Good morning.
My 1 year old son is still waking at night and while I believe I know what may be causing the wakefulness, I want to see if I am correct in how we should handle it. Before I post the answers to the questions asked in the administrative post, there are certain things you should know.
I had a very difficult pregnancy - modified bed rest for 6 months combined with all sorts of health issues for me. I am still dealing with the health issues to the point of being considered disabled here in the US. One of the methods we are using to manage my illness is to attempt to ensure I get enough sleep at night by using sleep aids as well as having my husband do the night shift. If my ds is fretful enough to wake me through the medication, its a pretty bad night and I usually cannot go back to sleep causing a great deal of pain the next day. This morning was one of the less pleasant mornings.
Based on the administrative email, my answers to the questions follow:
How old is your child? - 1 year (almost exactly, just turned 1 a week ago.)
What’s his/her daily routine? - Here we have some issue. I try to stick to a routine, but sometimes have to deviate due to my dr. or therapy visits. The basic routine that we normally try to stick to is:
6-7 am ET - wake for day and play(DH in charge here, trying to let me rest)
8 am ET - breakfast (DH still)
9 am Monday, Wednesday - StrollerFit class (part of my therapy); Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - play time
10 am MW - maybe meet people after class, sometimes at the pool or at a Starbucks; TThF - playtime
11 am - bottle of milk and quiet time
12 pm - lunch
1-3 pm MWF - playtime, sometimes at home, sometimes out, sometimes we run errands during this time
3 or 3:30 pm-5:30 - bottle of water and nap
5:30 pm - playtime
6 pm - dinner
6:30 pm - playtime, reading, bottle of milk
7:30 pm - bath (not always every day, he used to hate baths and we are just getting used to them and having more fun.)
8:00 pm - bedtime with a bottle of watered milk. (weaning to all water before bed)
What’s nap routine? He has mainly reduced his naps to a solid 2+ hours starting between 2:30 and 3:30 PM. Routine is that when I notice he is starting to get tired, I bring him downstairs to our bedrooms and give him some water in a bottle, cuddle him in with his stuffed animals and sit with him. We are currently using a family bed but plan to transition when he is about 18 months to a big-boy bed (low level twin) so I need to stay with him when he sleeps as of right now. There can also be a nap in the morning, I watch for the sleepy signs.
How long are naps? If he naps in the morning, it is usually only for an hour. Afternoon naps are much longer - up to 2 or 3 hours.
What's bedtime routine? Time? My husband brings him down to the bedrooms and changes him for bed - sometimes a bath first, sometimes not. I get a bottle of milk/water ready. When my son is ready for bed, we brush his teeth (he LOVES this - does it himself), read a book then start a video, and cuddle in for some quiet time as he drifts to sleep. Once he is asleep we don't touch him unless we have to. He sometimes wakes after an hour or so, but usually can put himself back to sleep (crying, but does it). This does not happen often - usually it is when he has gotten sleepy before his normal time and we move bedtime up because of it. Usually he is in bed by between 8 and 8:30 PM. Last night was early. We started the night time routine at 6:30 PM rather than 7:30 PM because of his tiredness.
Do you bottle or breastfed?? Bottle and straw - migrating to straw cups during the day and bottle still at night.
How much? or how long? Last night was 5 oz of milk mixed with 3 oz of water - transitioning to all water and reducing the amount over time.
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) N/A
How many wakes per night? 1, but I am not sure if it is every night. (Please see above note.)
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? From what I understand, sometimes it is not difficult to get him back to sleep. Usually when he wakes from a nap or at night, he is not happy and cries. When it is really bad (like tonight) he screams, flails, cries and is inconsolable. My doctor says that he is just waking because of habit - but when it is over 2 hours of screaming I think it is more than just habit. She wants us to not feed him when he wakes at night. My husband does the best he can, but after 2 hours or more he finally gives in and gives him a bottle. If it were just habit, wouldn't he be easily distracted and be able to go back to sleep rather than scream for hours? This morning's waking at 2 or 3 AM included screaming, flailing, crying and more even after 2 bottles (one of mixed milk and one of water), Motrin and Orajel B for teething and rocking by me. I think he finally fell asleep again at about 5 AM.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? No - tears, screaming and flailing, not mantra right?
What have you tried to settle?? Tried everything from just rubbing his back (sometimes works) to 2 hours later giving him a bottle. Today's was more difficult - please see above.
What do you do for A time and how long is it? I am not sure - my husband does most of the night work unless I am woken then I try to help.
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? Teething, a cold (bad one), 3 vaccines on Friday.
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) He is eating table food.
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? Not sure what this is...
Do they have a lovie? If this means stuffed animal, yes - he has several. His pillow is a triceratops named Tryke. He also holds one of 3 animals when he is drifting off - a black teddy bear, a black puppy or a small monkey. He sleeps on a taggy blanket in our bed.
Hopefully that wasn't too long and gave you a general idea. I believe that the problems are mostly hunger (I really think he is that hungry - he is in the 80+ percentile here in the US but is not fat, its all muscle, seriously) or teething issues. He has had a hard time teething - he really feels it in his whole face and I know a new tooth is breaking through right now - I felt it last night - which makes this tooth #2 in as many weeks giving him 9 teeth total with at least 3 more coming soon. I also think the cold he has currently may be contributing to some of the problems. However, the dr. just keeps saying that he is waking during the night because he is used to waking during the night and that we just have to be tough and not give him anything that may calm him so he knows he needs to sleep through.
Help!
