Dear Huggies forum readers,
I'm interested to know what you think about my situation!
This is probably going to be a long post so sorry in advance!

I have a 7and a half month old daughter who up until 6months old would self settle during the day and would fall asleep at night to the breast and sleep through till 6am only waking occassionly for dummy replacement. (I was only recently told that I should be putting her to bed awake, Oops!) but for the past 5 or 6 weeks has stopped all this and I am now extemely sleep deprived!

Just after 6 months my DD started waking more frequently thru the night and was being quite restless during the day (everyone, including myself thought it was teething as she had been chewing on everything and dribbling puddles for about 2months) but off we went to the Dr's just to check there was nothing else going on. The dr said she had a slight sinus infection but not bad enough for anti-biotics.
So we continued on, dealing with this as best we could for about another 2weeks before returning to the dr's again as our nights had gone from just waking up for cuddles, 4 or 5 times to waking up and crying every 45-60mins.
We seen a different Dr this time, who said she had tonsilitis and an outer ear infection (but said both things would have only happened within the last day or two) so she started some anti-biotics and ear drops and we thought after that things would start to improove but here I am however many weeks later looking for some advice, as we are still having no luck with our sleeping issues! DD is sleeping really well during the day most of the time but needs me to cuddle her to sleep and as for night time she goes to bed anywhere between 6 and 7pm but only sleeps 30 mins before starting our nightly battle of waking every 45-60mins again!! Ahhhhhhhh, I am so tired sad
I have tryed a lot of different things, including putting her to bed awake(she seems to fight it more that way) and also have been using Brauers CALM with no sucess to just name a few things but i'm out of Ideas and need some advise if anyone feels like replying with anything it would be much appreciated:)

Sorry Again for the long post (first time forum poster)

Depending on what state you are in but I would go to somewhere to help with you getting her to go to sleep. If you are in Perth you can go to Ngala. I have been there before and they are great. Dont feel you need to do it all on your own, these services are here to help and they are fantastic at what they do. Nothing worse than sleep deprivation! Good luck

Hi, Welcome to the forum. smile I'm going to annoy you now and ask a couple of questions. laugh [list] [item]Has she done anything new developmentally in the last 6 weeks like rolling over, crawling etc? [/item][item]Do you have a bedtime 'routine' as such? [/item][item]How long is she sleeping in the day? [/item][item]How long are you trying one method before trying something else? [/item][/list] Personally I am all for doing what works, whatever that is........of course from the sounds of things what used to work doesn't any more? Illness can really knock them for six and it can take weeks sometimes for them to start to feel 'normal' again. Plus there is a growth spurt at around 6 months so that could be playing a part as well. I read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution when DS2 was 13 months old and we'd had 8 weeks of getting 5 very broken hours of sleep in every 24 and were about to lose our minds; this after 3 weeks of him sleeping 10+ hours at night when he was 7 months old before the night waking started again. She has heaps of insight and ideas about how to gently get your child sleeping better without being judgemental about it and 'blaming' you for any issues which I found really refreshing....plus hate the whole CC thing. I borrowed my copy from the local library. It's rough, especially when you are used to sleep. We've been having dramas with DS2 for the past 8 weeks after we went away for 10 days (he's almost 2.5) and it's only just now starting to come right again. It's been incredibly frustrating for everyone involved because he has 'regressed'; it helps me to remind myself that even though he [b]can[/b] do it, doesn't mean he [b]should[/b] have to, so we've tried to support him through this phase and it seems to be working.

Hi,

My DD1 did this at about 6 months of age too. It started out because we were away visiting and instead of letting her cry for a minute or two when she woke in the night, I comforted her straight away, because we were in the same room and in-laws were next door and didn't want to wake the whole house. It got worse and worse, going from waking once, to waking at least 6 times a night, and I was going INSANE. She stopped going to sleep on her own and had to be rocked/petted to sleep. It was flat out horrible. Essentially she had forgotten how to settle herself into sleep, and needed me there to help her. This apparently often happens after an illness, holday, major upheaval in their lives.

I was recommended a book called 'How to solve your child's sleep problems' by Dr Richard Ferber, which I borrowed from the local library. He has a few good things to try, and with a bit of persistence, we finally got it sorted. I'd recommend this to anyone as it helps you to understand the science behind sleep... eg: why it's every 45 minutes

Big hugs, and hope you manage to get some sleep soon.

Depending on what state you are in but I would go to somewhere to help with you getting her to go to sleep. If you are in Perth you can go to Ngala. I have been there before and they are great. Dont feel you need to do it all on your own, these services are here to help and they are fantastic at what they do. Nothing worse than sleep deprivation! Good luck

Hi DZMum, Thanks for your reply smile Yes I do live in Perth and have been in contact with Ngala. They offered me a couple of expensive options (that I really can't afford at the moment) before telling me there was a drop-in service at my local centre, which I intend on visiting this week.

