September 2015 Moms
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HELP! Tired and desperate momma.

I'm desperate! My 6 month old DS used to be a pretty good sleeper considering. He's breastfed so I have always fed him once or twice at night, but in the past couple of weeks things have taken a turn for the worst. He's now waking up well over 4x at night and when he does he is so upset I can hardly get him back to sleep unless I nurse him and he's still up an hour later. On top of it all my husband is in my ear the whole time saying how this is all my fault for "spoiling" him. Yes, I dnt have if it in me to listen to him scream his lungs out, but is that really a bad thing? He's my first LO and I just instinctually feel like some thing is wrong when he screams like that. Like, what if he's still hungry and isn't getting enough anymore. We've been trying real food throughout the day as well as breastmilk. I just don't know. Any advice or just tell me I'm not the only one. 

Re: HELP! Tired and desperate momma.

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    @knottie67048120 I am right here with you! My LO just hit 8 month and was always a not so bad sleeper -- same thing once a night or so dream feeding him and he went back until morning.  Now we are almost every hour at night and if I am lucky getting a couple hours in a row - not more than 3 TOPS. I also cannot let him scream it out and always worry he is starving so I feed him.  I keep thinking at these ages , 8 MO and 6MO they are learning so much and teething, learning to move, etc they have to be more hungry and just over stimulated where they need those extra cuddles/nursing sessions to get them through it.  I am also exhausted!! I have let him fuss it out a couple times (fussing not even crying him just making some noises a little wince here and there) and he gets himself back to sleep. But only really when I am so exhausted I just need a couple more mins of sleep...

    I have found that when I hit my limit with no sleep exhaustion and he is just so upset I pull him into bed with me and nurse him and we both end up getting sleep (not sure if your into bed sharing). this has been the only way lately that I get some sleep (and a back ache from contorting my body to be sure he doesn't roll off the bed and my DH not rolling on him. 

    Sorry if this is not really helpful... Did you recently change where he sleeps? I know when I transitioned to the crib we have had major issues and have been working on using towels under the sheet to make it more cozy and seriously considering the DockATot thing that everyone calls a miracle. ha

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    How long has it been going on? What is his schedule like and how is he napping? Is he working on crawling, rolling, pulling up? Is he teething? What does bedtime look like and how is his sleep environment?

    I generally think that even great sleepers have times when they start to really struggle, however if it has been going on for a while you may have a sleep association problem or a schedule problem.  
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    Girl, I have tried it all. When it first started I would bring him into our bed after DH went to work but I was caught red handed and now every time he cries at night I get an attitude from DH saying I caused this because of said bed sharing...Maybe I did in a way but when I've had only a few hours of sleep and DS is screaming in his room that's the last thing I want to hear. 

    We did recently move him from his pack n' play in our room to his crib in his own room. However, this started in our room, which is why I had to put him in his room. 

    I agree that at this age there's is just so much going on. He just learned how to crawl and the world is so much more interesting to him. 

    It helps to know that I'm not the only one! 

    Thank you! ☺️ @ABombard12
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    @ElleMF728 He's working on all of the above! He takes 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If he's really tired he takes an evening nap but we've been trying to keep him up for this reason. It's been a struggle for going on a week now. 
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    @knottie67048120 you are not alone in the early morning hours :) I am up there with you sitting in his room nursing, rocking or even crouched on the floor after placing him down PRAYING he doesn't see me and PRAYING he falls back asleep ha  Thank goodness for the awesome plush rug I got for the nursery ;)

    I tell my DH, if he wants to give an attitude and has to much of an opinion he can get up in the middle of the night with me EACH time and shadow my movements on a work day for a week and then we will see who has attitude or even a negative opinion.. they couldn't last a night doing what we super moms do :)   Your doing a GREAT job from what it sounds and taking great care of that LO! Do what you need to do :)

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    You're not alone. La Leche League says that things can just get thrown off balance sometimes when the BM schedule changes. 

    Maybe be the calories in your BM are recalibration themselves with the introduction of food? I experienced this when we started solids. It was on and off for a few weeks but I think we are slowly getting back on track as our solids schedule stabilizes a bit. 
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    You aren't alone and you absolutely aren't spoiling your baby - spoiling is when adults or older children are treated like babies, but our LOs are literally babies!! 

    I just read on the Bump that babies often start showing separation anxiety at night around 7 months - so this all sounds totally normal! Do what you can, follow your instincts - you are doing a great job caring for your LO!!
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    Yea, agree with PPs big milestones can really impact sleep but will usually settle back into your normal routine once LO gets the hang of it.  We had a few rough weeks during that period as well. It definitely sounds development related as opposed to the other. I'm crossing my fingers that it passes quickly for you!
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    Thank you all! I almost had a break down this morning but now I feel so much better. Hopefully it's just a phase. 
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    You're in a leap!  6 months was awful.  It gets better!
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