6 Month Old Suddenly waking every 1.5 hrs

[MrsChelseaKelle]

So I was in the Props board and we successfully weaned from a swaddle.  He actually started taking long naps and falling asleep on his own.  The problem was multiple night wakings (5 or 6) and we got it down to two.  It was great.

Now the past four days he has started it again.  Every 1.5 hours.  There is no consoling him, he cries an cries.  Still naps well and still falls asleep on his own (a tiny bit more fussing).  We have been traveling for about 10 days now.  At first maybe it was a little rough but then it was okay.  Now it is out of control.  Feeding him won't even help him back to sleep sometimes.

The other change is he has started turning over an really moving around.  He doesn't get comfortable at all.

I don't know what to do.  Shh pat just isn't working and we can't even try pick up out down because he squirms and will not settle.  My DH and I aren't sleeping at all an soon he has to go back to work and he works nights so it's just me.

Please please give me tips.

[Layla]

Hi there,

Traveling and developmental milestones are bound to throw schedules/routines off. When he wakes, does he only settle when you flip him over? I use safetsleep, which stopped mine from rolling over. You can google it and if you're comfortable with that product, you could look into it. Otherwise, try not to flip him over every time and settle him in the position he's in when you go to him. If he's really uncomfortable, gently roll him onto his back. Make sure he gets lots and lots of tummy time during the day so that he gets used to being in that position too and hopefully soon learns how to roll himself back!

If you guys are traveling, it could be the unfamiliar surrounding that he's finding unsettling . Try settling him in the cot without picking him up, maybe try rubbing his back, using your voice to soothe him?

It could also be that he's ready to drop the catnap, a transition some babies start as early as 5 months. Would you be able to post your daytime routine, including the E's

[MrsChelseaKelle]

So we stopped the cat naps a while ago.

And he gets a ton if tummy time for months now.

His schedule looks like

7:30 wake
7:45 E
A
9:00 E
A
10:15 nap
11:45 wake
12pm E
A
1:15 E
A
1:30 nap
3:30 wake
6:30 bath
Bed time
Asleep by 7:15-7:30
Wake 9
Shh/pat
Awake till 10:15 when I'll feed him eventually
Sleep 10:40
Awake 12:15am
Eventually feed at 1:30
Sleep 2
Wake 4

And so on basically

This was last night. Feeding doesn't put him back to sleep.  I try to comfort him in his position but it will be like against the edge of the crib.  The times he eventually fell asleep, I left him on his tummy and rubbed his back and he fell asleep.  He wakes and can flip back and forth so that kind of makes me feel better.  It still scares me to death though.  But my pediatrician and my brother in law who is a doctor both said when they turn, there's not much I can do and it should be okay.

But the constant waking because he can't stop tossing and turning makes me feel like it will never end.  It's very hard and so sad to watch him struggle so hard.

We never pick him up to sooth.  I try very hard to hold off feeding him.

[Layla]

Try pushing his afternoon nap to 2.30 pm so that the last A before bedtime isn't so long. My 8 mo still cant manage 4 months. Try adding 15 mins every couple of days until you get there. When we dropped the catnap, our A was 3 hrs throughout the day.

[MrsChelseaKelle]

So our activity time is steadily 2 1/2 to 3 hrs.  Two good naps.

He is waking every two hours consistently.  Almost on the dot.  Even with consoling he won't go back to sleep sometimes.  I try so hard not to feed him before 3 hours, it used to be 4!  Now I'm lucky if I get to two and a half.  We are on two weeks almost of him moving around in the crib.  Any tips on how to extend his sleep time?

[Layla]

Can you please post what the last couple of days looked like? He's moving around/crawling in the crib? Does he get stuck and call out for you?

[MrsChelseaKelle]

He moves around which back tracked us getting him back on track.  But getting stuck doesn't seem to be the problem because we can go in and he's in the same position as we left him.

Here's what the past couple of days have been like give or take 15 minutes here and there:
He is breast fed

7:30am wake
7:45 E
A
9:15 E
A
10:30 S
12pm wake
12:15 E
A
2:30 E
A
3pm S
4:30 wake
4:45 E
A
6:30 bath time
6:45 E
7:15pm S - bed time
9:15 wake
We will try to comfort him back to sleep, he won't so I will feed him at 10.
10:10 sleep (he's always an efficient eater)
12am wake (I'll try and put him back to sleep, he won't so I'll feed him)
2:15 wake (at this point I usually give up and feed him)
4:30 wake
6:30 wake
7:30 wake

He doesn't just snack either.  He will eat.

I feed him twice after he wakes up between naps because Tracy recommended it to extend activity time and naps and it actually worked, sometimes we even get a 2 or 2 1/2 hour nap.

He will randomly have a night where he will sleep 3 or 4 hours and the day routine wasn't changed at all but then back to the 2 hour stints over night.

[Layla]

I would probably work on reducing the night feeds to encourage him to eat more during the day and I would try and stick to 4hr eating schedule as opposed to feeding every 2hrs during the day. He may just be snacking rather than taking a full feed, which leads to him wanting to eat at night. There is probably a feeding to sleep association as well and you might have to do some sleep training. If it were me, I would pick 2 night feeds, probably the 10-11pm feed and then an early morning feed (between 3-5am) and for the rest of the night wakings, settle him without feeding to sleep. Would DH be willing to help out? I always found dd would settle better/faster with dh as he doesn't have the milk

His daytime routine (sleep wise) looks good, we were down to 2 naps too but our feeds were 4hrs or thereabouts apart, which is what I would suggest doing. Also, have you started solids yet?

With pu/pd, you don't have to pick him up... that may be too stimulating for him. My dd3 still responds really well to shh/pat but if he doesn't, try sitting by the cot and patting the mattress. Whatever you do though, don't give in and feed as it will be pointless to try and resettle for 1hr and then to give in and feed.

Let me know what you think

[ZacsMumme]

Massive GS at this age too Hun, and a developmental leap.  http://www.thewonderweeks.com/mental-leap-5/
Teething?
When did you introduce solids?

[MrsChelseaKelle]

We only do shh/pat and replace the binkie.  He hasn't had any teeth. DH helps but still it's hard for both of is since he works.

He just started rice cereal 4 days ago and the past couple nights he has gone 3 1/2 to 5 he stretches.  Maybe it's the food or maybe he had passed from the phase of waking.  I still watch him struggle with how to handle the rolling all over the place so falling asleep has gotten harder.  Occasional hard crying to sleep.

I'll update as the week goes on to see if the long stretches stick.

[ZacsMumme]

When you say hard crying if he is crying for you then I would go in. If it's 'I need you' crying and your already in there then that's ok. I think it def sounds developmental though to some extent.
Let us know how things go Hun

[MrsChelseaKelle]

So things started getting better and now they are worse than ever.

The schedule is essentially the same.  Except now he wakes up every hour and fusses for two hours before going back to sleep.  This is night 4 of this.  It started when we started carrots.  I thought it was constipation because he was struggling there but he pooped earlier today and yet here I am at 2:40 in the morning not getting any sleep.

He doesn't really cry very hard.  Just non stop moaning and tossing and turning but it's so loud I can hear his from all the way down stairs.

Does this sound like constipation or teething or anything else?  Please help me.

[Layla]

Carrots and bannanas can cause pretty bad constipation in babies (they also did for us) and if you've noticed a correlation between a certain type of food and night wakings, then probably stop feeding him carrots for now to see if it helps? Food up to age 1 is just for fun and doesn't really have much nutritional value. It also depends on how much your giving him and I also offered water with any solids when we started