thread: Not sleeping well at night anymore

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Add Sammiejane on Facebook

    Aug 2007
    Melbourne
    2,654

    Not sleeping well at night anymore

    Over the past month Molly Janes sleeping pattern has gone from sleeping from 8.30pm til about 7am to now waking every hour or 2 until 3ish and then sleeping through til 8am.

    Sometimes she is waking with teething pain i think and i give her bongela, but most of the time i am sure its almost like sep anxiety, she wakes and needs to know tat someone is there, she will cry until she is picked up - shushing and patting dont work and i am not going to persevere with it as she gets more upset, but as soon as i pick her up she falls back asleep.

    the only way i can get her back down is by putting a warm heatpack in her cot when i pick her up so that its warm when she goes down and doesnt notice the change in temp from body warmth to cold cot.

    Nothing has changed that could be contributing as far as i can think, she has always een in her room in her cot.... she is not hungry as she falls asleep straight away and doesnt even mouth.

    I have wondered whether a couple of nights in with us (in our bed) would help as as soon as she stirs i could settle her without her actually waking and then maybe she would get back into the habit of not waking? dont know if that will make it worse though?

    Please any suggestions... im getting very tired with waking so frequently

    thanks

  2. #2
    Registered User
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    Aug 2007
    Melbourne
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    So last night as an indicator,
    Bed at 8.30pm
    crying at 10.30pm - asleep as soon as i picked her up
    crying at 1am " "
    crying at 3am " "
    crying at 5.30am " " Brought her to bed with us
    grizly at 7am - patted back to sleep - didnt actually wake

    AHHHH my eyes are hanging out of my head!

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Oct 2007
    S/West Sydney
    1,794

    Sammiejane- sorry your having issues with bubs sleeping... What are the day sleeps like???

    Is she too big to be wraped??? I used a cot sheet to wrap the kids as sometimes they needed comfort and the closeness of the wrap helped them feel secure.

    Also you could try putting a cd player in her room with some lovely soothing music on repeat (just softly) i found with DS just the radio wouold help... Made him think people were around while he slept... he hated the silence.

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Feb 2007
    In the jungle.
    4,809

    Hey Sammiejane,

    Not sure i have many words of wisdom, except for the fact that 7 months seems to be a common time for sleep to go out the window. For us it was the top two teeth coming through and she started waking hourly. Seperation anxiety is a real issue for some bubs around this age too. The good news is, she went back to sleeping through after not too long.
    Hang in there. xox

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Oct 2006
    Adelaide, SA
    3,962

    Hi Jess,
    It seems there are a few of us around having sleep issues at the moment.
    I have no words of wisdom as I can't fix my own problems lol, however I just wanted to let you know you are not alone in this.
    I hope things get better for you soon, sleep deprivation is not fun!
    Take care
    xxx

  6. #6
    queenbee Guest

    Hi Sammie, my DD did this at around the 7 month mark also as she was a good sleeper before this. But it didn't last long and she was back to sleeping well again at night in no time. I give my little one Nurofen if I feel she has teething pain or anything, seems to do the trick. All babies are different though, perhaps try some Panadol?

    We have always co-slept with our DD too but just recently have bought a toddler bed for her day sleeps (she is a cot hater!), doesn't seem to stay in at night, loves cuddling up to Mummy too much I think.

    In the meantime, sleep if you can when your little one does, just so you don't get sleep deprivation. I had a doctor's visit as I was sleep deprived, not a good thing to have at all.

    By the way, it DOES get better. Good luck!

  7. #7
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    Aug 2007
    Melbourne
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    THanks guys,
    I am surprised that she has developed this as she is really such a chilled out little girl usually... and still is during the day.

    Jess - i stopped wrapping her at about 4 months and never had any probs, day sleeps were short, but as she is tired from waking at night she is sleeping longer... not excessive though, no more than 90mins to 2 hrs on one sleep and the others are around 45mins (she has 2 of these)

    Queen bee, it doesnt seem to be pain that is waking her, so am reluctant to use med.

    I guess i should be grateful that she falls back to sleep really quickly and i am only up for 10 mins each time... just not use to it thats all

  8. #8
    Registered User

    Dec 2007
    1,794

    maybe I should have been chatting with you this morning.. LOL..

    Anyhow, personally, if DD is really unsettled we co-sleep, just so I get some rest too. It hasn't caused a 'bad' habit, and unless DD is sick or in pain, she won't sleep with us. She just wants to play, but on the other side, if she is sick or teething, she happily sleeps with us nearby..

    Hope she settles for you soon.. And I am pretty sure that we went through a similar thing at 7 mths, but I put it down to me doing extra hours at work..

  9. #9
    queenbee Guest

    Sammie, I am sure it will pass then, like I said, my DD was the same and it got back to normal in no time, might be developmental do you think? I am open to co-sleeping, it's not for everyone but it works well for our family

  10. #10
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    Aug 2007
    Melbourne
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    I am starting a course this morning so decided that if she wakes twice iwas not going to keep putting her back in her cot as i couldnt keep getting up.
    So Mj has been in our bed since midnight and not made a peep, even whn my alarm went off at 4am for me to get yup and express she didnt stir.
    I hope that it is developmental, seems to be a common thing at this age for a few bubs.
    Dont know how my poor mum will do as she is looking after her for the next two nights (although she has been warned about this new pattern and will be fine with it all)Maybe /mj knows that i am going away, maybe she can sense it

    I like the part time on a need basis co sleeping...
    Its lovely waking up to her smile

  11. #11
    queenbee Guest

    Sammie, I love waking up next to our daughter, she rolls over and smiles at me and gives me a kiss, it's awesome