Overwhelmed with teething and sleep regression
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@Tess thank you for this. Thankfully I have a lovely husband that does help out. Me and baby go upstairs at eight and she normally sleeps through till one, but the sleep regression hit so she is spending twenty minutes sleep and then wide awake. If I can't get her back down he then takes her so I can sleep. I've looked at safe co sleeping and have implemented it as much as possible just in case I'm that exhausted I do feel sleep with her. I just never feel comfortable doing it.
Consistency is the best thing for getting through a sleep regression. We did Calpol for the teething. How much sleep is she having in the day?
Hello, what are your concerns about co sleeping? Are you heavy sleeper? Perhaps worried you could roll over on them?
@Natalie we have a bedtime schedule that we stick to. She has a feed at 8 and then gets up anytime between 7/8am. She wakes up every 2 hours normally for food but before the regression we got to 5 hour stretches. Now she won't be put down for more than an hour and sometimes it's as soon as I move. She has 3/4 naps in the day ranging from 10 minutes to 2 hours. I have started tracking her to see if there is a pattern and can see that she is having around 3 hours of sleep during the day.
@Tanisha I think it's a mixture of things, I'm a light sleeper but since I've had her I've been exhausted. I'm worried that I'll be too exhausted I won't wake up to her ( I have not heard her crying before). That scared me the most, she could be crying and I just won't wake up.
The daytime sleep sounds low for this age so that may be impacting the overnight sleep. How long are you waiting between her waking up and trying a nap? As they get older they need a bit more help to fall asleep. Potentially overtired so waking more often.
@Natalie I try to nap her as soon as she shows a cue. So in the morning she will go for her first nap between 1 -1 1/2 hours after wake up.
What cues do you look out for?
@Natalie she sucks her bottom lip to indicate wanting to suckle, red eye brows, yawning and rubbing her eyes
Yawning and eye rubbing are last signs of tired and means they already want to be asleep. You may find that offering a bit earlier (10-15 mins) results in a longer nap.
I'll try that thank you. I've been going by NHS guidelines with how much sleep she gets. They recommend 12-15 hours a day including nighttime. And 3/4 naps. She's just about hitting the twelve hours.
I thought it was 12-16. It also says the naps would each be 30 mins- 2hrs long so the total daytime would be 3.5-4.5 so 3 hours feels a little low and a 10 min nap suggests the timings aren't quite right. I've found when they don't get enough daytime sleep overnight sleep suffers.
That sounds sooo tough :( as you said, these periods are temporary but it doesn’t make the exhaustion any better. I would definitely look up the safe seven of cosleeping so you feel a bit more comfortable doing it (and it’s safe for her). Also, can your partner do a bit of a night shift and you go to bed early? For example can you go to bed at 8pm and he have her until midnight? Also, baby Panadol (or whatever painkiller you have where you are), can give her and you a bit of relief for a few hours. You got this!