Despite popular opinion, sleep is NOT over rated!

[onthefly]

Have you considered a mattress on the floor? That's where DS has slept since around 8 months cause he hated his cot and no room for us all together in bed.

We've never let DS cry it out either, but he's gradually gotten better (on the whole). If he's sick, teething or going through any sort of developmental leap then he needs a whole lot more help getting to sleep and staying asleep. That's just the way he is i think.

Too bad about the IL invasion. How long they there for?

[ll80]

Well not much has improved here!
I am still a zombie and she is still waking up at least 4-5 times a night. I went out and brought some Braurers sleep calm and that has made a big difference in getting her to sleep. Not a magic cure for the waking up but its something at least.
TO cut her some slack she is cutting the top two front teeth at the moment so that's probably contributing to her wakefulness.
Just have to ride it out!

Is this her routine every night?

Maybe you could try shifting her bed time 2-3 hours later to coincide with your own bedtime, so that you can take advantage of her 4.5 hour stretch? An added bonus is the 4-5am wake period would actually be at a more reasonable hour (more like 7 - 8am), so you'd get an 8 hour period with 2 wakings, instead of 3-4. To get her going to bed later, start her bedtime routine 10-15 mins later each night, until she's going to sleep at the time that suits.

I have tried making her bed time later but she just cries and whinges the whole time, it's better for my own sanity to let her sleep and me have at least a few hours to myself where I can sit and do nothing.

She's cut back her afternoon sleep now, so not having that at all just maybe an hour or two in the morning so come 6-7pm she is well and truely ready for bed. I am well and truely ready for her to go to bed lol

Have you considered a mattress on the floor? That's where DS has slept since around 8 months cause he hated his cot and no room for us all together in bed.

We've never let DS cry it out either, but he's gradually gotten better (on the whole). If he's sick, teething or going through any sort of developmental leap then he needs a whole lot more help getting to sleep and staying asleep. That's just the way he is i think.

Too bad about the IL invasion. How long they there for?

I was just thinking of mattress on the floor, if things dont improve soon will give it a go. Means having to go out and buy one but thats no big deal can just buy the base then when she is ready for big bed.

and the inlaws are staying too damn long!!
few more weeks most likely if not longer

[StrawberryMumma]

I know it's no laughing matter..but your first two sentences mde me giggle as we are still exactly the same here! arrrggghhhhhh!

Hang in there!

[thepixie]

Hey we started using a mattress on the floor maybe 2 weeks ago.... first thing that happened was that I was suddenly able to settle her without BB - dummy and a cuddle and she was back to sleep. Then she dropped from waking twice a night, to once a night and the last two nights she has slept through till 5am or 6am! Better for me too cause I can just lie down with her, don't have to get her out of bed or put her back in! Worth a shot!

[onthefly]

(almost) anything is worth a go, hey?
We were lucky in that we had a queen-size mattress lying around, so DS has plenty of room to roll around, and we can co-sleep when he's having extra trouble.
TEETH - yes, that'll certainly cause disruptions. I know DS has a very hard time sleeping for at least a couple of weeks before the teeth start errupting and then this continues until they're all the way through.... sigh.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, I highly recommend a mattress, preferably a double, on the floor beside your bed. If you buy a futon mattress you can roll it up for storage when not in use. It's a very handy thing to have... don't buy foam... not comfy and harder to store. We've used our futon regularly for 18 years. They are handy when the kids have sleepovers when they're older too.

[ll80]

Thanks everyone!
I am just back from the hell that is the local pool and swimming lessons for my 5 yr old. NO ONE should have to go through that when sleep deprived.

I guess I am mattress shopping on the weekend!

on a side note
A little public service announcement:
Please make sure when you're making that extra strong cup of coffee that you DON'T reach over the kettle for the coffee jar. You'll end up with a really sore steam burn on the underside of your wrist. :S

Oh
I also forgot to say is that because the house is so noisy from the in laws being here thats another reason why her sleep is so crap at the moment
she literally could wake up at a mouse fart
the other night I was creeping out of her room after finally getting her to sleep and my ankle cracked, WOKE HER UP.

so I've got the radio in low for some background noise and that has made a big difference she's not waking up at every noise from the two little boys now (they're 2 and 1)

[skeetaboat]

Yep, mattress on the floor worked a treat for us too.

I'll bet she settles down a bit when the in-laws go!

[thepixie]

Yeah don't do what we did and just put the cot mattress on the floor - cause it's pretty damn uncomfortable for me!

[Bathsheba]

Yep, you gotta be comfy when you lie down there next to them... they can sense your vibes... if you are not relaxed they can tell LOL another trick is to breath a little bit more audibly than you usually do... and make it get deeper and slower like it does when you go to sleep. I've heard they get in sync with this and it can help them go to sleep better. So basically pretend that you're drifting off to sleep.

I still sleep with the radio on... BBC News Radio... lovely droney soporific monologue... no sudden heavy metal... or worse still: Jazz!

[Rahjah]

We used a double mattress on the floor with DS for AGES. It was great for me cause I could come and go and fall asleep or not - and it wouldn't matter.

Now he's moved into a "big boy bed" but I hate to say it...he'll be 2 in Jan and we still have completely crappy sleeping. I could count on one hand how many times that little bundle has slept through the night...

I guess some kids are too busy to sleep