HELP I feel like hurting him

annie i have made contact with someone who might have some ideas to be able to help put plans in place to get jacob to sleeo better. can you pm me your email address so i can pass it alon?

hope you are feelin ok today too.

Thanks so much for all your kind words and support. We had a better night last night, and I'm not too sure if that was doen to the rescue remedy I dosed him up on or the fact he tired himself out with the screaming! He only woke once, and I was up with Charlotte at the time feeding her, so I did end up giving him 50mls of milk and more rescue remedy and prayed he wouldn't wake again, and he didn't. I was much quieter when I got up to C at 5am and didn't turn any lights on so as not to disturb him.
I had been leaving a bottle in there with some milk in the hopes that he would wake and see it and get it himself and not scream out for me, but he didn't click onto the not screaming out part, and would drink the milk, then scream out for more. Ugh. So not doing that at the mo.
Am definately going to do the milk and story in bed thing, and will insitagate the star chart, although I'm not too sure if he will get it. I praised him up big time this morning for being good and not getting up last night, which he loved, so might get him a lolly later for that, after I pick him up from daycare.
I am so pleased that I am not the only mum who feels or has felt this way. We have a long road ahead, but I feel better for sharing! I am going to ring plunket tomorrow and speak to my plunket nurse about this again and see if she can reccomend another Dr to go to.

Once again, thanks ladies, you all rock!

YAY FOR THE BETTER NIGHT i do think its a two year old thing james use to be shuch a angle lol and just as a matter of intrest who dignosed him as a immsommnac or is the doc just being lazy

Glad you had a better night. I am guessing once a night is doable but none a night is ideal...

You even sound so much more positive about it all today.

Good luck with it all...

Ya for the better nights sleep..


I hated the crying thing with ethan...so I invested in a pair of.....

EAR MUFFS!!!

You know the ones the builders etc have or get some ear plugs...Just a suggestion to help with the noise.

Yes you will feel quite silly wearing them around the house (I did) but it cuts out that ear splitting wail..I still pop them on if Ethan is having a bad night..

okay, you may not want to encourage THIS idea at all. But when I was about three my mum got cancer and I was shipped off to my nana's to stay. I loved my nana but apparently was a bit distressed at night yelling "i want my mum" kinda thing. To keep me quiet Nana told me a story about the lolly fairy. she puts lollies under the pillow for when good boys and giorls go to sleep )so at bed time I had three poebbles to eat) and if the little boy or girl is good all night, she puts some lollies under their pillow again for the morning (so if I stayed in bed all night, nana would slip in a couple of lollies at about 4am when my grandfather got up). seemed to workj pretty well ofr me ....apparently. i remember none of this.

Just another though - have you tried emailing the sleep expert person on here? I think some of the others (ellabellame?) had success.

**UPDATE**

One of the lovely members of this community passed my details onto a lady who specialises in helping with sleep problems. I have been working, VIA phone with Tracie Martin daily since friday, and I am feeling positive that we can get on top of this.

First up, I have looked at the way I am with Jake during the day.

I've stopped saying NO so much and being so controlling - ie letting him do things I normally wouldn't because I hate the mess or the noise etc, and being positive with reinforcement and cuddles etc, and being "cheerful" with him when I go into him in the night. This is helpingheaps with tantrums and behaviour in general, although he is pretty good anyhow, most of the time. I have also been spending more time with him in the bedroom when I put him into bed, instead of drop and run. I have always found he goes to sleep well, its just the stayig asleep that is the problem. Tracie isn't keen on cry it out at all, which is a method I have tried with varying degrees of success, although I have often said you need balls of steel to do it. I always found I had a stomach of knots and I hated doing it (gut instinct, apparently) so I'm not doing that any more, and he seems happier. Tracie said he needs to trust that when he calls out to me, I will go to him. She put this spin on it, which gave me a lightbulb moment. How would I feel if I really needed Rodney to do someting for me, or even just a hug 'cos I had a bad dream and needed reassuring, and he didn't respond, or was short and angry with me.
Also, we are working at weaning the bottle off him, and only giving it to him at bedtime and at the midnightish waking, which is the one we are slowly weaning. On friday night he got up after half an hour and wanted a bottle,a nd I wouldn't give him one. he cried and raged, and I just sat on the bed, patting his head and soothing him, and after 20 mins, he was calm and ready for sleep. I had to repeat the cycle again half an hour later, but it took only about 10 mins that time, and he slept til midnight (as usual) so we did the bottle thing and thats the one we are weaning.

Anyhow, long long post, just wanted to give you an update, and to thank you all again for your wonderful support and advice, and I will keep you all posted.

Yay Annie, I am so glad to hear that. Hope you get everything sorted out soon and you can start getting some sleep.

i'm so happy things are starting to get abit better for you annie!!