I am hoping to gain a little advice from anyone who may have been in similar situations.
I have an almost 8 month old who just will not sleep.
Since the day he was born he has been waking every 30-60 mins through out the night from 7/8pm through til 5:30am when we get up for the day, and I'm finding it increasing difficult to cope with.
When he wakes he needs to be either feed or soothed back to sleep and can not self settle, I've tried restricting the night feeds to only twice a night as he was needing the breast to fall back to sleep every single time for a long time, I've tried controlled crying but it was something I found to hard to put him through, I've tried just picking him up and rocking him back to sleep, and I've tried patting him back to sleep but it's just not getting better, he's eating 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks of fruit inbetween, I've tried making him warming/cooler and elevating the mattress as he doesn't like to be laid flat, he's been on reflux medication but the Drs no longer believe he has reflux, he's just been diagnosed with large adenoids which will be removed when he's 2, because of this he's a very noisy sleeper and tends to snore a lot however the Dr doesn't believe that this is the reason that he's waking so often and can't offer any other theories.
I work out of the home part time (my husband is away working 50 + hours a week and a lot if the time he works through the night until 7:30am, we also have 2 other small children at home full time so it's impossible for me to get any rest during the day either.
He has 3 broken naps during the day - due to the same thing with him waking often.
I'm really at a loss with what to do and spend most nights in tears due to absolute exhaustion - I honestly can't explain how tired I really am, there have even days where I havnt been able to drive for fear of falling asleep at the wheel.
Can anybody give me any advice on what I could try?
Advice needed! Tired mumma
Advice needed! Tired mumma
Posted in:
Baby & Toddler
8 Replies
I'd go to sleep school if you haven't already. But if that doesn't work, it's time for daycare, you NEED to get sleep at some point. Let daycare cope with baby for a day a week and get some sleep!
Sounds so similar, a mixture of my two children. My eldest had large tonsils and adenoids, he also had slight sleep apnea as a result. As soon as his adenoids and tonsils were removed he completely started sleeping through the night, like 4 days later. My youngest daughter would wake every 30-45mins throughout the night. She was exclusively breastfed. She would rely on the breast to get back to sleep. She would t take a dummy and she wouldn't take a bottle. It wasn't until i stopped bf at 13 months did her sleep start to improve. At 6 months old we Wentworth to sleep school but unfortunately they were unable to help. They used controlled crying as their method which i struggled with. My daughter has the most horrendous cry that you cannot ignore. Sleep deprivation is the pits, i think it contributed to my depression. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though.
Tresillian sleep school. It's amazing.
Go on to "the baby sleep company" on Facebook.
They have trained sleep consultants work with you to find a plan that will fit for your child. They currently have an online deal going.
Also, money back guarantee if it doesn't work!
One of mine was premmie and fed 2 hourly till he was 10 months and then miraculously slept through. He just decided himself he had 'caught up'. He was exclusively breast fed. He too had reflux, colic, recurrent ear infections and his adenoids out. I'm sure part of the poor sleep/comfort feeding was his poorly developed esophagus and how uncomfortable he was. We had his bed head raised too and this did help a bit... Personally, I'm not a snorer and if I do start to snore it wakes me up - feels like I'm suffocating - I imagine it is the snoring waking him. Maybe talk to adult snorers about what helps them and try and replicate for him until he's old enough for the op. And the day care idea for some sleep is essential. You can't keep functioning safely caring for 3 kids with that little sleep. Poor mumma :( Good luck with finding solutions...
I just wanted to clarify the solids he's eating as a few people have mentioned that they are shocked he's eating 3 meals a day, about an hour after his breastfeed In the morning he will eat a half a weetbix mixed with breastmilk, mid morning he might suck on a strawberry/piece of banana, lunch time is a yoghurt followed by breastmilk, sometimes between lunch and tea he might have another suck on a strawberry/banana/watermelon as well as another milk feed, tea time can be whatever we are eating puréed, so chicken & veg/ spag etc just for example, all his meals come after or before a breastfeed, during the day he is having 5/6 feeds of milk. That's not including what he's getting through the night. The meals are not big meals and the fruit snacks are more just for fun and for him to play/experiment with.
Hope that clears up the confusion
My baby was pretty similar, waking screaming after 45m during the day and 45m- 2hrly overnight up until around 9 months.
We did sleep school when he was 4.5m and also did the safe sleep space program (you can download the rockabub app) from home when he was 7m. Lots of calls to Tresillian and paediatrician appointments later, I eliminated eggs, wheat and dairy from my/his diet and that helped slightly. I dressed him in less clothes under his sleeping bag (he was too hot), which seemed to also help. I also encouraged him to crawl lots (he's very active), kept him up for longer during the day untill he was really tired and would settle easily. I do the follow this routine two naps daily; awake 3hrs before first, 4hrs in middle of day and 3hrs between second nap and bed.
I kept persisting with putting him down really drowsy but awake and getting my partner to do the resettling in between feeds overnight Last month he started sleeping 1x 6hr and 1 x 4hr stretch overnight and doing 1- 2hr naps in the day. Honestly, more than anything I think he's just outgrowing the unsettledness. My point is that it does get better and I think when the little ones are able to be be physically active things improve. I really feel your pain. I was a total crazy person and my lack of sleep was having such an impact on everything. Good luck. Ask for help!!
Our boy woke every 40 minutes, every night for 10 months. I feel your pain :( He failed sleep school, first baby in 7 years (actually got worse every night we were there). Only when he was 3-4 we were seeing a speech therapist and they referred us to a occupational therapist and he was diagnosed with sensory issues, so something else for you to consider. Stay strong mumma, and hope you get some rest soon xxxx