Desperate. Desperate. thread- UPDATE our vacation! - Page 5

[riverscout]

Originally Posted by SeekingJoy

So true! My crappy sleeper (3.5 yrs) was up a bunch last night.

There must have been something in the air last night in NC. Even my 3.5 year old who has always been a good sleeper and has very rarely woken up at night since she started STTN at 18 months was up as well.

[LadyCatherine185]

I think we are going to try side-car, or just put the matress on the floor, so I can nurse him there and just pop back up to the bed. I am realllllly hoping that the allergies are the main problem with the wake-ups..

I have been thinking about it.. I have been doing really bad the last month or so, eating a lot of dairy (just not actually drinking milk) and tomatoey stuff.. both big reactors. He has developed some bad eczema patches over the last 2 weeks.. and his sleep has been worse than ever the last 2 weeks. I don't think that its a coincidence. He had started having some good nights about a month ago, sleeping 2-3 hour chunks, and sleeping in till 7. I am praying that the elim diet does the trick. I can handle 2-3 hour chunks..

The only problem with the crib-nap thing is that I can never get him down without waking him up. That's why I usually have to get him to sleep, put him on the bed, then nurse him back to sleep AGAIN, cuz he always wakes up..

SeekingJoy- thanks for the PM, going to PM you back!

[MLA]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

I think we are going to try side-car, or just put the matress on the floor, so I can nurse him there and just pop back up to the bed. I am realllllly hoping that the allergies are the main problem with the wake-ups..

I have been thinking about it.. I have been doing really bad the last month or so, eating a lot of dairy (just not actually drinking milk) and tomatoey stuff.. both big reactors. He has developed some bad eczema patches over the last 2 weeks.. and his sleep has been worse than ever the last 2 weeks. I don't think that its a coincidence. He had started having some good nights about a month ago, sleeping 2-3 hour chunks, and sleeping in till 7. I am praying that the elim diet does the trick. I can handle 2-3 hour chunks..

The only problem with the crib-nap thing is that I can never get him down without waking him up. That's why I usually have to get him to sleep, put him on the bed, then nurse him back to sleep AGAIN, cuz he always wakes up..

SeekingJoy- thanks for the PM, going to PM you back!

I highly recommend sidecarring. I'm so glad we finally sidecarred our crib. It's made a big difference for us. W/the crib sidecarred you don't have to deal w/the waking up every time you set him down stuff because he falls asleep in the crib.

[mckennasmomma]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

The only problem with the crib-nap thing is that I can never get him down without waking him up. That's why I usually have to get him to sleep, put him on the bed, then nurse him back to sleep AGAIN, cuz he always wakes up..

Honestly i don't think I have EVER successfully put dd down after she fell asleep, other than when I move her from my arms (while nursing) to the bed and keep my breast in her mouth until after she has re-settled in to that position. Then I can often remove my breast and she'll stay asleep. But the whole "placing the asleep baby in a crib" thing...I can't even imagine it working. Obviously lots of people do that successfully, but definitely not around here!

And yeh, it happened here too: dd had been gradually sleeping better and better, then a couple nights ago slept clear through until 4:15 am!!! I even wrote about it in my journal. The very next night we were back to hourly wakings. Big ol' jinx!

we'll all get there someday...

[LadyCatherine185]

Night #3

So last night we kind of went back to our 'regular' system.. He slept with us all night and didn't do too bad. Up every hour I think. But we did have a MUCH better day yesterday, he had 3 naps, I think a total of 3.5 hours of naps for the day.And we had our church small-group yesterday evening which is from 6-8, so we were out a little late, but he fell asleep in the car on the way home and I got him into our bed and nursed him right back to sleep for the night! : So, a night without fighting to sleep! yay!!

DH is out of town on business tonight, so it will be just me, but on the brightside DS and I will have the whole bed to ourselves!

[AlicesMama]

Well that's good news too. Small steps and all that! I think most on here would agree that getting their LO to STTN is a series of small steps over a period of time, usually taking weeks or months and it doesn't just happen overnight. It takes time, all LO has known is feeding or fighting or both and it takes a long time to gently help them towards sleeping longer stretches.

I do agree with everyone else on here though, there's no way I could pick DD up and put her somewhere else, once she's gone to sleep. We tried the crib and putting her down in it after asleep and she screamed the 'I'm scared' cry, so we stopped.
For us the breakthrough has been:
1) mattresses on the floor
2) separate sleep surface for DD
3) DH helping her back to sleep for a clear portion of the night while she learnt to sleep without the nipple. Now that's she's got that I'm sleeping with her again, able to nurse 5am - 7am, really whenever it starts to get light. The moment it gets light, she knows it's time to feed! Clever baby
4) A set bedtime, between 7 and 7:20pm she is asleep, no naps after 4pm but if desperate, a small cat nap at 5pm for 20 to 30 mins.

Hope the night was OK! Fingers crossed for you

[Thing1Thing2]

Cate, I was thinking about you last night. Forgot to mention that babies with reflux overeat to soothe the burn in the throat. Overeating exacerbates reflux so badly.

