I have to sleep train for all of our sakes....hand hold and advice?

[trimbler]

Hey there, how are things now?

[4isstillnighttime]

All still poorly. They have rashes now. I am getting about 3 hours of broken sleep a night. So tired I could cry.

[weaver]

Oh dear god.  Can you catch some sleep over the weekend? Hope so.  Poor little things! poor you!

[trimbler]

Oh no (((hugs))) yes really hope you can get some rest over the weekend

[michaeljacknnugg]

Oh my, that sucks!! Sending some sleepy dust to the kiddos, I hope you can catch up somehow.

[4isstillnighttime]

Thanks everyone  good to have the support from you all!! It has been brutal and they still aren't right. Am taking them back to the GP today, it can't be right to be poorly for over 2 weeks! Little twin is starting to get better but big twin still looks awful and has this awful cough at night where he sounds like he can't breathe!

You are all so lovely!!

[weaver]

Hope GP can help but there has been a nasty bug with cough going around. Coughs lasted ages here, 3 weeks easily. Lavender oil in bedrooms at night helped .

[michaeljacknnugg]

Hope the GP can help, I agree that doesn't sound right.

[trimbler]

More (((hugs))) how did it go at the GP?

[4isstillnighttime]

Antibiotics for chest infections for the twins....and they are loads better! Still coughing (lavender plug in things are helping though, thanks Anne!) and still up quite a lot at night......but temps down, eating and drinking, and they have lost that awful feverish, flushed look.

I am struggling a bit with the baby though - I've got him down to one night feed at 2ish which is perfect for me.......but he is waking up a lot in the night, waking early, and his naps have gone haywire. This is yesterday's EASY

A 5:30 ish.....shh patted til twins up at 6:00, then BF
Nap 8:45 - 9:20 - couldn't resettle
Nap 12:45 - 1:30 - couldn't resettle. Refused CN in car, sling or feeding to sleep.
BT 6
NW 10, 10:30, 11, 12, 1:30, 2 (fed)
WU 4:30, shh pat for 1.5 hours.....didn't go back to sleep and all up at 6.

He is well, pretty happy when he wakes.....but he hides tiredness well. I'm really happy with the on night feed but the early waking in particular is breaking me. He self settles (unless OT) for naps and BT. I don't know whether to ditch the dummy but I'm a bit reluctant as I go back to work soon and it's a great thing to help the childminder when I'm not there.

Any thoughts?

PS thank you again for the words of support during the twins illness....they meant a lot to me!!

[4isstillnighttime]

I should say....he is now 8 months, eating well (baby led weaning but he's good at it!), a bit of a cough and a sniffle but nothing drastic. Feeding well, gaining weight. To resettle over night I do dummy and shh pat. He's still in our room (inertia!) but needs to move into his as has outgrown his crib. I've tried feeding at the early wakes and it makes no difference. This morning he didn't get a BF until after breakfast as (lovely) DH took him downstairs at 6 with the twins so I could lie in bed and sulk for a bit!

The only other thing is that he is starting to crawl, and I remember that unsettling the twins, but this dreadfulness has been going on for a week. I really don't know what to do with the first nap when he wakes up this early - if I stuck to 3:15 A he would be going back down at 7:45!!! Ridiculous!! But similarly if I do manage to resettle him in the morning it will take about an hour and he will then just nap for 20 mins or something.

I would tolerate a 5:30 WU (although 6:30 would be better!) but I want just one WU for his night feed. He is still pretty hungry when it comes so we aren't ready to drop it yet (I am having AWFUL problems with blocked ducts as well so keen to keep it!) but I now won't feed before 2, and that seems to work for both of us......

[michaeljacknnugg]

No advice, but hugs. You must be exhausted! What is he like when he wakes?

[4isstillnighttime]

I am miserable. He is full of beans when he wakes up!!!

[trimbler]

So glad the twins are so much better sounds like your littlest is too? Or still under the weather with that sniffle? Do you feel like the dummy has become a problem? Do you think he's anywhere near being able to replug himself? Mine never took them but I've heard other mums talk about putting several dummies in the be cot to increase the chances that LO will find one and replug themselves it the night, wdyt?

He does look quite OT to me, all those short naps and NWs... I know my DS especially would get really hyper happy crazy when OT, which of course made it all the more difficult to settle, and he'd seem happy enough but actually be really tired. How do you feel yours is right now? Do you think he's in that crazy land or just LSN and UT? One thing I used to do with that first nap was to fix the time of it, so that whatever time they woke, I'd shh pat or whatever until the time I'd decided to get them up, and then do the first nap at the fixed time. If they woke early it might end up an OT nap but might get a resettle out of it. But I did find that fixing the time of the first nap helped to put a cap on the really early wakings, as well as helping to create more stability in the routine. Something to consider?

[4isstillnighttime]

I think he prob is OT - he napped 2.5 hours on Friday and we had a much better night and I even managed to resettle the 5am wake til 7. Then he slept 10:30 - 12:30, 3:15 - 4 then BT 6:30. So I was optimistic for a good night....but instead he woke up at 3:30  and didn't settle til 4, then awake 4:30 til 5, then up for the day at 5:30. He looks shattered but I am going to keep him up til 9 and try and set that as first nap for a couple of days then work towards maybe 9:30.

I don't know what to do about the dummy - it works brilliantly for when he goes off to sleep at bedtime but if I try to use it when I am resettling him he has started batting it away. I have to hold his hands to put it in but once it is in he will suck it and he settles down. But if he is wide awake like he was at 3:30 then it just enrages him.

I'm just lost. He is really tired, I'm sure, but if his A is less than 3:15 then he will do 45 mins and I can't resettle him.  I've got bedtime as early as I can. I NEED him to sleep a bit better, I'm so tired and run down......