When do you just give up? - sleeping problems . . .

My little girl has been awake since 6am. I've tried to put her down a few times and she's ok for a few minutes and then she just screams. I've tried settling her in her cot, picking her up and comforting her and then putting her back down and nothing is working. She is just screaming and that screaming goes on for ages afterwards while I try to settle her down. This happens day after day - I struggle to get an hour or two of broken sleep out of her every day.

She has colic/reflux so I know that doesn't help but she is so desperately overtired and she just has to get some sleep. So, when do I just give up and accept that she's not going to go down for a sleep?

Oh hun, that really sucks. I remember that feeling only too well, Annika was exactly the same.

Have you considered buying a baby hammock at all? Apparently they can be soothing for reflux or colic, and it will rock bubs back to sleep if she wakes up. Also, I found my baby swing worked wonders for getting Annika to have a snooze, and it kept her upright. I've also heard of people putting babies with reflux to sleep in their carseats.

Have you tried letting Isabelle sleep in a sling? She'll be close to you, and really get snuggly. She'll also be able to hear your heartbeat which should help.

Is her reflux under control? Annika stopped sleeping so poorly once she was put on a stronger medication (Losec). My guess is that once I layed her down the reflux was worse. I also started elevating her bassinett by putting some things under the mattress.

Another thing I definetely recommend to you is to go and visit a physio/chiro with Isabelle. A lot of them claim to be able to help, if not cure, both reflux and colic. It's worth a shot.

Good luck, and I hope things start to improve really quickly. Sooner or later, Isabelle will have grown out of these problems, and you'll have the happy giggly baby that you always dreamed of.

I would go through phases of giving and going with the flow, and other times I would battle it. At the end of the day I found it helped to go with the flow and then when I was recharged see what I could do to help things.

Not sure if you are breastfeeding, if you are please look at your diet and I mean with regards to additives etc, not just caffiene. They have a profound affect on my daughter. Look up Failsafe for more info, some of the stories refer to bubs with reflux. Just wish I looked into it all sooner.

As Jade has said, try the sling, it was a saviour for me. I would time doing things around when it was good to get DD to sleep. I would hang out the washing with her in the sling or walk around the supermarket. Seeing an osteo that specialised in babies also helped us a lot. HTH Goodluck

Oh :hug: Lulu. I remember that so well. Don't give up. You are doing a great job.
Darcy spent about the first 4 monthso f her life in a carrier on my chest. It wasn't in her bed, but she slept and we worked on the other later.

You can't spoil her and she can't be manipulative so just do what works for you, not what they say you should do.

I had to have Oskar in his HAB just so I could do things cos he was the same up until approx. 6 weeks old. I gave up and just went with the flow and now he's ok to sleep on his own during the day for a while so I can actually put him down!

I hope it sorts out for you very soon.