Well, Noah was always an excellent sleeper, he would go into his cot awake and just drift off quite happily. But since his bad week of constipation when his tummy hurt and he couldn't sleep, then catching a cold which stopped him sleeping as his nose bunged up when laid flat he got used to falling asleep upright on me.. Anyway now his constipation is all better and his cold is a bit better but he won't go to sleep on his own! He'll fall asleep on me if i feed him, then if i put him in his cot he will stay asleep for an hour or so, then wake up shouting, and I can't get him to settle in his cot again. If he wakes up at 2am or later for a feed he'll usually settle and go to sleep fine, but anything between 7pm-2pm he won't.

I need to "sleep train" him somehow, I don't want to do cc, i want to put him to bed awake.. is he maybe overtired and I should put him to bed earlier? Milo goes to sleep at 7ish, then i do Noah's bath and bed so he's not in bed till about 8:30.. I might do his bath before dinner and get him to bed earlier.

I haven't had more than 3 or 4 hours sleep a night (and that would be on a good night!) for nearly a month now, I am shattered beyond belief! i want my good-at-sleeping baby back Do you reckon I should try and earlier bedtime? any other good techniques?

i am by not means an expert at making your baby sleep but i HAVE read an awful lot of books on it

i think its a bit suspicious that as you say its only the first part of the night, so yeah you have probably hit the nail on the head, maybe try putting him to bed before milo? maybe half 6? i have no idea how on earth you are going to fit that in...but how much does noah sleep during the day? you could try encouraging him to have a later nap then have a later bedtime so he is actually tired but not overtired.....or if his nap is quite late how about trying to move it earlier...

it could be that he just isn't quite tired enough? ugh....sleep is rubbish, you don't need it you know

he's still up tonight *waves a sleeping noah's arm at banda peeps* Put him to bed an hour earlier than usual, he woke up on the way upstairs and had a play in his cot with his toys but started shouting about 10 mins after i left the room. Settled him again (on the boob) and he fell asleep within a minute or so, couldn't wake him up so put him in bed asleep. He was awake and screaming about 15 mins later. Brought him downstairs before he woke milo up too. What am i doing wrong?

I have so much to do in the evenings (let alone sleep, haha) i'm really struggling having noah on me all night.

Mari, nooo - i need sleep!! I didn't sleep for two years with milo! he has a morning nap at about 9:30-10:30/11, an afternoon nap 1pm-2pm, then another nap about 4:30ish for 30 mins or so.

What else can i try? even earlier bedtime? dummy? too early for crying it out etc.. I need my sleep! (even just 5 hours in a row would be lovely!)

I'd experiment with nap times and bed times first and see if that helps. Does he have anything in the cot with him? Jamie has a seahorse with a belly that lights up and plays music and that helps him sometimes. You could also try a dummy.

Mind you the two people that have given you advice have babies that don't sleep so you might want to ignore everything we say!

lol liberty, all the advice helps, regardless of whether our kids actually listen to us or not! Milo was a rubbish sleeper until a couple of months ago, so i'm scared i'm making all the same mistakes with noah

He has a thing like the your seahorse, he quite likes that but it hasn't helped him sleep yet. At the mo he also has a soft book he likes squashing and chewing, a lamaze lion, and a caterpillar that attaches to the cot bars - so there should be plenty to keep him entertained/comforted His favourite thing ever is chewing on wet muslins, so maybe need to put in a muslin with a damp knotted corner to chew on or something?

I'll try dummies, wanted to try them tonight for the first time but i haven't managed to get noah to bed long enough to wash and sterilise them. I need my evenings back so badly - not just housework, i'm so far behind with my own job that i'm actually scared to think about it

Ooh, random thought, but maybe he doesn't like the dark??

Could be. A nightlight might make a difference. Is there any chance he could be teething or something

Well that didn't work The kids' room is quite light anyway as they have a glass panel above their door and the landing light is on, turned on the room light too just in case but he still woke up screaming. argh!

I've wondered about teething too, and tried giving him calpol but it makes absolutely no difference to how well he sleeps What works better than calpol for teething i wonder?

I've just written the longest reply and the stupid computer wiped it grrr!
Anyway I've been 'training' Thomas to sleep as he wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me and screamed when he went in his cot so I'll share what I've been doing!
I would think he might be overtired by 8.30 so I'd try bringing that forward although I know how hard that is with 2!
Thomas has a sheep which plays ocean sounds and a cot lightshow that help him relax in his cot. Before he goes to bed I try and get him sleepy with cuddles/lullabies/massage.
I'm also really strict with him which is hard! Once we're in his room we stay in there till he's settled to sleep, however long it takes. I won't settle him with the boob anymore, dummies really help with this. He might only have one for 5 minutes but it comforts him loads. I also try not to pick him up unless I really need to. I just comfort him by shushing, stroking his hair/arm/cheek or placing my hand on his tummy. If he's really upset and crying obviously I'd pick him up but then as soon as he's calm he goes back in and I comfort him again. Sometimes Stephen gets woken up which is a nightmare but perseverance is the key!
White noise also is supposed to be good for settling. Hope something in there helps, sleep depravation is a killer! xxx

ahh mrsmb, I will try all of that!! Thank you! Hopefully can get the dummies ready for tomorrow, and try an early night, hopefully that will help. They're both awake now (Milo pooped and got a very sore bum, shouting woke noah up), i am losing my mind!!

Well the kids didn't settle again until 2am, I got to sleep about 2:30, then noah woke up at 6. Thats about the longest stretch of sleep i've had for ages but still feel awful.
Milo decided to start off the morning by leaning/pushing on noah's tummy so yet another thing to worry about.

can't even see straight to type! so exhausted.

Iboprofen is supposed to be better I think. We certainly used to give it to Jamie but we're not allowed to anymore because of his wheeziness. Teething powder is good as well.



