I'm at my witts end...

[pookiesossige]

Ariene has been waking hourly (almost exactly on the hour) all night, from 7pm to 6am. I can't take anymore. She's 7 months old, fully b/f.

I won't CC. I'm happy to feed her- but I wish she'd actually go back to sleep for longer then 45 mins! And I'm sure that if rocking or patting actually worked without her getting even more worked up, that it's not something she'd still want when she's in primary school :rolleyes:.

My neck is sooo sore from all the dozing I end up doing in the rocking chair with her, and I just feel like crying all the time with lack of sleep.. I can't handle my toddler like I should be able to because I am so drained before the day even starts. It's having a shocking impact on my relationship with DH.
I have tried co-sleeping- but she just wants to play all night and can't handle not being attached at the boob- she wakes up as soon as I gently prise it out so I can get that sore neck back on the pillow and DH isn't comfortable co-sleeping to start with. And to be honest, it doesn't result in more sleep for anyone- it's not for us.

Who's been in a similar situation before? What did you do?? I need ideas of what to try tonight... I'm seriously at my witts end... :crying:

[bekkyboo]

:hugs: Em... I completlyy understmad// After my earlier events G has been doing this the past few nights

Is she teething? This is G's problem... So THE PAST 2 nights we have tried our best to settle him, but in the end cave in to panadol, and 30min lATER - out like a light :rolleyes: till 4 am, then awake for good at 5.30 (and sitting here attacking the keyboard)

I found that when G sleeps no good through the day we have more trouble night....so maybe try a another good day (p9r9b more so aftermnopn)

Hope tonight is better....

Right i give up. He is squeeling with JOy for making this so difficult!

[pookiesossige]

lol, thanks Bekky. She is teething, but this has been going on for... well, forever, really. She's never slept at night- it's just that I'm getting fed up with it now, after 7 months.
She has panadol and bonjela to help with teething, gee, occasionally I give her baby nurofen out of desperation... it makes no difference....

I just purchased the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution" from A&R- I'm so desperate that I didn't check Amazon or Ebay for cheaper copies, I just found it and bought it, for something like $30!! :eek: That's what sleep deprivation does to ya, hey...

[Rainbowbrite]

I've PMed you :hugs:

[Buddha Bubbas]

Em, i have no advice, but i know how hard it is.
:hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: J is shocking but at least its not every hour. ohhh how draining. i also cannot do CC. i really hope you find something that works for you soon.

[Pixie]

I was here from 6 months on for 6 weeks it was pure hell, I totally understand every aspect you speak of apart from having another little person to contend with.

I just ended up getting up every hour and BF her and then I tried to put her back in her bed , but nope we co slept was the only way I could get some sleep she was on my boobs all night it was so draining then of course during the day she wanted BF as well and not enough milk. I was utterly depressed.

Then two teeth popped through and it ended. I was like you bought the no cry sleep book it does work quite well Eliza is back to normall again now waking once a night thank goodness. I am rushing off out now but if you have any more questions just PM me!

[charms]

pookiesossige,
I am so sleep deprived I can hardly write but have joined this forum for some help myself. Ashley my DS is 10 months. He started sleeping at night 5-6hours at 3-4 months but it was very short lived until he started teething and now he wakes every hour or two and even co-sleeping doesn't stop this, it just means I don't have to get up as often cause I think i'de fall over i'm so tired! My body is sore from co sleeping and DS & DH are not sleeping well either really. I'm at my wits too! Won't do CC and all Ashley wants is my breast to sleep, no one can settle him, not even me if I don't have my breast out for him. I am thinking of buying No Cry Sleep solutions myself, how have you found the book? I can't blame Ashley's sleeping on teething as it happens every night. What are we going to do! In desperate need of some sleep.:sleeping:

[pookiesossige]

Thanks Pixie- I really have my hopes up with this book. And I feel a bit better now thanks to my drawn u"Don't yell at your kid, yell at this thread" blab :ecomcity: Your situation sounds very much what we are experiencing here :hugs:

Thanks BB, your so lovely :hugs:

I've just never felt so desperate.
Dh went to work in the biggest huff this morning, the sleeplessness is the last thing anyone in the family needs- DH feels like he can't 'fix' it, and doesn't understand how to support me in comforting Ariene, so suggests that her and I move to another bedroom so he can sleep :confused: , Ronan acts up because mummy's too tired to chase him/play hidey/cook tea on time etc, and I end up totally neglecting my appearance, the house in general, and generally feel like cr@p..

[Lambie]

Hey Em...seems to be the season for it:thumbsdown: Emily has been like this since turning 4months, waking every hour, on the hour. Thankfully she is still in our room, so I bring her to bed for a BF until she drops off then move her back to her cot until the next cry...

