No Sleep and No Coffee Makes Parents Something Something

spottybananas

Had the most bizarre night last night. Our 4 month who wakes every 2 hours anyway kept rolling sideways when put down on the bed. He's not able to roll over yet so he pretty much just kept rolling his body to the side and his head would almost stay in place completely, turned a bit to the side. He couldn't/wouldn't roll back, if I put him back he rolled sideways again, but spent the night arching and crying then, lying there sideways It was like his body was rolling against his will and upsetting him!

RentDayBlues

Spotty, I saw your post in the April thread and I understand your frustration. You're bang slap in the middle of the 4 month sleep regression and some pretty big development phases, so sleep is going to be a joke!

You are going to have to get tough, maybe it's time to look at sleeping arrangements. I moved my second into her own room at 5 months, and she loved the space and started to sleep. It wasn't a magic cure but I did get slightly more sleep. I remember nights spent sleeping on her floor as it was easier than trying to go back to my own bed and the walk back, exhaustion is crippling

Around this time I was regimental about naps, she had 3 and each of them were in her own room, with a grobag. I wanted to establish an understanding that this room meant sleep and quiet. At night we practiced cry it out for falling asleep and I went in to feed her, and put her back down awake to let her fall back to sleep. Around 12 months I stopped giving her the 5pm feed, she wasn't taking much and wanted the comfort. It took another 3 months for her to sleep past this, and finally at 18 months she sleeps 12 hours.

It's hard work, but I do believe as a parent we need to guide the baby in learning to sleep, especially once they get beyond the newborn stage. I know cry it out isn't for everyone, or that some parents would be horrified that I let me 2 month old sleep on her side in a cocoon every night, but in order to get sleep this was what was needed. You just need to find what's needed for you, some of the things that worked for me were:

- baby sleeping on crib mattress in my bed, she was on her mattress but had me close so she could smell milk and feel comfort
- baby sleeping in cocoon on her side until she couldn't fit in it anymore!
- cry it out to establish naps and night time sleeps
- moving to own room at 5 months

After the newborn phase my little one wouldn't sleep in bed with me, as much as I would have loved that she hated it and eventually slept better on her own. Whereas my first loved sleeping in our bed.

Basically to sum up all the wandering, each baby will learn to sleep, some do it in months, others take years. Do what you can to help this along but know that almost every parent goes through it, most will no admit to it.

angeldelight

Just wondering how you managed to implement a nap routine? My little girl is 16 weeks and thankfully is still sleeping through, the 4 month sleep regression hasn't reared its head yet. However she's rubbish at napping. Days I'm home with her I'll keep a close eye and do spot the early cues, get her into her cot and generally she sleeps quickly. However she sleeps for one sleep cycle of 40-45 minutes and then she's wide awake. no matter what I try that's what happens. It means that she's having up to 6 naps a day and then if I do go out somewhere wit her it's a disaster, she may not nap at all

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I found that consistency and routine helped an awful lot. Keep to the same nap time every day. Do you have a mobile on her cot? My little one wasn't great for napping either and would also wake after 45 minutes but I started going up, putting her soother back in, tucking her in and switching the mobile back on without any communucation or interaction and gradually, she started falling back asleep and staying asleep for longer. She also has one of those lovey comforter blanket things that she only gets during her daytime naps and she likes rubbing it against her face. A good feed beforehand works well for us too and now at 6 months, she'll usually stay down for an hour and a half.

RentDayBlues

I was strict on naps until we got them down, which meant staying in for naps. The rule I used was no more than 2 hours awake between naps, it generally fell something like this

7:30-8am : wake
9:30-10am : 1st nap, usually 60
11am : wake
12:30-1pm : 2nd nap, usually 90 mins
3:30: wake
5pm : 3rd nap, usually 30-45 mins
7:30: bed

She woke twice at night to feed at 4 months, dropped the 2am feed first, then 5pm nap, then gradually over some months moved the 2 naps together so now at 18 months she naps 12:30-2/3

We'd do walks for the first nap if we wanted to get out, second nap was always at home (have a toddler as well), generally third nap was at home too but could use buggy as well

angeldelight

RentDayBlues wrote: »

I was strict on naps until we got them down, which meant staying in for naps. The rule I used was no more than 2 hours awake between naps, it generally fell something like this

7:30-8am : wake
9:30-10am : 1st nap, usually 60
11am : wake
12:30-1pm : 2nd nap, usually 90 mins
3:30: wake
5pm : 3rd nap, usually 30-45 mins
7:30: bed

She woke twice at night to feed at 4 months, dropped the 2am feed first, then 5pm nap, then gradually over some months moved the 2 naps together so now at 18 months she naps 12:30-2/3

We'd do walks for the first nap if we wanted to get out, second nap was always at home (have a toddler as well), generally third nap was at home too but could use buggy as well

A 90 minute nap would be amazing! She just doesn't stay asleep or go back asleep when she wakes. The strange thing is bar I think three nights she has slept through the night from 5.5 weeks so she can do it!

