5 month old NW and EW at 5:30 am

[Maly]

Hello
I am so sleep deprived that now my DH takes on the 5:30 shift to play with DS until it's eating time so that I can get some sleep.But he is working full time and wakes up just as many times as I do but can go back to sleep since I am breastfeeding...

Frequent NW,

Bath at 6, eat and in bed by 7 most nights. Falls asleep on his own awake, not on the breast. Some nights when he is so exhausted from not taking a good last nap, only 35 min, he may fall asleep on teh breast but we still pick him up put him in his sleep sack and he wakes up for a second cries a bit and then we shush him and in bed within a couple of minutes. Most nights he is awake and we do the same routine as for naps. Awake for sleep. His first 2 naps are usuallly great, 1.5 hour to 2.15 most times we have to go in at 45 min mark to extend but some first naps he makes it to 1.5 all on his own. The last nap is usually 45 min or 35 min. Try to resettle for 15 to 20 min he will go back to sleep but then wakes up within 5 min. so we get him up. The last nap usually happens around 4 pm Yesterday he had a 45 min nap from 4:30 to 5:15. He was asleep by 7:30 due to the fact that he had his last nap a little later.

The frequent NW start after the 45 min after going to bed, then again before 11 pm. I try to hold off on feeding until 10:30. I used to dream feed but now he wakes up so many times that i just wait until he wakes up close to that 10:30 or 11 pm. Then again he woke up at 12:30  and I just gave him a soother and settled him by turning him on his side, he sleeps on his side with a little blanket rolled up on his back so that he doesn't roll on his back. 1 am again NW and couldn't get him to settle even with picking up, starting the white noise music, singing to him etc.. So after 15 min I just breastfed him. NW again at 4 am, tried to just do the soother but he was up again 15 min later, so did the music etc and he fell asleep for 30 min or so and then was crying again so around 5 am I fed him. Tried to get him to bed but at 5:30 he was awake and we tried to let him fall asleep and by 5:45 he was crying to get up. There was a bowl movement in his diaper. He wakes up most nights at 5:3o or so and most nights he doesn't have a bowl movement.


Our easy is A = 2.15 to 2:45 last couple of days, the longer A times have been after his second nap. The first A time is closer to 2 hours
I try to feed only when DS wakes up but due to the fact that he eats around 4 or 5 am he is not hungry when is officially up around 6. So then I wait an hour or 1.5 hours and then try it then.
The rest of the day I try to feed only when he wakes up. Then if he seems to be fussy and eating his hands before nap time I feed him again to make sure that he sleeps ok for his nap and is not woken up from hunger.

Please advise as to what we can do. He used to feed and then fall asleep but now at nights he seems to be awake after he eats and tosses and turns a lot and I end up going back 15 min later to give him a soother to help him fall asleep.

Thank for all your help

[Tweakster]

HI there, it sounds like he could be OT, having discomfort or perhaps he's just hungrier at night due to GS.  Do you notice he's feeding more in the day too?  Could you post your routine in EAS format so we can see the whole day, maybe post last 2 days for us with A times, naps etc.

[Maly]

Hello here is a summary of the past 2 days or so

Night of November 30
S 6:15   DF 10:45  before that he woke up after 45 min and again around 9:30
Fed him at 1:45 
Woke up again at 3 so I tried holding him, music etc. Seemed to be ok for 20 min then woke up again by 4 am so I fed him again
5:15 woke up and I got to fall asleep with just the soother
6:30 woke up officially for the day--- was stirring for 15 -20 min before that

December 1 st
E 6:30
A
S 8:25-9:10  45 min nap

E 9:10
A 9:10 -12 (it was baby and yoga class so that's why the long A time)
E 11:50
S 12:00-1:20

E 3:00
A 1:20-3:55  ( tried to put him to sleep from 3:25 but he wasn't falling asleep and I had to go in there and settle, soother, pick up etc)
S 3:55 - 5:15  at 35 min had to go in and resettle ( 5 min) and he did go back to sleep

