Re: [ozmidwifery] sleep issues

[Nicole Christensen]

Title: Message

Oh Cas - I can SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO empathise with you!!!! We are so lucky to have produced three beautiful healthy boys (12 yrs; 2 1/2 yrs; and 7 months)... yet ALL have had sleep issues (the youngest is alot better than the first 2 - just hard at the moment with teething...). My middle son has been the worst - as from day 1 - never slept for more than 1 hour straight!!!  Up until recently I had to feed him every couple of hours all through the night (and during my pregnacy with my 3rd - it nearly killed me!!!). I always ended up feeding him all through the night out of sheer exhaustion - never having the energy to try to pat him etc...   I can't offer any quick fix solution - but rather wanted to let you know that I have experienced this living hell also. We all co-sleep - and find this really works for us (even when they are wakeful). We have a queen bed and a single pushed up against it. I sleep in the middle of the queen bed with my 2 yr old on my right side.... and my 7 mth old baby on the left side of me. My husband sleeps in the single bed next to us. I also have a relaxation CD PERMANENTLY playing all through the night.  It has taken 2 1/2 years for my toddler to finally sleep in the night (from 11pm - 5am!!).... and my baby wakes approx 2-3 times...( he just stirs and squirms next to me... burrowing his head into the pillow looking for my boob!!! he doesn't actually cry or make a noise - I am able to wake with his squirming). I tried several things with our toddler - but nothing really worked that well.... the most recent thing I tried with positive results - was, when my toddler woke in the night and wanted a feed... and I was already feeding his baby brother... I woiuld try and get him back to sleep by 'tickling' (like drawing with my finger) his back... and saying I would feed him as soon as his brother had finished... this eventually led to him fallling off to sleep - yet took some time to get that far - as he would often cry and get upset that his baby brother was having what he wanted and wanted NOW!!! It is SO exhausting and I truly feel for you.... Sleep deprivation is such a shocker - it affects EVERYTHING!!!     Your baby sounds like he wants to be close to you at night - as he sounds very distressed in his cot (despite you being there - there is that wall of seperation)  Maybe you could perservere with the co-sleeping - and maybe try putting a single bed next to your bed for your husband... or baby... OR put the cot alongside your bed (with side off) like a 'side-car arrangement.....   all the best... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Nicole   ----- Original Message ----- From: Wayne and Cas To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 10:36 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] sleep issues Hi all,   I am hoping someone on this list can offer me some advice about sleep. For some time now our baby boy (who is now 10 months old) refuses to go down in the cot. Everytime I lean over the cot, no matter how I do it, he wakes up. I only have to bend over and he wakes up. We've tried settling him with a hand on his back, with massage, with singing, and he just cries and cries sometimes for more than an hour. One night I got him to sleep after a marathon 1.5 hours crying session, never leaving his side, arm through the cot bars killing me and he woke up 15 minutes later. I was exhausted. In the end he ends up in bed with us all night where he sleeps fine but hubby ends up on the floor and I end up not sleeping so great because he thrashes around or wakes up for feeds all hours of the night (and ofcourse cause it is easy to settle him that way and I am exhausted I just end up feeding him to sleep). The other issue with him crying in his cot is that it wakes up his older brother or conversely, the cat goes in there tinkling her bell and scratching at the carpet and wakes the baby up. Argh!   I am getting more weary of not getting enough sleep and my hubby is getting weary of not getting to sleep in our bed! I really don't know what else to do but I feel we need to reclaim our bed and get him to sleep in his cot. Any suggestions?   Cheers,   Cas McCullough     Cas, Wayne, Liam and Daniel McCullough info@casmccullough.com www.casmccullough.com