someone PLEASE help me

[jennifer1981]

Im gonna go mad! Seriously.

Ok, in brief, LO is 6 months old..... his 'routine' for the past few weeks is bed at 8pm (couldn't go any later than this as he is completely shattered then he is waking up at 11pm EVERY night without fail and will not go back to sleep until 2am (ish). Then he sleeps until 10am.

Ive tried everything I can think of.... iv given him some cereal before bed (as well as his bottle) in case he was waking from hunger - he woke at 11pm anyway. Ive tried and tried to rock him back to sleep, he arches his back like a banana and goes all stiff, therefore not letting you. I've tried waking up up early the next morning (at 7am) but he woke STILL woke at the same time of 11pm.

I dont know what to do?

I was in bed at 9pm last night coz i am so shattered with it all and left OH to see to LO. However, since LO has started this squealing faze, I could hear OH getting wound up after hearing him squeal for an hour or so so i ended up having to go down to settle him myself.

PLEASE someone, help me! Oh perhaps i should mention that at the moment we co-sleep but i have just bought LO a new mattres for his cot for him to go in there (cost me a flippin fortune but worth it for a decent nights sleep). I haven't tried him in it yet. Was going to start him in it tonight? Or should i get his routine of times sorted first? Im soooo tired. I cant think straight and me and OH are arguing with the lack of sleep so really need this sorted

PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chickadee1976]

Try him in his cot, in his own room perhaps. Ive heard others say it works wonders.
It will also be you breaking his routine he has got himself into

 

[mamichuli]

Aww hun, poor you. I tend to agree - if you change his habits dramatically by putting him in his own cot, it might do the trick - especially if he is in a different room. Sometimes what starts these routines is that the LO wakes up when you go to bed as he hears you getting ready for bed and wakes?



Lisa

 

[loz]

Emma's sleep pattern changed totally at 5.5 months and I think it might have been to do with weaning and teething. I would say that I agree with putting him in his own room and seeing how that goes. It was about 8 months when Emms' sleep pattern started to get better - I know that's not what you want to hear but i think they go in phases with sleeping. You may find that in his own room where it's quiet with a teddy to cuddle to, he might improve.

 

[flowergirl]

I'm no expert but I've seen a few of the Baby Whisperer programmes (Tracey Hogg I think) on the TV lately and tried some of her advice for myself.

My LO was waking habitually at set times EVERY night and I would always oblige and feed her so she continued. I knew it was entrenched behaviour and decided to tackle it.

To start with I started to disrupt her night time waking routine by waking her up to feed her an hour before she would have woken out of habit.

If she woke again after that I resolved not to feed her for half an hour - leaving her in her cot (sometimes crying and shouting at me) but always popping in to reassure her. If she genuinely needed a feed she would still be awake after 30 mins, if not she would have fallen asleep.

From the second night of doing this I saw a change and all it took was about 5 days before she went from 5 wake ups per night to sleeping through for the first time ever!

I would advise that you put your LO in his own room and get him up earlier in the morning and put himin bed earlier in the evening.

Don't try rocking him to sleep otherwise he will depend on this to get to sleep when really he should be able to fall asleep on his own. If he is crying and fussing you could try the pick up put down method ( I haven't dont this myself ) which involves you hugging (but not jiggling or rocking) your LO until they calm and they laying them in the cot- if they start crying again pick up again and cuddle and continue the process until they fall asleep (first night of doing this aparrently you might spend and hour settling them this way but it works eventually!)

I think you absolutely did the right thing leaving your OH to settle your LO- you certainly need a break but it also helps disrupt the normal routine further for your LO.

Good luck- I hope you manage to get some better sleep xxx

 

[kalia]

Is it possible that when he wakes at 11 he gets wound up and that wakes him more? I know that DD wakes if we don't dreamfeed her at 11. If we take her out of her cot asleep, feed her and gently put her back in it is very easy. If she wakes up properly then it takes longer to settle her. Perhaps gently feed him at 10.30 without waking him and see what happens.

Our HV told us that her body is making stomach acid ready to digest the milk so that wakes her as she is in the habit of being fed at these times and she is hungry. This makes a lot of sense to me - at the school I currently work at break is at 10.20 and I am hungry then. At another school I worked at it was 11.45 and that was when I used to get hungry as I was in that habit. I think starving the baby for a few night to get them out of the habit is mean. I know it is right for some people but I couldn't not feed my baby when her tummy is sore because she is hungry. The HV said that the best way to stop them is to reduce the amount of milk you give and then give water. The water fills their stomach and dilutes the acid but means they produce less over time because it isn't needed.

 

[jennifer1981]

Thank you all for your great advice. I took bits of advice from everyone and compiled my new routine! Im glad to say IT WORKED the first night of trying it! Hoping it continues!!!!

I put LO into his cot (instead of ourbed), i still kept the cot in our room though as im not ready for him to be in his own room just yet. I woke him up to dream feed him and he slept through until I woke him up at 8am. Im hoping this continues. I can defintly see the benefit of disrupting their routines as it seems to have worked for me.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[flowergirl]

Glad it worked- hope it continues xxx

 

[BabyMagic]

Great to hear it worked

Hope it will continue too so that you can get some sleep x