"Mums please help... i'm losing the will to live "

Hiya everyone

I am yet again standing on the edge ready to jump, please someone say they know what is going on and how to fix it...

The story is my little boy is a little over 3 months old and from about 8 weeks or so he was sleeping soundly from 6 to 8 hours a night and waking happily between half 7 and half 8. Now for some reason totally beyond me he has reverted to sleeping for just 4 hours (if I am lucky) and waking 4 or 5 times during the night cying for his dummy (which he has NEVER EVER done).He is also wanting to get up at 5 o clock. I am at the end of my rope, I found myself crying this morning along with him because it has been so long since I have slept.

I have gone over every little thing that might have changed in the past couple of weeks but there is just nothing! His feeds have been increased cos he was draining his bottles so I am sure it's not hunger, he gets the same naps during the day, actually a little less so he should be tired enough to sleep for a decent amount of time during the night. His bedtime routine is the same, the temperature of our room is fine, he is not ill (although he has always been a bit snuffly) I dont know what to do I am starting to dread going to bed cos I know I might only get 2 hours of undisturbed sleep and it's really driving me crazy. I have even bought some blackout curtains in case the light is bothering him...

I have thought of everything it could possibly be and he still wakes at 2am and 3am and 3.30am for a feed, then 4 am then 5am singing quite happily then he might doze til 6 and cry some more and demand to get up at 6.30am... while all I want to do is cower under the covers and never get out again.

It's getting me down so much, I have suffered from depression for years and this is just making me miserable... I am just not happy with anything at the moment...

Sorry it's so long but PLEASE I hope someone out there has experience of this crazy change and what I can do to get my sleep and my sanity back!!!

Thanks in advance...

Very tired Aimee & Aiden 13.5weeks xxxxx

I have just read your post, my daughter is nearly 6 months old now and i have been practising attachment parenting which means i carry my daughter in a sling and also let her sleep in the big bed with me, also feeding on demand I read a book called the continuum concept by Jean Liedloff it talks about about these ways and how they can help in making our children secure,the best thing you need to do is follow your instincts and try not to get bombarded by what every one else seems to think is the right thing for your baby, you do know best, be kind to yourself though as it isn't long since you have become a new mum, also in my opinion i think maybe your baby needs to have you close, this could be why he is becoming more unsettled , you could try having him in with you or just closer to you,
are you bottle or boobying ???
if you need anything love abi

Hiya everyone...

Well I'm hoping that tonight is going to be much better. I think it is a hunger thing. He was fed 8oz at 2.30pm and he started getting fidgety at half 4 so I offered him some water... he was sucking like hell on the bottle was wasnt appreciating the crappy water so I decided on the off chance of offering him a top up of 4 oz... he had that drained within 5 minute. He was then ready for his normal feed at 6.30pm and he drained yet another 8oz... I must admit he is very settled in his sleep at the moment...WITHOUT HIS DUMMY... I think it's cos I hadn't been weighed for a month and he had put on quite a bit of weight but I hadnt upped any of his feeds to compensate for it... but now I know how big he is now and the fact that he's probably been grumpy cos he was hungry (I know its one of the first things you check for when your baby is having a grump... but when he is happily draining 7oz... I never thought he would be hungry again a couple of hours later... apparently I was very wrong!!

Anyway just wanted to say thanks for replying and I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow (I started another thread about maybe putting his cot bumper on his cot bed cos it is up next to a window and he gets a mightly draught cos our windows are crap and maybe this is waking him in the night when it gets cold)... Well I am babbling now... wish me luck!!!

Tired and hopeful Aimee xxxx

I found that with my son, Dylan (who is now 7) he slept through the night from 8 weeks but as soon as he reached that 12 week mark he started to wake up 3-4 times in the night. I tried everything I could think of but nothing seemed to help him.

