7 mo still feeds at night - now waking every 2 hours!

[jrmax]

My DS2 just turned 7 months last week and we've been having a few strange things happen at night lately.

To begin, he is STILL waking for a feed every night. It is not habitual as the time is different every night, but somewhere between 2-3am. And he does take a full feed.

I am still doing a DF around 10:45-10:50pm. I think he may still need it since he is not yet sleeping through the night. Is this true, or is this now interrupting his night time sleep (even though he still feeds in the middle of the night)?
The last few nights, he's been very solidly asleep at the DF time. Before he used to rustle a bit as he knew it was 'feeding time'. Can I drop the DF and still give the night feed? Or is that backwards?

Three days ago his first tooth finally poked through, without too much of an incident or upset/wakings etc. However, the last two nights he's been waking every 2 hours. I tried putting him back to sleep but he's rooting and giving me the 'hungry' cry, so I've been feeding him - only to be surprised by the next waking only 2 hours later!

Is it a food issue?:
It makes me wonder if he's getting enough daytime calories. We started solids at the 6 month mark, and started with pears. It took a few tries, but he finally started gobbling it up. Then I tried squash and peas, and no-go until a few days ago. Now he won't touch them again.
I also decided to give BLW a try (a few weeks back as well), which started off fairly well, but now he's not interested in anything I put down for him - broccoli, peppers, beans, asparagus, apples, pears, cauliflower, egg yolk.
I feel like maybe he's hungry, but isn't interested in what's offered. Maybe it's time for some more protein options...

Oh, and one more strange thing that's been happening for about 2 or more weeks now: Almost an hour to the minute, after DS2 falls asleep at night, he wakes with a crying start, and it escalates very quickly. At first I would rush in and pick him up to calm him, but now I'm sometimes able just to put my hand on his back and shhh him back to sleep. It seems as though he's in a dream state as he never fully wakes whether I pick him up or not, and goes right back to sleep, but it's very odd. He wants to sleep, as sometimes when I pick him up, he pushes away from me, and when I put him down, he's out again. It's obviously habitual, but I'm not sure why it started, or how to break him of it...

Finally, here's our routine just as an FYI - perhaps there's something here I'm missing:
6:15-7am: Wake up and nurse
1 hour later: Solids
1st nap: 2-2.5 hours later - usually around 8:30-8:45am (for approx. 1.25-1.5 hrs)
10:15am - Wake and nurse
11:30am - Solids
1:00-1:15pm - Nap (his A time can last up to 3 hours, sleep for 1 hour, 5 mins, to 1.5 hours)
2:30pm - Wake and nurse
3:30pm - Solids
5:00-5:15pm - 30-45 min CN (I have been trying to stretch his A time so we can drop the CN, but he doesn't sleep long enough during the 1st and 2nd naps to help him last longer till BT. If I skip the CN, he'd be going to bed at 5:30pm, and either missing or getting an early BT feed, and it just seems far too early).
6pm - Wake up, bath
6:30pm - BT feed
7:45pm 8pm - BT. With the CN, he'll stay awake for 2 hours, and it's difficult to get him to sleep before the 2 hr A time is up.
10:50pm - DF
2-3am - NT feed.

I've also considered extending his Nap times, but he wakes up happy and ready to go - even after an hour and 5 min., so I'm not sure how to help him extend.

He's fairly consistent in his feeds at 4 hour intervals - even throughout the night. He slept from 11pm-7am ONCE, and has gone as long as 6 hours between his DF and a night feed, but no consistency so far.

Such a long post... sorry. Would appreciate any feedback or insight.

Thanks so much in advance!! 

[jrmax]

Just bumping... Could really use some feedback... anyone?

On a better note, last night was better than the previous two. DS2 still woke several times before his 2:50am feed, and I was able to shh him back to sleep. He woke again at 5:30am, but put himself back to sleep, and was up at 6:45am, happy and playing till 7am when I said good morning and fed him.

[atlantamomofthree]

Hi. I have a 7 month old too (Sept 8th).

First thing, I don't think there is any 'problem' with him still waking once to feed at this age; some babies will, others won't. 

When it comes to the DF, have you tried not doing it, and seeing if he wakes earlier than 2-3am? A lot of babies stop needing it (or, as you say, it actually begins to distrupt sleep). I don't do the DF anymore unless his last feed was really early in the evening, say before 6pm. Most evenings his last feed is closer to 7pm so I don't do a DF (but I *will* feed him if HE wakes to eat before I go to bed).

The waking every two hours sounds like a GS, teething, and/or a developmental leap (like sitting, crawling, standing, etc). Any new abilities recently? The fact that he's rooting and acting hungry would indicate a GS in my book, but does he take a full feed or does he start feeding lazily after only a minute or two? The WAY a baby eats in the MOTN will usually show whether a true GS is going on.

