6 month sleep regression??

jessib10

We've been losing an incredible amount of sleep... and I try really hard to not come here with every issue I have, and haven't posted, or even looked in these forums in a while but I am just at the end of my rope with trying to figure out how to maneuver through this with my BB.

So we kind of went through a bunch of fun stuff all at once. Please forgive me if I seem all over the place, because I haven't had a good nights sleep in a month. It all started shortly after I quit my newish job to stay at home with my kids for the rest of the summer. Daycare costs were killing us, and while it wasn't supposed to be a permanent thing it was something I wanted.. esp since I was having a very difficult time pumping while at work, seeing very little result. BB was getting just about ALL formula while at daycare, with maybe only 2-3oz of breastmilk.  My husband supported me, and encouraged me to quit, and we agreed I'd look for a new job once the school year started in early September. Immediately there was something wrong with BB.  She increased eating to 4-6 hours to every 3, even at night.  She had just begun to STTN, going to bed at 7, not waking till 4AM to eat, and then going back down until 5:30AM (just enough time for me to shower!). I nursed on demand, but it was getting to be too much esp since every time BB was at the breast she cried like she was in pain and wouldn't stay latched for long. 

Finally, after a few days of this, BB past a very hard pebble like stool. I knew instantly that this meant she was constipated, and we were off to the doctor who suggested we start giving her a juice/water mix and suggested that she cried at the breast because she was afraid to eat/in pain.  So we did this, but she was still nursing all the time. Something still felt off. We did a weighted feeding and it appeared she wasn't getting enough. Although it could have been solely because of the constipation issue.  She was waking and eating all night. In addition to this, BB had started waking and wanting to stay awake in the middle of the night. I thought they were all caused by a single issue at first, the constipation.. But we finally resolved that, and my "supply" issue. BB is nursing better, and accepting the breast without any tears or fussing, and we will nurse for anywhere between 10-30 minutes.

The issue is still that she's waking in the middle of the night and wanting to play.  It has usually been that I can nurse her to sleep, but she's been so distracted, even in a dark room, just having me to touch, and trying to get me to play (even if I don't engage her), that she won't nurse to sleep any more.  I feel guilty, because the only way I've been able to get her to go down without a fight is to give her a sippy of mostly water/lil bit of juice mix and to lay her down with that, walk out of the room... After she's fallen asleep, I go back in and take it away from her, and replace it with her paci. But this still hasn't always solved our in the middle of the night stuff. We sometimes cosleep, but I find my bed isn't really comfortable for all parties that way.  Also, I just began a work from home job, and BB is back at daycare, but for a shorter duration, and I will be able to go visit her during the day after my training is complete in the next couple of weeks. (yay!) But this just drives home the point that I need sleep so that I won't be so sleepy while working.

Please send advice my way!  TIA!