What to do after 4 hours of being awake at night?

[cjay44]

I'm trying so hard to be consistent and stick with the PD plan for my 10 month old DS but I'm starting to lose my patience.  Last night he was up for almost 4 hours, from 10:30pm to 2:15 am!  He has gotten the hang of PD as in he does not stand up nearly as much as he did just a few days ago.  But instead, he's extremely restless or doesn't seem tired in the least bit and wants to play.  I don't know what to do in this situation.  He naps 2 times a day usually 1-1/2 to 2 hours each time.  His bedtime is between 6:30 - 7:00 and he wakes in the morning around 6:30.  The night before last he was up 4 times, last night only twice but for 4 hours one time.  At some point I gave in and picked him up and rocked him, but he was still extremely restless and took forever to fall asleep.  I'm SURE he was overtired at that point making it hard to fall asleep.  I just don't know what to do.  Missing 4 hours of sleep in a night has to be hard on him (as well as me).  Last night was an extreme case but it seems to be getting worse, not better.  Previously he was waking for at least an hour or more and it has increased each night. 

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.  Thank you SO much!

[Layla]

Can you tell me what time the naps are

I actually think that he might be having too much daytime sleep. The av nap length for 10mo is 3hrs.... generall 1hr in the morning & 1.5-2hrs in the afternoon. If he is put to bed too close to the end of the afternoon nap, he might still fall asleep at bedtime but he will wake at night not haivng the drive to get back to sleep.

If he wakes around 6:30 - I would aim for something like this:

6:30 - wakes
milk
breakfast
9:30-10:30 - morning nap
snack
lunch
2-3.30 - afternoon nap
snack
dinner
7pm - milk & bedtime

what do you think?

[cjay44]

I'm so glad you responded!  Thank you!

His schedule is basically like this...

6:30 - Wake
7:00 - Bottle, breakfast
8:30-10:00 Morning nap
11:30 - Lunch
12:30 - Bottle
12:45 - 2:30 Afternoon nap
4:00 - Bottle
5:00 - Dinner
7:00 - Bottle and bed
Then he tends to wake around 10:30pm or 11:30pm the first time and then at least once more.

I'm now realizing that I don't have any snacks worked in there.  I should start those! Also my mother watches him in the afternoons and she always wants to give him a bottle before his nap which throws of the EASY routine.  Do you think that makes a difference? I would certainly ask her to do otherwise if that would make a difference.

His NWs started about 2 weeks ago.  He's teething, working on walking and just started with separation anxiety.  I assume these things would contribute to the night wakings but it seems more like a habit now.  What do you think?  He's also takes a paci at night and always has.  But of course most nights it winds up on the floor outside of the crib.

Thank you so much for offering some guidance.   

[Layla]

It could be SA or teething, Try giving him teething meds before night time in case he is waking from pain... how is he with previous teeth?

If its SA, he would be more clingier during the day...

I would probably ask your mum to stop the bottle before nap .... its not really necessary & throws your feeding schedule off as well. You are better off doing the same thing everyday so he doesn't get mixed messages.

Try the routine I posted... cut the morning nap to 1hr & see if that makes a difference

Let me know how you go
Layla

[cjay44]

He's not a fussy teether luckily.  But I'm sure it must still hurt him. I have been giving him med for the pain so I think that it's probably more SA than anything else.  He has been much clingier with my DH and I during the day and now that you mention it, it started around the same time as the NWs.  And by us going in and rocking him to sleep, we've probably only made it worse.

I'm looking forward to working on the schedule you posted.  Thanks again!

I'm happy to report that he was only up 2 times last night and for about an less than an hour each time.  That's improvement from 4 hours!  I'll take whatever I can! 

Take care,
Carla