Frequent night wakings after 2:30 am

[Bensmama]

I'm confused.  My 4 mo old wakes almost, if not at least, hourly after 2:30 am.  I give him the paci then he falls asleep again.  Usually, though, he stops waking when I finally decided to feed him.  Last night, I decided not to dreamfeed to see when he would wake up and he woke at the usual 2:30 am, so I just fed him, but this time still woke up frequently until 6:30 wake up.  He may be pacifier dependant but then how did he sleep from 8:30 pm - 2:30 am without it.  Also, he tends to spit it out soon after he calms or falls asleep.  Also, if I don't feed him at 2:30 and wait until 3 or 4, he isn't very hungry when he wakes at 6:30.  Wake-to-sleep may work for 2:30, but waht about the rest of the wakings?  I'm not sure where to start.

Here's the info asked for:

How old is your child? 4 mo
What’s his/her daily routine?

6:15 or 6:30 
Eat
Activity
8:30 Sleep (2 hour nap)
10:30 Eat
        Activity
12:30 Sleep (1 ½ -2 hour nap)
2:30 Eat
        Activity
4:30 or 5:30 Cat Nap (30-45 min) or put to bed earlier
6:30  Bath every 2 days
        Eat
7:00 Bedtime (but sometimes won’t go down until 9 ish)
10 ish   Dreamfeed

What’s nap routine? change, lullaby music, close blinds, sit on chair, swaddle, paci, sleep
How long are naps? 1 1/2-2 hr
What's bedtime routine? Time?  change, lullaby music, close blinds, sit on chair, swaddle, paci, sleep (try for 7, but sometimes won't go down until 9 ish)
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breast for 20 min
If breastfed.. one side or both?? Alternate sides, but usually offer both (at each feed)
How many wakes per night? 4-5 (past couple weeks, used to be 1 or 2), but only feed once
What’s your LO like when waking at night? if not fed, goes back to sleep almost instantly with paci .  If fed, up about 30-40 min. to drink, sometimes change then goes back to sleep easy.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  I think it is mantra cry.
What have you tried to settle?? yes
What do you do for A time and how long is it?  he watches me prep food to eat  while he plays in saucer, then another play station, then hold him when he starts fussing (trying to extend A times to 2 hours)
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? no
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) no
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? pacifier, but mostly to push over the edge to sleep
Do they have a lovie? I don't know what this is, but probably no

[mum2luca]

Hi Ben's mama,

I've also got a 4 month old baby boy and I'm going through exactly the same thing (but my baby sucks my little finger instead of a paci).  I've got a post about it on this board aswell.

Has anything changed in the last couple of weeks?  Have you always done a DF or is it recent?  Did you used to feed him at 2.30 and did you stop?  Also have you just changed to a 4 hour EASY?  Maybe a change in routine has caused this disruption.

From reading posts on the props board I think it seems quite common for pacis to suddenly become a problem at 4 months with the baby suddenly needing it to stay asleep not just to get to sleep.

I'm going to try PU/PD tonight to wean my LO off sucking as a prop.  I'll let you know if it works.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Bensmama,

I think Ben has a suck to sleep association like mom2luca.   I would consider getting rid of the paci - the older he gets the more attached he will become and the harder it will be to get rid of it. When you feed at night and he takes 30-40 min, does he take a full feed in that time? Since you're BFing I know it's hard to tell. But I notice that during the day he takes 20 min to eat but at night will suck for 30 or 40, which is what makes me think that he just wants to suck. At his age he surely needs a night feed still, but not several times, KWIM?

I also think that you might consider not dreamfeeding. With some LOs it can actually cause MORE wakings by messing up their biorhythms and sleep cycles. I wonder if that's what's happening for you.

A mantra cry is different from a regular cry in that it's very rhythmic on a specific beat. Sometimes it's not even a cry but just a noise. If that's what LO is doing it's very important that you leave him be. He's putting himself back to sleep and self-soothing - if you interfere he will lose his ability to do so.

[owensmommy]

We are having similar problems

My son is 4.5 months old.

Daily routine is as follows:
6 wake
6-7:45am E/A time
7:45-9:45am Nap #1
9:45-11:45am E/A time
11:45-1:15pm Nap #2
1:15-3:45pm E/A time
3:45- 4:30pm Nap #3
4:30-6:30pm E/A time
6:30pm bath, book, top up
7pm Bedtime

Owen is exclusively breastfed, he feeds for 10 minutes every 3.5 hours (about 7 mins one side, 3 mins the other).  This means that I may top him up before a nap - he can keep up with the A time of a 4 hour schedule but is screaming for food at 3.5 hours.  We're working on stretching his eating times slowly.

He cluster feeds at 4:45pm and 6:45pm, to bed at 7pm with a dreamfeed (he actually wakes for it on his own) at 10pm.
Usually 2-4 wakings is normal for him but lately he has woken up to 6-8 times at night, he grunts and then it escalates to a scream and frantic cry.  He has never had a mantra cry that I know of.

He is swaddled and goes to bed with a paci.  I bounce on an exercie ball and use shh-pat at the same time with him in cradle hold (he usually goes down in about 5 minutes if I hit his window).  I know it's a lot but he has never wanted to sleep - he wants to keep playing until he's exhausted and has a complete melt down.  I really struggled to get him into a routine of any sort and over the past month we've finally gotten over the 45 minute naps. 

His daytime naps are uneventful. I read his signs well (rubbing eyes, first yawn) and we move it upstairs.  At night, he always needs to be re-swaddled (he breaks out everytime), I pick him up and pat-shh and put his paci back in.  I have tried not using the paci and have tried leaving an arm out but this all seems hopeless.

A time in the day is very routine for us.  He is fed and then we play with toys on the floor.  We walk around the house, look at the mirrors etc.  Then he has play mat time and lately, he has had a little time in his exersaucer - supported by mom.  We usually mix in some house walking and calm things down about 15 minutes before nap time. 

He has appeared to be teething for some time now - lots of drool, a rash on his cheeks occasionally, and he grinds everything against his gums.  I haven't noticed anything poking through or any big change in the past few days that would result in him waking a lot.

He has a small cold but appears to be almost over it and we have a vapourizer going in his room to help (for the past week).

I am at a loss for what to do.  Part of me feels that since he's breaking out of the swaddle - perhaps I should wean him from that and consider paci weaning too.  I don't know what to do first or if I should do both at once.

Based on our story does anyone have any suggestions?  Should you wean from a swaddle or paci first?  Do both together?

[Colin Macs Mom]

You might try the Aussie swaddle - instructions are found in the FAQ section of Props. It's different than a traditional swaddle in that LOs hands are under their chin so they can suck if they want, but it's much, much harder to break out of.

[Bensmama]

Wow, last night he still did his wakings but I decided to wait before going in his room to see if he would settle from his fussing on his own and he did, every time, without the paci, until 5:30 am(df was at 10 pm), then I fed him.

Mum2luca asked:Has anything changed in the last couple of weeks?  not really, but we have been transistioning to 4hr EASY Have you always done a DF or is it recent? always  Did you used to feed him at 2.30 and did you stop?  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Colin Mac's Mom asked: When you feed at night and he takes 30-40 min, does he take a full feed in that time? He actually only feeds for about 10-15 minutes, full feed since he is half asleep he is not so distractable. 

[Colin Macs Mom]

that's great news!

[owensmommy]

We had a bit of an improvement too - I've been waiting a little longer to go in and he's able to settle himself sometimes.  Last night he only woke every 2 hours - still a lot but every bit of progress counts!

I also tried removing the vapourizer as I think it made the room too hot for him.