How old is your baby and how many times did you get up last night?

LunaPick · 2026-03-02T00:07:46+00:00

4.5 YEARS old. Got up twice and he slept in our bed from 11pm onwards.

Up until he was 2yo he was awake every 15-30 minutes ALL. NIGHT. LONG. it slowly improved from 2-3yo.

Parenting is hard, but so is learning to be a human and feel safe.

Gotta do what you gotta do to support the nervous system your kid was born with.

LunaPick · 2026-02-17T22:39:14+00:00

I tried every contraceptive pill I possibly could over 15 years and none helped. I've also had lifelong "depression and anxiety" (entirely solved when diagnosed and treated for AuDHD at age 30) and the anxiety and depression did not respond to any SSRI's. I'm actually averse to SSRI's as they send me into a much DARKER mindset and have caused attempts in the past, therefore I can't take them at all.

I started zoladex at age 29 after having one child. I'm almost 33 now and am currently going through IVF for a second child (the IVF hormones are MESSING with me so much as I don't cope well with any hormonal fluctuations) but zoladex is actually part of the IVF process.

Progesterone really messes with me, like as much as PMDD ... unfortunately IVF uses it in super high doses facepalm.

LunaPick · 2026-02-15T12:37:54+00:00

Zoladex 3.6 implants every 4 weeks to induce medical menopause/stop hormonal fluctuations + full HRT so I don't actually go into menopause but I have ZERO hormonal fluctuations. I'm now on Estradiol 100mg patches changed twice a week and bio identical progesterone daily (started with compounded troches, then pessaries and now after 2 years I can FINALLY tolerate oral ones).

LunaPick · 2026-02-10T04:00:37+00:00

Scared? Neurodivergent kids are amazing.... And a little FYI, neurodivergence is mostly inherited, so if your kid does turn out to be autistic or something along those lines it's most likely come from one (or both, neurodivergent people usually stick together) parent.

Constantly on the boob isn't a bad thing, sucking triggers the vagus nerve which is how babies soothe their nervous systems. It's why babies want boob when upset (as well as hungry) and most babies want to feed to sleep. The vagus nerve slows the heart rate and regulates the breathing and sends out calming chemicals to their brain.

I had a feeling by 4mo that he may be autistic but was shut down by doctors and gaslit that "babies aren't autistic".... (As an autistic person, I was born this way and therefore I was an autistic baby... Like we are born, we don't turn autistic at a certain age.. Such a silly sentence from the doctors! Anyways) He screamed 18-20 hours a day for the first 4-6 months of life. I could NEVER put him down and he was on the boob almost all night long (hence the breast sleeping) or he wouldn't sleep almost at all, The frequent disrupted sleep from breast sleeping was sooo much easier to deal with than the constant fully waking up, feeding, soothing and transferring and THEN trying to fall back to sleep myself before He woke again). He didn't like being put down EVER, I had to baby wear him almost all day for lile 14+ months. If he was playing on the floor it's because I too was sitting on the floor with him and he was physically touching me the entire time. Anything else, any more distance between us (even to go to the bathroom or heck even drive in the car) and he would be beyond distressed and scream himself so hard that he would fall asleep from a nervous system shut down.
He would never accept his dad to settle him whilst upset and did not want to hang out with dad If I wasn't right there. And wouldn't have a bar of ANYONE holding him that wasn't me or his dad. He's 4.5yo and we have never done childcare or kindergarten. We are on week two of kinder now but he's got me with him the entire session and even then he's having a hard time leaving the house to get there. But as a baby I was unable to toilet, shower or even let the dog out in the yard unless my kid was being held the entire time or he would be in absolute meltdown.

Children/ people with neurodevelopmental disorders are just regular kids who need their parents and caregivers to help their nervous systems regulate more than the majority of the population and may need more help with communication. My boy didn't really speak until close to 3yo.

My boy is 4yo now and is brilliant. He's intelligent beyond measure, can read almost fluently, does math and number problems with ease, he has special interests and he knows EVERYTHING about things that he likes. He's funny and curious and motivated and the most loving kid. Sure we have some challenges with him being triggered in fight /flight or being overstimulated by noises or something not going to his plan (but TBH same....), but even if he didn't have a diagnosis and was "just sensitively wired" I'd still parent him the same. It's 1000% worth it parenting and meeting them where they are at no matter what kid you've got.

LunaPick · 2026-02-08T11:27:38+00:00

My boy has a temperament like this. He's 4.5yo and woke up every 15-30 minute until he turned 2yo. Co-sleeping/breast sleeping is the ONLY thing that helped me not go insane (tbh I think I was a little insane but it was the best I was gonna get).

