Sleepless Nights Support Thread

I think I'm going to have to start feeding him when he wakes up at around 4am because I'm absolutly shattered I think that could be why he is waking doesnt help that he still has a stuffy nose & teething too bless him, he isnt getting much sleep either, I'll be glad when dh is home tomorrow night.

Originally Posted by angelstardust

Can I join even though it is my almost 5 year old who keeps me up?

He has cerebral palsy and goes through periods of vomiting at night for no reason. As well as waking because he is stiff and sore. And the random '4am is morning, like totally mum' episodes too.

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, Amber (baby, see siggy, I forget how old she is) was awake and has a bit of a cold. So I git her up for a cuddle till her nose unblocked a bit, settled her for 11.30pm, then DS1 (8) was up for a pee and a speech about his nintendo DS. I got some sleep about midnight, DS2 up at 1am sick, luckily in the plastic box that stays in his bed, so sorted that out, sat with him a wee while. Back to bed at 2am, back up at 4am with DS2 again who needed a drink, back to sleep for an hour, back up with DS1 asking if it was morning just after 5am, he got told no, 6am he was back in so was told to go downstairs and watch tv quietly, Amber up at 6.30am and brought in bed with me, alarm goes off at 7am, my head hurts so much and I've came down with a head cold so I get some paracetamol and climb back in bed for 15mins that turns into hitting snooze every 9mins till 8am when I get up knowing I'm now running late, boys being very loud and head cold and headache is trying to kill me, swallow a coffee while getting kids fed/washed/dressed/ready, DS1 leaves at 8.45 for school, DH, DS2, Amber and I leave at 9am to take DS2 to nursery in the next town and drop off my car for an MOT that was due a month ago, oh and the road tax was due yesterday too (crap!). Got that done, car not ready to pick DS2 up at 12, so he has to walk, which means that tonight he will be up with sore legs again (and probably sick because he is sick if he has walked a lot that day) and tomorrow night will be the same because he is going for a walk and a train ride tomorrow at nursery.

All in all, a good night!

You poor thing!

After reading what your nights are like i will never moan again, I have one child and thought that was hard work!

Shes never been a good sleeper, sleeps in my bed with me now, ive given up getting up and down all night.

Is this what a normal night is like in your house hold? or a one off?

Originally Posted by juliespencer9

You poor thing!

After reading what your nights are like i will never moan again, I have one child and thought that was hard work!

Shes never been a good sleeper, sleeps in my bed with me now, ive given up getting up and down all night.

Is this what a normal night is like in your house hold? or a one off?

A normal night I will be up twice with one or another usually DS2. The 5am/6am/7am is normal though.

A bad night I can be sitting next to DS2's bed most of the night if he is very sore or sick, I can't leave him because he gets worried and scared when he is as sick, and it is very much every 20-30mins he is a little bit sick.

The worst I had was when he had a run of 10 sick nights the beginning of Febuary. He is fine during the day it's just at night and we have no idea why he is sick. But they were very bad nights and no chance to catch up on my sleep because DH was working and his day off he had to go do something. It was horrible and during the day I was useless. And of course, with 3 I can't really nap.

DH can't help because he works long hours, so I'm on my own.

Generally I am ok if I can get between 2am-5am undisturbed, but if one wakes up during those 3 hours I am rubbish the next day. Usually manage to somehow survive till dinner time then tiredness hits me hard and I need to lie down.

But I am used to it and I don't work. The house is usually a mess and there is just no way I can keep up with everything but I try not to put pressure on myself for it. It gets done before we all get E-coli which is the main thing! If I can get one morning where I can lie in to about midday (when DH is off) it usually makes up for it.

And it is easier now he has started using his tub/box, before that it was 2 or 3 bed changes a night.

angelstardust, You must be a very strong patient person. you deserve an award!
Do you have help with your son in the day, like a carer? I dont know how you cope.

I was hoping I could join you ladies.

My LO was a good sleeper up to she turned 8 weeks. She was sleeping from 10pm til between 5-8am and it was great as I need my sleep and have always loved my bed.

At 2 months she then started waking at 1am, 4am and then 7am. Myself and my OH were getting no time together as my LO wasn't going to bed until 10pm and I was a mess as I was getting no sleep so I moved her last feed forward to 8pm and she was still waking for a feed at 1am, 4am and 7am.
(she took at bottle each time about 4-5oz)

This week I thought I had the answer. I put her to bed at 8pm and I then dream fed her at 12am thinking she would sleep through but she woke at 4am and then 6am to start the day and wouldn't go back to sleep.

