Desperately Seeking Sleep.....

[krisp]

Not sure what forum to put this in so here goes - please move if not in the correct place!

My 8 month old DD is having a sleep crisis at the moment. She has always had 2 overnight bottles but it was a quick bottle, nappy change and back in bed all within 20 mins so no big deal.
Then, I went back to work 5 weeks ago (3 days a week) and she has been sick with a cold ever since. She is waking anywhere up to 10 times a night and we are totally exhausted. She is coughing which wakes her, she also has a dummy which she spits out and then wakes crying for it. She is still having 2 overnight bottle feeds as she just isn't interested in solids and it's a real battle to get her to eat anything. I know if I cut down the milk she might be hungry enough to eat, but the idea of starving her to get her to eat solids doesn't appeal to me so I'm being patient.

We decided last Friday night the dummy had to go as we think it's making things worse as she can't breathe and suck the dummy at the same time as she's all clogged up. She went to bed at 6.30 like usual, no problems there. She then woke at 8.15 without he dummy and cried for it. I didn't give it to her and after 2 hours of her crying and screaming and me and my Husband taking turns patting, sshhhing, rocking, jiggling and singing I could take no more and gave her dummy to her she went straight back to sleep but then it all started again in another hour. This process repeats itself all night every night.
We are at our wits end, we are fighting and yelling at each other because we are both so sleep deprived.
The final straw came last night when we were having an argument over something trivial I yelled at my DH to "shutup" and my 2 year old repeated "shutup". I cried and cried, I felt so sick and distressed that he said that, even though he had no idea what it was he was saying. I can't have him exposed to us constantly bickering.
I rang the Queen Elizabeth Sleep Centre in Melbourne out of desperation today and it will be about 3 months before I can get in.

My DH and I might just kill each other before then.

Please ladies, I need some ideas on how to help my little girl get back her restful nights.

[sneakysparkle]

I'm so sorry darl, I don't have any words of wisdom for you - just a hug
I hope you all get some sleep soon...

[Ginger]

krisp- my ds has got a really bad cold and cough atm and i haven't slept for more than 2 hours in a row for three weeks now- so i feel your pain. i guess the only good thing is i don't have to go to work the next day, you poor love.
ds is off solids too and is feeding a lot at night to make up for it.
the only things i can suggest to you are things we have been trying;
vaporiser in his room
fess little noses sucker to unblock the nose
dinetapp (sp?)
other than that i just wanted to say i know what you're going through and i yell at dp every night lately!

[Chocaholic]

I am so sorry. Sleep deprivation is awful.

I assume she is still blocked up with her cold. Have you tried lifting one end of the cot mattress up a bit (using a pillow or phone book) so her head is above her chest? Also have heard that some Baby Vicks on the feet and cotton socks covering might help.

I hope your DD gets better soon.

[~mamaspice~]

Hi Krisp, Charli has her second cold at the moment and it is really hanging around. She has a continuously stuffed up and running nose and she's got a pretty bad cough also. There are a few things I do to try and alleviate her congested nose. I have raised the mattress in the cot slightly, I've bought a vaporisor that I have on in her room at night time and it has a special eucalyptus oil you put in the water. Also when I went to the chemist in desperation he suggested I give her polaramine to help with clearing her congestion at night time and to help her sleep. I definately think that doing the combination of these three things has made a huge difference, and we are all sleeping better.

I really feel for you sweetie, I hope your bubba gets better soon.

[krisp]

Thanks for the replies ladies, it helps to know there are other babies who do not sleep out there. All the girls at playgroup but me seem to have perfect sleeping babies!

We have raised the matress up and it didn't make any difference at all. BUT, the good news is I got a vaporiser for her yesterday ande she was only up 3 times, twice for milk and once for a cuddle. I don't want to jinx myself but maybe she's getting better.....

I do have some Polaromine so perhaps I'll give that a go tonight.

[Hansie]

Hi Krisp,

I returned back to work 4wks ago and DS has had a cold and cough for about 3wks.So I understand your pain. We are doing the same things as Rainforest has suggested Vicks Vaporiser in his room, fess nose sucker and when we took DS to the GP they suggested some Otrivin drops (1 drop up each nostril - over the counter) which we use just at night. They are not to be used constantly but does give him some relief and stops his nose running. My only consolation (sp) is that he still loves his solids.

I hope your DD feels a little better soon and gives you both some well earned rest!
hugs Hansie

[Jaycee]

Hi there
I feel your pain also, I returned to work 3 days a week 4 weeks ago and for those 4 weeks my DS has had really bad problems with teething.
He's up all night and I have been running on 4 hours (of broken sleep) for the past 3 weeks and having to get up to go to work, it's just awful.
My DH and I are also fighting and I just don't know what to do... there doesn't seem to be light at the end of the tunnell at the moment, my poor boy is in so much pain.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know I also feel your pain!
xx

[Tashie D]

Hi Krisp,

I went back to work when my first DS was 9 months and it was HELL!!!

Now with my second DS this winter has also been hell and I'm a full time mum!!

For colds what we did was:
Raise Mattress,
Fess his nose at least twice a day - this really did work for us and he stopped fighting it after a couple of days of being held down ()
Demazin before bed
Vaporiser all night
Heater on in his room.

This changed him from getting up a few times a night to twice. He does have a bottle association, so unfortunately this in another thing we will have to break, but after nearly 3 weeks, he is only up once a night now.

You can call you maternal health nurse and ask the for the numbers of both Koo Wee Rup sleep school and Rosebud, both medicare rebatable. If you have private health cover, my girlfriend swears by Masada Private hospital. The private ones are much quicker to get into.

Good luck. Your DH and you need to take turns so someone is getting sleep. This is what we do, that way hopefully you don't fight and can try and support each other. If you can get a relative to come one night to give you both a break or just sleep as much as you can on the weekends, this also has helped us.