sleep deprivation

Hi everyone. I never knew this existed, it's a fantastic idea! I have been reading about all the sleeping problems and have still yet to find one like my little man! He is perfectly healthy, and all smiles during the day. He is a dream child to put down to sleep, as since birth he has been put to bed awake and fallen asleep on his own. This is great. However my problem is not getting him to sleep, it's keeping him that way. Every half hour to hour I get awoken with screams and cries, but when I go in there, his eyes are still shut! He even turns over and crawls with his eyes shut. If I leave him to settle himself, he generally cries so much he wakes himself up and then I have nightmares getting him back down to sleep. It is very distressing as he really wants to sleep and gets very frustrated with himself. I am on the waiting list to attend Riverton Sleep Clinic, however this probable won't happen till February. If anyone is going through this or similar, or if you just need a sanity chat, please do. Thanks.

Hi Nicole,
I'm on the Northside of Brisbane so if you ever want to chat email me on loulou_074@hotmail.com
It sounds like he is having nightmares. Ella has these and cries out in her sleep at which I have to go and give her a gentle pat or tuck her back into her cot to re-settle her otherwise she wakes up and won't settle back down in her own bed.
Maybe he suffers these too as their dream patterns are very vivid - big scarey monsters -at this age.

Hi Louise,
Thanks for getting back to me. I thought maybe to that he was having nightmares but everyone told me that he is too young. I'm off to Riverton Clinic on January 5th so here's hoping I stay sane till then! I am hoping even more so that the problem may be resolved by then, but I am not holding my breath!

Hello
I really sympathise with what you are going through.I haven't had more than two hours sleep at one time since my son was born in June. I really have no answers for you, but just wanted to let you know that there are others in the same boat as you. My son doesn't scream out at night, he is just crying and restless,and won't settle unless i am breastfeeding or hugging him. I put him down, and always within an hour or two he is awake ready to party.He only catnaps during the day, once or twice.He is a very chubby baby, and like yours, is a happy smiley baby.I'm going to a day stay sleep clinic on Friday, so i'm hoping for answers.I have 3 other sons, who need a sane mother, so i am hoping for a miracle. Anyway, i hope the clinic you attend fixes your problem, and i wish you all the best. Take care. gasp)

Hi Mrs Sleep Deprived,

Thank you for writing back to me. As you said it is reassuring to know that I am not the only person going through this. Best of luck for your stay in the sleep clinic, I hope they help you solve your problem. Thanks again for the support. Nicole.

Hello

I'm new to this site and have found it a huge relief to know I'm not the only one!! I have a two and a half yr old who was like the perfect baby sleep wise and now have a 5mth old who just will not sleep through the night!!!!!!!! The closest we have come is a late feed at 10.30pm and awake again at 5.30! That was great!! Mind you it only happened once!!!!!!!!!!! Every other night he wakes anywhere between 2 to 4 hourly!!!! The hard part is that I'm a qualified child care worker and it feels that people expect me to have a perfect child and everything under control!!!!!! He's a beautiful baby and as happy as Larry during the day! He has regular sleeps during the day and eats and feeds well.....we just can't get the hang of sleeping through. I've tried controlled crying to a degree, but have found it difficult due to living in a house where everything echos and having a 2yr old and a husband doing shift work sleeping in the other rooms!!!!!!!!!! Any ideas??????????????? I feel like I've tried everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Hi Kelly,

I hear you. Everyone sees my beautiful happy child during the day and will not believe that he refuses to sleep at night. I calculated the other day that since I had really bad insomnia during the last four months of my pregnancy, I have not slept a night through in 1 year. That is such a frightening thought, but it explains how dreadful I am feeling of late. There are a few things that were suggested to me that mildly helped for a short while. You may already be doing these. First a very weak night lite. Then some music playing quietly or I found a brilliant CD that really helped when he was badly colicky. I got it off the internet, ordered it from America. It is actually the sound of a mower and high pressure hose going. White noise, apparently, is very soothing to babies. So if you can't find this cd, then even record the next time you mow onto a tape. It sounds silly but seems to work. If you search engine the word colic you should find it. I'm sorry, bubs asleep at the moment so I can't go in and see what the cd is called, I will post it on the site when he wakes up. Another thing is routine, this has helped as he has gotten older. Dinner, play, bath, bottle, bed. Every night the same. He seems to now know whats coming next as after I put him in his walker after playtime, he waits outside the bathroom door, with a grin on his face. So cute! Anyway must go clean the house. If you ever feel like a chat, please feel free to email me on njhooker@bigpond.com. See ya, stay sane.

