Exhausted mum and sleepless 5 month old

Kelinik

My little chappie is a week older than yours (11th april) and is teething in a big way. Its affecting his sleep (not that he's been a good sleeper up until now anyway!) - could this be part of the problem your end?

aligerdie

Gillby1 wrote: »

Aligerdie - no teeth yet, but it's quite possible that's part of the reason.

I suppose the worse thing about all this is the frustration of not know why he's waking, and therefore not being able to 'solve the problem'. If i just accept that he's still very young and that sometimes young babies wake in the night for no apparent reason, then i might just be able to relax about it.

Thanks again everyone. Even just talking about it is making me feel better!

If he has no teeth yet, then I would definitely try the calpol/bonjela when he wakes. He's at that teething age, and the first few are v painful.

Give it a try one night, and you may notice a difference, afterall, you've got nothing to lose!

I do feel for you, it was awful being up every hour with DD1 and it took me a long time to feel human again.
I'm a glutton for punishment though as I'm now pregnant with number 4!

Good luck, really hope you get some sleep soon. xx

Gillby1

Kelinik wrote: »

My little chappie is a week older than yours (11th april) and is teething in a big way. Its affecting his sleep (not that he's been a good sleeper up until now anyway!) - could this be part of the problem your end?

Well, he has been chewing on everything, and dribbling lots, but as far as i'm aware that isn't always a sign of teething? Funnily enough, i did notice that he had pink cheeks yesterday, so that may explain why he was particularly bad last night. There's no sign of anything in his gums, though. Can you actually see the tooth coming through?

Gillby1

aligerdie wrote: »

If he has no teeth yet, then I would definitely try the calpol/bonjela when he wakes. He's at that teething age, and the first few are v painful.

Give it a try one night, and you may notice a difference, afterall, you've got nothing to lose!

Thanks again - sympathy appreciated! I will give the bonjela/calpol a try, just in case. The only reason i'm unsure re teething is that he's been this wakeful since birth, and i wondered if it's because of something i'm doing/not doing, rather than something to do with him.

Funnily enough, despite the exhaustion, OH and i can't wait to start trying for the next one. I guess that says it all!

xxx

Kelinik

Gillby1 wrote: »

Well, he has been chewing on everything, and dribbling lots, but as far as i'm aware that isn't always a sign of teething? Funnily enough, i did notice that he had pink cheeks yesterday, so that may explain why he was particularly bad last night. There's no sign of anything in his gums, though. Can you actually see the tooth coming through?

Yeah the dribbling and chewing alone doesn't necessarily mean teeth but that with the red cheeks and disturbed sleep make it sound likely to me. You can see (and feel - ouch!) the teeth as they come through the gum but bubs can teeth for some time before they get to that point so it might be worth trying some teething powders and/or baby bonjela anyway. Little man likes me rubbing his gums quite firmly with my finger too, it can actually settle him down when he's being a grump - funny boy he is!

Suzanne_Louise

Thing is, you're so used to waking up that when you wake up and the baby isn't awake, you end up going to check on them, to find out why they're not awake!!!!!! :rotfl:

honeypop

My DS woke up due to teething from 5 months, I never even saw the offending tooth until 9 months. I used Ashton and Parsons teething powder, tipped half a dose into his mouth when he woke and he was straight off to sleep again. Eventually I could do this with my eyes closed, so when I heard him I'd trot off to his room, tip it in and back to bed withut really opening my eyes, so I could get back to sleep better!
Obviously if he wasn't waking through teething. I'd properly see what was wrong, but I knew when it was.

SugarSpun

I'd also recommend co-sleeping, Ashton and Parson's powders - and also leaving something that smells of you in his cot so he can smell you when he wakes, think you're nearby, and maybe settle himself back off.

Sharra

My son was the same, waking every hour from birth and was still doing it at that age.
We did start him on solids at 2 1/2 months because he was a hungry baby (this was in the days when most ppl weaned at 3 months).
Some practical suggestions - you could take him to a cranial osteopath, if its been going on since birth, there is a chance its linked to the birth trauma.
Can you fit his cot in the living room? We only had a one bedroom flat and thats what we did. We also had a mattress on the living room floor and took it in turns to sleep in there with him.
We actually got to the point where we couldn't cope with him not sleeping, and we did the leave them to cry technique. I know a lot of people frown upon it now, but literally within 3 nights he was sleeping through the night. (This was at 5 months).
It was an awful experience, you have to be really determined. The first night he screamed for 2 1/2 hours, my OH had to sit against the door to stop me going in to him. The next night it was less, and the third it was hardly anything.
Again, I know some people think this is cruel, but we made the decision that a weekend of stress for him would probably have a lot less impact in the long run than him carrying on not sleeping, him being tired all the time, and him having parents who weren't good for anything.

Re you not being able to get to sleep - I was exactly the same, and I found that during the night, it was hard to get back to sleep because of the anticipation of being woken up.
It does get better, hang in there.
Sharra
x

Gillby1

Sharra, thanks for your post. I totally agree that leaving him to cry is a possibility as a last resort. I'd obviously hope not to have to do it, but if i get any more exhausted i won't be much use as a mummy or wife, which is no good for anyone! It's good to know that it worked for you, and it helps to know that we've got another option if things don't improve when we move house.

I'll have a think about moving him into the hallway, perhaps.

Funnily enough, having posted this yesterday, last night he slept from 8 till 5am, then went back to sleep until i woke him at 7.30! No idea why he was better last night, but hope it lasts. Maybe he's been reading my posts!!:D