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SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: Mitch85 on January 21, 2014, 20:44:57 pm

Title: 8 month old suddenly refusing milk and sleep...
Post by: Mitch85 on January 21, 2014, 20:44:57 pm
Hello all, I'm desperate for some advice on my 8 month old little boy, I feel like I'm going insane!!

He had always been a pretty good sleeper - he still has 3 naps a day and has been sleeping through perfectly for the last 3 months. Over the last couple of weeks things have taken a turn for the worse and I don't know what to do.

He has been on 3 solid meals for a long time and although his milk I take has always been a little inconsistent, he's always had between the recommended 16-20oz a day. He is now refusing pretty much all of his milk. He won't drink much water in the day either and, I don't know whether this is a consequence of that but I've noticed he has bad breath.

Since he was a couple of months old, we put him down awake for his naps and he's always got himself off to sleep, we've never had to rock him etc. The only thing we've had to do over the last 3 months is put his dummy in a couple of times in the night and that's it. He is still going down fine for his naps but is now waking between 30mins and an hour of going to bed in the evening screaming.

His front teeth started coming through a week or so ago which I thought might be the reason but medicine etc is making any difference and he's totally fine throughout the day and at nap time.

I thought it might be separation anxiety but he's fine if I leave him in the day and for his naps.

Surely if he was ill or teething he would be like this in the day 

At night time we have to take him out of his room before he'll even think about calming down and if we even step foot through his bedroom door with him he'll start screaming again.

We've tried putting his dummy back in, putting a cot soother in, leaving him to cry a bit, everything and nothing is working. He can't be hungry because we've tried feeding him milk once he's up and he refuses.

I'm at my wits end with it.
Title: Re: 8 month old suddenly refusing milk and sleep...
Post by: Mitch85 on January 21, 2014, 21:37:00 pm
How old is your child? 8.5 months

What’s his/her daily routine?

Wake anywhere between 6.45 & 8.30
Bottle
Porridge an hour after
Nap
Try him with a bottle or snacks
Lunch
Nap
Try him with a bottle or snacks
Tea (nap either before or after - never longer than half an hour)

What’s nap routine? He can stay awake for 2/2.5 hours before getting tired.

How long are naps? Between 30 mins and 2 he's

What's bedtime routine? Time? We aim for bed at 7. He doesn't have a bath every night and he has very dry skin but he goes upstairs for his creams, a wash, teeth brush etc and he'd have a bottle just before until he started refusing.

Do you bottle or breastfed?? Bottle

How much? or how long? As much as we can but he just isn't interested.

How many wakes per night? None until now. Now he starts screaming and can be up for hours.

What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? 2+ hours

When you go to him/her is she fupussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? He's screaming.
 
What have you tried to settle?? Cuddling, bottle, cot soother, letting him cry

What do you do for A time and how long is it? 2/2.5 hours, playing or in walker, nappy off time

Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? He has his bottom 2 teeth and one of his top is coming through. He's never shown any interest in crawling but loves standing.

Do they have a prop? If so what is it? He has a dummy.

Do they have a lovie? We play peekaboo with a bear when I put him on his cot and he keeps that but it's stopped settling him.
Title: Re: 8 month old suddenly refusing milk and sleep...
Post by: Layla on January 22, 2014, 11:38:50 am
At 8 months, most would have given up the 3rd nap so i would try and increase his activity time and get rid of the catnap. Aim for 3hrs across the day and for 2 nap of around 1.5hrs in length. I am not sure about the milk refusal as I bf but we do have a bottle feeding section where you might like to post and maybe get some ideas. In general solids is only meant for fun and milk is more important for the first year so i would be inclined to reduce solids if he's having too much to encourage him to have more milk.

Have a look at this link re:3-2 nap transition All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months
Let me know how you go :)
Title: Re: 8 month old suddenly refusing milk and sleep...
Post by: Mitch85 on January 29, 2014, 08:48:43 am
I've tried cutting his naps back to 2 but it makes no difference. I've tried everything I can think of, putting him to bed earlier, changing his bedtime routine incase its winding him up before bed, not having the tv on, giving him supper incase he's hungry, putting his music and projector on, leaving the door open and a light on, rousing him a bit before I think he's going to wake up - everything x
Title: Re: 8 month old suddenly refusing milk and sleep...
Post by: Layla on January 29, 2014, 10:17:26 am
Can you please post what the last couple of days have looked like...

What is his usual bedtime routine like?