Worn out by constant crying at night

b3t4

Apologies for butting in as I don't have children and don't know where you're coming from but I thought I might give a suggestion

Have you/ye any days holidays left in the year?
Might it be an idea to take a few days off so as to try and get a routine established for sleeping or simply get some sleep in?
Even if you couldn't get holiday time off perhaps you/ye could get a doctors note for exhaustion?

This means that you might not get the sleep at night but would be able to catch up during the day and hopefully get some kind of routine going.

It must be getting very hard to cope with the amount of sleep yeer getting.

Best of luck
A.

luckat

Dozol (or whiskey on the gums) or gripe water will help to knock the poor little codger out.

(By the way, I was really suggesting that one parent go and sleep somewhere else on a Tuesday and the other on a Thursday, say, just so you weren't both in such terrible sleep deprivation all the time.)

Have you talked to the doctor?

I've been there too, and the most comforting thing I can tell you is that this is highly unlikely to last more than - at the very most - a couple of months. I know that sounds like an eternity now, but if you look at it in the longer term, it's not a life sentence. It will be over, you'll soon have a sleeping house full of happily snoozing parents and babies, just the odd chuckle from dreamland sounding in the silence.

davidoco

kmick wrote:

Have a look at the Castlewood Clinic in Rathmines - they have a therapist there who does child craniosacral work. Because children cannot communicate it is difficult to know what is wrong with them. Sometimes it is physical and sometimes emotional. If it is physical then she may be able to help. Pm me for number

I've had a couple of sessions (some only lasting 10 or 15 minutes) of craniosacral work and in the right hands it was magic. I think it would be great for a child like this as it's totally non invasive.

On another note I have a friend who has a 2 1/2 year old who is acting up just as you describe and they are just hoping she grows out of it. They have a new baby 4 months old which might be causing a bit of resentment with the older child getting less attention.

http://www.teetha.co.uk/ is available in most chemists and worked for teething on our little one. In fact while teething it was part of the bed time routine and at 9 months she would even be looking for it.

loyatemu

i'm pretty dubious about Teetha - its little more than glucose powder

Dozol definitely works (its an antihistamine that makes you dozy) but don't let the kid operate any heavy machinery afterwards.

TempestSabre

b3t4 wrote:

...
Might it be an idea to take a few days off so as to try and get a routine established for sleeping or simply get some sleep in? ...

The routine changed as the the baby grows, so you find a routine that works, get a few months stability and then it changes again, and you start all over again.

But you have a good idea. Lack of sleep is a real problem. I suggest you work out a compromise. Get a baby sitter to stay over for a night, but stay in the house yourselves. Just the babysitter gets up to settle the babies and you get some kip. The babysitter can wake one of you if theres a real problem or needs a hand. Do that a one a week for a while. Might get you over the hump. or get her to stay with her family for a couple of nights.

Lack of sleep is a big problem, it really needs to be taken quite seriously. Especially if you do any driving around this time. No point killing youself.

unkel

I'm so sorry Dave that the birth of your twins was not the experience you deserved to have. You of all people know that all babies are different and I can't offer you any specific advice in how best to get your wee son to sleep through the night

From your posts, I get a feeling that you and your wife have a very strong relationship and I'm confident that it will help you both to pull through. Very best of luck to you from another sleepless father

frany

luckat wrote:

make up a chart covering the 24 hours, and note when the baby/babies wake and go back to sleep.

I think this is a good idea.