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Sleeping - Any tips?

Hi ladies,

I wonder if any of you have any tips or advice to offer me? My lo who is 9 months has never been a good sleeper and has not slept one night through in all the time he has been born! He wakes frequently or wakes for 1-2 hours per night and we are at the end of our tether.

The latest problem is that he wants to crawl and climb all the time he is awake in his cot which is often and then wont settle again and we are all getting less sleep then before which is quite hard to do! If anyone has any expereince of their little one doing this in their bed please could you share it with me?

Many thanks
Kerry

Replies

  • Hi Kerry

    Has he actually started to crawl yet or is he still practicing? Before B took off he did lots and lots of rocking on all 4s and he loved to do this in his cot!! I just ended up leaving him to do it until he wore himself out and fell asleep on his front. Now that he is on the move he will only occasionally do this. He does sometimes still climb up but I just lay him straight back down again and he usually setttles himself and goes off to sleep.

    After another bout of colds and teething we have him back sleeping through again. I started out with PUPD many months ago but no longer really do this now he is older. I am still in the room til he drops off which is usually within 6 mins (by the time his light/sound show switches itself off!) I now just put him in his growbag, light/sound show on and lie him down on his side. I used to sit in the rocker beside him, then moved it further away, and now Im sat by the door. Hoping to be at a stage where I can just put him down and walk straight out within the next week. So ive moved on now to do the gradual withdrawal method. I felt that cc wasnt for us as he would get hysterical and throw up.

    Another thing you can look at is his daily routine. How long is he up during awake times? At this age they should be able to stretch to anything between 3-4hrs. So if he is going back down in under 3hrs then he could be undertired which could be why he wakes in the night. If over 4hrs, he could be overtired, resulting in the same.

  • Thank you for replying mummabear.

    He is properly crawling, climbing, pulling himself up, cruising the furniture, very close to walking I think! He is constantly on the move and never wants to be still anymore. The other night after over an hour and after laying him back down over 40 times (I kid you not) we gave up and put him in our bed just to get him to lie still! Sometimes after we persevere he will fall back to sleep for all of an hour or even half hour the night before last and then start the process all over again.

    His daytime sleeping is fine, he usually sleeps 3-31/2 hours after waking in the morning and then 3-4 hours from waking up from that nap he has a 2nd little nap. We cant let him have a big nap in the afternoon or he sleeps even worse at night.

    He has always slept bad and up until 2 weeks ago it was just waking for a few minutes at a time for a moan, his dummy etc. but it has escalated so much the last 2 weeks. I am already suffering from exhaustion through it all and really need to start getting some quality nights sleep, especially with a work return looming.

    Thank again for taking the time to reply
    K x
  • Well his day activity time seems good so it cant be that. My only guess from what you say is that if he is close to walking then this is another big milestone he may be processing in the night the past 2 weeks - and wanting to practice!! Not much good for you - lying him back down 40 times in one night is a huge effort :cry: but this bad patch may just be a phase that he will work through soon enough.

    Have you contacted a sleep organisation over there (Im not sure what it is in the uk, but maybe one of the other girls know if you dont)? They may be able to help too cos if he has always had trouble with sleep you may need help to break some hard habits. My best friends daughter was very similar until she was 10months and she got help - they did cc in the end and it worked for her and she was a tough cookie to crack!

    Big hugs xx

  • oh my god its like reading about me... was just going to post as at the end of tether - sooo tired!

    mason is 9 months and always been bad sleeper- i also have a 2 and half year old which gets woken up then im juggerling the two trying to get them back off!!!

    mason will wake and when he does we try dummy but he is wide awake and i try lay down etc and even before left room is screaming i try staying in there and he is still beside himself odd time he quietens and looks like asleep but i move and eyes are opena dn away we go again
    ! this goes on for 2 hours and usually by this point i have had enough and bring hin bed or lay on sofa with him to get him off! i have tried feeding just to get him settled quicker didnt work he drank whole bottle and then i lay down and he woke within seconds - i tried picking up and laying back down etc just went mad for hours, tried just dummy and walk out, again goes mad.... i dont know what to do!!!!!????????? hv said i need to ditch dummy and do controlled crying - UMMMM dont think i could ditch dummy bad i know!!!

    this is not a phase i know i have got to do sumit to sort but dont know what and how ill have energy! hubby stays up till 1am and dummies and then comes bed - but i have started getting wound up with him as i just want him to deal with him as im sooo tired but he needs sleep aswell!!!

    mason only naps 30/40mins in morning about 9.40am and then 1.30/2,30 again for 40mins

    he cant really settle himself which is prob the problem - i am trying to put down in day in cot and leave cry etc and go oin dummy until goes off but then when goes into light sleep at 40mins wakes up and will not go back off so this is what he must be doing at night!!!

    he is in sleeping bag - did wonder if that was annoying him, he is in dark room - had dummy and snuggle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    xxx
  • Brody is a light sleeper so any sudden noise would wake him early from his naps.. I do wonder how he will be when our next lo arrives in Jan (I am trying to make more noise these days to break him in)!! But if all is quiet he generally will sleep well. But he wasnt always like this! I really had to invest time on his sleep many months ago and it seemed to work. I first started on his day naps. He used to only sleep that 1 sleep cycle too (ie 40 mins). I worked on extending his day naps using PUPD - by that I mean, if he woke after 30-40mins I would continue PUPD until he would go off again. With perseverence this method worked for us - it took prob a week to break him in (if I were to do this now at 10 months I expect it would take longer). I then moved to use this at night time. Long story short, this method worked to teach him to self settle off to sleep. He also now generally sleeps well through the night (except through teething pain, to be expected). But it took a lot of work to get him back on track. And a lot of being consistent. Whatever method you use, you have to stick at it. If they dont know how to self settle, you have to teach them. It's a hard job! So pick a suitable time and go for it. Just bite the bullet though as the longer you leave it the tougher it will be.

    CC wasnt for us, but it works for others. Gradual withdrawal is another method.

    We havent got rid of the dummy yet cos if he does wake in the night, usually a dummy run is all that is needed (unless lots of pain with teeth and meds are needed). I also value the dummy at the mo as he keeps banging his teeth (when falling and losing his balance or biting too hard) and becomes inconsolable but dummy does the trick to soothe him (he only otherwise has it for sleep only).

    I can really recommend popping on the Baby Whisperer forum - the sleep section. Have a mosey or post yourself to get some help from the moderators or other members. This really helped me. Though be awaer that they dont believe in, or allow discussion of CC.

    http://www.babywhispererforums.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=485bf9bc0e09f9e89582172b97ce34d7&board=24.0

    Im here if you need some support! We've had a lot of ups and downs with Brody's sleep due to moving country, being unsettled, moving house, and several trips away - and then of course sickness and teething! But he is on track again now and Ive learnt a lot along the way. So I can fully empathise, and also see a light at the end of that tunnel for you! Well actually, you want to see all darkness ideally so that you get a full night's sleep image But you know what I mean!!
    xx
  • soz havent been on since last post just never have 5 mins now back at work and sooo tired!!! lo is 10months this week and worse than ever with waking and not going back off for ages unless i cuddle in dark on sofa in night - but even then i try put back down and he is awake in seconds... if leave to cry do dummy runs etc it goes past 2 hours of constant crying and he does not flake out just carries on getting very very distraute as you can imagine!!! i just dont know what to do!!!

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