Dear all sleep deprived,
I read your stories with great interest. My first two children were perfect sleepers as babies, however my 3rd baby (now 7 months) was waking and feeding or just crying from about birth! I was getting about 30 minutes sleep every couple of hours, and felt like a zombie. I felt as though I was doing something wrong or starving my baby as I was breastfeeding and thought there may have been something wrong with my milk. After putting up with this for about 5 long continuous weeks, a friend suggested I try a dummy. I had always been against dummies, but now I was desperate. She had told me to try several different shapes and sizes, as she had tried 9 different ones before she found one her baby liked. I was now willing to try anything, so I went out and brought a dummy! At first no success, but I went out and brought a couple of different shapes, and whoooooohhooooo! Brady decided he like the cherry shaped ones, which happen to be the cheapest ones around to. I know your children are a bit older, but it might just be that they like the sucking sensation to sleep. My began sleeping through the night from about 8pm til 6am once I had given him the "life saver!" If he wakes crying through the night now, it is only because he had lost his dummy. I just pop it back into his mouth and goes straight back to sleep without any fuss. Hope my story helps, and gives you some ideas. We all need our sleep to stay sane for our kids!!

Hello Nicole,
Sorry i haven't replied sooner. I haven't had time to get on the computer lately.I hope things are better for you.I really do. Unfortunately i am in the same situation, maybe even worse recently. The sleep clinic did nothing for me.I found it a waste of time.I'm still living on very little sleep.If i get three hours at a time i feel lucky.Some days i think this will never end, but i'm really hoping my son will sleep better soon. I know i'm too soft on him, and everyone tells me to just let him cry. I could never do that though. As soon as he is upset i'm there.Anyway, thanks for your post, and i hope this finds you very rested with a content baby. Take care. gasp) .

Hi Nicole

I'm so sorry I haven't answered your reply sooner but things have been busy!!!!!!! I have heard of that CD and they actually had an article on it or something very similar in the sunday paper last weekend! Could very well be worth a try!!! I have been trying a new strategy the last few nights after Aidan decided he absolutely must wake up and snack with me every 2 hours . I've been trying to offer him boiled water through the wee hours instead of the breast. Of course he's not impressed with that at all but it's all he gets. That or his dummy, but unfortunately he's not a dummy man.......prefers the real thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are on our third night so far so we'll see how that pans out. Fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!!

I have a friend who had a similar problem with her son when he was the same age ( he's now nearly 3) and nothing worked so she ended up going to her doctor and begging for him to do something. after much discussion he prescribed a baby sedative to give him for about 3 nights to break the pattern of waking and for his body to adjust to sleeping a longer period of time and apparently it was very successful!! I'm not sure that I want to resort to a medical intervention but I guess if it comes to that it might be worthwhile chatting to my GP about it. Dunno. I'm not really sure what to do next!!! We will stick to this for a while longer and hope he improves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, better go, things to do......you know how it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much for your reply Nicole and I will definately keep an eye out for that CD

Hi Mrs Sleep Deprived,

I have just come back from a 5 day stay at a sleep clinic in Brisbane. It is 5 days of hell, however, my little man seems to have learnt rather quickly and I have been blessed with 2 full nights sleep since I got back! He is sleeping from 6.30pm to 5.00am. I am absolutely amazed at the change. It is very hard to do what they tell you, because you feel cruel. But the longest I ever left him without going in and patting him was 15 minutes. I could live with this. I really hope you can solve your problem soon. I know just how hard it can be when you have a little one that refuses to sleep. Hang in there and please feel free to email me at any time if you need a chat. njhooker@bigpond.com