I have a 1-year-old daughter who has always been a bad sleeper. She has always hated falling asleep and has been really bad at staying asleep. She slept best around 3 or 4 months old when she would only wake up twice a night for a feed and then go straight back to sleep. After that it got worse and worse until she was waking and crying every 45 minutes around 5 or 6 months. At that time she finally took to falling asleep at the breast, which has made going to sleep and resettling so much more peaceful. (Before then she would suck for a bit, but didn't want any milk so started screaming. There was a lot of screaming and rocking in the first few months.) She then got a bit better and has been waking roughly every 2 hours for the last 6 months. Now, on a good night she will wake every 2 hours, have a quick feed in bed with me and fall asleep again, then I put her back in her bed (next to ours). On a bad night it will be more frequent or she will have trouble going back to sleep in between.
Before you ask, she does not sleep any better if she stays in the bed with me. I've tried that whenever my husband's been away. There isn't enough room in our bed for all of us, or more to the point, I can't sleep when she's right up close or feeding. (I'm not naturally a bed-sharer. My husband and I even have separate doonas.)
My son (nearly 3) was also a bad sleeper, but nowhere near as bad as my daughter. He stopped needing to be nursed to sleep and to have night feeds at sometime around 11 months (He would have cuddles instead to resettle). He usually only woke 2 or 3 times at his worst. He started sleeping a lot better around 18 months when he went into a toddler bed in his own room. By 2 he was sleeping through the night most nights without needing me to sit next to his bed to resettle (which is what I had to do for a while).
I am very very tired and exhausted. I cope reasonably well when she has good nights for a while (ie. when I'm ONLY up every 2 hours) but she's been a bit worse again lately and my son's been sick too. I just thought that she would have started sleeping a little bit longer stretches by now. I'm really worried, given that she is so much worse than my son ever was, that she is going to take a lot longer before she is going to start sleeping longer stretches, let along sleep through the night.
Anyway, my question is: For those of you who have had similarly bad sleepers, when did they start sleeping for longer stretches? When did it start to get easier?
I don't want to do anything drastic to make her sleep. I don't have the energy for night-weaning or anything like that. We are also moving overseas in 6 weeks, so I don't want to change anything too much now. Because at least I know that I can get her back to sleep with breast-feeding, which should help a lot with the long plane flight and settling into a new home. But I'm also a bit worried about how I'm going to cope with the move given that I'm running on empty as it is.
Your experiences, thought and encouragements would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Juli
Before you ask, she does not sleep any better if she stays in the bed with me. I've tried that whenever my husband's been away. There isn't enough room in our bed for all of us, or more to the point, I can't sleep when she's right up close or feeding. (I'm not naturally a bed-sharer. My husband and I even have separate doonas.)
My son (nearly 3) was also a bad sleeper, but nowhere near as bad as my daughter. He stopped needing to be nursed to sleep and to have night feeds at sometime around 11 months (He would have cuddles instead to resettle). He usually only woke 2 or 3 times at his worst. He started sleeping a lot better around 18 months when he went into a toddler bed in his own room. By 2 he was sleeping through the night most nights without needing me to sit next to his bed to resettle (which is what I had to do for a while).
I am very very tired and exhausted. I cope reasonably well when she has good nights for a while (ie. when I'm ONLY up every 2 hours) but she's been a bit worse again lately and my son's been sick too. I just thought that she would have started sleeping a little bit longer stretches by now. I'm really worried, given that she is so much worse than my son ever was, that she is going to take a lot longer before she is going to start sleeping longer stretches, let along sleep through the night.
Anyway, my question is: For those of you who have had similarly bad sleepers, when did they start sleeping for longer stretches? When did it start to get easier?
I don't want to do anything drastic to make her sleep. I don't have the energy for night-weaning or anything like that. We are also moving overseas in 6 weeks, so I don't want to change anything too much now. Because at least I know that I can get her back to sleep with breast-feeding, which should help a lot with the long plane flight and settling into a new home. But I'm also a bit worried about how I'm going to cope with the move given that I'm running on empty as it is.
Your experiences, thought and encouragements would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Juli
