I'm Tired... Any Suggestions?

[lil_stinkyfeet]

Ok So I know we are all tired! lol But I cannot get my lo to sleep at night!

The more sleepless nights that drag on the more and more I am becoming unable to re-energize myself. Last night for example I nursed him to sleep around 8.. he was up at 11, 2, 4, and up at 6 for the day. That is pretty typical.. the longest stretch he will usually sleep is 3hrs.

It wouldn't be so horrible except I also have 3 other kids who are coming in and out of my room, needing to go potty, scared ect.. Then there is dh's alarm which goes off anywhere between 4 and 5 am and usually goes off multiple times.

So mostly I am just complaining but could use any tips or tricks to get my little guy to sleep during the night!!! Right now he sleeps in a pack and play in our room and I nurse him in our bed sidelying usually and then move him back to the pack and play.

I don't want to co-sleep because I am a light sleeper and can't sleep with him attached to me all night.


My other 3 kids were Excellent sleepers and this is all new territory to me..

Help please


I just realized I probably should have posted this in the night time parenting section.. Sorry!

[tzs]

i also hated co-sleeping, couldn;t sleep. and my doula recommended out of the bed by 3 months when she;d start to comfort nurse if i was lying next to her.

anyway....my babe is a good nighttime sleeper/bad napper who's had a stint of "bad" nighttime sleeping lately. (5 mo)

so here's my 2 cents.
have you tried swaddling again? we were weaning from it but i went right back into it again. did the "double swaddle" that someone recommended here. (search "double swaddle" on you tube.)
that worked for a while. now we're kind of back and forth.

also bought a humidifier for white noise (and she has a cold). didn;t get miraculous results but hey, it's worked for others.

also making sure she gets really good feedings during the day. they can get distracted and start eating less during the day when everything is so exciting and making up for it at night.

good luck

[buckeye_bebe]

Are you taking any supplements? What are you doing for yourself? Sometimes I think that sleep "issues" need to take everyone in to consideration... Maybe a b-complex in the morning for you, and b-12 tab in the afternoon to give you an energy boost to cope better?

[JayJay]

Ya know, at first when I co slept, I could hardly sleep at all, and the only advantage was that I could remain in a doze all night long and feed her without moving much...

But! BUT! But then, as I kept doing it, I got better at it and now, I can co-sleep and sleep! Thus I actually SLEEP at night and simply hand her (so to speak) my boob when she wants it. It did take some getting used to. You know if all else fails I would simply try co-sleeping again and sticking at it until you do sleep. I'm a ridiculously light sleeper - I wake at the noise of a pin dropping - I have faith in ya!

[lil_stinkyfeet]

Originally Posted by buckeye_bebe

Are you taking any supplements? What are you doing for yourself? Sometimes I think that sleep "issues" need to take everyone in to consideration... Maybe a b-complex in the morning for you, and b-12 tab in the afternoon to give you an energy boost to cope better?

I try to take b-12, and vitamin D but I have been pretty bad at remembering them. I really should try to start doing that again.. Thank you for the tip! and your right that sleep issues should take everyone into consideration because I know I am more edgy and less patient which effects my other kids, especially in the morning. After being up most all night every night I usually start feeling a little resentful towards the baby and not so friendly with the other kids.

[lil_stinkyfeet]

Originally Posted by tzs

have you tried swaddling again?

No I haven't but it did cross my mind recently, I am not sure how well he would receive it but I am feeling pretty desperate at this point so maybe I will did out my swaddling blankets and give it a shot! Thanks



JAY--- I really really really don't want to co-sleep lol I did more when he was a newborn and I was desperate for sleep (well I guess I still am ) but I want him in my room and close to me I just don't want him attatched to my boob all night.. I hate sleeping on my side, I like to sleep on my stomach all stretched out which isn't really compatable with co-sleeping

[JayJay]

Fair enough fair enough lol! I sleep on my side with her while she's nursing, more in a doze, then on my back next to her when she's not nursing. I have another suggestion though!