Maybe letting him go 2 hours between bfs would help? As long as he's not crying he will be fine. My LO fussed a little.. but boy did he feel great when the reflux settled down.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by BonnieNova

Cate, I was thinking about you last night. Forgot to mention that babies with reflux overeat to soothe the burn in the throat. Overeating exacerbates reflux so badly.

Maybe letting him go 2 hours between bfs would help? As long as he's not crying he will be fine. My LO fussed a little.. but boy did he feel great when the reflux settled down.

When he wakes every hour like that, he usually just sucks for a couple seconds and then goes back to sleep, I don't even let down and he doesn't get much, if any, milk. There are a few times where he actually does get a good feeding, but I'd say it would be with every couple wakings. BF'ing is the only way to get him back to sleep at night..

We took him off Prevacid a few months ago.. should we try putting him back on it? I have thought about it.. but I've also thought of waiting 2 weeks and seeing if the elim diet does the trick.

[ErynneM]

Just my two cents on remedies... don't try too many at once. If one of them works, but you're trying two or three things, how're you going to know which one did the trick? Try one thing for 3-4wk, and if you're having no success, try something new. It may sound like it'll take an eternity to get something that works, but it'll be worth it when you do have a working system and the ability to sleep faily peacefully.

- E

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by ErynneM

Just my two cents on remedies... don't try too many at once. If one of them works, but you're trying two or three things, how're you going to know which one did the trick? Try one thing for 3-4wk, and if you're having no success, try something new. It may sound like it'll take an eternity to get something that works, but it'll be worth it when you do have a working system and the ability to sleep faily peacefully.

- E

I think you are right.. we will give the elim diet 2 weeks, and then maybe try the prevacid again....

question, does anyone know a good way to slightly elevate a matress on the floor? safely? safe enough for me to lay on it to nurse him back to sleep?

he has had several naps today, and seems to be sleeping well.. hoping that means we will have a good night! ::

[LadyCatherine185]

Update

Just wanted to give you guys an update on how our week has been going--

I have been doing fairly well on my ED, a few accidental slip-ups but nothing too terrible. We have started the Prevacid again, because after talking with a friend I realized he does still seem to be having reflux issues. We may wean him off of that again after I figure all of the allergy stuff out tho.

We have had some really great days this week. Wednesday and Thursday were just about perfect. He took great naps, was happy and smiling most of the day. We got outside and got lots of fresh air.. the weather was beautiful. The nights have been 'ok'... still waking every hour or so, but I think we may have had a 1.5-2 hour stretch thrown in there.

And then there was last night... He woke every 30 minutes. Until 3:30 when he stayed awake until 4:30, rolling around in the bed. Then slept till 5, and nursed from 5-6, then up at 6 for good. Today he cried a lot. He cried in his sleep during a nap (I was napping with him). He cried when he woke up from another nap for about an hour and I couldn't calm him down. He had a LOT of gas. Poor boy didn't feel good.

He went to sleep tonight without a fight though! : So I am hoping that we will have a good night.... Even if we don't, tomorrow is Saturday and I will get to sleep in because DS and DH have their man-date...

ETA: I've been reading Sleepless in America. I highly reccomend it to anyone else experiencing sleep problems like we are. It has really helped me have a new perspective on DS's sleep. It isn't his fault, he isn't TRYING to not sleep, and it isn't my fault either. He has a really hard time winding down, and there are things I need to do during the day to keep him from getting too wired, and keep things low stress for him. He is just so sensitive to stimulation that it makes it so much harder for him to transition from awake to asleep....

[mckennasmomma]

I"m so sorry you had a rough night last night Coincidentally, dd had a gassy-disruptive night too. I think it was the broccoli we introduced.

Ups and downs. Thank goodness for the ups though...it is what keeps us hopeful!

[LadyCatherine185]

Update....

I just don't get it. I've been off ALL allergens for over a week. Things have been getting WORSE. I know, it takes 2 weeks to get out of my system, but COME ON!! It shouldn't be getting WORSE!!! We have had some of the worst nights EVER. I am a walking ZOMBIE!!!!!!!

We have his 9 month WBV on Wednesday, I am planning to talk with his ped about possible reasons for his night-wakings. There is no reason he should be waking every 30 minutes at 9 months old, other than some sort of health reasons or SOMETHING. Maybe we will have him blood-tested for allergies, and maybe check for deficiencies.....

I am going to go crazy before we are done with all of this.

