Beyond frustrated

Let's see it's midnight and Caleb is up for the second time tonight after going to bed around 7. And the first time he was up for an hour just fussing. Nothing made him happy.

He's been doing this crap since June. From 2-3 months he'd gotten to where he'd only wake up once, maybe twice, the whole night. For the last 2 months, he's been worse than a newborn. And he's not hungry every time. Not when he latches on and literally within 2 minutes is back asleep. He takes a pacifier, but that doesn't soothe him back to sleep.

I'm exhausted, frustrated, and done.

I'm so so sick of not sleeping more than 1.5/2 hrs every.single.f'ing.night.

But if he doesn't get a boob stuck in his mouth he starts screaming.

I'm mostly just venting because this kid just doesn't f'ing sleep. It takes an hour to get him down most nights. And I'm just at a loss and I'm reaching the point where I'm so frustrated.

Everyone keeps telling me to start cereal. And I know it's still early. But I'm so close to saying eff it and just doing it anyway. I almost don't care if it ruins my supply.

I just don't get why this baby won't sleep.


Eta-
I've done both gas drops and teething gel in hopes of that working. It doesn't.

 

Gina, I am so sorry. Being sleep-deprived is the worst thing. My boy does what you decribe a couple of nights and then he usually goes back to waking just once or twice, thankfully!
 
Have you tried semi-waking him for a dreamfeed when you go to bed to tank him up with milk, cuddles and attention? I have found that this tends to give me a longer stretch of sleep, otherwise Caleb might have his one longer sleep in the early evening while you are still up and awake. And I find dealing with a wakeful baby easier when going to bed than after just an hour or so of sleep.
 
Have you tried bed-sharing? Having him beside you makes it easier to pop the breast-paci back into his mouth and even if you don't sleep, being horizontal in the dark makes a big difference for feeling rested.

 

I think that not a good signal so you should consult a doctor !!

 

I never wanted for breastfeeding to be their/her only way to get back to sleep. So I did some sleep training-gradual at first then CIO later. I also got my husband on board and sent him in for a couple of days to take care of nighttime wake ups.

 

Thankfully, things have gotten much better since I wrote this post. He finally cut his first 2 teeth, which in hindsight was probably the culprit of his crabbiness. 
 
He's still not the greatest sleeper ever, but we're getting there. On average, the past week or so, he goes to bed at 7:30 and has been sleeping mostly until around 1am. (Sometimes needing a pacifier again, but it's gotten to where you can give it back and he'll go back to sleep.) And then sometimes he'll go to around 5. Sometimes he wakes up again, but I can sometimes just give him a pacifier again and he'll go back down.
 
Last night he was rather cranky, but I'm thinking it was his terrible naps during the day yesterday. 
 
And, yes, we are starting sleep training too. I'm a firm believer that babies need sleep and sometimes that means a gentle push in that direction. He's old enough now that I'm comfortable with sleep training. I'm weaning his night feedings too. I won't let him nurse every time he wakes up and if he's not out and out crying/screaming, we let him fuss himself back to sleep.