I know exactly what you mean. My little girl has just turned 5 months and finally now sleeps 5 hours straight! For the first 3 months of her little life she didn't sleep more than an hour at a time. Then she slept for 3 hours in a row at just over 3 months and I panicked!! Thought something terrible had happened when she didn't cry on the next hour!

Sadly, no one has a miracle answer that will work for every bub. They're all different and some don't need to sleep as much as others. I found the only time she would sleep was if I was driving her, pushing her in the pram or carrying her in a sling. All great except for that whole "sleep when they sleep" thing. If one more person said that to my sleep deprived self I think I'd have slapped them (which is frowned upon particularly when it's a female relative).

But I can tell you there is light at the end of the tunnel! It does get better and all of those sleepless nights will be but a distant memory the day your little one says "Mum".

Best of luck!

I think we 've all experience the frustion of a child who won't sleep.  My advice to you is to establish a routine.  I know he's young and it seems difficult to do now, but it is possible.  I didn't feed my children on demand.  I fed them every four hours.  When they napped during the day, I kept them in the basinet in the kitchen where it was bright.  At night, they slept in their nursery. By doing this, they are able to decipher day and night patterns.  At bedtime our routine never varied, bath, feed, rock and bed.  I always would play lullaby music as well and had a light that would dim until it went off.   If the baby cried at night, they only got the three oclock feeding and the seven, I never wavered from that.  I would give them a bottle of water or a soother, but no milk.  I would take the three oclock feeding and mhy husband the seven.  If you'e exhausted during the day nap when your baby does.  Keep in mind you will blink and this stage will be over, and you will be ont o the next.  One thing that is a constant though is routine.  It will get you through every hurdle . It gives the baby a sense of security and knowing, and will carry on throughout their lives.  Good luck. 

Dear frazzled mum,

There isn't a mum in the world who desn't sympathise with you, and ufortunately most of us have gone through a little of the same. The most important advice I can give you is don't worry about advice at the moment...do what is the easiest...what will get you through the next four weeks....the good news is it usually turns a corner at 12 weeks. Hope it does for you! In the mean time. ..take you phone off the hook and sleep when the baby sleeps...that is not the time to do the house work. Sleep is more important right now. Take care of yourself.

My 1st  child sleeped all the way through since day one but my other was like ur child. Katherine use to have her big sleep at 6pm until 11.30pm. My mother told me that her clock is out of wack so what she told me to do is put her down at 6pm and then wake her up 6.45pm play lots and then give her a bath for at least for 15 mins to make her tired then give her a feed and put her to bed. If she happened to wake i would have to let her cry for 3mins and the next nite do the same and increase the crying time by a minute but not longer than 5 mins, and after 3 weeks she had got into routine .  The clock was set for her and never had a problem since. But i also introduced a pillow and i no thats a no no but worked for both my kids, but not suggesting to use it but i did.

Both my boys slept through from 3 weeks so I dont have personal experience in this. Though my sister did. The health nurse reccomended keeping him awake more during the day with quiet play so he wouldnt tire, then top up feed with the bottle at night. They never looked back. That would be all I could reccomend. Good Luck and I hope you get some sleep soon. I know you have probably heard this a million times, but the dishes/washing/vaccuming will still be there tomorrow. Sleep as much during the day when he is as you can. Even the 30 minute power naps make a difference. I still have them hehe

just surrender to the moment, don't be in a hurry, enjoy your baby don't worry about the house or anything else its all about the baby and you,when your calm and relaxed so your baby will be, when your anxious and doubting your self this will cause your baby to fret and not settle. babys need to be held and carryed around . best wish to you and your familly and remember you already have all the answer, just do what feels right.

hi i agree are you breast feeding or is he bottle feed. i had the same problem every hour my bub would wake up to feed, unfortunetly i had to stop breastfeeding, (to illness), however someone did mention to me to try putting her on the bottle at night and breastfeed during the day until she settles down, then put her back on to breast feeding and see how you go. i tried it once of course inn the morning my breasts felt like they were going to explode (i sugest expressing a bit during the night to eliviate them) however she did sleep a lot better. hope this helps, good luck. it is really hard to cope with but it does get better.

Sorry ot heard about your situation. Babies have sleep cylces of about 20 mins at that age. They go through a pattern of light sleep, deep sleep, startle, and back again (I think this is the right order). So maybe when you are trying to put him down he is in the light sleep stage and easy to wake. There are sleep books out there that where recommended to me but I just can't remember their names, these books go into this cycle more. Maybe (and i say this lightly) once you work out his cycle and sleep pattern you moght be able to put him down. Otherwise try a sling, great inventions that will let you get on with life and still have two hands. I found my son slept longer in a sling. Hope I haven't just confused you more. Good luck.

Does anyone know the name of the sleep book I am trying to describe or know more about it?

:)hi i was really lucky with my litle girl and i can only sugest the things i did. First thing are u bottle or breast feeding?

Hi, sorry to hear of your lack of sleep! Have been there and done that - my little girl had wind problems and was up and down all night. Have you tried letting your baby cry themselves to sleep? I know it sounds harsh but they quickly get used to you jumping everytime they cry a sound and this can be a habbit that will take ages to break later on down the track. See how you go - there are proper ways to go about this but try it out and see how you go.