HELPPP, waking up every couple hours crying and crying and crying and crying etc.

My five month old used to be such a fantastic sleeper, but lately she wakes up every few hours crying. I feed her but it doesn't help, she refuses to go back to sleep and just cries when I try to get her to sleep. I have had two hours sleep right now, she's woken up 3 times in the space of maybe 9 hours, and stayed awake for about 2 hours each time. What the hell is going on? I am absolutely dying, i have never been so exhausted in my whole life and I can't stand it anymore. I thought babies were meant to get EASIER as they got older, Aurelia is the exact opposite - she was a perfect newborn and has become more and more difficult as she's grown.

Please help

*literal cries*

Right now she's in my room crying because I have been try to settle her for over 2 hours and I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't believe in CC at all, but I can't deal with her right now.

Hang in there honey! Things are pretty rough all around right now aren't they. :hug:
Is there any chance she's getting teeth? Some babies have a lot of pain and pressure in their jaws and ears when they lie down when they are teething. You can take her to the doctor and see what they say. Otherwise, if you have ruled out all other options, you can try panadol to see if that helps. She can't tell us if she is in pain, so if the panadol relieves the crying it, then that was likely the problem.
Also, you are currently staying at a new place, are you not? It could be that the new smells and sounds are disrupting her sleep.
She also will pick up on your stress, so if you can, try to get away to relax for a little while, if that's possible.
All the best!

Could she be getting teeth? Charlie go his first 2 at 5.5months & we had a nights like that for about a week. It was like he was 3wks old again....we were so very exhausted. Have you tried perhaps giving some panadol? Might not be, just a suggestion. We have never had trouble settling Charlie back to sleep, or sleeping at least a 7hr stretch at night from about 5wks. So if something like that happens we know somethings wrong & so far each time it's been teeth.

thanks, ladies. This has been happening off and on for ages so I don't know if it's teeth or not, but i'll try bonjela and panadol.

it's not the teeth. situation has not improved.
sigh.

It really, really sucks when they are good little sleepers and then suddenly without reason they become little tyrants working your last nerve into the ground :hugs: :hugs:
Do you breastfeed? I found that dd was at her worse when my milk supply dropped and she was going through a growth spurt. I switched to forumla and it got better. I don't have a problem with bf'ing, but it could be that she is hungry and your milk is just not enought atm. I am not saying STOP bf'ing, only maybe try and supplement her with some formula or even start solids. I take she does not have any teeth yet.
Laaater it again got worse and after a week of NO sleep, I took her to the dr and found out that she had a upper airway infection. Gave her some anti-biotics and it got better.
She could be overtired by now, so MAYBE if you see a dr, he/she could prescribe something to calm her down so that she could just get a good night's sleep. That happend to us also and my pead prescribed this WONDERFULL medisan that helped her to sleep. Me, DH and dd got a night's good rest and it was better after that. I still use it when she has trouble sleeping and I see that she is overtired. I know some ppl might think that I'm drugging her, but then I tell myself that grown-ups use sleeping pills if they have problems sleeping, why not babies?? And if it's prescribed and you use it like it states on the bottle, there is no harm, kwim?? Just don't get anything over the counter. Make sure your pead prescribe it and use it EXACTLY like it's been prescribed.
It could also be that she is more aware of what is going on around her and that the slightest noise is waking her. It could be that she is to hot, or to cold, or have to much clothes on, or that there are a draft, or just about anything ... not much help

The thing is that you need to stay calm. Very, very hard, but you have to. Eliminate and if you really are at your wits end, go see a dr. Even if the dr tells you that there are nothing wrong, that would give you peace of mind.

Goodluck, I hope you find what is making her uncomfy.

:hug: for you. It's so hard sometimes, isn't it. My DD went through a really grizzly stage at around the same age as your daughter. She was quite difficult to put to sleep (she used to be quite happy to be put in her bed when she was tired and she'd just nod off) at this stage too. It took weeks, but she did eventually pop a tooth through, and I noticed she had others that pressed up into the gum but didn't actually rupture at that stage.

My only suggestion is to perhaps try a few new things.... like putting her in the pram and going for a walk at nap time to see if that will jiggle her off to sleep, or maybe going for a drive? This will pass - keep going :hug:

A few things that helped with my bubbas were...
Burping... after every feed, even if it takes a while, they will burp..
Putting to bed before tired.. about 2 hours after a feed
Sleeping bags... no losing blankets and comfy!
Cuddle time.. hard sometimes when your busy, but just sitting on the lounge for no reason but cuddles for dd.. makes them content and secure
Hope any of these work for you and your princess... Good luck and hugs...

Oopps, another thing was when she does wake up, leave it all dark, and give cuddles and speak softly, praising her for sleeping when she did... when she settles, put her back.. eventually she might learn to drift back to sleep herself without your help...hopefully!!

Babysocks - how are things? Is Miss Aurelia settled? My DD is the same age and today has been very grizzly, it took me two hours to get her down again this morning, she has just dozed off. Im pretty sure she is teething, i think they are about to rupture.

I had to pick her up before and have a cuddle session on the couch for about half an hour, gave her some more milk to help her relax.

If in fact it is her teeth, maybe try Brauer's Teething Relief, its all natural and a good alternative to Panadol, I give DD both so as not to overload her with Panadol all the time. I thik the Brauer range has something for Calming an unsettled baby too.

BOL sweets,
Lisa

Hi Babysocks,
I really feel for you and can empathize for where you're at. My little guy was like that around the same age. I found comfort in reading the 'wonder weeks' book at that time. In the book it discusses that the little ones are becoming more aware of their surroundings. Anyhow, despite all of that, you are doing the right thing. You are mum. Some kids are just like that. Your a wonderful mum. Hang in there. There are mums out there like us, that have little ones who are 'alert'. I promise that eventually it passes. It IS a phase.
Take care, Lilly.

there will be light at the end of the tunnel, it just takes time, and be prepared for things to get better, then get worse, then get better and so on, there is always a new milestone, a tooth, a cold, or just a bad night for no apparent reason.... i've been where you are and i promise promise promise it does get better, my girl used to wake sometimes every hour, sometimes she would be awake for three hours in the middle of the night, things started settling down from around 7 months, but there was still the occassional bad week here or there.... now at 11 months things are perfect, she doesn't sleep much during the day but my nights are bliss. It will happen for you I promise.... before you know it the good days will be out-numbering the bad....

and trust me when i say this, the alert babies are the best kind to have, although it can be hell on earth in the sleep department, once they get more animated and mobile they make up for it with their crazy personalities, never a dull moment!!

you are doing a great job, hang in there and ride out this phase and most of all enjoy your little girl while she's little, the weeks will start going faster and before you know it she's a toddler with attitooooooood:)

Thanks, everyone.

The situation hasn't improved much, barring last night - I got SIX HOURS of UNINTERRUPTED sleep and it was AMAZING. But yes, before then it has been awful. My milk supply is suffering really badly.

She just cut her first tooth (beginning of the week) and she's been easier to put down but still waking. Since the situation is improving (slowly, lol), i'll try the suggestions you all posted and see what happens. I'm going to my GP tomorrow about my milk supply so hopefully when I have more milk things will get better.

I'll keep you all posted, and thankyou so much for your help!