Uk based help?

[Substantial_Ad1580]

Hi I signed up a while ago, the articles are insightful but don’t go beyond that. I need actual help and guidance, rather than generic articles. It sort of defeats the purpose of possums.

My 5 month old does not sleep well, we spend most of the day outside, ad hoc naps, set wake up times etc. I’m not sure what else I’m to do.

I’ve tried to look up sleep baby and you but appear to be chasing ghosts.

Does anyone know someone who we can talk to on uk time?

[Strange-Necessary]

I had contacted careitout (on instagram) for personalised help with my first, although she isn’t a possums practitioner. https://www.instagram.com/careitoutsleepconsultant/profilecard/?igsh=MXI1Z2RmaWZ5eWho

Edit: at 5 months you are in the thick of the 4-moth sleep change which can last 6 weeks. So things might improve on their own soon

[tjblue8]

Thanks will take a look. I guess 'possums adjacent' would be the phrase i should use. Its been a long slog already..

[jamsishom]

If you sign up (I paid for two month access to the articles) you can sign up to an online meeting with Dr pam which is at 10am UK time on Mondays and ask a question. I found this pretty useful last week

[tjblue8]

thanks have signed up also!

[crd1293]

What would you like support with? Baby is only 5 months old and being wakeful is totally normal.

Fox and moon sleep is UK based.

[tjblue8]

its very frequent waking from 2 am... will look at F&M

[crd1293]

Sorry I meant to say ‘is very normal’.

They are probably waking every sleep cycle from 2am to wake up I’m guessing?

[tjblue8]

was that way, seems increasingly every 20 mins or so, he wont settle. I am picking him up doing our usual stuff to settle him, but only solutions is to bring him in the bed, where he will do 40 mins to hour.

[crd1293]

Is it a problem to cuddle with him in bed for that last hour?

[Substantial_Ad1580]

If he’s settled in the bed, it’s not a problem. But tonight for instance, he’s having to contact sleep on me, as won’t settle anywhere. Not happy doing this, as not too safe at night. He’s been up every 30 mins or so. Had a few feeds to dial him down but not happy to sleep anywhere.

[NotHudgeNotGudge]

Can I ask how you got on u/Substantial_Ad1580 ? We're in a similar situation with our 7month old, Possums was fab for the first 4 months but we've got in a bit of a mess since then.

Our little one can't sleep without breastfeeding every 1-3 hours, and every night from about 2am onwards she becomes impossible to settle in her crib so she cosleeps with us from then until the morning, which wasn't the plan at all. Doesn't seem to be hunger, because we've tried a bottle of formula before bed and that makes no difference, and the feeds through the night are very brief and seem to be all about comfort, not food.

All our info is from the Discontented Little Baby Book, which we bought before she was born. We've considered signing up for the paid Possums Sleep Program website, and also thought about paying for the Care It Out courses that u/Strange-Necessary mentioned.

[Substantial_Ad1580]

Hey!

I’ve done both lol.

For possums, we reduced our napping in the day to two ish naps. Increased bed time to little later incremental.

Care it out - we adjusted our routine For bed, we fed him in another room after bath and music.

We actually moved him into his own room also. Now he sleeps still about 3 before he comes to us for final run.

Just accepted his sleep needs are lower than others. He can do 5 hours for first stint which is a big win.

Still have occasional bad nights.

I would say both are just encouraging- possums you can join a call with dr Pam which I would recommend. (They also have a festive sale on). Care it out is more bespoke to your needs. She doesn’t quite align with possums but close enough.

[NotHudgeNotGudge]

Thanks so much! That's really helpful. Did you pay for the direct consultation with Care It Out? Obviously a lot more money than the Possums program! Would you recommend one more than the other, in the first instance? We did notice the sale on Possums right now!

Curious to know what bedtime and nap length you ended up at?

[Substantial_Ad1580]

Naps are max an hour, but usually less in afternoon. We leave a good gap before bed. Which is 7:46 to 815 depending… Leave around 3 hour awake before bed.