When do sleep regressions STOP!?

[LadyCatherine185]

Here we are again. We had another good month or so (sleeping 2-3 hour stretches) and now we're back to waking every hour or more. The night before last he tossed and turned all night, nursing every 15 minutes, then was up at 4 AM ready to play. Granted, he is coming down with a cold so that explains that night. But our NORMAL nights are so bad that it is hard to cope with the really bad ones.

He is 17 mo, gets plenty of running around/playtime during the day, we've been down the allergy/reflux road, he has all of his teeth (the bottom two canines are about halfway done) except 2 year molars+...... WHAT AM I MISSING!?!?!? WHEN is the last sleep regression, typically? I need a light at the end of the tunnel.

We are thinking of nightweaning via Jay Gordon, but I want to wait until after the winter and all of the yucky colds going around.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

could it be "growing pains" make him terribly restless?

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

could it be "growing pains" make him terribly restless?

I am sure he didn't feel good, because yesterday he started getting a runny nose/cold. I did give him some Motrin last night before bed and he did a little better.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I while back you said you might look into SPD, after I asked if you thought it was worth looking into. Have you gone down that road, or don't think its an issue?

[ProtoLawyer]

One ours stop, I will let you know. She's 7.

[LadyCatherine185]

I am not looking for him to STTN, or even really long stretches... just 2 hours.. I can survive off of waking every 2 hours.

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

I while back you said you might look into SPD, after I asked if you thought it was worth looking into. Have you gone down that road, or don't think its an issue?

yes I read through the paper you sent, and he doesn't seem to have any sensory issues. thanks though!

[Louisep]

Ugh, so sorry things are bad for you again. I've been scratching my head again lately just wondering WHY? What causes such bad sleepers? We had a "good" stretch too, now over.

Maybe nightweaning will help your situation but until then, just know it got better last time and will again. You're getting closer to an age when it seems most really bad sleep problems go away.

Hugs

[Louisep]

Ps I remember others on here saying that 18 months was the worst for them.

[Ravenlunatic]

From what I have heard, 18ish months is a turning point for sleep/night nursing. I know for us it was 19 months. My dd just started sleeping better (like at that magical 3 month stage where they get far less fussy after eating because their digestion improves).

So I think your light at the end of the tunnel is coming right up. I know for us too I put some effort into not feeding on demand during sleep at this stage. I figured, depending on her eating schedule in the day/morning that she could make it a certain period of time with out nursing. So lets say we went to sleep at 8pm, I would only feed her at 11pm ish even if she woke many times before that. And then again at say 2 or 3amish. After a certain amount of time the baby just does not expect food and boob at every waking interval. My dd was a morning nurser and so by 4 or 5am if she wanted to nurse more I would let her nurse kind of continuously while we got our last couple of hours.

So my advise (and it seems you have been on this road a long time so I may be restating something already tried) but, stop nursing the baby every time he wakes up. Let your DH have the first shift until 11pm so you can at least sleep for 3 or 4 hours and then take over the rest of the night.

[makuahine]

Have you considered craniosacral therapy? I don't know much about it but I have a friend who claims it helped her baby start sleeping better (he was a year old when they started). I'm considering it for dd, but since we're in a "good" sleep stretch right now I keep putting it off.

[SeekingJoy]

Catie, I am so sorry you and Liam are dealing with this. I have no idea when sleep regressions end. We faced them for years. Sometimes better. Sometimes worse. The worst for DS was actually around 8 months and then again around 22 months with his 2 yr molars. Summers are *much* harder for us than winters, and I couldn't tell you why.

BUT, there is hope. Just before DS turned 4, he started sleeping through the night. We had nightweaned long before, which never helped and honestly just left us with one fewer tool to get him back to sleep. In the end, we did nothing different than what we had always done (lots of exercise, lots of routine, catching his sleep window, lots of connection time, healthy foods, cool sleep environment with dark and white noise, etc). Something just clicked and he started STTN. At almost 4.

[Maluhia]

Our BIG ones were over by 2 1/2 but we still have regressions on ability to fall asleep, waking up too early or sickness at 5. But most of the time - long normal nights of sleep.

Here is the thing though - we are human, and even I at 31 have periods of time where I don't sleep well for a few days or a week. I think expecting children not to have biological ups and downs is setting us up for failure. So, no, at 5 years we are not done with regressions BUT the regressions at this age and up are minimal compared to the days you are in when it's only hours gained in the good times. There is a light!

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Maluhia

Our BIG ones were over by 2 1/2 but we still have regressions on ability to fall asleep, waking up too early or sickness at 5. But most of the time - long normal nights of sleep.

Here is the thing though - we are human, and even I at 31 have periods of time where I don't sleep well for a few days or a week. I think expecting children not to have biological ups and downs is setting us up for failure. So, no, at 5 years we are not done with regressions BUT the regressions at this age and up are minimal compared to the days you are in when it's only hours gained in the good times. There is a light!

I guess that is what I am asking, is when are the BIG ones over. Like, when will I get more than an hour of sleep at a time most nights. I almost wish we didn't have those 2 good months (one at 11 months, one at 15 months) of 2-3 hour stretches because it made me feel like we were finally getting somewhere....

I too, have never STTN, actually I had no idea that people went to sleep at night and didn't wake until morning. But I always went back to sleep easily.. something DS has a hard time with.. I just need to know that one day (soon!) he will sleep better. And by better, I mean only waking every 2 hours and going back to sleep fairly easily. And sleeping past 5 AM.

We want to TTC soon as well, but there is NO way I could handle being pregnant and being up all night, or having 2 babies waking all night. I guess I will just have to put that thought out of my mind for now....

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by SeekingJoy

Catie, I am so sorry you and Liam are dealing with this. I have no idea when sleep regressions end. We faced them for years. Sometimes better. Sometimes worse. The worst for DS was actually around 8 months and then again around 22 months with his 2 yr molars. Summers are *much* harder for us than winters, and I couldn't tell you why.

BUT, there is hope. Just before DS turned 4, he started sleeping through the night. We had nightweaned long before, which never helped and honestly just left us with one fewer tool to get him back to sleep. In the end, we did nothing different than what we had always done (lots of exercise, lots of routine, catching his sleep window, lots of connection time, healthy foods, cool sleep environment with dark and white noise, etc). Something just clicked and he started STTN. At almost 4.

8 months was our worst sleep time as well (so far). He was waking every 15-30 minutes at that point. Yikes. But, he is having nights like that now every couple nights. Then he will have a night of waking hourly. Sometimes we will get one 2-3 hour stretch, maybe 4 or 5 times a week. He has been getting sick a lot this winter, which probably has something to do with it as well. It is never more than a mild cold, and has only been lasting 3-4 days, but he has been sick 6 times I think so far. Not that he is sleeping any better when he is well, but he at least isn't waking every 30 minutes....

One thought I did have, when he was a younger baby and we were dealing with reflux, he would nurse so much better at night.. maybe he just got used to getting those calories at night and that has screwed up his sleep patterns?

Luckily, I have a very supportive, helpful, loving DH who takes DS every morning for an hour, and every Saturday for 3-4 hours and I can somewhat catch up on sleep.