hunger or habit??

[bcmom]

My lo is 8 mos old.  He started STTN at 7 months.  He is a recovering short napper and around the same time, his morning nap started to lengthen.  His pm nap was still hit and miss but he would go to bed early on days when it was short.  This all seemed to be working.

And then a week ago, he got a cold.  The first night he slept fine.  The next three nights, we had early mornings (5:45, 5:15, 4:45).  He went back to sleep on the 2nd and 3rd morning after nursing but not on the first.

Then we had 2 nights of NW (2:15 & 2:45).   We have since had another early waking and return to sleep and another night waking 3:15.  I have nursed him each time.  His naps were also wonky but I think are getting better.

He is much improved with his cold and now I am wondering if he is truly hungry since he is up at all different times or if this is a habit?  He was going to bed independently prior to his cold but since he got sick, we rocked him to sleep.  I am just wondering how long to let this go on!!!

To top it off, we are flying east tomorrow (total travel time 8 hours) for a 3 hour time difference.  So many adjustments!

Because I know someone will ask, his ideal schedule is as follows:

bf 7
e 8
s 10:15
bf 11:30
e 12:30
s between 2:30 & 3
bf 3:30
e 5
bf & bed 7ish

Thanks for your help!

[Layla]

Because he was sleeping through before he got sick I would say that its habit rather than hunger & that he is dependant on you to fall asleep (the rocking)

You will need to start sleep training him again but make sure that he is 100% over the cold & ok. Have a look at the pu/pd board for some more info... I think at 8 months it would be more pd rather than pu/pd.

I am just wondering how long to let this go on!!!

I don't think he will go back to sleeping through the night unless you stop feeding him to sleep. So I would work on eliminating those feeds. Is he eating/drinking sufficient during the day cause it could also be that he is now making up for lost calories at night... in which case you will be better weaning him slowly (like reducing the amount he drinks at night). Are you finding that he takes a full feed at night or is he just nibbling & falling asleep almost immediately?

Again with falling asleep for naps & bedtime, you will have to do pd rather than rocking. If he's been an independant sleeper in the past it might not take you long at all.

hth & let me know how you go
Layla

[bcmom]

Hi Layla

Thanks for your reply.  I will try to answer some of your questions.

He bf 4 times a day and has 3 meals of solids.  He has a good appetite.

When he wakes in the night and I nurse him, I don't nurse him to sleep.  He goes back into his crib wide awake and I can hear him chat a bit before he falls asleep.  He also takes a full feed at this time.

I cringed when I saw the pd in your reply.  That has NEVER worked for us and always ramps him up more.  Sigh.

They are such tricky little things!

[Layla]

What is he like when he wakes at night? Is he crying or just awake & making noises? Have you tried not responding to him at all to see if he will put himself back to sleep? Rather than pd you could try just sitting by his side & soothing him other ways.. like rubbing his back (a bit like shh/pat method). Is he being rocked to sleep during the day or have you been able to lay him down for a nap & leave him?

[bcmom]

He is kind of in between crying and making noises but if I leave him for a while, it does escalate to crying.  The other night, I gave him 10 minutes in the middle of the night to see if he could put himself back to sleep but it was a no go.
I have not been able to lay him down for a nap awake but he seems to be able to have both decent and short naps regardless of this.  I do think you are right though that because he is now being rocked to sleep at night, he expects some kind of assistance, even if he is not nursing to sleep.
I think he is over his cold but today we are leaving on a trip for 3 weeks and sharing the house so crying in the middle of the night would bot be looked on upon fondly   So, I guess I will have to grit my sleep deprived teeth and bare it until we get home.  And then put the petal to the metal and retrain.  I like your idea about sitting by his side to try and sooth him.  Usually, as soon as I go in there he is trying to pull himself up the side of his crib (he can't do this yet) to get to me...

[Layla]

Have a great trip.... don't worry about anything until you get back. You can sleep train when you get back & we'll be here to help you get through it