How about constructing or getting hold of one of those co-sleepers that attach to the side of the bed, so the babe sleeps in there but NOT in your bed? That way you could still sleep on your tummy, but, instead of having to get up properly to nurse in the night, you'd then simply have to prop yourself up and reach for your little one instead? Pop him in bed with you, nurse and doze, then pop him back into the attached sleeper? It would mean no actual proper getting up. I found, even with the crib RIGHT next to the bed (which it is) the getting up, sitting up, blah blah blah, getting baby out, putting baby back, etc etc made me extremely, extremely tired.

Also can you play womb sounds or a trickling waterfall at night next to the pack 'n' play or would that disturb you as well? "They" say that ambient noise or white noise (or the womb sounds) can help keep a baby asleep for longer. You could put that on at very low volume and pop it on repeat. Or maybe bring in a little fan, to create some white noise?

Any of those suggestions help?

[lil_stinkyfeet]

JAY-


I appreciate any and all suggestions We do sleep with a fan in our room, I have had to have one since I was little so I have that covered.

I was going to borrow a co-sleeper from a friend but it wouldn't fit next to our bed. I think it was an Arm's Reach co- sleeper? We have a King size bed in a little bitty room, there is enough room for me to get out of bed but that is about it. I had thought that having the crib next to the bed would be great too but there is NO way it would ever fit, the crib is really too big for our room in general which is why he is sleeping in a pack and play.

Since we have a big bed I don't actually mind him sleeping in the bed itself I could make that work but of course any time he is anywhere near the boob he thinks he must have it that very instant! He is a total boob man and always wants it, I just wish he would take into consideration that I don't want to give it to him all night lol

He does eat frequently during the day too.. I don't watch the clock but I would guess if we are home all day he eats as much as every 2 hours give or take but not normally ever more then 3hrs between a feeding.

[JayJay]

See I have a frequent eater here too - she LOVES to eat. She was 7lb 15oz at birth and exactly one month later at her well baby checkup she weighed 10lb 6oz!!! So she knows where it's at. Honestly if I didn't co-sleep with her I would be a crazy woman in a straight jacket in an institution - sleep deprived to the max, I know it.

It's hard to know what to do then, since you've tried most of the "tricks" ya know? There's only one more thing I can think of...

How about popping him in the bed with you, but on the other side of DP, in a sleep positioner, facing outward? I have a sleep positioner for Bella and she sleeps on the outside of the bed - so, DP has one side, I have the middle and she has the outside in equal thirds. The sleep positioner I use to keep her facing me so that the boob is in her mouth when she wants it there, but, you could face him the other way or next to DP, so that when he wakes up to eat, DP could hand him to you, or, if you kept him next to you but facing outward, you wouldn't be so "in his face" so to speak.

If I come up with any more nifty ideas I'll chime in again!

[hakeber]

I assume with three other kids you aren't going to bed at 8pm as well, right? So you are getting really almost no sleep, are you?

We had blackout shutters and we did the whole five S-es with ds, swaddle, suckling, sssshing, shaking/swinging and side lying, until he was about 6 months old then slowly weened him off those sleep aids...though he still (at 4yo) needs absolute darkness to sleep through sunrise.

He was sleeping through the night pretty soundly by two and half months.

I would definitely try those tricks and if none of that works, try getting a sidecar sleeper so you don't have to get out of bed to nurse your LO...I am also a light sleeper and keep dd in a basinette right by the bed, so I can just lift her out and pull her over to feed, and with the white noise going (I have my radio on full volume between stations) I don't hear every gurgle and grunt, just her fusses when she wakes up properly.


The thing is we sleep in cycles of deep and light sleep, and during lighter sleep we wake easily, and tend to make noises or squirm. I found that before I started the white noise with her I would hear her make a grunt or whine and assume she was waking up and go lift her out to feed her and actually I'd wake her up myself, when actually she was just in a light cycle and sleeping just fine! I realized that she might have actually slept through it just fine, but I assumed she was awake because her fussing had woken ME.

Now, I don't hear every tiny noise and she sleeps through that first light sleep cycle.