She def doesn't need the fed at 4am as she only takes 3oz then falls asleep and she drinks 8oz at 12am at her dream feed but she needs it to fall asleep otherwise she just screams!

I'm at a loss what do I do??

Another bad night last night x i would love to know why he keeps waking up!!! He goes to bed without a dummy so surely he cant be waking up in the middle of the night for that can he??
He woke around 2.30am last night & kept waking up until around 4.45am until in the end I was that tired I got him in to bed with me (DH had got up to go to work) and he slept soundly until 6.40am. This isnt something I do every night so he cant be waking for this either.
He is teething at the minute but he isnt waking up screaming (like when he teeths during the day)
I have tried leaving him to see if he will settle himself back & on the odd occasion he has but most of the time he just gets more worked up until he is crying.
His naps are all over the place in the day & hardly naps for more than 30 minutes at a time

anyone got any suggestions???

hi everyone, im joining in this thread because i find it very difficult to do the night time feeds for my 2 week old. It was fine at first, but the past 2 nights i just want to ignore my babys cries and go back to sleep! I dont like to ask hubby to do the night feeds as he has to get up for work next day. Last night she was up for feeds at 10.30, 01.30, 04.30 and 06.30. I know thats pretty normal for a newborn but i cant help wishing she would pick up a routine where she goes a bit longer at night! I find myself counting down the days till shes a month old where she may hopefully start to go through the night without too many feeds, is that terrible??

Hey Helabela - I hear you about getting a longer night's sleep with less feeds. I'm up till 1am (He cluster feeds from 9pm-1am), which is when my LO will finally settle for the night, then I'm up again at 4am, 7am, and 9am. It's so hard to get up at 4 and 7 when I'm so comfy in my bed. Plus my LO only fusses, not outright crying and so it's so tempting to try and roll over, but I know he needs changing badly and to feed again. I'm hoping to start expressing in the next few weeks, so at least my husband can take over some of the night time duties.

Originally Posted by Reedy

Another bad night last night x i would love to know why he keeps waking up!!! He goes to bed without a dummy so surely he cant be waking up in the middle of the night for that can he??
He woke around 2.30am last night & kept waking up until around 4.45am until in the end I was that tired I got him in to bed with me (DH had got up to go to work) and he slept soundly until 6.40am. This isnt something I do every night so he cant be waking for this either.
He is teething at the minute but he isnt waking up screaming (like when he teeths during the day)
I have tried leaving him to see if he will settle himself back & on the odd occasion he has but most of the time he just gets more worked up until he is crying.
His naps are all over the place in the day & hardly naps for more than 30 minutes at a time

anyone got any suggestions???

Have you tired a dummy?

Amber was bad for waking up and only settling when she came in beside me, I think it was to do with temperature, she woke just a little cold and would only fall back over snuggled into me once her body warmed up a bit. I could usually get her back into her own crib if I waited till she was warm, but I had swaddle her in blankets in the bed with me then pop her down. If she touched cold sheets she would wake back up.

I never felt comfortable having the boys in with me to sleep, but with Amber it was a case of I got more sleep (and better quality) by just going with it. After the first few nights it wasn't so scary.

Try and set a time for a nap for him, even if you just put him down in his crib to play for the first few times, sleep at day time really does help sleep at night time.

Where does he nap? Is he being distubed?

Originally Posted by angelstardust

Have you tired a dummy?

Amber was bad for waking up and only settling when she came in beside me, I think it was to do with temperature, she woke just a little cold and would only fall back over snuggled into me once her body warmed up a bit. I could usually get her back into her own crib if I waited till she was warm, but I had swaddle her in blankets in the bed with me then pop her down. If she touched cold sheets she would wake back up.

I never felt comfortable having the boys in with me to sleep, but with Amber it was a case of I got more sleep (and better quality) by just going with it. After the first few nights it wasn't so scary.

Try and set a time for a nap for him, even if you just put him down in his crib to play for the first few times, sleep at day time really does help sleep at night time.

Where does he nap? Is he being distubed?

He does have a dummy but cries everytime it falls out I will try putting a cover on him tonight when he wakes see if that helps although we have the heating come on during the night so it is quite warm already.
He sleeps in his cot during the day so its quieter than downstairs but his room at the front of the house so he does get a lot noise from people outside during the day especially the idiot across the road who finds it perfectly ok to leave his diesel van's engine running for 10-15 minutes at a time

Last night was really bad i think i've only had 4 hours sleep the rest was broken sleep every 10 or so minutes until he woke at 6am.