RentDayBlues

angeldelight wrote: »

A 90 minute nap would be amazing! She just doesn't stay asleep or go back asleep when she wakes. The strange thing is bar I think three nights she has slept through the night from 5.5 weeks so she can do it!

If she's getting lots at night that's great. If mine woke before the 90 mins I'd leave her unless she get really upset, 90% of the time she'd fall back to sleep herself.

pwurple

Third night in a row the 17 month old has climbed out of her cot in the middle of the night. This time, despite the landing pad of pillows and duvets, she split her lip open and roared the house down.

So, tonight is time for a bed for her. So here comes several nights (weeks?) of trying to keep her in a bed at night. Dreading it.

Nead21

pwurple wrote: »

Third night in a row the 17 month old has climbed out of her cot in the middle of the night. This time, despite the landing pad of pillows and duvets, she split her lip open and roared the house down.

So, tonight is time for a bed for her. So here comes several nights (weeks?) of trying to keep her in a bed at night. Dreading it.

It might be ok. We moved my 2 year old into a bed about a month ago. I thought he'd be constantly in to us but he's far more settled than he ever was in the cot and only comes into us in the morning. Best of luck.

Rogueish

pwurple wrote: »

Third night in a row the 17 month old has climbed out of her cot in the middle of the night. This time, despite the landing pad of pillows and duvets, she split her lip open and roared the house down.

So, tonight is time for a bed for her. So here comes several nights (weeks?) of trying to keep her in a bed at night. Dreading it.

If you really don't want to move her into a bed right now try keeping her in a grobag. She won't be able to get her leg high enough to throw it across the top of the cot.

I know we resorted to actually keeping our guy in a grobag turned 'back-to-front' so he couldn't get at the zip until we thought he was ready for a bed. We called it our 'baby strait jacket'.

pwurple

Rogueish wrote: »

If you really don't want to move her into a bed right now try keeping her in a grobag. She won't be able to get her leg high enough to throw it across the top of the cot.

I know we resorted to actually keeping our guy in a grobag turned 'back-to-front' so he couldn't get at the zip until we thought he was ready for a bed. We called it our 'baby strait jacket'.

Thanks, but she's already in a grobag doing this! She's fairly tall for her age, so I think that's the problem. She pulls herself up with her arms until her hips are above the top of the cot, then swings the legs in the bag over the top. Drops the 3 ft to the floor then on the other side (walloping chip/lip off cot in the process)

It was, as expected, long and drawn out. I put her back in the bed what felt like 2 hundred times, until she finally fell asleep. My back is exploding.

Nead21

Sorry to hear that it didn't go well. Sounds horrible. I wish I could offer some advice.

Rogueish

pwurple wrote: »

Thanks, but she's already in a grobag doing this! She's fairly tall for her age, so I think that's the problem. She pulls herself up with her arms until her hips are above the top of the cot, then swings the legs in the bag over the top. Drops the 3 ft to the floor then on the other side (walloping chip/lip off cot in the process)

It was, as expected, long and drawn out. I put her back in the bed what felt like 2 hundred times, until she finally fell asleep. My back is exploding.

You poor devil. I can only sympathise. Hopefully she'll settle soon.

galah

I hear ya pwurple. Our oldest did that too, vaulting full tilt over the cot bars in his grow bag. We put him on a double mattress on the floor initially, just to get him used to the freedom, and it worked pretty much straight away, no issues (

unless my brain is addled from the lack of sleep thanks to monkey no. 2, who's also started the same tricks now. With the difference that his cot is still beside our bed, so we got a lovely surprise of a 12kg 1.5 year old using you as a landing pad at 2 am :rolleyes:


To those of you who have two kids sharing a room - how did you start, and how did it go? Any tricks? Our house is a stupid layout in the sense that we have plenty of bedrooms, but only two upstairs - and one is ours at the moment. So the boys have to share until they're old enough that we can leave them upstairs by themselves - dont want to risk that right now...:o but i also want the little one to get used to sleeping without us, it's high time...

pwurple

Much better tonight, think it was only five times I stuck her back in. I kept her up about 15 minutes later, she was more sleepy. And she is staying put the whole night.

On two in the same room, we've had ours in together since then youngest was 6 weeks old. It's ok. Downside is they can wake eachother up, but mine are light sleepers. Some kids can sleep through a train. Upside is they seem to settle fairly easily and sometimes reassure eachother if they wake up. I have heard the eldest telling the baby "don't worry, it's just a bird" when they are woken up by something.

Nead21

Pwurple was your baby sleeping through when you moved then in together? My two will also be sharing but my 6 week old wakes around twice a night. My 2 year old has literally just started sleeping well at night so how did you manage to settle the baby without the older one waking?

pwurple

Nead21 wrote: »

Pwurple was your baby sleeping through when you moved then in together? My two will also be sharing but my 6 week old wakes around twice a night. My 2 year old has literally just started sleeping well at night so how did you manage to settle the baby without the older one waking?

