From good to bad - did your babies sleep get worse with age?

[jackrose]

OH Yes!!! It is very common and very shocking!

I found that I went from having an excellent sleeper for the first 6 months to a terrible sleeper and it was right when I thought it should be getting better not worse.

Everyone asks you (for the first few months) all sorts of questions about how your baby sleeps and everyone warns you that they will keep you awake all night/sleep poorly/etc. There is heaps of support, sympathy and advice for mums at this stage as it is what we expect, poor sleep. Then, by the 6-8 month mark the questions move on to sitting/crawling/talking etc. Right at this stage it is common for sleep to get out of whack and boy is it a surprise!! There are heaps of posts in here about it and my mother's group mums all went through it. Every single one of us all had the same feeling as you... what is going on??!?!

I think it is definitely related to development and in hindsight I think it related to the fact that my DD was moving from a 'newborn' sleep pattern to more of a child sleep pattern. It is as if the brain shifted from baby to toddler and she needed to learn to sleep like a bigger child rather than just dropping off. It sounds as if your DS is doing the same thing, trying to work out how to put himself to sleep and resettle himself when he wakes.

There are hundreds of ways of helping babies learn and you have to use methods that work best for you and your child.

If I hold him he will fall asleep but as soon as I put him down he wakes a booby feed is all that works (so many people against this but yuo do what you have to do right?)

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing if it is what works for you. So many women here have fed to sleep until their babies work it out themselves. For me it didn't work as my DD developed a breast/sleep association which ended up with me having to resettle with a boob every 1/2hr at its worst. But that was just my experience.

It is really natural for them to wake as soon as you put them down too. Babies are hardwired to be alert to what is dangerous for them and going from the safe arms of a caregiver to a bed would have been a danger in primitive times. One way around this is to lie down with them and let them fall asleep with you nearby.

I hope you can work out what is best for you, but in the meantime take heart that your DS and his sleep sounds sooooo soooo normal .

(Please let me know if you want any more info and good luck)

[berrme]

I always laugh when childless people suggest that by around 6 months your baby should be in a nice routine and you should be getting plenty of sleep. That is when everything goes pear shapes. They start getting teeth, they have growth spurts, their diet changes, they can roll and pull themselves up, and their sleep requirements change and you just have to work out a whole new routine.
You aren't alone. Every time there is a disruption of any kind in their little lives it can disrupt their sleep. DS1 is 2 and mostly sleeps well, but visitors or weather changes, a new room or missing his daytime sleep all throw bedtime out of whack. It seems so much worse when you have gotten used to getting more sleep again too!

Have you tried a dummy rather than feeding? It sounds like it might be just sucking that he wants rather than food. I know they can be hard to get rid of later, but you could send DH in some of the time to settle DS and get some more sleep yourself.

[Just Me]

EllaElla

As everyone else has said - completely normal. Both of my babies so far have been great sleepers from 7 weeks until they hit about 4 months old and decide to turn my world upside down with their night waking. It does get better over time, but it is a very difficult stage.

There are different things you can try to help your baby sleep, but it depends on your own beliefs about sleep and what sort of parenting style you adopt as to the different things you can try to help your DS sleep.

I used the Tweedle method (in the book Sleep Right Sleep Tight) but it is a settling technique you use with babies without picking them up. Some people aren't comfortable with this and prefer to pick their babies up and cuddle them. Whatever you feel comfortable with - as long as you are consistently doing the same things at sleep time every time. Babies eventually learn from consistency that these are sleep time messages and start to learn to go to sleep when you send this messages.

There is no such thing as a quick fix for this stage unfortunately. Just time and consistency and seek support from other parents who have been through the same thing. If you have someone you can trust to leave your baby with for a few hours once a week so you can catch up on some sleep might also be useful in helping you cope with this very difficult stage (or arrange for your DP to take DS out for a couple of hours so you can get some sleep). It is very difficult, but you need to try and take care of yourself in this stage to and get sleep whenever you can.

I really wish I had the answer for this whole issue but just know that you are not alone and it does get better.

[Muffy]

dont feel bad for BF him back to sleep - like you said you have to do what works for you!
from when DS started until now (he is 23 months) we have hardly had a full night sleep!!
i dont want to scare you but i think they will settle into a routine when they are ready.