9mo, new nightwakings after sleeping through past few weeks. Growth Spurt?

[natasgirl]

Hi, DD just turned 9mo. Slept throught the night with DF at 9weeks. Stopped sleeping through after ilness and teething at 6.5mo. Just started sleeping through again 7:30pm-5:30or6am about 2weeks ago. SHe has woken at 3 & 4:30am past few days and I was unsuccessful in putting her back to sleep today, but went to sleep for 1hr yesterday after being awake for 2hrs. Last night she went to bed at 7:30pm and then woke every 45min starting at 9:30pm until 12am, then woke at 4:30am.

She may be in a growth spurt and eats solids 3x/day and has been taking 28-35oz formula. She eats 10-12oz before bed. How do I know whether NW are due to hunger? I really don't want to get in the feed in the night routine again as she doesn't always go back to sleep after. SHe has been refusing jarred foods & wants finger foods mostly. Maybe she isn't eating enough that way.

Here is our routine:

6am wake 6-8oz bottle
7:30am 3-4T cereal & 2-4oz fruit
9am 6oz bottle then nap for 1.5hrs
11:30 or 12 Lunch--bits pasta, soft veggies, may take 2-4oz jarred food
2pm 6-7oz bottle then Nap for 1.5hrs
3:30 wake
5:30 Dinner--- finger foods, 4oz meat w/fruit or veggie puree, try to give veggie puree as well
7pm  Jammies, 10oz bottle (will do 12 if eaten poorly at supper)
7:30pm Bed

Had been going to bed easily and not making a peep until 5:30am when she would wake up talking/playing. Any ideas? If it is a growth spurt where do I add in more food in the day? Seems she eats all day as is. Should I add in a snack after her pm nap? What is a good snack at this time? How do I handle NW? DO I feed her until growth spurt is done, or continue with PU/PD until she takes more in during the day? 

Thanks,
Natalie

[NiknLily]

Hi there
I'm no expert, just winging it myself as a first timer.  My LO is just a little older than yours.  If she is waking because of hunger the only way you will get her back to sleep is to feed her, no amount of PU/PD will work.  If its a growth spurt it will only last a few days max about 5, but you will need to up what she eats during the day to avoid having to feed at night. 

Could she be teething again or is it possibly a developmental thing such as about to crawl or walk, just learning to pull herself up to standing.  These things can all affect night sleep and in this case you need to max her chances to practice whatever new skill you think may be around the corner during the day to get it out of her system as it where by bed time.

With regard to the finger food in theory she should need less of this as its just pure food where as jars and purees have a lot of water content.  It could also be that the finger food which has got to be harder to digest than jars and purees is giving her tummy a bit of trouble at night, not a lot you can do about this except wait for her digestive system to catch up with what she wants to eat now.

I'm currently having trouble with my LO who wakes 45Min's after bedtime every night she almost always settles back with help within 10-15Min's but its getting silly and she never gets that all important 2hr deep sleep when she goes to bed.  I was told that 45min wake ups are generally overtired or prop problems, as we don't have any props I'm thinking she is overtired, as with yourself she frequently goes 4hrs after pm nap till bedtime where as her other A times are 2hrs 45min and 3hrs 15min so maybe that was why your LO kept waking between 9.30 and 12.  In your case I would think that it may of been due to not getting her usual good nights sleep for several nights before.

I may be teaching granny how to suck eggs here, but if you do use PU/PD don't forget to use the right technique for her age which I would say is just the put down part where you wait for them to sit up or stand up then just lay them back down.  At this age if you pick up it can just aggravate the situation.  I can only stroke my LO head and comfort with words or she gets so upset, the only time I pick her up is if I've had enough and am going to bring her down stairs for a while or give her some teething meds etc.  Other than that I never PU.

Sorry its a bit of a long list of could be's and maybes, but I hope some of it is helpful.

newmum x

[M and N's Mom]

My thought was overtired as well.  4h is a long A time before bed at 9 months.  My DS still can't handle 4h A time and he is a year.  You may try to even out the 3 A times during the day to somewhere around 3h each time. 

When we have had too long awake time before bed, that is when we get NWings.