My 10 mo old dd has always been a champion nighttime sleeper - and when I say champion, I really mean that. From birth, she would sleep 5 hours at a stretch at night; from about 6 weeks on, she'd go to bed around 8, df at 10 wake once at 4 to feed, and sleep til 7. At 3 mos, she gave up the 4 am feed. Up until about 3 weeks ago, I could count on one hand the number of NWs we've had since then. Now it's almost every night. First, here's her routine:
E - 7:30 bf (this is when she wake up) 15-30 min
A - solids at 8:30 (cereal, fruit, yogurt, juice)
S - 10:30
E - 12/12:30 (whenever she wakes up) bf 10ish min
A - solids at 1 (meat, cheese, veggies, bread, water)
snack at 2:30/3 (cheerios, soy milk or fruit)
S - 3/3:30
4:30/5 - she wakes or I wake her (I often have to wake her)
A - solids dinner at 5:30/6 - usually meat, veggies
start bedtime routine at 7, bf 10-15 min and to bed by 7:30
She is an independent sleeper for naps and nighttime, has been since 3 mos. Napping has been wonderfully consistent since 7 mos - when we gave up the df and she was able to handle 3 hrs of A time. About a month ago, we gave up her 4:30/5 bf because she wouldn't nurse at bedtime, that's when I added the snack before her 2nd nap. If she doesn't nurse well after her first nap, I will sometimes replace the snack with another bf. I've been watching her NWs in relation to dropping the feed, there doesn't seem to be any correlation. Sometimes she sleeps through with 3 feeds, sometimes not. Sometimes she sleeps through with the snack bf, sometimes not.
When she wakes, dh and I wait to see if she will settle herself - this week, she's done that on 2 nights. If she doesn't start to settle, one of us will go in, check her diaper, rock a bit, and put her back down. She will then settle very easily - usually with just the sound of our voice. She has not ever appeared hungry during those NWs - even when I'm there rocking her right by the boob - she's not interested. Last night, she woke at 1:30, settled herself. Woke again at 4:45, thought she settled herself, but cried again at 5:15, wouldn't settle. I caved and fed her, one side, put her back to bed, she slept til 7:30.
I'm at a loss. The NWs don't seem to be due to hunger, she's not OT. I thought maybe she's in that beginning stages of transitioning to 1 nap, and I need to limit her day sleep. But everything I've read says it's their naps that go wonky when they start the transition, not night sleep. Is she just different? She's a textbook baby and is a real joy when she gets enough sleep.
She has 2 teeth, I think she's cutting a 3rd, but she doesn't seem to be in pain. She's not crawling or pulling up or walking....nothing developmental going on that I can tell. Any ideas?
I miss my champion night sleeper!! (not to mention my night sleep!)
TIA
michelle