Please, God.. Let my next baby be a good sleeper. :

[Evelynmia'smom]

you poor mama. I would talk to your pediatrician about it for sure....is it possible he has an ear infection?? You know, my lo has recently started waking about 30 to 40 minutes after I get her to sleep...just screaming... the first thing I thought was that it seemed like maybe a nightmare...
I'm not sure if that's even developmentally possible at this age. Also, this age is separation anxiety time as well.
I am sometimes in the same boat as you...other times not. I'm not sure what the cause is...it's really frustrating esp. since you know they are tired. I don't know any other parents (IRL) that have babies that sleep or rather don't sleep like mine. I really do think that part of this is that they just don't know how to fall back asleep without us...or the breast. I often feel like there are two choices....let the baby cio or deal with sleep deprivation and feel miserable...it just doesn't seem fair. I haven't read all of the posts...so forgive me if this has already been answered...does your lo sleep the whole night in your bed or does he start out in a crib. How does he nap? It could also be that he is so overtired from whatever it is that keeps him up that it is a vicious cycle??

[VeganCupcake]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

I just don't get it. I've been off ALL allergens for over a week. Things have been getting WORSE. I know, it takes 2 weeks to get out of my system, but COME ON!! It shouldn't be getting WORSE!!! We have had some of the worst nights EVER. I am a walking ZOMBIE!!!!!!!

We have his 9 month WBV on Wednesday, I am planning to talk with his ped about possible reasons for his night-wakings. There is no reason he should be waking every 30 minutes at 9 months old, other than some sort of health reasons or SOMETHING. Maybe we will have him blood-tested for allergies, and maybe check for deficiencies.....

I am going to go crazy before we are done with all of this.

Please, God.. Let my next baby be a good sleeper. :

I have no scientific backup for this, but I've heard that sometimes with allergies and elimination diets, it does sometimes get worse before it gets better. I don't know why, though.

Sorry you're going through this. I think asking your doctor is a good idea, but beware that you may get a sleep training talk. I got that at 5.5 months when I asked about reflux and my doctor recommended CIO. So gird your loins for that and be prepared.

[mckennasmomma]

One thing to check medically is iron deficiency (ear infection is another).

Have you taken him to a chiro that specifically works with babies?

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Evelynmia'smom

you poor mama. I would talk to your pediatrician about it for sure....is it possible he has an ear infection?? You know, my lo has recently started waking about 30 to 40 minutes after I get her to sleep...just screaming... the first thing I thought was that it seemed like maybe a nightmare...
I'm not sure if that's even developmentally possible at this age. Also, this age is separation anxiety time as well.
I am sometimes in the same boat as you...other times not. I'm not sure what the cause is...it's really frustrating esp. since you know they are tired. I don't know any other parents (IRL) that have babies that sleep or rather don't sleep like mine. I really do think that part of this is that they just don't know how to fall back asleep without us...or the breast. I often feel like there are two choices....let the baby cio or deal with sleep deprivation and feel miserable...it just doesn't seem fair. I haven't read all of the posts...so forgive me if this has already been answered...does your lo sleep the whole night in your bed or does he start out in a crib. How does he nap? It could also be that he is so overtired from whatever it is that keeps him up that it is a vicious cycle??

I think Liam has nightmares sometimes too. He cries in his sleep and wakes up screaming afterwards sometimes. I don't know any other parents with babies who sleep like Liam either. Never heard of it. I think some of it is that he can't get back to sleep without me, but I'm RIGHT THERE.. we cosleep all night. We've tried variations of crib and with us, and he sleeps better with us.

Naps- as long as I am ON him (not physically ON him, but, on him about getting to sleep), and we are not busy, he naps alright. I mean, it is a FIGHT to get him to sleep, and he wakes up after 30 minutes but will usually go back to sleep if I nurse him right away. Most naps if I sleep with him he sleeps with the boob in his mouth the whole nap. Doesn't do that for nighttime though.

Could def be a vicious cycle.. Not enough sleep=extra cortisol=extra NOT sleeping. But this week I have been SO careful with his napping and TRYING to get him to bed early as possible (still can't manage to get him to sleep before 7:30-8) and it hasn't helped.

I've done everything I can possibly think of, and more.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by VeganCupcake

I have no scientific backup for this, but I've heard that sometimes with allergies and elimination diets, it does sometimes get worse before it gets better. I don't know why, though.

Sorry you're going through this. I think asking your doctor is a good idea, but beware that you may get a sleep training talk. I got that at 5.5 months when I asked about reflux and my doctor recommended CIO. So gird your loins for that and be prepared.

I wonder if that is true about ED's. That would be nice if things start to improve....

I am ready for the CIO talk, though I don't think my ped will tell me to. She is very AP friendly, and open to talking about lots of different options about lots of different things...

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by mckennasmomma

One thing to check medically is iron deficiency (ear infection is another).

Have you taken him to a chiro that specifically works with babies?

I have not taken him to a chiro, though that has been suggested to me before. Does anyone know HOW that would help? Or have any success stories of it helping sleep? Its a lot of money to pay for something I know nothing about and haven't heard anything from anyone about how it has helped baby's sleep.

He doesn't have an ear infection. No fever, is fine during the day.. just doesn't SLEEP...................

[MujerMamaMismo]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

Please, God.. Let my next baby be a good sleeper. :

Another babe. You're a bigger person than me. I'm convinced DS is an only after the hell of sleeplessness.