[quote name='C_hippie_kiwi' date='13 March 2010 - 09:48 AM' timestamp='1268466518' post='2654309'] Hi, Welcome to the forum. smile I'm going to annoy you now and ask a couple of questions. laugh [list] [item]Has she done anything new developmentally in the last 6 weeks like rolling over, crawling etc? [/item][item]Do you have a bedtime 'routine' as such? [/item][item]How long is she sleeping in the day? [/item][item]How long are you trying one method before trying something else? [/item][/list] Personally I am all for doing what works, whatever that is........of course from the sounds of things what used to work doesn't any more? Illness can really knock them for six and it can take weeks sometimes for them to start to feel 'normal' again. Plus there is a growth spurt at around 6 months so that could be playing a part as well. I read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution when DS2 was 13 months old and we'd had 8 weeks of getting 5 very broken hours of sleep in every 24 and were about to lose our minds; this after 3 weeks of him sleeping 10+ hours at night when he was 7 months old before the night waking started again. She has heaps of insight and ideas about how to gently get your child sleeping better without being judgemental about it and 'blaming' you for any issues which I found really refreshing....plus hate the whole CC thing. I borrowed my copy from the local library. It's rough, especially when you are used to sleep. We've been having dramas with DS2 for the past 8 weeks after we went away for 10 days (he's almost 2.5) and it's only just now starting to come right again. It's been incredibly frustrating for everyone involved because he has 'regressed'; it helps me to remind myself that even though he [b]can[/b] do it, doesn't mean he [b]should[/b] have to, so we've tried to support him through this phase and it seems to be working. [/quote] Hi there smile Your not annoying me, it's great to have some help! And you sound like a very loving mother smile To answer your Questions Q1. Has she done anything new developmentally in the last 6 weeks like rolling over, crawling etc? A1. DD did start to sit on her own just prior to this starting but had actually stopped doing a few of the other developmental things she had already learnt like rolling and doing push ups! but in the past 2weeks is back to rolling more than she ever has, doing lots of push ups again and is starting to pull her knees up in prep of getting ready to crawl. oh and she has also learnt to clap her hands:) Q2. Do you have a bedtime 'routine' as such? A2. Yes we started a bedtime routine just after this all started and have contined with it, even though it not helping the sleep problem, I do realise it is still good for her regardless! We start by eliminating all the stimulation eg. TV, toys etc then go from there.( I will post her full daily routine at the end of this post if that helps) Q3. How long is she sleeping in the day? A3. She sleeps anywhere between 1.5hrs and 3hrs over the course of the day. Q4. How long are you trying one method before trying something else? A4. Some things I have tried for 4-5days others I havn't spent very much time with at all, but I have been consistent with bedtime routine and keeping her in her room from this point on whether it be sitting by her bed and patting her or nursing her in my rocking chair. Hope that is clear enough, and thankyou for your help. A couple of people have suggested the No Cry book now, so think I'll head to the library tommorrow to see if they have a copy. Also below is our general daily routine, obviously as you know we can't just stay home every day so things are sometimes not as planned! Thanks again. 6-7am Wake Up, 5-10 min BF, 30mins later Breakfast (solids) Play time till 9am 9am Sleep anywhere between 45mins to an 1hr When awake again, 5-10min BF Playtime or visiting or shopping etc 11.30-12 Lunch (solids) 1pm Sleep anywhere between 1-2hrs When awake again, 15-30min BF Playtime till about 4-4.30 4.30-5pm Dinner (solids) 5.30 Bath, massage and story time 6-6.30 BF 6.30-7pm Bed and this is where the problem lies as she will only sleep for around 30mins at this stage before waking again and the nightly struggle begins to get her back to sleep for the night! Normally she'll fight it for 2 or 3 hrs (the whole of which time we stay in her room for and sometimes end up having another BF too) before going back to sleep for around 50mins at a time then waking for re settling for the rest of the night!! I hope that all makes sense, sorry if it doesn't but my excuse is sleep deprivation blink

Hi,

My DD1 did this at about 6 months of age too. It started out because we were away visiting and instead of letting her cry for a minute or two when she woke in the night, I comforted her straight away, because we were in the same room and in-laws were next door and didn't want to wake the whole house. It got worse and worse, going from waking once, to waking at least 6 times a night, and I was going INSANE. She stopped going to sleep on her own and had to be rocked/petted to sleep. It was flat out horrible. Essentially she had forgotten how to settle herself into sleep, and needed me there to help her. This apparently often happens after an illness, holday, major upheaval in their lives.

I was recommended a book called 'How to solve your child's sleep problems' by Dr Richard Ferber, which I borrowed from the local library. He has a few good things to try, and with a bit of persistence, we finally got it sorted. I'd recommend this to anyone as it helps you to understand the science behind sleep... eg: why it's every 45 minutes

Big hugs, and hope you manage to get some sleep soon.

Aww, thanks very much "mallecat" for your reply and the big hugs smile I definatly know what you mean by feeling like your going INSANE! LOL.
I will have a look for that book it sounds like you had a very similar experience to mine so I will give it a go if I can get my hands on a copy. Can only try anyway OXO