Hi! I think this is my first time posting on this board, so I thought I'd say hi.
I am so so so tired and in desperate need of some advice/help. We bed share and I am having a terrible time getting sleep. At first, I just dealt with it, but now I'm exhausted and am really starting to feel the effects on my body.
When we first brought DS home, we had him sleeping in the arms reach co-sleeper. I quickly realized how much easier it was to bed share and nurse in bed. So, I started putting him to sleep in the co-sleeper and then bringing him into bed when he first woke up. He would get 4-5 hour stretches that way, it was nice.
Then, I started to get nervous about him falling off the bed (Even though the co-sleeper was there), so we moved the bed against the wall, so he could sleep between me and the wall. That's when we started not using the co-sleeper at all.
I love love love bed sharing; however for the last month or so DS has been waking every 1-2 hours to eat. (Well, he doesn't really wake up as his eyes are closed the whole time) At first I thought it was a growth spurt and kept waiting for it to stop..but it's not stopping. He never even goes 3 hours anymore! And the 1-2 hours is counting from beginning of the nursing session. I think sometimes it's just to comfort nurse, which is fine, but I can't sleep through nursing. Also, when he IS sleeping he tosses and turns a lot. He used to have a ton of tummy issues, but I cut dairy out of my diet and they seem to have gotten better. I'm not sure if he just moves a lot in his sleep/makes noises, or if he's still having tummy issues. But, I'm such a light sleeper that it wakes me up. So, I'm getting maybe 3-4 hours of choppy sleep every night.
Secondly...if you bed share - what do you do for naps? Do they nap in your bed? I've started having DS nap in our bed and it worked great for a few days, I was even able to nap with him for 2 hours a couple of times and it was amazing. (I could spread out since DH wasn't there, too) Well, this week he's not going down for his naps at all. Yesterday it took me 3 hours to get him down and he only napped one hour. He used to nap well in my wrap, but he's not doing that anymore either.
So, basically I'm looking for any advice you can offer me! I just need to get more sleep. Thanks in advance...
Re: Hi there - and please help me with our nights/naps
I hate to tell you this, but DS1 went through so many changes that each time he seemed to be sleeping well something else would come along to disrupt his sleep. At 3 months, he started rolling over, so that seemed to wake him more. Then he started teething, crawling, walking, colds, whooping cough, me going back to work pt, etc. What I would suggest is trying to comfort DS another way first before nursing. That way you know if he is just comfort nursing or really hungry. He may get up less too if he isn't getting milk.
For naps, I always tried to get DS to sleep on his own. We nursed to sleep or he fell asleep in the car and transfer him to his bed. I used a toddler bed on the floor with babygates around it so he would be safe. DS1 took tons of naps, only went to 1 nap at about 22 months. If your LO isn't napping, it could be that he is trying to drop a nap so you might need to adjust nap times or he is overtired and having trouble falling asleep.
I liked Elizabeth Pantley and also The Sleep Lady for tips. GL!