7 mth old - is this habitual waking?

[lickertysplit]

Hi

My 7 month daughter wakes every night anywhere between 0400 - 0445.  I try to give her a dummy to resettle but more often than not i end up having to rock her back to sleep, sometimes even give her a 30mls of milk.  Is this a habitual waking?

She pretty much goes to sleep at 630pm most nights, i have been trying to drag that time out a bit but now she is only on two naps a day she is exhausted by 630pm and if i leave it any longer she is a nightmare to get down.  She tends to stir once or twice before the DF at 1000pm but only needs a dummy to get her back to sleep.  After the DF she sleeps soundly until 0400 - 0445.  Once i manage to get her back to sleep she tends to sleep to anywhere between 0630 - 0715.

She is down to 2 naps now during the day and they can be anything from 45 mins to 2 hours in length.  Usually if she has a short nap in the morning, she tends to have a longer nap in the afternoon.  Sometimes she will only sleep for 2 hrs during the day which i think is too little for her.

She is a formula fed baby that is almost weaned from Losec (which she has been on since 12 weeks for her reflux).  I really don't think the reflux is an issue anymore.  She has just cut her top two teeth (her first cut at 4 months) but she wakes at 0400 - 0445 regardless of any teeth etc.

I know i shouldn't really complain but i end up waking up at 0400 and waiting for her to wake, then often don't get back to sleep until 0530.  Its beginning to take its toll.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[katie80]

It does sound pretty habitual and that you've ruled out a lot of factors as being the cause. Would you post what her typical EASY looks like so we can make sure it's not a routine issue? You mentioned that it can differ from day to day, maybe put down the last couple days, so we can get a feel for it. Is she eating any new foods that could be bothering her? Do you think she gets cold at that time of night?

One way you can try to get rid of a habitual waking like that is by using wake-to-sleep (w2s). You set your alarm an hour before she's due to wake (so 3 am for you) and go in and cause her to stir and start a new sleep cycle. So, rub her cheek or twitch her earlobe until she turns her head or stirs enough that you can see her resettle. That should hopefully push her through the habitual wake. You need to do it for usually 3-7 nights to break the habit. Here's a bit more info: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=121269.0