I don't know...maybe it would help? Can you sleep with a white noise machine in the room? It took me some getting used to, but now I actually sleep better with it!

ETA, sorry about the crossposting there..I started writing this about an hour ago and then my mom skyped me and I then I hit send...

[tzs]

can you guys elaborate on the supplement idea?
i've got not-the-best sleeper myself as well as my own anxiety issues. what are the ones you were referring to and what are they for?

[mkksmom]

When he goes down, will he go down drowsy, but still awake a little. I find with my LO that if she is having trouble, I put her down just before she is completely asleep, so she squirms a bit and then I stroke her forehead or give her my hand to hold or pat her on her leg/hip and help her fall asleep that way and it helps her remember that she can fall asleep on her own or something. Some nights, it just won't work and I pick her up and get her back to almost asleep and try again. Some nights I give up and try again the next day.

My dd also sleeps with a pacifier, and when she wakes up searching for it a few nights, I have to remind her that she can sleep without it by nursing her down and not popping it in. That's a lot easier at night when my milk supply finally lowers a bit after nursing all day. I also encourage her to cluster feed in the evenings. I offer about every hour when I am getting desperate for sleep.

Another thing I have done is put a little mattress on my floor for my 5 yo to sleep on so she doesn't wake me up. She was having nightmares and it's hard to have more than one kid waking you up. I also have been begging my hubby not to hit the snooze button. He gets his clothes ready before bed and gets dressed downstairs.

I wonder if you could let the other kids sleep in the same room to help them be less afraid, and maybe set them up with a potty in there as well. It could make things worse... or it could really help.

[Anna Phor]

Originally Posted by lil_stinkyfeet

Then there is dh's alarm which goes off anywhere between 4 and 5 am and usually goes off multiple times.

This seems pretty fixable; have him switch the alarm off after the first time!

[sugarpop]

The thing that jumped out to me was the alarm and DH. My DH did this last week and I considered bopping him over the head with it, not seriously. What was he thinking??! Sleeeping is hard enough without having some alarm go off every 15 minutes for half my morning.

I like the suggestion of finding a place for your little ones in your room. Can your DH be in charge of them in the middle of the night? Even if he does it just for now. So when someone comes in at night needing to pee he jumps up and lets you sleep?

Sophia is only 2 days younger than your LO and she just started sleeping slightly longer spells. Of course she now thinks naptime is a 15 minute gig...so I don't know if that was a good trade off lol.

[lil_stinkyfeet]

Thank you for all the great replies

As far as Dh goes he is a wonderful guy and I love him but the alarm thing has been going on since forever and started becoming an issue when our first baby was born sooo 6.5 years ago! As far as dh getting up at night with the other kids, I have tried it takes me a full 5min to get him out of bed and by the time I get him up I am WIDE awake so it is easier for me to just deal with the other kids myself.

Last night wasn't too bad.. DD woke me up twice, Ds woke me up once, the baby woke me up 3 times, and I had to get dh up once... SO getting up and/or waking up 7 times in a 7hr period isn't too bad right

Whoever said I am getting NO sleep hit the nail on the head.

To answer the question about letting the other kids sleep in our room for a few years dd was the only one that would come in and she would sleep in our bed but as the boys have gotten older they have noticed that she does that and they want to as well. There just isn't enough room in our bedroom for everyone. Dd has been sleeping in the hallway for the most part because when she sleeps on my floor I end up tripping over her and stepping on her to try to get the baby, plus she wakes up when he cries so she ends up getting very little sleep, because of that I don't allow her on our floor anymore but rather in the hallway. All 3 of our bedrooms are very close together so that has worked for her so far.

I don't see a total solution happening anytime in the near future so my immediate goal is to try to convince the baby to sleep for some longer stretches, and figure out new ways to cope with my sleep deprivation.

I have found that if I try to keep a good attitude and keep in mind that it won't last forever that I am able to deal much better

[boobs4milk]

hugs katie!

millie only sleeps ON me. only. and we've all been sick so you know no one is sleeping. she's never been a good sleeper and neither has natalie. i think it's because dh is so amped all the time...he passed that on to our girls.