Idk what the waking at the one hour mark is! Hmm...My ds does this very occasionally, and I've always thought it was a bad dream or something.

Hope tonight goes smoother. 

[atlantamomofthree]

Oops! Sorry, just re-read that you said he does take a full feed. Yep, I'd say GS.

[cuckoochick]

It very well could be a GS or developmental but 1hr 15 min naps suggest UT to me so if the wakings don't settle down in a couple of days, I'd start to gently push those A times. Our sleep went really wonky at night before dropping the CN.

[jrmax]

Thanks ladies... the feedback really helps!

Atlantamomofthree - my guy was born Sept. 8th too! :-D

Last night was MUCH better. Back on track I think. I did a DF at 11pm, but then he woke at 11:30, complaining. I though maybe it was a bit of gas, but he was just fussy, then went back to sleep. I am starting to think the DF may be interrupting his sleep. Perhaps I'll start doing it earlier, in intervals over the next few days to drop it.

Any thoughts about still having a MOTN feed and NO DF? I thought the 2am feed would get naturally dropped first, THEN the DF... do you think it makes a difference?

As for developmental stuff, yes, he's really loving his floor time right now - lots of rolling and first attempts at 'crawling' as he pushes his bottom up with his legs.

Cuckoochick - yes, I've heard the sleeps go wonky as you drop the CN too! Yippee... more wonky nights..

As for sleep times, an hour and 20 mins is average for DS, and Friday morning we got an hour + 45 min! We are thrilled as we have just come off 3 months of 40 min naps! From 3-6 months, our little guy could not get past the first transition. He does now on most days, although today he woke, but I was able to get him back to sleep. 

Do you think longer A times are appropriate for a 7 mo old? He just 'graduated' to the 3 hour A mark. Just 2 weeks ago he was at his full limit by 3 hours. I'll check the boards for suggested sleep and wake times too.

After all my urgency, I guess this was just a GS then... last night he only fed at the DF, then at 2:50am, woke at 5am briefly and put himself back to sleep, then up at 6:45am. Weird. I didn't think GS happened at this age... but whatever. Lol.

I'm going to clock the MOTN feed. I believe it was 2:50am for the last two nights - more habitual. If it keeps up like that I'll know it's time to drop it. Until now it's been somewhere in the 2-3 hour.

Ok, so I think the 'crisis' has been averted... lol. It helps just to hear feedback from other people, so thanks so much ladies! xx

[atlantamomofthree]

Well, yay for Sept 8th!! Samuel was born at 8:08pm. I have wondered at the significance of all those 8's! lol

It's quite normal to drop the DF first and still have a NWing. They are then waking because they are actually hungry, and not just being fed 'in case' IYKWIM.

I'm glad last night was better for you! Ours was worse!! LOL AF is here and my supply has dipped so he was waking to eat every 3 hours to make up for the smaller feedings during the day-oh joy....

We are dropping the CN as well. He gets up from his 2nd nap around 3:30 and BT is at 7 most nights. If we happen to be out, though (like on Tuesday we went out for dd's birthday) BT might be later because he CN's in the car, but that's the exception, not the rule. 

[jrmax]

Matthew was born 8:03AM!  Wow!

Good to know about dropping the DF... I'll start moving it up each night and wean him off it.

Sorry - what is AF? And sorry to hear you had a bad night too! It's rough when you start getting used to 4+ straight hours of sleep, then you get woken up at the 2 or 3 hour mark! Ack!

DS1 didn't drop the CN till 8 months, so this will be a different experience with DS2 to drop it earlier. The nice thing is that you can actually do more (get out to run errands with them etc.) in the day when they have less naps, so I'm looking forward to each new transition.

In fact, we were down to one nap a day as soon as DS1 hit 12 months! I was surprised for sure he would drop it so soon, but it made for easier days... but then of course, at Christmas time he turned 2.5 and dropped his day time nap! Now THAT was a transition I wasn't happy about with a new baby! 

[atlantamomofthree]

I have no idea why, but AF stands for Aunt Flo (meaning, your period ) I started back in Jan, so this is my third cycle and we exclusively BF! Same happened with my older children too, though, so I wasn't surprised.

Wow, I bet you weren't too pleased with your older ds dropping his nap! But, he justs sits quietly during that time, now, right? Just kidding, ((hugs)) I bet that's hard!

Yeah, I like the no CN too. It was a hassle before because it was always RIGHT at dinner prep time! But for a long time he'd take it in the carseat if I rocked him in it for a few minutes.

Hope the better sleep continues!

[jrmax]

Dear Lord... "AF" came back after 8 weeks with my 1st son, and after 3 months with DS2! Some of my friends went AGES without it!

Oh well, I'd rather know though, as I think we're 'done' in the kids department. I'll be 40 next month and I wouldn't like any 'surprises' at this stage of the game... lol.

Here's to better sleeps all around for everyone tonight!