Constant night waking and feeding. Starting to lose what's left of my mind

[onthefly]

That's really rough!
Sorry I can't say I have any ideas to help. I hope you get some more rest soon. Is your partner able to help out at night at all so you can have a longer stretch yourself?

[AndiE]

Hugs hun, nothing worse than sleep deprivation and the strain of constant feeding.
DS3 suffered a bad bout of colic when he was about 3 weeks old. I started taking him to a good paediatric chiropracter and she's worked wonders.

And this isn't so much advice as in letting you know what also helped my DS3 - sleeping on his tummy. Back when he was unsettled, he'd go to sleep on his tummy really easily and sleep for hours. DS3 did/does have incredibly good neck and head control for a little tacker though, and while I initially had reservations about sleeping him on his tummy, I'm much more comfortable with it now - though I do regularly check on him. I only tummy sleep DS3 during the day and when he's really unsettled. For the most part, he sleeps on his back now. Many others will be horrified by the idea of sleeping a small bub on their tummy, but I honestly think some bubs are born to tummy sleep. The chiro also said if they are windy bubs, the pressure on their tummy makes them feel better.

Hope you get a few hours sleep very soon, xx

[Santosha]

Oh it's torture isn't it. Nearly broke me. At the time, it felt like it had. But I'm still here, intact... and at 14 months, he SLEEPS!!!!!

What worked?

Cutting out dairy from my diet dramatically reduced his wind. He went from a miserable, grunty, windy non-sleeper, to just a frequent waker, frequent feeder, play for a couple of hours from 1am kind of kid!
Tummy sleeping (as above, I certainly wasn't comfortable with it, but I was also desperate and it helped. I'd put him back onto his back as soon as I felt I could handle the more frequent wakings)
Survival tactics - kicked DH out to have the whole bed to manage co-sleeping and swapping sides all night, some fairly 'slack' parenting of DD (then 2.5) for several months, minimal domestic, social or mental output
Night weaned (10pm to 4am)... he still has the 4am feed, at 10 months. By my ideals, this was too early and not the most gentle approch, but I had to weigh up the costs during the day of my exhaustion and failing mental health
Holding onto hope. I remembered that DD's sleep significantly improved at about 12 months... and for the most part, I just held on.

Huuuuugest hugs Hun. Hold on. Be gentle on yourself. Know that one day, hopefully not too far away, you'll have five straight hour's sleep and it'll feel like you won he lottery!

[starangelk]

My DS was a pita sleeper compared to DD and I had no idea what to do. What I realised is that I wasn't being consistent. I wasn't giving myself an opportunity to see if my methods were working, I'd just do one night and then chuck it in if it wasn't working. And I forgot about the basics.

Apologies if you are already trying or have tried this but are you feeding to sleep in a darkened room? Is your bubba warm enough? The constant waking in the wee hours could mean coldness? Maybe an extra wrap or blanket or long sleeve pj's? If you aren't well rested, maybe your milk supply could be suffering. You could try some RLT, fenugreek or activite drink a couple of hours before that final feed? At her age I would be feeding her each time she wakes but that's just me. I put a chair in DS's room and fed him in that chair until he settled and then put him in the cot and pat him off to sleep and then the cycle would begin again.

Good luck, it is such a hard run and difficult time - sleep deprivation sucks. Sending you guys some sleepy vibes.