Night nursing/not co-sleeping

[@llli*mickeyg]

Looking for advice from mom's who are not co-sleeping, but still nursing through the night. My 8 month old has been getting worse, and worse with STTN since about 5 months. I kept thinking it will pass, she'll get back to waking only once or twice, but now she's up 3, 4, 5, 6 times a night and will only go back to sleep if I nurse her.

We don't have enough room to co-sleep, and on the few nights I've taken her into bed to nurse through, I get even less sleep because I'm so worried about her getting smothered by me, DH, a pillow or a blanket.

So I guess I'm wondering, if you BF but don't co-sleep, do you get up lots during the night and just hope to work through it, or do you have any advice on helping LO sleep. The sleep deprivation is starting to effect me at work, and I'd like to keep nursing till a year. But I also don't want to screw up my job since we need it.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Have you tried dosing her with Tylenol or Motrin before putting her down? Often in that time frame it's Teeth. And if it is and you get get at least 3 straight hours back then you know. Your baby is waking more because they are in pain. They get pain relief from the oxcytocin in your milk.

[@llli*carmen.arizona]

I didn't/don't really cosleep... I have the crib next to the bed in the side car position, and then I ended up putting the side which was off between the crib in the bed, to separate the crib from the bed. My baby was insistent in rolling into my bed at night and kicking and we were waking each other up. (depends how your crib works, mine has big legs so I had to push the crib mattress against my mattress and put foam behind it) Anyway, it's just like a more convenient crib next to the bed because I don't have to stand up I can just lift him over the separator. I was surprised what a difference being able to lay down instead of get up and down made as far as exhaustion. Sometimes, if he's really hungry he'll just climb over the separator, but he'd have to be very awake for that.

There are three reasons my LO wakes up more than 2-3 times at night. And hourly if not addressed:

1. growth spurt
2. cold / hot
3. pain

We're in phoenix, keep the thermostat at 78-79 and the little dude wears the long sleeved long pants pjs pretty much no matter what. If it's a little warm when i lay him down i turn the fan on, but he can't figure out blankets and we never sleep uncovered so i figure his pjs are his blankets. Using t-shirts or shorts always results in cold arms/legs and hourly wakeups.

I find for my guy that the Advil works best. (check the age on that, it recently was approved for younger) I wait and give it to him right before he nurses for bed. Also it's good for 6-8 hours so it works better for us.

hope that helps

[@llli*oakdryad5]

I second the ibueprofen, that works better for us than tylenol

maybe on some nights if you're really exhausted, dh could bring LO to you for one or two of the night wakings so you don't have to get up?

i know you dont want me to tell you to co-sleep, but you mention that you are so afraid of the smothering issue. what if you "practiced" during naptime on weekends during the day. you could catch up on sleep and maybe dh or someone else could be there to keep an eye on things. I just mention it because I was very afraid to co-sleep too, and I only started doing it b/c more dangerous situations started happening: like me falling asleep from exhaustion while sitting up in a rocking chair holding LO, or in a recliner, same thing. Exhaustion/sleep deprivation can be a lot more dangerous for you. On days you feel really bad, maybe try getting to bed earlier too.

[@llli*lilady453]

I'm in that boat right now too. My DH doesn't want to be sleeping with our LO, and I want us to stay in the same bed. My LO is getting up it seems every two hours.....DH doesn't even hear her, with the monitor right by the bed!

She is getting a tooth right now, first one, and I almost gave her Tylenol last night, except I didn't know what dosage, and wasn't going to call the Dr. to find out. I can keep it up for a couple of days, but then find I'm snapping at DH, really frustrated with LO in the middle of the night, and sometimes have thoughts that I shouldn't have....

So I'm not much help at all, but I think I might try the medicine tonight and see if that works. I too am interested to hear what others are saying!

[@llli*mickeyg]

We gave tylenol last night because she's had a cold and a bit of a fever, and I got a wonderful 4 hour stretch, so I'm beginning to think her teeth might have something to do with it. She's been drooling and biting everything for weeks now though, so I was hesitant to start the tylenol thinking that the "teething" was just a new normal for her.

Thanks for all the advice. I've fallen asleep sitting up on the couch nursing her in the middle of the night, and know that's not good either. I've been trying to see if I can get her back to sleep without nursing and last night was able to do it at one point. My thinking if I can get her back to sleep by rocking, DH could do it too, and then we can eventually try to get her to learn how to soothe herself back to sleep if she wakes in the middle of the night.

I guess we'll continue to see.

[@llli*marci41527]

I would like to give you advice but I an in same boat. My DD is 11 months old and doesn't sleep thru night. We are up every 2 hrs lately. I am so tired. Maybe I will try Tylenol as she just got her 1st 2 teeth so maybe more is coming

[@llli*breeze7]

I just posted with a similar issue but we co-sleep. It's been this way since day 1. I am so tired and my 9 month old is up every 1-2 hours! My friends keep telling me it's because I breastfeed. Since it's so consistent I am not going to give her tylenol everynight although some nights are worse than others. I just want to be able to sleep 4 hours straight. Wish I had some advice but I am trying to figure this out too!!

[@llli*rhbfph]

Hello! I am glad I am not the only to have had this issue so... Because I know how it feels to feel that frustrated. You feel like a zombie. I have found that feeding my ds some cereal warmed up with his favorite fruit, a massage and bath and then some pain meds really helps him at night. Even though he would still sometimes wake up, I think the routine really helped him. Now after a month he is finally back to sleeping at night. He was waking every 1-2 hrs all night for a month! He was also getting 6 teeth in at once. This won't last forever and it will get better. Try the PP suggestions and maybe working in a routine that works for you.

[@llli*sch.mommy]

How often is she nursing during the day? Some babies reverse cycle and get most of their calories at night.

Also, some babies just aren't ready to sleep through the night until much later. My oldest started sleeping through the night at around 7 months, however my youngest was well over two. Actually, my youngest woke to nurse at least twice a night until well over two years. I would suggest finding a way to adapt your schedule to meet hers, ya know? Can you put a mattress on the floor of your lo's room? You can start your night in your bed and finish it with her. That way there aren't fluffy pillows, a snoring dh, etc

The tylenol (or advil) will make them sleepy so you may not be able to tell if it's teething or not. Is she showing any signs of teething during the day?