Sleep Deprivation... How to deal? - Page 2

[aja-belly]

have you tried motrin to see if it helps any? swaddling? when marvel was an older baby and still sleeping so so so badly we tried swaddling her and it really helped. not like sttn but at least longer stretches.

with fox now i have him on the other side of a body pillow in our bed. that way i can nurse him easily but he is not right up against me. he sleeps better when he is not too close. i imagine it's similar to trying to sleep when someone is cooking bacon or baking something yummy and the smell rouses you. with jet we had him sleep on the other side of peter for the same reason.

i can't remember if you have a car during the day or if your kids are good in the car, but when i am on the edge (over-tired, touched out, need a break) i load up the kids and drive. either bringing something yummi or driving thru somewhere with a dvd for the older kids and a nap for the babies. because over-tired babies sleep like crap so the daytime naps are important. it would use crazy amounts of gas to do this often, but right now the weather is nice enough where i can usually drive to a destination and then roll down the windows and park.

[pianojazzgirl]

My ds is 28 months and still hasn't slept through the night. He has gone through long periods of waking every 20-30 mins all night long too. Things that help:

- get dh to help as much as possible (for us this was almost not at all since my dh works late nights and was still waking up super early every day to take dd to school, so was already very sleep deprived).

- take naps. Nap every possible chance you can get

- go to bed earlier. Forgo "me" time for now. Sleep is more important.

- rule out any medical cause like reflux. See a chiropractor.

- co-sleep. Nurse while sleeping if possible (and it is if you're tired enough - trust me!).

At this point my ds sleeps much better, though the best we get is only waking 4 times a night. But I am now fully functional and don't feel sleep-deprived in the least. We do still co-sleep and at the beginning of the night I don't nurse him back to sleep (just rub his back and say shhh), and later in the night (early morning) when I'm too tired I just pop the boob in his mouth.

[cdmommie]

Update!

I took Gabrielle to the doctor today and Dr said she is almost certain it is reflux. Mostly because she coughs a LOT at night and has a hard time swallowing food when I *try* to give her solids. So she started prevacid tonight. I am hoping it helps!

Looking back on it, OF COURSE it is reflux. But hindsight's 20/20 I guess.