HELP!! I'm completely exhausted!

[katylynn]

My son is about 4 1/2 months old, and is still waking at least 2-3 times every night. After dealing with insomnia while preggo, and now baby not sleeping well, I am just drained! I am back to work 3 days a week, and it seems as if I am super emotional and irrational with my family. I think that it is due to not having a full nights sleep in MONTHS! We do not cosleep, but I am breastfeeding. He always goes back to sleep after he eats, but then he is up again in 2-3 hrs. He is eating cereal twice a day already, which I thought would help, but did not at all. I feel like I am just at my wits end. Any and ALL advice appreciated!

[lonegirl]

He is still so tiny. My son nursed until he was 2.5 and really he constantly woke to night nurse (albeit when he was older it was for comfort).
Before a year, though, he woke every couple of hours. Have you tried co-sleeping? I worked amazingly for us because he would dream feed and I would barely be conscious of it and sleep through it.
Filling him up on cereal won't really change his nursing pattern...not at that age

[SpunkyMama]

It is NORMAL for a 4.5 month old to be up that many times at night. They are learning so much at that time.

Have you every thought of co-sleeping or bed-sharing? You may actually feel more rested, because you do not have to fully wake up to nurse your baby. Ensure your baby is comfortable - not too hot or cold, check their pajamas to see if they are 100% cotton, etc. That is also really young to be feeding your babe solids. See article below.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...ids-sleep.html

[Louisep]

Yes that's normal. You may get longer stretches soon. I recommend stocking up on sleep at the weekends when someone else can take your LO in the day.

FWIW I long for my LO to sleep like yours - he used to until 5 months and ever since wakes every 1-2 hours. Also, you get used to the exhaustion, just try and stay healthy.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by SpunkyMama

It is NORMAL for a 4.5 month old to be up that many times at night. They are learning so much at that time.

Have you every thought of co-sleeping or bed-sharing? You may actually feel more rested, because you do not have to fully wake up to nurse your baby. Ensure your baby is comfortable - not too hot or cold, check their pajamas to see if they are 100% cotton, etc. That is also really young to be feeding your babe solids. See article below.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...ids-sleep.html

My 15 month old still wakes every hour on average all night long. Waking only 2-3 times sounds like absolute bliss.

I do understand how you can feel so tired/drained though if you are used to getting more sleep. You can't change a baby's nightwaking, but you can change your perspective and what you do about it. Once I accepting nightwaking as part of my DS, I became much more peaceful about it.

Things that have helped me feel more rested--

*cosleeping and nursing laying down through the night
*making sure my bed was very comfortable for me, to maximize the sleep I was getting
*blackout curtains and white-noise (we use a fan)
*taking naps when baby naps whenever I can
*having DH take DS in the morning when he wakes up (usually between 5-6) while he gets ready for work so I get an extra hour in the morning
*DH takes DS out on Saturday mornings for a couple hours for a morning 'date'

[Jayray]

I have to say I also recommend co-sleeping--or putting the crib side carred to the bed. Then you just have to reach over to get him and don't have to get out of bed. DS used to wake up about 3 times per night when 4.5 months. It's much worse now, but he is teething. With cosleeping, I go right back to sleep after getting him latched on. It's just a matter of having interrupted sleep, not necessarily lack of sleep. But I think it's definitely better than LACK of sleep. (Although, if you have insomnia having the babe next to you might be more difficult. Sometimes DS nursing helps me fall asleep because my mind slows down and the happy hormones relax me.)

My DH also takes the babe for the first stretch in the morning. This lets me get extra sleep, then I nurse him to sleep for his first nap and can sleep some more (this all happens before 9:00, so then I can start work on time--but I work from home).

[seafox]

Originally Posted by katylynn

My son is about 4 1/2 months old, and is still waking at least 2-3 times every night. After dealing with insomnia while preggo, and now baby not sleeping well, I am just drained! I am back to work 3 days a week, and it seems as if I am super emotional and irrational with my family. I think that it is due to not having a full nights sleep in MONTHS! We do not cosleep, but I am breastfeeding. He always goes back to sleep after he eats, but then he is up again in 2-3 hrs. He is eating cereal twice a day already, which I thought would help, but did not at all. I feel like I am just at my wits end. Any and ALL advice appreciated!

My 5 month old son always wakes 2 times (1:30am-3:00am is around his first one, then 4:15am-5:30am) for his second, and the second *might* be that he's UP for the day!) this also is if I nurse him when I go to bed at 10pm. (He goes to bed at 7pm) Sometimes he'll go from 10pm - 2am (ahhhh, 4 hours!) Most nights its one long stretch of 3-4 hours and then a shorter one of 2-3 hours.

I work full time and wouldn't be able to if we didn't cosleep. As long as I get a few 2-3 hour stretches I do pretty well with the sleep being broken up a bit. In fact, I often wake right before he does - our sleep cycles are aligned so I don't feel like I'm being stirred from a deep sleep at all.

Now nights he's teething and wakes up ever hour, then I am *exhausted* the next day! two of those days in a row and I am a mess. Usually its only a few days though before it passes.

My DH like jayray (what great guys we have! ) also takes him for the first bit in the morning if he does do a full wake up at 5am. So that gets me another 2 hours which helps (he'll put him back down at 7am for a nurse-to-sleep) on weekends I take that nap w/ him also and get a good amount of sleep in the end (just interrupted)