:10

I resisted for so long. I hated the idea of having to drug him to sleep. I only agreed to it as it was becoming dangerous. I was falling asleep in the afternoon whilst the Dc were running around.

I now feel like such a fool for not doing it sooner.

Tell him that you have looked it all up and that you want to try it and are considering ordering it offline. maybe he will prescribe it rather than risk you getting something dodgy from the net

tibni · 03/08/2010 22:11

GP will not prescribe in my area - it is consultant only and collected only from the hospital as it is an unlicensed drug.

tibni · 03/08/2010 22:15

Gigantaur I resisted too. Then ds had a breakdown (related to mainstream schooling issues) and we had to do something. ds will ask for "bedtime drink" and helps make it up.

dustycups · 03/08/2010 22:19

felt sorry for indy he was exhausted and clearly begging for his dad to help him sleep!!! he should of been allowed to rub his back at least!

tegan · 04/08/2010 07:28

i went through the drugs route with dd2 but it was a temporary fix as after a couple of weeks she was immune to it and it didn't do a thing

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 04/08/2010 07:36

That programme was so badly done, with all the fake "confrontation" between the two "experts", and no real substance to it.

Strangely, DD slept 10.5 hour straight after it, an extreme rarity (and she is 3.9)

mousymouse · 04/08/2010 07:38

after seeing the show yesterday I was not sure which method was less cruel. certainly the cc method involved less crying and heartache in total.
who did "win" in the end? (had to watch CSI and on 4+ it was too late for me to watch till the end...)

not sure now what to do with dd (7 moths), was hoping for inspiration. she is still bf and wakes 3-5 times a night. would be good if that goes down to 1x before I go back to work next month.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 04/08/2010 07:48

the stricter method "won" but only on the last night, so it was all a bit questionable.

Ineedsomesleep · 04/08/2010 08:42

Mousy, really sorry but I don't think last night's programme is going to be any help to you.

The only things that helped me when I returned to work were increasing the intake during the day and co-sleeping. My DC were a bit older though so increasing the amount of food and feeds was a bit easier. Are you going back full-time?

Programmes like this are appauling anyway. Smaill children should not be experimented on for our viewing pleasure. Also, it encourages desperate parents to try out the methods without any clear understanding of methods and without looking at what is causing the problem. For instance, a friend's DD constantly woke up at the same age as Indi, it turned out she was hungry. Once my friend increased what her DD was given to eat during the day she slept all night. I can't see how CC would have helped.

mousymouse · 04/08/2010 08:45

yes, I need to go back full time.
shes not really taking large amounts of food yet, but I also dont want to put pressure on her. she takes about 4 spoons of whatever it is at mealtimes 4x a day.
maybe I just have to wait, because she really is drinking during the night.

StealthPolarBear · 04/08/2010 08:47

I watched it & thought the 2 'experts' were mostly the same.
And the competition was pointless, all it proved was that if you pick a method & stick to it, iot'll work. But no cuddling, seriously?? And that was from the 'soft' one.

lal123 · 04/08/2010 08:48

Given that children/babies not sleeping has been a problem since the beginning of time were you all really expecting an hour (or half hour?) show to tell the world the definitive answer?

FWIW - last night we decided to leave DD2 (9 months) to cry (haven't had more than 3 hours sleep a night in past week) - she cried for 45 mins - then she slept through from 11.45 til 8 - hurray!

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