Can you bath them both together? Then perhaps you can try getting Noah down first. What does he sleep in? We found Jamie had to have blankets to begin with but then we had to switch him to sleeping bags. We then had to switch him back to blankets after a few months as he didn't like being confined. I was also a naughty Mummy and gave him a duvet early. Which actually is another point. What about temperature? We've found that at 18 Jamie is only just about ok and much lower he gets cold even with the duvet. We tend to have to have the room higher than the recommended temp as he gets so cold at night. Perhaps that could be something.



Part may just be consistency. We had Jamie in a routine from quite early on but it wasn't really until about 11 months it started to make a difference. If he was sleeping through then its possible that you just need to keep it up for a while and then he'll get back into it. However, I do know routine isn't everything. I thought that was the answer to all sleeping problems before I've had Jamie but have now learnt that sometimes there's just nothing you can do!

Ooh thank you for all those ideas! It's been either 15/18 or 22 degrees in his room depending on the weather but i was dressing him one less layer in the hotter temp so you're right, he may be waking up a bit chilly. He doesn't like blankets as he moves around a lot, seems quite happy in his sleeping bag as he can roll around etc.

Thinking about it, his sleep got worse after we moved his cot in to Milo's room - maybe that could be connected? If so how do we fix that? Aah it's all so confusing!

Is there anything different in the room other than you not being there. Could it be that its hotter/colder or his in more or less light than before

Their room is warmer than our room. It's pretty much the same light wise, as both room have the glass panel above the door - the only thing i can think of is that there was more stuff in our room? Wardrobe, clock etc so maybe more to look at whereas the kids room has lots of toys and low furniture but the walls are just white and boring. Could be good motivation for me to decorate properly - although I need him to sleep so I can get that done!

Thanks for all the help, he went into bed at about 8:15 (much later than I wanted but really struggled getting milo to bed and oh off to work) and he's shouted a couple of times then fallen asleep without me going up. He's got an extra blanket tonight so that might be helping As he's been used to falling asleep on me i suppose his bed feels much colder in comparison so he might need his bed a little warmer. Thanks so much for giving me ideas, i'm so tired i just couldn't think straight. Hopefully this will be the start of many nights of good sleep! x

Just hope you manage to fix it. I know what sleep deprivation is like and I relied on some of the others to help me think of things. Must be worse in a way when he had been sleeping. At least with Jamie he never slept so we never got used to it!

Aww I remember that from Milo, it is horrible isn't it, when you know nothing's going to work. Is his sleeping better now? Milo used to be so bad, but lately he's been climbing into bed by himself, rushes me through the bedtime story so he can play with his cars under the duvet He's really good at putting himself to sleep now - only took 2 years! Because I had so many problems with Milo's sleeping I panic now that I've caused Noah to have the same probs because of something i've done

But last night Noah was asleep at 8:15, and slept through until 1am, woke up for a nappy change and feed, then back to sleep until 6:30!! I've started him on the Baby Whisperer EASY routine, so he stops relying on bf'ing to sleep. He just settled himself for a nap so going well so far! Thanks again for the support xx

Nope. He did sleep through for three nights but the last three his been a bit of a nightmare. Last night he was awake from 2-5 and then we're up at 6 anyway.



Glad Noah was better last night

Looks like you have made a good start but our basic routine is I cook dinner for about 530 - i know noahs not weaning yet though. Then its into the bath for a good play. They both go in together, when Awen couldnt sit up i just jumped in with them. Then into Jammies and a sleeping bag and downstairs for milk and some tv. Its usually something quiet so button moon or ITNG and no toys. After that its up to bed. They both have teddies they are very attached to and some nights they have their music cd and some nights not. Awens got a dummy. they are usually both in bed for 645-715. Awen has a 20 min nap in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon and is usually up at 530 for milk then will go back and doze til maybe 7.

Some of the stuff ive found is: The teddy bear seems to be a big factor. I introduced both my girls to a comforter toy v early on. C has bedtime bunny and Awen has Baby bunny and in both cases I slept with them to make them smell right first, if i were doing it at Noahs age Id pick something v soft and snuggly, in the morning spray it well with my perfume then leave it in the cot to dry over the day so it smells generally of me then when settling them leave it by their face or in the crook of their arm. Awens a tummy sleeper so have always laid her arm over it.

Also heat is a factor. Caelyn wont sleep too hot Awen wont sleep too cold. For Awen this means a sleeping bag AND blankets she seems to like being slightly too warm. IN the day when she snuggles she sleeps best when shes a bit sweaty (odd chuild) and she also likes the blankets right up to her ears and eyes so cutting off the world around her.

Music is fab we have a disney cd we used to play EVERY night to Caelyn and some nights she still asks for it now, its all cheesy schmutz so its quite settling-no Greenday or prodigy. They now both have a twinkle scout/twinkle violet who plays lullabys or animal sounds to them and I often set it off in the night when Awens fractious.

Also Im one for refusing to get her out of her cot once shes in. We have had a hard time with Awen sleeping and Id say its only in the last month shes really worked it out and either goes through or has a dummy run only at 3am which I can cope with. But at its worst it could be 2 hour stints in the middle of the night. It did nearly reduce me to tears sometimes but I would just sit on a chair by the cot and rub her back and shush her til she dozed then leave and repeat as often as needed (some nights i woulnt even make it out the room before having to repeat). At the time it felt terrible and I wanted to scoop her up and take her to bed with me but Im glad i didnt now. And its way preferable to cc it just took a lot longer. (I couldnt CC as she shares a room with C but i am not against it having done it with C).


Hope some of thats of some help

When at midnight you wake up , Keep The Room Dark or take
mini flashing light that’s why baby not get disturbed or not awake....