Someone then mentioned to me that he might need weaning (he was also on hungrier baby milk at the time). Well if I ever saw that person again I would of given them a great big kiss. Within days of me starting him on baby rice etc I had my nights of sleep babk again and he was a happier baby for it and I was also a happier mum for it.

When Dylan was a baby though the age they recommended for weaning was 4 months but now its 6 months but I have weaned all my boys (4 of them) when I feel that they need it, which they have all been before the stage that the health visitors recommend and I shall be doing the same with this little one if it needs it.

Hope this info helps a bit

Take care and good luck

Let us know how you get on with him whatever you decide

Sarah 20+5

xx

i know its a tiny bit early but maybe trying him with some baby rice or a bit of rusk with his baby milk might just give him that extra fullness i had to give my daughter it at 3 months as she was constantly hungry and shes fine, also if hes teething there are some really good dummies you can get they dont have teets on they have like a bumpy gum bar and babs can rub their gums together on them

Hiya...

Thanks for your replies... I do swaddle him already and i think he might be teething cos he is constantly shoving both fists in his mouth and slavering. I was thinking about only half swaddling him so he can have his hands out if he needs to chew on them during the night... I tried it once but he was only getting himself distressed cos he was flinging his arms around and couldnt get to sleep!

He is in a cot in our room, not sure about putting him in his own room yet, I still think he is a bit too little. Not on solids yet either, he has his second injections on wed so I might have a word with the health visitor then.

I have no patience with him at all at the minute and I am hatin myself for it... ARGHHHHHHHH i need some bloody sleep!!!!!


xxxx

i have no personal experience of this but a friend of mine had the same problem. is he in his own room? my friend found that she was waking her baby up by snoring! she slept soundly once in her own room! not ure if this helps but i couldnt type nothing with you being so upset! i really hope it works out and he lets you sleep!
love steph
xxx

maybe hes teething hun mine started at 3 months try giving him a late as poss warm bath with a nice warm bottle an if he wakes later on give him some calpol to settle him off.

also is he on solids yet? if not maybe hes hungry try giving him a bit of baby rice with his bottle b4 bed worked for mine.

tc shell xx

my sister went through exactly the same thing with her little one! it got to the point where she was constantly crying as she was just so tired.

My little one is 8weeks old and he tends to get a little snuffly and wont sleep very well so we bought hima humidifyer ( wrong spelling i know) for his room and that seems to clear him up.

The only thing i can suggest (as my sister just put him into bed with her and now he is 1 and a half and still sleeps in the same bed as her)is just to let him grizzle as babies are quite clever and know you will just pick them up if he cries even the slightest.My midwife told me if the baby has been fed, winded, changed, is not cold/hot or ill then there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and they are just crying for attention.As long as you check on him every so often, he will be fine! Does he sleep in his own room? If not maybe you could give that a try? Finlay sleeps so much better when he is in is own room in his cot than he ever did in his basket. What time does he usually have his last feed? I find with Finlay if he has a feed too early he gets about a few more times than he usually does. You could also (if you have not already) try swaddling him...you can buy them all in one blankets reasonably cheap and you ll always be reassured that he is warm!

remember aidan is still only young and yes he was sleeping for 8hrs a night but maybe he is going through a growth spurt which is distressing him.

sorry have not been much help, just thought i d reply with a few ideas you could try. If not always ask your health visitor for ideas

take care
Haylez and 8wk 6day old Finlay xx

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time! A couple of nights Logan woke up a few times and im not sure why! I understand how fraustrating it can be and I cry over it too, its just so hard!

How is the room tempeture? Sometimes if Logan is too hot or too cold I think thats what wakes him up!

I think Logan could be getting teeth and he constantly slavers! I gave him 5mls of calpol before bed they couple of nights and this helped him and he didnt wake up! You could try calpol, cant remember how many mls at Aidens age though.

If Logan does wake up, I dont feed him milk, I just give him hot water!

Good luck, feel free to pm me anytime!

Natalie and Logan (nearly 5 months)