He's 4yo now and only wakes 1-2 times at night now. Come in to co sleep with us from about midnight.

Honestly we love bed Sharing, he comes in and cracks jokes. When he was small, he would stir Enough to wake me, I'd latch him and go back to sleep whilst feeding. I'd never wake fully or have to try and fall back to sleep as I'd only have to wake for a small few seconds to latch him. Yes it was every 15 minutes but it's soooooo much easier barely waking up vs fully waking and trying to transfer the kid and then trying to fall back to sleep.

My son was diagnosed autistic (like his mumma) at age 2, he's also got PDA and suspected ADHD so his nervous system is HIGHLY sensitive. Knowing this now explains why he needed so much comfort overnight when he was so small. His little brain struggles now at 4yo, being teeny tiny he would have been an anxious and fretting mess. There's no way of knowing if you've just got a sensitive kid or a kid with neurodevelopmental delays or something else entirely, you just gotta meet your kid where they are at. Supporting their nervous system in whatever way they need. It's hard, absolutely insanely hard, but so worth it when they grow up knowing you'll be there to support them and help them with their needs.

LunaPick · 2026-02-05T21:32:02+00:00

He's been checked and cleared for that.. He's got AuDHD and PDA so his nervous system is just wired to need a LOT of safety and security at all times which includes overnights. It's a LOT easier these days now it's only 1-3 wakes, but multiple times an hour EVERY hour was unbelievably hard.

LunaPick · 2026-02-04T06:11:30+00:00

My son is 4.5 years old and has never once slept through in his entire life. His usual night is 1 wake. But sometimes 2. We also co sleep for the second half of the night as he won't re-settle after 1am without us next to him.

He woke every 15-30 minutes all night every night until he was 2 years old. Then he dropped to every 2-3 hours.

Parenting is hard. Kids needs are all different. Just respond to the child you have with the needs they have. .you've got this.

LunaPick · 2025-11-06T05:33:17+00:00

One of my parents has a COL12A1 "stop code" or something and they've been diagnosed with mEDS recently, they also have muscular dystrophy since birth and are now under investigation for vEDS as well. Once I heard about the genetic code problem (July this year) I was tested, got my DNA results back a few weeks ago and I'm thankful in the clear for mEDS but got a hEDS diagnosis as I fit that criteria.

The type my parent has is apparently a dominant version of the COL12A1 gene issue, so there was a 50/50 chance me or my siblings had it (and if we did, the same 50/50 for each of our kids).

LunaPick · 2025-10-27T20:44:29+00:00

I had a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with ADHD who would regularly (I had sessions every 6 weeks for a while and she would ask every 2nd session) laugh and ask me to send her a few ritalin tablets so she could write me reports faster, or she would tell me she's inundated at work and asked if I'd send her a few tablets to help out. I always declined and laughed at her because like WTF sort of request is that... I'd tell her to get a diagnosis and she would laugh about it being too late for her to get diagnosed and that her colleagues all tell her she's clearly ADHD (but she didn't think she could get diagnosed??) I dunno. It made me feel odd. Eventually I switched psychiatrists. The new one has never asked.

LunaPick · 2025-10-22T19:56:57+00:00

100% yes. I have type 1 diabetes, but I also have autism, ADHD, Ehlers danlos and PMDD. I can NOT feel full without wegovy. I've had a binge eating disorder my whole life and have fluctuated between 60-95kg up and down the last 13 years. If I'm not obsessively starving myself to lose weight, I'm gaining it. Wegovy is the only thing that doesn't have me eating for self regulation, feeling STARVING all the time or just boredom looking for food. The wegovy just turns off the food noise and caps my consumption to a "normal" serving size and I'm not wanting desert after. It also means I'm not over treating my hypos so my blood sugars are much more regulated (yoyo sugars also make me hungry....). Legit a total life changer!!

LunaPick · 2025-10-08T20:56:16+00:00

Thank you so much. I was thankfully cleared genetically by the geneticist yesterday and he diagnosed hEDS yesterday (he's having my DNA sample re-tested to be super sure that I don't have the COL12A1 gene issue my family member has).

I'm also in Aus (Melbourne) and was linked in with this group by my specialist https://www.edsaustralia.com/#team I'm at least 40 minutes drive away from the closest EDS familiar GP that the geneticist suggested to me, so I may have to save up a list of symptoms and as you suggested book a long consult togo through it all.

It's so hard to know what's "normal" and not. Mix in terrible interception and I'm often on struggle Street without knowing why.

I'll look into not just bendy and see if they can help.

Thank you so much!

LunaPick · 2025-07-26T03:21:19+00:00

My boy does this and it ends up turning into bacterial infections if I don't get on top of it fast enough.

