sleeping

[jbrereton]

PLEASE help me, my daughter is 10 months old &has not slept through the night once. i have 3 older children at school & i am soooooooo teird, my husband works early mornings so its unfair to expect him to get up with her, he does it on the weekend when he can.
i've tried feeding her just before bed, bathing her, playing with her to wear her out, keeping her up late & even taking her for a walk in her pushchair at 9pm for some fresh air.
i just don't know what to do.
i find myself being snappy with my older kids if i'm up a lot the night before.
last night i got up to her 8 times.
someone please tell me there's a solution to this.

[onlyme26]

hiya,,,

how much does she sleep in the day??? it can be difficult to get children into a routine to suit your every day needs but it is possible?

im assuming she is having a nap or 2 in the day? so as hard as this will be ill try and keep her up for a whole day, maybe not do too much playing as she will end up falling asleep but surely by bedtime she will be soooooooooo tired so will sleep for hours and gradually get into a routine, obviously at that age they have a nap in the day 2, try get her to have her daily nap as early as possible, the more tired they are by bedtime the longer they will sleep

good luck , let me know how it goes :o) x

[jbrereton]

she has a nap at 11.30 untill about 2pm sometimes earlier.
thats the only sleep she has untill bedtime.
thank you for your help

[onlyme26]

really? well id try nad keep her awake through that - i know u will be tired, but she will be so much more tired that night, it may work

good luck x

[natalie_1982]

Do you have a set routine every evening? Just that you say you have tried lots of different things so it seems there are lots of different ways of putting her to bed?

Maybe try bathing and getting the others to bed so she has no distractions then when it is just you and her, bath her, give her a bottle / drink if she has one before bed and read her a stroy. Try doing it every single night, the same time, same sequence, same routine, for a fortnight and see if it makes a difference.

Does she eat a lot of sugar or anything in the day that might keep her awake more? What does she wake up for during the night? Could it be her teeth or does she want a feed or to play? Is she upset or just awake? If she is just awake and chattering to herself then I'd be inclined to leave her there but only go to her if she calls out.

[yogasun]

Don't wish to be a prophet of doom but my younger son was five and a half years old before he slept right through the night.
We tried everything and I was like a zombie at times.
The only plus side is that now, 18 years on, I can survive broken sleeps and actually only need about five hours sleep a night to function well. This I realise is no help to you and it seems a nightmare at the time but I am sure one day she'll just wake up less and less. Good luck.

[McNoodle]

They're all so different. My 8 year old used to sleep through from about 6 months. My 1 year old still has us up every night! Hang in there, it's not easy but your not on your own. No consolation, but when you're up, so am I probably!

[kevo2k7]

A drop of whiskey in her bedtime bottle should do the trick

[emmagleb]

I agree with McNoodle and Yogasun. I'm no parent, but according to my mum:
- I slept through the night from DAY 1
- My younger brother didn't sleep through one single night until he was 7yrs old, and then he needed bribing with rewards to make him put himself back to sleep
- My younger sister didn't sleep through til she was about 2yrs old, and then randomly reverted to getting up stupidly early (6am mostly) instead. She still does this, 10 years down the line.
All kids are different!! I would try some of the advice above too though - especially keeping her up all day and avoiding the nap at lunchtime.

[jbrereton]

i will be trying all of the suggestions given (except the whiskey of course)
my older children always go to bed before i get the baby settled. she has always had a routine, set meal times, naps, bath & bed but it hasn't worked. we tried every second doing something other than a bath, like play or lay with her or just read to her.
she wakes for her dummy & a feed during the night, i've tried not giving her formula & giving her just water (suggested by our baby nurse) but still does not work.
all i want is a full night sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mumof3angels]

Well my youngest is 4 1/2 and has just started school full time and now he manages most nights sleeping straight through although he still gets up at 5.30/6. He has never needed a lot of sleep and used to wake at 3ish and never go back to sleep again. Unfortunately he shares a room with one of my other kids and so I used to have to take him downstairs otherwise he'd wake his brother up. It didn't matter whether he slept or not in the day or if he was running about everywhere all day, he never needed much sleep. I was always tired and snapped at the other kids and mr mum who were absolute darlings and put up with me. Now though as I said he's started full time school and although some nights he still wakes up and shouts me he'll settle back down again. I think there are kids who don't need much sleep and there's nothing much you can do about it, they'll eventually grow out of it. I'm sorry it's not much help for you now- but I really do sympathise and there are lots of us who are going through/ have been through it. Try to keep smiling in between the yawns. :) x