Sleepless Nights Support Thread

Can i join. I know jacob is very young and i shouldnt expect much from him yet. But i want to get some good roots in for the weeks to come. He is suffering from a tummy bug last few days (been doc's 3 times) as he just wont keep most his feeds down, has bad poo's and very achy tummy (poor soul) but because of all this im functioning off 3 hours sleep and im exhausted but he is worth it. Just any advice would be appretiate in the weeks to come.

RIght now he is only going 2-3hours between feeds and takes about half an hour to an hour to settle after a feed. So by the time he is down he is only down for an hour-2 before it starts again THE JOYS!!! And it takes me a good 20 mins to settle to sleep and before i know it im up again..... you should see the state i look. New mummy's that have a full face of make-up etc.....are beyond me my hair hasnt been washed in 2 days because by the time i get in the shower wash meself he is crying and wont settle without mummy. XxX

Originally Posted by Vickie

lucky you! Hannah was up last night at 2:30 but she hadn't had a bowel movement in almost 3 days so lucky us it happened at 3 a.m.

Murphy's Law!

caitlyn was up every 2 hours from 9pm last night. I'm shattered, i'm not good at dropping back off to sleep. My poor poorly baby. Im going back to bed when daddy gets home.

Hope your LO's feel better soon. With Hannah, Ema we just took her natural routine, of when she was eating and tweaked it a bit, even in the early days. She's always had a bath before bed and since she was about a month and a half old has had a bedtime around 8:30 (this got completely messed up when she had her shots and we are just now getting it back though). I don't think it's ever to early to start....keep lights low at night, near bedtime, bath, bottle, bed etc. Even when we get up for feeds at night we try to minimize the amount of lights we turn on and Hannah (most nights) goes back down pretty quickly.

im so glad this thread is here


ffion is STILL going through her 4 month growth spurt and is waking from 2 every hour onwards

luckily for me my mum took her lastnight so i had a rest... and she woke for my mum too so its not just me!

Seth woke up every hour last night for a feed and then woke up properly at 7am. Hes had a few naps when Ive got a bit of housework done. No sleep for mummy

xxx

for all you mums who are sleep-deprived, I would tentatively recommend a method based on my experience over the last few nights. Maybe it won't suit everyone (especially if there is a 'reason' for the waking, such as teething or hunger) but I thought I would post in case anyone had reached the end of their tether like we did, and had a child that is waking for comfort feeding, or dummy replacement, etc.

We had got into the situation where my daughter (always a crap sleeper) had been waking every couple of hours through the night. It was exhausting. She'd have 5 minutes nursing and then be back to sleep. And I was the only one who could put her to sleep.

So, one night I thought, she is going to go to sleep in her cot if it kills me! I sat by her, leaned over and cuddled her in her cot. It took 2 hours and there was a fair bit of whimpering, fussing and outright enraged crying toward the end, but she did go to sleep. Next night took 40 minutes. Next night, about 10 minutes. On the fourth night I could leave her to go to sleep on her own pretty much. I used the same method throughout the day for naps - no more falling to sleep in our arms, or on the boob, allowed at all.

Because she now knows how to settle herself without me, or another prop, she is only waking once or twice a night, when she is properly hungry. I am so pleased, and it has made a big difference in all our lives. I know some people are against crying but being with them while they cry is, I think, different from just shutting the door and leaving them to it, or even going in at increasing intervals a la controlled crying.

Hope everyone's sleep improves soon. It's awful, awful, awful when you're up so regularly. The world becomes a blur.

Lucy

i like that ffion can settle herself to sleep it means i dont spend hrs rocking and tapping her bum!

although she still wakes loads in the night!

Seth settled himself to sleep last night but he doesnt do it very often. So frustrating We usually let him cry for a bit if he's just tired but in the night its easier when you're half asleep just to put him on for a feed and know he's going to go straight back to sleep. I know its a bad habit though. One that I need to break

xxx

Originally Posted by leeanne

Murphy's Law!

Ema-sorry to hear about Jacob's tummy bug. Lola-Rose had some problems with gassyness at around that stage.Her tummy was quite upset too so I know how it feels


Creamcakes- thanks for sharing!
When I put Lola-Rose to sleep in the evening she falls asleep easily but only if I rock her and settle her.Thats not a problem.
BUT once she's awake in the night I have to put her in bed with me or she won't sleep.
I don't know should I let her cry it out or not..