Almost 10 month old that wont sleep through!!!!

[*mitch*]

Ok... there are lots of mummys on here so heres hoping someone may have a miracle cure for me !!!!!LOL


Alexa used to sleep 10 hours at night no trouble.... for the last 4 months she has been really hard to settle & wakes at night & will not settle at all!!!!...

I have tried everything I can think of & as a last ditch effort got some medication from her doctor to help her sleep (not that I wanted to I had to!!!)....

DH works out of town mon-fri & I work fulltime, so he cant help during the week & I do need to sleep!!!!!

If she has her sleepy juice (med), before bed she is fine, but I dont use it all the time as I done want her to become reliant on it!!!..

I have tried putting my clothes in with her, leaving a light on, music, gave her a thin pillow with my used pillow case on it.... more blankets, less blankets, a bottle before I go to bed (normally she wont dirink it), I am totally out of ideas...''

Does anyone have a magic wand????? or any other suggestions...

I have also been on meds for the last 5 months for PND & depression...

[angelique]

Hi Mitch,

I sooo know your frustration. Mine has only slept a handfull of times through the night and constantly needs to be re-settled. I never get time to myself. She has been like this since birth and I think it is just her thing and I can see it going on for a while yet to come. I cant tell you how tired I am but I am lucky as I get some help from my mum. Maybe try keeping her up longer, getting her more tired by playing with her, getting fresh air. I find that Kat sleeps better when she is over tired and gets lots of fresh air. But then again, it works sometimes not always!!!

Im sorry I have no real answer. If you find it please let me know.

[BellyBelly]

This is really common at this age, many babies don't sleep through until they are 2,3 or more! My daughter was a bit over 2 and Elijah is 2, and is pretty much sleeping through! 2 is a common age for it.

The best thing you can have is some good support so you can have a break, make bedtime fun and loving and hopefully a good tag team going with your hubby overnight. Sleeping through (permanently) happens gradually, there are lots of articles on the main site in the baby section about sleep cues, ideas for helping your baby to sleep etc. How many hours is your baby sleeping a night? Also if she is having big sleeps during the day she wont need big sleeps at night too - sometimes until you think about it you don't realise how many hours they are actually sleeping in a 24 hour period because they are broken up in lots

www.bellybelly.com.au/baby

Books:

Sleeping Like a Baby by Pinky McKay - covers toddlers and up too
The Wonder Weeks by two dutch paeds (not going to attempt names!)
The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland

[*mitch*]

Thanks Kelly...
She has two sleeps a day of between 30min to 2 hrs..... she is at my friends during the day while I am at work... DH works out of town during the weeks, si it is only me at home on my own during the week....

I thought about co-sleeping with her when DH is away (he is too sound a sleeper for her to be in bed with us), but have heard & read that it is not a good thing if the parents are smokers (I smoke but only outside)...

I am trying to find the wonder weeks over here, but will try & find Pinkys book too....


At least there is a light at the tunnel.... eventually!!!!!!!

[lilprecious75]

The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley (US woman) is a great one as well - she is big on co-sleeping but has other good solutions as well!

[BellyBelly]

You can get some good co-sleeping 'devices' (?) now, which is like a very small postacot that basically goes around the baby, so it can sleep between you safely - gosh I am trying to remember who make it - but wardygirl might remember as she tried to track one down I saw in Australia.

It is hard to see the end sometimes, but you will get there, perhaps sooner than my two, who knows, but do know that it ends! And those two books will make you feel great too!

I got my copies from Amazon, you just have to make sure you buy from a dealer who ships to Australia and has a good rating, just like eBay. I have not had one bad experience on Amazon and all fast shipping, even a couple of weeks before xmas got here in time

Here's a link to the book I'll have a squizz and see which buyer I bought it from if you want a reliable seller?

ETA: the seller was: express_solutions

[Kirsty77]

Gemma never slept through in her own bed and I mean not waking up at all, till she was 12 months old. We co-slept on and off from when she was 6 months as I was back at work and needed some decent sleep and when co sleeping she slept through the night perfectly!

[Phteven]

Maybe a safe co-sleeping solution for you might be a matress on your bedroom floor. If Alexa can see you right near her she might find it easier to relax when she wakes at night. I find with night waking that if either of my babies have time to get stressed thety wake up more and are harder to settle but if I get to them quickly they re-settle much faster. I think that when you sleep in the same room as your babies they wake up just as often but when they see you nearby they're reassured and go back to sleep. Later you could try moving the mattress to her room. Alternatively you could get a bed for Alexa's room and sleep in there when needed.

Yasin didn't sleep through until he was over a year old and he still wakes in the night so I know how you feel. We just kept experimenting until we found a solution. In our case it was to get Yasin a double bed so that we can co-sleep with him as needed.

[*mitch*]

Thanks for the ideas ladies....

I like the matress & double bed idea, but her room is probably too small.... might have to get the tape measure out when I get home!!!!!