7.5 month old waking every night at 4am! Please Help!

[caro558]

Hi there
My DD is actually 10 months old, but was born 10 weeks early, so she's 7.5 months corrected.
She is waking every night between 3.30am and 4am, she is awake for an hour.
It starts of with a few little squeaks and moans, then gradually she starts to cry, then she stops, this happens over and over. If I pick her up she cries more, if I try and pacify her in her cot she cries more.
She started teething 4 weeks ago, but we don't think her teeth are hurting her now, sometimes i giver pain relief with her dreamfeed to see if this makes a difference, but it doesn't.
Below is her routine.

6am 6oz - back to sleep
7.30 awake
8am - cereal
9.30am 4oz - nap for an hour
10.30am playtime
12pm solids
12.30pm 4oz
1pm - nap for hour and half
2.30pm playtime
4.30pm solids
6pm bath
6.30 6oz - sleep
10pm 4oz DF

Generally I always put her in her cot whilst she is awake and let her settle herself.
I want to start dropping the DF, but am also unsure how to do this as she won't take any more milk in her feeds.

Any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Caroline x

[Dree]

I am going through the exact same thing as you, except that my DD is really 7.5mths old. She has been getting up at 3:30 and 4am. Thank God I am on maternity leave and I consider myself to be a patient person but man when you are not getting enough sleep, one can get very......how you say...grumpy !   

What I do is try to put her paci in her mouth first. If that doesn't work I change her. and finally I feed her 2oz and that does the job until 5am which is her normal wake up time anyhow (usually 5-6:30am).

I was told to drop the DF. I am trying but it is difficult. So, now what I am trying to do is increase her calories during the day. I think the reason why my DD is getting up is because she has only been on solids for 2wks. She was sick about 3wks ago. Gastro. Poor thing. That is another story. I think the gas is getting to her. If you know what I mean.

I think you need to increase those 4oz bottles to 6oz and increase her solids slowly by 1 tbsp. What kinds of solids are you giving her ? She may not be eating enough during the day...

I give my DD 3T of cereal and 2-3T of fruit. I wait 1hr then give her a 6oz bottle. For Lunch I give her 2-3T of veggies and wait 1hr and give her a 6oz bottle. We have not started proteins yet but I think I will sometime next week.

Keep me posted on how you are doing and I will do the same here

Good Luck
Dree 

[macsmum]

hi again, u dont have to drop the df cold turkey u can water it down a little each night, then your lo should hopefully increase the food in take in the waking hours

Emma

[caro558]

Hi Emma
I'm pretty sure she's not waking because she's hungry, I just have no idea why she's doing it! I guess it must be habit, it just takes such a long time to get her back to sleep, she doesn't have a dummy!
Will try bringing DF  forward tonight to say 9.00pm and will just offer her 4oz and see what happens. Fingers crossed!

Caroline x

[macsmum]

IF SHE CONTINUES TO WAKE AT 4 AM U COULD TRY WAKE 2 SLEEP, JUST GO IN ABOUT 1HR B4 USUAL WAKE UP AND STIR LO SLIGHTLY, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO ADJUST THE SLEEP CYCLE?

EMMA

[caro558]

So, last night I DF her at 9.30pm she took 4oz, then slept until 2am and was awake for an hour, I had to get up 4 times in that hour. She then slept until 6.20am.
Has anybody got any more ideas ?
From
A sleep deprived mummy x

[Fenella]

No help for you i am afraid but we are going through the same thing but ds is 6 months.  With df he wakes around 3.30/4 and is awake for over an hour last night dropped df again and woke at 12.15 for feed and awake for over an hour.  Let me know if you find something that works.

[Dree]

Hi Caro,

Technically your DD is sleeping through the night...She is sleeping 5hrs in a row. So try to see that in a positive way...so, here is what I suggest. DF at 9pm, then offer her a dummy. It might help you...NO, I am not trying to start a new habit but sometimes a paci will help them through the night. My DD has it in her mouth for an hour and it falls out during the night.

If your DD is wide awake at 2am do you change her diaper??. Sometimes that alone will help

Good Luck
Dree 

[litomi]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here.... DD has just turned 8mo. From last week, she's been waking up between 2-3 & staying awake for around 1hr (singing, talking, clapping, etc.) Until she's exhausted and cries for me AARRGG

[caro558]

Thank you all for your replies!
I will keep you posted with any changes.
Last night she threw up after her feed at 6.30pm, so i gave her some water, then DF her at 9pm.... she woke at 4.17am and was awake until 5.30am, when we could stand it no more and gave her a bottle. Oh well, tonight's another night!
x

[litomi]

Hihi,
I finally figured out her night wakings (between 2-3am) was acutually caused by teething I felt her first tooth today. DD has all those teething signs since 5mo. We never suspected... Could your LO be teething as well?

[caro558]

Hi
She has 4 teeth. she started teething about a month ago, don't think there's any more on the way, but you never know. I might try some Nurofen liquid tonight when i go to bed, just to see.
Anyway...I'll keep you posted
x

[CLJK]

If you think your LO is not hungry (or if you already fed and they wake up again), send Daddy in for some recon.  My kids, for the most part, stopped the repetative night waking when they realize dthey are not getting "me" (and are not going to get nursed).  We're dealing with it right now with my 11 month old's waking at 4:30am, but we are trying to be consistent and sending my DH in for PU/PD after we give my son 5 minutes to see if he can put himself back to sleep (sometimes yes, sometimes no!).

[Wiki]

I'd agree, my DH was always better at getting Caspar back to sleep in the middle of the night. Now I'm the one doing PD at age 1 however, still, better than carrying him around like we used to!

[caro558]

Hello again
It's all changed again, I've been gradually weaning her off the DF, by watering down her formula, but now she's drinking the full 7oz bottle so i guess she must be hungry.
My health visitor says I should start DF again as her weight gain has really slowed down, interestingly even with watered down formula at night she never really increased her solids.
Has anyone got any advice/ideas ?
She is fed at 6.30pm (7oz) then wakes anytime between 1am and 4am, then again at aroung 6.30am.
 
Caroline x

[litomi]

I dropped DF coz it interrupts LO's sleep around 7-8mo. She used to sleep through with the DF, but somehow around 8mo., she woke up 4hrs right after DF and then every 2-3hrs. AARRGG
I tried to move DF earlier, but it didn't help. It just disturbed DD's sleep. I just went cold turkey. DD slept until 3! Then she had 6oz bottle and went back straight to sleep.
Starting DF again it's not a good idea. If your LO wakes up between 1-4am just for a feed.... I think it's fine. How much does she take when she wakes up around 6:30 am? Does she eat less than usual? If not, then I think she is really hungry.