I initally thought it was due to temperature (she's in a 1.0 tog grobag...Ariene is to, isn't she:confused: ), so we have set the aircon on a constant 23 degrees cold...nope no good. She's not getting cold, and I don't think it's teething as she's showing no signs during the day:( So hence another reason for weaning...Like Ariene she is a boobie bub and feeds every 1-2 hours...so wondering if it's a case of her just not getting enough to get her through the night.

Em, I know that Ariene is not taking solids yet...perhaps when she starts, you may notice a difference.

Keep your chin up Em, I know it's tough and you need all your strength in order to deal with it. :hugs: to you, and all you other Mum's out there going through the same thing. Let's hope it's just a passing phase that will eventually end!!

[me+my2girls]

Hey...my bubba was the same always wanted to suckle and as soon as I put her down to bed, she would wake and start crying. So I swapped my breast for a dummy when she finished feeding and she sleeps right through the night. I didnt want to give her a dummy, but I'm sure I can live with it to get some sleep....:sleeping:

[pookiesossige]

Thanks Sonia :hugs: That was lovely to read :)
Yes, Ariene is in a 1.0 tog bag, and the temp of her room varies between about 22-25 degrees, so she's not cold at night.

She is definetly teething... but she has always slept like this, ever since moving bedrooms and changing from bassinette to cot at 12 weeks of age. The teething has just made it even harder to bear right now....

I don't think it stems from a physical need, like hunger. She's still not keen on having any solids (gags, chokes, sometimes I think she still has the tounge-thrust reflex!) but it seems more behavioural, a need to always be held and comforted. There's nothing really wrong with that- I meet this need without any restrictions during the day (demand feeding etc)- but I can't handle it at night..

Actually, she doesn't have a regular sleep-feed routine during the day. As in, when she's tired, I get her to sleep for a nap (until Ronan wakes her up) and when she indicates that she'd like a bit of a feed, I give her one. No 'usual' times for any of this. Would it help, does anyone think, if I tried to get a bit of a day routine going?? Yet still being able to meet her need for a feed when she's hungry, sleep when she's tired etc?? It's great being so flexible though... for shopping, dealing with her older brother etc.. What do people think??

[Pixie]

How about Hubby moves to another room so she is in an environment she knows then everyone might get some sleep! I have kicked mine out to the sofa a few nights I need the space!

It put a real strain on us as a couple we fought a lot And then one day he "got it" and I went out for a walk I had to I was ready to walk away.

I found to get a decent break during the day I would give Eliza a frozen mango pit, not only did she find it soothing she played with it lol it gave me time out, perhaps you could get you other kiddie drawing or something? just so you can sit down for 10 minutes?

I did start a bit of a routine with Eliza as I was losing my marbles faster than I could pick them up?

I made sure she was awake by 7am 7.30 at the very latest and down for her morning nap by 8.30am for 2 hours during the 6 weeks of hell she was waking every 20 minutes I would go in pick her up rock her and put her back down asleep I made her realise she was to sleep and it worked.

It's kinda hard for me to say what I do as I have the freedom of not having a toddler. so I guess you have to work out a routine around Ronan and her natural desire to sleep and if possible get them going at similar times!

I hope it is over for you soon. I never thought it would end it did, but now I am constantly thinking when will it start again!:hugs::hugs:

[confusedmum]

Hey there, I can sympathise with you, my (7mth) little man is a sleep fighter, from the minute he was conceived he has been on the go. I have now(fingers crossed) got him sleeping a little better and to tell you the truth I dont know what I did to help. Here are a few suggestions that I was given and I tried, some worked better than others.

Try leaving a rag that you have used to clean up vomit or milk with them in the cot, it smells like you and makes them more at ease.
Leave a little night light on in the room.
My lillte man sleeps better at night if he has had great sleeps during the day, so I try and make him have 2 -3 sleeps a day.
I also stopped BF for the fed before bed, so it filled him up and formula takes longer to digest. (only did this recently)
I had to be tough with myself, I set rules if he woke before 10:30pm then I would try my hardest to rock him back to sleep. If and when he woke after this then I would fed him. (3-4 times a night) It took a few nights for him to get the gist but then I found him sleeping through to 10:30 - 11:00 then I started trying to rock him back to sleep and only feeding him past midnight. It seems to have sort of worked, he generally sleeps to 11 - 11:30 so I give him a bottle and then most nights I dont hear from him till 5:00 - 5:30am. On the odd night he wakes at 3:00am so I had been feeding him, but someone suggested giving him water so I tried that and I will see what happens tonight.Anyway good luck, you're not alone!

[stellaj]

Oh Em, sweetie you poor thing! Is if because she isn't into food do you think?