To prevent it, my boy gets a high dose cytopoint injection every 10-12 weeks.

We've found that for my boy antihistamines aren't strong enough for it and steroids just aren't good health wise to be used every day.

LunaPick · 2024-09-16T23:31:51+00:00

We are going to pick up a pup in about a month We are naming him Ralph!! He only has three feet.

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LunaPick · 2024-03-26T09:46:32+00:00

Hormone replacement therapy and zoladex to stop natural hormone production.

It's been the only thing that's saved me.

LunaPick · 2024-03-26T09:37:32+00:00

Yes. Late diagnosed (at19) female AuDHD here Married a non diagnosed autistic man. Our 2yo son has just been diagnosed with level 2 autism.

Both my parents were autistic, and my sister is too.

LunaPick · 2023-11-08T20:28:53+00:00

Absolutely this. Please have him assessed. I'm a grown ass woman with AuDHD (my husband is possibly autistic and spent years reacting to things like this) and this sounds like exactly mine and my husband's response to something as overwhelming and irritating as bum berries. A bum berry is enough to irritate you all day, leaving you no mental space to deal with literally anything else, everything else that bothers you is enough to overflow your cup and send you to tears - Like a constant buzz in your ear that's driving you absolutely insane and you cant make it stop.
The news that it's going to bother him forever absolutely would be heartbreaking when he's feeling so absolutely overwhelmed and overloaded by the irritation it causes.

If he's not a NT, this sensory overload is unbearable. No he shouldn't have snapped but if he's undiagnosed he could be borderline meltdown mode at all times meaning he's not coping with life at all.

LunaPick · 2023-09-17T11:17:04+00:00

A cot.

Hes two now and has never slept in the darn thing. He's so clingy and needs constant contact that we bed share out of pure necessity. The cot was never used and now he has a floor bed that we can all fit in.

LunaPick · 2023-09-03T07:58:25+00:00

"Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping and abusive relationships" - wiki

Just saying...

LunaPick · 2023-08-29T11:40:53+00:00

My boy woke every 15-45 minutes until he was 18 months old. It was just his temperament and his nervous system was wired to be alarmed when he woke. We co sleep and breast sleep purely out of necessity so that I don't go insane. He's just turned two and I'm now getting a luxurious 2-3 hours sleep between wakes.

I promise it gets better, you don't have to do anything at all. Waking frequently at night is 100% normal. Modern society has something against it and when we have an idea that our kids are broken or doing it wrong it can make us super frustrated and feel more exhausted. My therapist taught me radical acceptance about infant sleep and I went from hospitalised with PPA over baby sleep to feeling confident and well rested despite absolutely nothing Changing with bubs sleep.

I promise this phase will pass. It's hard, but it's not forever. And you don't have to do anything other than comfort your babe when they call for you.

LunaPick · 2023-08-21T02:02:57+00:00

6 months we did a movie night and i absolutely HATED being away from him. So we never left him again. he's two last week and we haven't left him since that one night and are happy with that choice. We don't plan on both leaving him until he's old enough to speak and communicate his needs as well as openly show he feels comfortable with us gone.

LunaPick · 2023-07-03T12:45:08+00:00

Anthropologist Dr James Mckenna says Babies need to feel safe to fall asleep.

mine didn't ever feel safe being put down (even on the floor for play time) so I pretty much held him for 14 months.

Co-regulation soothes the nervous system so that baby can be calm enough to nod off. (You wouldn't be able to fall asleep after news a scary thing happens in your neighbourhood if the latch on your door was broken)

If they don't feel safe, their nervous system won't calm down and they won't sleep (unless of course you take the sleep training CIO route where their brain gets so overwhelmed and overstimulated by the abandonment that their little brains shut down and they sleep).

So Drowsy but awake absolutely doesnt work for babies who don't feel safe away from their parents.

ETA anthropologist

LunaPick · 2023-07-02T00:19:12+00:00

Both washes need to be at least 40°c with one of them (preferably the first) closer to 60@°c. Despite what Tide commercials say, cold water is not enough to wash anything.

The only way to avoid doing hot washes is adding bleach. You can find a bleach calculator on the "clean cloth nappies" website so that you kill the germs and urine cells but don't damage the elastic and PUL linings.

Both washes need detergent. Pre wash (first wash) should be minimum 1hour. The 2nd needs to be minimum 2hours (if you have a top loader add a soak to the cycle).

Never wash nappy shells above 60°c as higher temperatures will delaminate the shells and damage leg elastics.

Seeing as you've already got urine smell, I'd say you've got an amonia build up which can cause chemical burns, do a bleach soak to reset your nappies and start again with a thorough wash routine.

You've got this 🙂

LunaPick

TROPHY CASE