E 5:20
A 5:20 -7:08
E 6:30
S 7:08

Woke up a few times needed to be picked up, music etc. 3 or 4 times before 10 pm
Fed him when he woke up at 12:15
Fed him 2:45
Fed him 5:00 seemed like he was falling asleep, then perked up and was awake by 5:30 for the day

December 2

E 5:00
A 5:30- 7:20
S 7:20 -8:40 woke up not hungry

E 10:00
A 8:40 -10:45
S 10:45 -11:40  (had to wake him up for baby massage) he was sleeping very soundly then

E 11:41
A 11:40 -2:02
S 2:02 -2:45

E 4:14 ( ate very little)
Tried to put to him to sleep at 4:25 for 30 min with a feeding in the middle of that and he still didn't want to take a nap. Around 5 pm we stopped and let him play a little until bath time at 5:30
A 2:45 -6:30 ( very long A time due to lack of the last nap)
E 6:10
S 6:30

It is now 7:30 and we had to go in once around 30 minutes into the sleep.Put the soother in and rolled him on his side.

Night time routine  Bath, massage, eat then he goes in a sleep sack we hold him vertically on our shoulder sing twinkle twinkle little star and turn white noise on. Took only a couple of minutes for him to be ready to go to bed. Naps are the same routine minus the bath and massage. Most time it takes 5 minutes except when he doesn't want to to nap and then it seems no matter how long we try he won't take that last catnap.

He has a lovey, soother, white noise, close the blinds during the day, sleeps on his side with a rolled blanket on his back.

Thanks for your help, I feel like our naps are ok most days as he is getting 3 hours plus of daytime sleep but the nights are horrendous.





 

[Tweakster]

Hi there, is he teething?  It sounds like it could be discomfort.  3 hrs day sleep is pretty reasonable although you need to be careful when there is no CN that the last A time is not too long and you aim for earlier bedtime. 

His first A time on Dec 1 looks like it created an UT nap, do you think you can bump that up to 2 hr 15 or so?

[Maly]

Hello
Yes the A time there on Dec 1 was a little short,but sometimes he is so tired and fussy that it seems that if we stretch it he will be OT. But we are trying to keep him up to 2.15
He does wake up the most during the begining of the night. Tonight he has had now 5 NW and he is only sleeping for 2 hours. Last night he slept great in our books- woke only officially twice after 8:45 pm at 11 and 3:30 both times just to eat and he went back to sleep and slept for almost 12 hours, a record in our books. He had great naps all day, 3 at 1.5 or so each. He had a few NW before 8:45 but they were easily settled with just putting his soother in.
We are still trying to get him the perfect nap day but even staying in like today he managed only 1 good 1.5 hours and the other 2 were 40 min and the other one was just over 1 hour.

In regards to teething I check his gums all the time and don't feel or see anything. He has been biting on things for almost 3 months and drooling lots too so perhaps he is teething that long.

If he can have a great night like last night, where he can sleep a big chunk of the night without waking, do you think that the soother might be the problem? we thought it was the cause of things but he slept 9 hours without waking for it.

[Maly]

ok things are getting worse !!!!!!
he has had CN and still now wakes up every hour or so until his first feed which is now around 9 pm. Then he will sleep maybe 1.5 hours and then then keep waking like that. Last night our longest stretch was from 2:30 -4:40 when I fed him . I am trying to only feed him 2 times a night.
Last night he went to sleep at 6:06 and woke up at 6:35, 6:50, 7:50, 8:40 and then settled him and then woke up again around 9pm crying bad so I fed him.
He was up at 5:30 am that morning and we tried for a longer awake time (he had a 35 min CN) for 6 pm since he was up at 5:45 am the previous day.
That resulted in him waking up today around 4:30 settled him and then he fully woke up at 5 am!!!
He took 2 naps yesterday each around 1.15 min.

Please help me fix this as I can't do this much longer without sleep.

[Tweakster]

Hi there, to be honest it sounds like discomfort to me...or perhaps there is something in the milk that is affecting his tummy?  Are there any signs he may have an intolerance to something you are eating?