BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: Picker blocker on April 15, 2014, 10:02:27 am
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My daughter will be 7 months next week. She is a terrible sleeper and I don't know what to do. There are some nights that she is great - up once to eat, and maybe I need to go in once or twice just to find her pacifier for her and give it to her. But those nights are an exception rather than the norm and I can't seem to find a pattern as to what is different on those days. She has started waking up twice and just screams if I don't feed her. I have tried using a sound machine with ocean sounds, but it doesn't seem to be helping.
She is exclusively breastfed. I feed her milk 5 times a day, including 1 night feed. She has solids 3 times per day. Here is her feeding schedule:
7am milk
10am cereal (4 tbsp)
11am milk
2pm veggies and fruit (sometimes meat..still introducing new things) (3-4 tbsp)
3pm milk
6pm cereal (4tbsp)
7pm milk
whenever she wakes up, usually btwn 12 and 3, milk.
Lately, when she eats around 12, she is up again around 3 or 4 and if I pick her up, she screams wanting more milk. I try not to pick her up but everntually, she gets so fussy in her crib that I have to. I try to get her back to sleep but she usually won't until I feed her again. sometimes I can hold her off for an hr or more, but she is then awake that whole time. If I feed her after 3, then I skip the 7am feed and if she is hungry, I'll give her solids around 930 instead of 10. She is not asking for food before then. There are times, however, where she wakes up to eat around 2 30 and then wakes up again at 5 wanting to eat, which I find strange as it is less than 3 hrs later.
Her feedings during the day are pretty regular but sleep is not. She is awake for 2-2.5 hours at a time, sometimes 3, but usually has only 40 minute naps - so 3 per day. For example, she will nap:
9 15 or 9 30 til 10 or 10 15,
12 30 or 1 til 1 30 or 2
4 30 til 515
bed 8-830
There are days where one nap will be 1.5 hrs and then she'll have 2 30 min naps as well. Yesterday she slept from 8 30-10 15 and then 3-5, which was really unusual and then went to sleep at 8 45. But it makes no difference for the nights.
She doesn't really know how to soothe herself to sleep, which is a problem. She falls alseep in the carrier or in her bed with me holding her hand and she needs a pacifier. It has gotten hard to put her to sleep lately though. Yesterday, I tried to put her down for a nap by herself. She was really tired and after 10 min was asleep. She didn't cry - she screeched a few times and then put her pacifier in and quieted down each time and then just fell asleep. I tried that again for her next nap. I think she fell asleep instantly, but woke up 5-10 min later and would not go back to sleep. Even when i went in, she just cried. so after almost an hr, I got her up since it was time for her to eat. I fed her solids, waited 45 min and gave her milk and then she had her 2 hr nap. (I made sure she wasn't sleeping while eating).
I have thought about dreamfeeding, but am reluctant to try b/c that is usually her longest stretch of sleep and I don't want to interrupt it (that is also when i get the best sleep). I want to cut out all the night feeds but first I need to get it down to just one. Do you think she needs more or less solids during the day? or at different times?
My husband won't allow any crying so it is hard to hold her off...especially when she wakes up at 4 or 5 and I'm trying to wait til at least 6 to feed her. Sometimes I can get her back to sleep in the carrier, but for no more than 15 min and she is awake again (even if still in the carrier), screaming to eat, so does that mean she really is hungry??
My husband has been able to get her back to sleep easier than me, but again, she wakes up often and he ends up having to sit beside her bed or hold her for 1 or 2 hours until 7.
Any suggestions?
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Hi there, there are a few things I think you may need to address...
If she isn't falling asleep independently, you will probably have to sleep train her, which will unfortunately involve some crying but you're there with her so its very different to CIO crying. Would it help if your DH read the BW books or even read some of the posts? I would use the pu/pd method and when you're ready to do that, you can post on the pu/pd board for more advice and/or support.
I've attached a link for you to look at re: pu/pd How to PU/PD (inc age adaptations)
With regards to daytime sleep, I think she may also be now ready to drop the catnap and so I would look at stretching her A's to around 3hrs. Here is a link re: 3-2 nap transition All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months
With regards to food/milk, I think she's having too much solids and I would actually cut out the lunch and dinner, especially cereal at dinner because cereal can make them feel quiet uncomfortable and she may also be waking up out of pain. Cereal made my LO quiet constipated and I actually stopped giving it to her after a few days and offered other foods. Milk is all that she needs now and solids are just for fun. I would also change the feeding routine so that her solids are approx 1 hr after milk feed. If she's having breakfast at 10am, she isn't going to want a proper milk feed at 11am. At 7 months, we were only doing breakfast and I think I only just started giving her a small amount of lunch (like 1-2 teaspoons). At night, she had from 0-up to 2 night feeds as well and our routine was something like this:
6am - wake and feed (both sides or one side if she had an early morning feed/night feed)
7am - breakfast
9-10.30 - morning nap
10.30am - wake and feed (both sides)
11.30ish - offered veggies
1.30-3pm - afternoon nap
3pm - feed (both sides)
5pm - feed (one side)
bedtime routine/bath/books, etc...
6ish - final feed and bed