No, she was still waking for a feed.
She just feeding and going straight back to sleep though, so it was fine. Didn't really disturb the older one at all.

bp

Things are looking up I got a shower this morning and 4 month only woke five times....sad when that is an improvement! I wish this sleep regression would end

nikpmup

Vomiting bug. 4am. Three loads of pukey washing. Eyes burning. Cranky baby. Cranky mama. Bleagh.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

What is it with toddlers attracting animal poo? My fella seems to get covered in it no matter where we go. Last week we were at a christening bbq and after 20 minutes of running around with the other kids, he came back with poo all over his shoes and suit pants :rolleyes: The other day, I did a big garden inspection/poo removal and he was only out there 5 minutes when he managed to walk in a big lump of it (I searched again afterwards and still couldn't find where it came from ) Today we were down in the local park walking on the path and the one time in the whole walk that he stumbled, he went head first into a big pile of dog muck and it went EVERYWHERE :eek: Cue me trying to wipe him down enough to get him back in the buggy without destroying that too My little boy is a poo magnet!

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Quick question, don’t want to start a whole new thread on this one and can’t find an answer to it anywhere else here!

Can you bring powdered milk on a Ryanair flight? Also can you bring a pre made bottle as well (150ml)?

dori_dormer

You can bring as much liquids as you think you'll need for a baby. They'll all be scanned and you have to be prepared for them to open them to test them.

I've don't bring all premade cartons and only one bottle of something!

bp

OMG I need sleep....past four weeks 4.5 month old waking more and more frequently. Every hour or two :-(

dori_dormer

bp wrote: »

OMG I need sleep....past four weeks 4.5 month old waking more and more frequently. Every hour or two :-(

Oh the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. Nap when he naps! Stay strong, this too shall pass

spottybananas

I'm exhausted. Nearly 5 month old awake and upset at least 5 times between 11pm and 7.30am. Begged husband to take him at 8 as we had agreed so I could get an hours sleep before work, he said he needed a quick shower. 20 minutes later he was still in the shower and baby did an explosive nappy so not only was I awake but had to get up. So pissed off.

The whole month I've been back to work I've been working and minding baby by myself for 8-12hr days and have a long day ahead today with lots of driving. I manage both every day yet he can't get dressed or eat breakfast while minding him, and moves so slowly when he knows I'm desperate to get back to sleep. Ugh.

moving_home

spottybananas wrote: »

I'm exhausted. Nearly 5 month old awake and upset at least 5 times between 11pm and 7.30am. Begged husband to take him at 8 as we had agreed so I could get an hours sleep before work, he said he needed a quick shower. 20 minutes later he was still in the shower and baby did an explosive nappy so not only was I awake but had to get up. So pissed off.

The whole month I've been back to work I've been working and minding baby by myself for 8-12hr days and have a long day ahead today with lots of driving. I manage both every day yet he can't get dressed or eat breakfast while minding him, and moves so slowly when he knows I'm desperate to get back to sleep. Ugh.

Urgh so frustrating. I know you are breastfeeding but your hubby needs to help at night when you are both working now. Hope your day goes ok.

BP the 4 month sleep regression still gives me the chills months later. It lasted till about 6 months. I swear she slept better as a newborn.

John Mason

spottybananas wrote: »

I'm exhausted. Nearly 5 month old awake and upset at least 5 times between 11pm and 7.30am. Begged husband to take him at 8 as we had agreed so I could get an hours sleep before work, he said he needed a quick shower. 20 minutes later he was still in the shower and baby did an explosive nappy so not only was I awake but had to get up. So pissed off.

The whole month I've been back to work I've been working and minding baby by myself for 8-12hr days and have a long day ahead today with lots of driving. I manage both every day yet he can't get dressed or eat breakfast while minding him, and moves so slowly when he knows I'm desperate to get back to sleep. Ugh.

I feel your pain. We are 10 months into the 6 month sleep regression still waiting for it to pass!

I have started taking a day a month off work to sleep. send mayhem into crèche and then I head back to bed for the day.

bp

John Mason wrote: »

I feel your pain. We are 10 months into the 6 month sleep regression still waiting for it to pass!

I have started taking a day a month off work to sleep. send mayhem into crèche and then I head back to bed for the day.

Oh don't say it takes that long.

Spotty just leave for a few hours Saturday

CptMackey

8 month old has decided that 4 o'clock is the new morning time. I get up ( ie get dressed ) at 7 after spending the previous 3 hours trying to pacify him. Bloody wrecked and then he goes off to sleep with my wife at 7 .

Has been going on for 2 weeks and we thought he was past that stage. Think he has an alarm clock

spottybananas

bp wrote: »

Spotty just leave for a few hours Saturday

We both work Saturdays His only day off is Sundays, he does most stuff with baby then but it's the only day we have to catch up and get stuff done around the house.

There isn't much he can do at night, baby just wants to cuddle up with me and go to sleep in my arms. Cute but I don't relax sleeping like that!