Finding it hard to enjoy motherhood :(

@evenstar my LO used to do that too. I would constantly have to tickle his neck and blow on him so he'd keep nursing.. Then I'd have to burp him and continue nursing to make sure he got enough. I hope it works for you! I'm nervous because I know there's going to be tears, but I think a few days of crying is worth it. Poor sleep contributes to so many things negative things later in life (obesity, attention and behavioural problems).

Ems, we are going to try modified CIO. I almost got it to work a few weeks ago, but we weren't consistent enough. Now I'm having a problem because he'll wake up hungry but fall asleep as soon as he starts to nurse. I'll put him down and he'll almost immediately wake up because he's still hungry. He's too sleepy to nurse and too hungry to sleep and I don't know what to do about it. It lasts for hours and hours unless I break down and give him a bottle.

@evenstar I hope it works for you !! What techniques will you be trying ? We are going to try this too with the help of a sleep consultant. It's pricey but they create a personalized sleep plan for your LO based on his medical history / weight / sleeping and eating patterns and they guarantee it will work within 10 days. I know it's going to be a brutal 10 days lol and if it doesn't work they refund your money.

Ems, I have been pretty terrible about teaching my baby to self soothe, so I somewhat understand. He sleeps longer than your LO, but only if I lull him completely to sleep. This coming week we're going to try to teach him to self soothe. Fingers crossed and god help us!

We've actually been using the sleep suit for about 3 weeks now. I do think he likes it and it doesn't help with him startling in his sleep but he just relies heavily on me rocking him. Unfortunately he refuses the bottle :(. He just has no idea how to self soothe at all probably because of his dependence on being nursed to sleep lol fml !

Maybe try pumping and giving baby a bottle before bed? Also how does baby sleep? I know we're all sad to be transitioning out of the swaddle. Maybe your babe is startling awake going through the sleep cycles. I swear by the magic sleepsuit, but I have seen a few others not have success with it. The rave reviews on Amazon convinced me to give it a shot. Around 14 weeks he went back to waking at 3 and 4am, but it was short lived. We're back to 11-12 hr nights now. He'll be 4 months Wednesday so hopefully the sleep regression doesn't kill us too bad.

@em I spend the majority of my day bouncing my LO to sleep. If I don't do it she doesn't sleep and then she gets even more angry. I completely understand where you are coming from.

I've taken him to the chiropractor maybe 5 times and I didn't see any differences. I honestly think he's just tired. If he gets enough sleep he's in a way better mood and he generally naps better throughout the day. He just really depends on me nursing / rocking him to sleep.. It's hard to break that association and it's so exhausting for me to be doing it like 30x a day :(

My LO was like this until I took him to a chiropractor, then he became a totally different baby. You might want to give it a try.

I went through this, honestly I thought to myself why did I have a child. As bad as that sounds I was overly tired, accompanied by constant screaming. She never slept more than 15 mins at a time. I didn't have the support I needed, it made me feel helpless. I've told you my daughter had reflux so it's a little different than your situation, but over time things got better with age. She's now 16 weeks, doesn't cry unless she's tired or hungry. She couldn't be more pleasant. Basically I'm telling you it's gets better if you can maybe try to reach out to your doctor I know a lot of them will say it's colic. I personally don't believe in that, if your child is constantly irritable there's usually an issue that is unseen. I wish you the best being a mother is the hardest job out there remember that.

He doesn't tolerate a carrier. I have a moby, a ring sling and an infantino carrier.. He cries hysterically in all of them. He's been sleeping for about 45 minutes at a time. I'm lucky if I can rock him back to sleep after those 45 minutes. He has given me maybe 3-4 days Total where he slept a good stretch of time but he's always up every hour or so after that

I hear ya. I went from being totally against cosleeping to doing it every night because of she's next to me she's at least a little more content. I think the worst part is her never seeming content. I try to go shopping and see all these babies sleeping in their car seat and peaceful. Then I'm like, what am I doing wrong here because I've gotten to the point where I'm afraid to take her out.

When I have a hard time with my baby I lay down and lay her on my chest. At first she fights it and then she will give up and sleep for 2 hours or more I just put a pillow under my arm so it doesn't get tired

Buy a baby carrier, sometimes that is the only way I can get my daughter to sleep. She is usually out within a few minutes. Just put your baby in the carrier and go for a walk, you'll probably both feel better getting outside.

So many women say their babies never sleep. But most of them have at least one long stretch in there somewhere. Which is still VERY difficult ...but very different than having a baby that truly NEVER sleeps.

I also had a baby that literally never slept and honestly I just had to shut out the world for a while. I never made plans or commitments until he was six months and started sleeping for two hour stretches. I would occasionally go places if I felt alright but mostly just hibernated as much as I could. trying to keep up with the rest of the world (when they are getting ample shut eye) is impossible. It is a phase and it will pass. Hang in there :(

I wish we could get the sleep situation sorted out here also. She's so happy when she's well rested, it's just rare that she is.