This is things i have tried off the top of my head-

* Bath with Lavender oil before bed
* massage before bed
* use a stay dry liner in nappy so he doesn't feel wet
* Brauer's natural therapy calming drops
* music

I'm not that helpful but I hope she improves soon. :hugs:

[cosmic]

Em, you have my sympathy!!! I had the same thing for a solid 2-3mths with Annabelle and I honestly don't know what caused her to change. She still wakes up, just not so regularly but in all honesty, the comp feeds of formula, the solid food - neither of those had any immediate effect, as much as I hoped they would be miracle cures. About 3 weeks after starting solids, I noticed a turnaround so perhaps it made a difference??

For me, honestly, co-sleeping was the only way I survived, though I did get a terribly sore neck. I also wondered if it was a temperature thing when she woke up crying (hard to resettle) at around 4.30am every morning. To this day, I don't know - but she's not doing that anymore so maybe the warmer weather has made a difference.

All I can offer is hugs and perhaps I'll PM you if I think of anything in particular that i found made a difference. :hugs:

[pookiesossige]

Thanks guys!

Confusedmum, I like the idea of leaving a cloth with bub that smells like me- I see how this might help with her, because her distress is mainly about me not being there... She stops crying as soon as I pick her up (then starts looking for a boob).

Mel, you are so luffy :hugs: I'm going to try a stay dry liner in her BBB's- I havn't tried one before.... do you just use a peice of microfleece?

I like the music idea too- something to associate sleep with... she will soon be having day sleeps in the cot too (well, I'll try!) so I could put on music every time... What a great idea!

Cosmic- Thanks for your support, you know more about this then many :yes: You put on music when getting A ready for naps too, didn't you? What music did you use? I'm certainly hoping that this all improves when she finally lets me feed her! All I can do is keep trying, hey.

Yay!! It feels SO good to start putting together a plan of action!! Thanks girls, you've really helped me :D

[Billy]

Hey Em I use music too :yes: Its just one of those things that attach to the cot, that play music and have lights etc :thumbsup:

There is one song that is very calming (DH always falls asleep to it too LOL :laughing:) and I always play it when she is put in the cot. She knows its time for sleep then... (not that she always agrees with me mind you hehehe)

I have her milky rag in there too, and her own muslin 'blanky' which she snuggles her face against. As you know she stopped wanting to co-sleep with me ages ago and I have found these techniques quite good for her...

I have my :fingerscrossed: for you hun... ((((HUGS)))) xoxoxox

[SilverStarfish]

:hugs: Nope, you're certainly not alone. We're going through rather a nightmare-ish patch at the moment ourselves.

This evening I wrapped her mattress in the top sheet of our bed. Finally got her to eat a reasonable sort of dinner, she's been down for 2 hours now. :fingerscrossed:

[bekkyboo]

Let me know how things are going Em - G is being a terror at present - and i also like this rag idea! He also calms down as soon as i go near him...

Gosh - sleep - im seeming to forget what that was...

[KellyA]

I have been reading this thread over the last few days as my son was having quite a rough patch with his sleeping. We have used abit of CC and had a bit of success but being consistent at 3am was our biggest problem.

Anyway, I bought some muslin face washers and put my smell and breastmilk on them. Last night he resettled himself twice and after his feeds in the night, he went right back to bed (which hadn't happened in a few weeks!).

This morning I gave him the cloth, put him to bed and he went straight to sleep...with NO CRYING!

I know it is early days but it is a start! I also use the Sounds for Silence CD when he sleeps too. And the other thing that I am doing is making sure he is not up for longer than 2 hours at a time during the day. This way he is not over-tired.

Fingers crossed!!!

[JJ's mum]

Hi

I have also been following this thread as my son went thru this stage at about 8 months. Do you have a sleep centre near you? I am in Brisbane and there is a sleep centre here you can stay at for 5 days (you need a referal from Child health nurse) if you are at your wits end. The first night they are pretty easy on you and if you just want to sleep they will attend to your baby, then they teach you what to do and what signs to look out for. I never ended up going as Joel got better just before my appointment, but a couple of my friends have been and said it was great.

I would also recommend "It's Time To Sleep" DVD, it is available over the internet, think it cost about $30...it is controlled comforting, not crying, so not nearly as stressful for the baby...that is what finally worked for Joel. It was really hard for about 4 nights but really was worth it.

Another thing which the child health nurse suggested was rubbing my arms along the cot sheet just before I put Joel down..especially on clean sheets so they can smell your scent..I nearly fell over laughing when she said it but it did seem to work.

Good luck and hope things are getting better

Jude

[pookiesossige]

Well, we have two teeth that have just come up, a top front one that broke through yesterday morning, and the other top front about to do the same... No WONDER it's been tough.

Yesterday I tried solids AGAIN and with sucess for the first time (she's 7.5 months old) but she vomited all night... sigh.... It's just one thing after the other!!

I think that once the teething has passed (for the time being :rolleyes: ) and she has some solid food going through her system (and agreeing with it) then things might improve.

Until then, I just have to remind myself that everynight at 2am! And remember all the beautiful, positive and comforting pm's I have recieved in response to this thread :hugs: