help please - sleep/eating issues

[Tillytots]

I really really need some advice.

James day/nght routine is a nightmare. Im completely at the end of my tether :annoyed:

James hs never been a great sleeper but its getting worse and worse by the day. He slept in my bed until about approx October 2008 (I think) I moved him to his cot and he slept quite well, sometimes going through the night. The cot was sill in my room. I tried moving James to his own room about a month ago and he completely freaked out. I spent about 2 weeks takig him up in his own room to play for half hour or so everyday so he got used to the room. I filled it with his toys and to be honest its identical to my room so doesnt look any different shape wise. He cried so much and would scream and try to wiggle away anytime I got him near his cot so I moved him back into my room the next day.

Anyway, James has had one good night since November 2008. He had been teething so I put it down to that but now I have no idea whats wrong with him. He wont really eat either. Here is what happens in our days.

5am get up - James is fine for a couple of hours, happy playing

8am Breakfast - I give James toast & juice. He wont drink juice and has 1 tiny bite of toast. He sreams to get out of highchair

9am By now James is completely ratty, non-stop moaning. I give him 7oz milk.

11am James has half an hour nap

12pm We have lunch. James will eat 4 grapes, possibly 2 bits of banana, about 4 blueberries and about 1 mini breadstick. I give him juice but he throws it. He is happy until about 2pm

1pm Milk 7oz

2pm James sometimes has a nap for 20mins otherwise he will moan/whinge

5pm Dinner time. James will only eat peas. He used to eat all veg/chicken or whatever I gave him but now he chucks everything on the floor apart from peas so I end up giving him more grapes. He will try any food I put infront of him but always spits it out and gets angry and throws it :surprised:

6pm James has a bath and 7oz milk.If James hasnt had a nap at 2pm then he falls asleep after his bottle for an hour

8.30pm-9pm I take James up to bed give him another bottle 5oz ( I make 7 but he wont drink it)

9-9.30pm He falls asleep. This is much etter on 2months ago because he wasnt going to slee until 11-12pm

10-11pm James fusses but he lays back down

12-1am - He is up and I give him 8oz milk

1am - 4am James will cry every 15-30mins. He sits up in his cot, whinging. Most of the time his eyes are still shut like he is asleep???? If I dont physically get up and lay him down it will esculate into a full blown scream.

4/5am - More milk - 8oz (If I dont give James milk he will scream and scream and scream)

New day...............and the shit starts all over again.


Its driving me into the ground. I have zero energy, I can hardly lift James up where Im so shattered. Im covered in spots and have bags under my eyes that you could go on holiday with. I dont want to do anything where Im just so tired. Its effecting his life too as Im always so grouchy. I just want my baby to eat and sleep a little and everything will be perfect. It sees pretty lame to say that having no sleep is making me lose the will to live but its so true.

HELP!!! please xx

 

[newmum]

5am get up - James is fine for a couple of hours, happy playing

8am Breakfast - I give James toast & juice. He wont drink juice and has 1 tiny bite of toast. He sreams to get out of highchair

9am By now James is completely ratty, non-stop moaning. I give him 7oz milk.

11am James has half an hour nap

Hi,
sorry you are having a tough time. It takes ages to figure everything out and then as soon as you do, they change.

I was wondering about your first part of the day. My LO also gets up around 5am You have my sympathy.

Even though he gets up at 5am he doesn't sleep again until 11am but you said that he gets ratty etc. I don't know if this means he is hungry or not but what works for us and was also the same when she was 9-10 months:

5am -6am get up
7am breakfast: porridge and milk (she won't eat anything else for bfast ever)
9am back to sleep for a nap
10am maybe a small snack to keep her going until lunch time, depending on how long she sleeps etc
12pm lunch time

This is the pattern she fell into and I am wondering if maybe your LO is not ready for the toast and juice for bfast. If he is hungry and doesn't take the bfast then by 9am I guess he will be really cranky. You might find that if he has actually eaten bfast rather than waiting for his milk at 9am, he might fall asleep a bit earlier too and you will get a bit of time in the mornings.

I guess if the first part of the day changes, then it may have a knock on effect through the rest of the day although it might take a while.

Hope you are able to do something over the next few weeks.

 

[debecca]

Sarah you poor thing

Will come back later and see if I can offer any advice (probably not as I am certainly no expert )...

Got to go make Flod's lunch now xxx

 

[xkikix]

I'd say its the first part of the day thats the problem too

We have pretty much the same routine as newmum...

He's in our bed by 5am and cuddled til 6.45am

7am Milk
9am Weetabix Then sleep
sleeps for 1 hour
Play til lunch
12.00 Lunch
then he stays in his highchair after lunch for a good 30 mins so I have my lunch tea etc
after lunch Playtime
3pm Milk
Then sleep for 2 hours
5pm dinner
7pm bath bottle bed

 

[debecca]

OK, I'm back. Not sure what use it is, but here's our routine:

7.30am Wake up, 6oz bottle.
8.15am porridge (with 2oz of her milk - although recently it's been 3-4oz)

Play until

(11am bottle - 4oz - been having this recently due to growth spurt but had previously dropped it)
12.30pm (ish) - Lunch YUM!

Sleep from 1-3.30 ish

3.30pm - Bottle
5.15pm - Tea
6.30pm - bath bottle bed.

 

[xkikix]

Sorry my reply was crap, the monster was being a horror so had to be quick.

- Have you tried something like weetabix for brekkie? I use formula milk and he has it warm and its nice and filling. Chester gobbles down a whole weetabix in minutes.

- Have you tried jar food? I know some people hate them, but most of my food he wont eat cus its much too lumpy for him no matter how much I mush. I tend to use Hipp Organic, he only has 1 jar at midday then finger foods for dinner but this is the best way I got him to eat substantially.

- What about yogurts?

 

[Tillytots]

thanks for your replies ladies

I will have to have a proper read tommorrow as James is still going strong and cranky! He only had 30mins nap at 1.30pm today! I ran in the shower and havent done much else.

One thing though....James wont eat ANYTHING off a spoon. He hates jars, can only eat soya yoghurts as he is lactose intolerant but I have to give him the pot because he clamps his mouth shut if I come at him with a spoon. Ive tried the giving him a spoon trick, being silly, doing the aeroplane noise and every other sort of transport known to man kind ....to no avail! He is as stubborn as they come

 

[sunnyday]

Hi, sorry to hear you're having a bad time. Sleep deprivation is awful and having to cope with this on you're own must be extra hard.

Just my thoughts but I think perhaps he's got his balance of milk and solids a bit off balance.

I would be inclined to give him milk when he wakes at 5am. Some babies need this early morning feed and some will even go back to sleep (if you're really lucky)! I would think that maybe he isn't taking much toast at breakfast because he is so hungry - sometimes babies need the fast fill of milk to quench their hunger. They don't understand that they can also satisfy hunger with solids.

Still then offer breakfast as before...toast or whatever you think he might like.

If he's had milk at 5am, then I think I would probably offer a small-ish feed mid morning. I'd be inclined to not give too much as to spoil his appitite for lunch. Perhaps 4 or 5oz.

Keep trying with lunch, but maybe delay the feed you have been giving him at 1pm until 2.30 - 3pm. I think that by giving him milk directly after lunch will not help to encourage the solids. I guess just stick to the finger foods if he won't take it off a spoon. I find with my LO that if I put finger food on his tray and leave him to it he's more likely to eat it without me watching over him.

As for the constant waking and need for milk throughout the night...I'm not sure. Could it be reflux? I can only suggest talking to your HV or GP. People do say that more sleep in the day often means better sleep at night....what about taking him out for a walk in the afternoon? Would he sleep in the pram?

Really hope he improves soon keep us posted.