Why does he cry 5 min. after I put him down?

[a_astorga]

Hi,

My son is 10 months old and at bedtime when I change him ito his jammies, crawl around in the floor and walk all over the place to get him tired at 3-3.5 hours of awake time, he starts rubbing his eyes, yawning etc. I take him to his bedroom cuddle him for about 1 min and then I put him down. He lets out a cry or two but settles and stays down for 5-10 min and then satrs crying loudly. So I go in and he's bla bla bla everywhere. So waht the hell?

Why does he do that? He seems sooo tired and sleepy and he stays in his crib for a couple of mins just fine.

So I don't know what to do and what is causing this problem.

[Katet]

My thought is he is overtired... with both my boys if they are overtired & don't settle by "their threshold" they get upset. I would try a bit of a longer wind down to calm him down after wearing him out... it is very hard for them to wind down from excercise to sleep in a few minutes, I would add a story or 2 - about 5mins of quiet time first, then bed.
HTH

[a_astorga]

Well it never happened before and for the last couple of days it has been happening, and when I go to him at night for like the second or third time he has a crap. So he's crapping at night when he's supposed to sleep and at 5 am. he takes a crap too that wakes him up and he won't settle back. (Im also the 5 am post you replied too. thanks)

So this morning I don't have a clear idea what time he woke up but I heard him at 5:30 am and I got him like 15 mins later (huge poo) and then off downstairs and he wouldn't drink his milk until 6:30, so I gave him solids at 7ish and off to bath like at 7:45 and he was tired so I put him down like at 8:15 and he stays and then he screams. This has never happened before with his morning nap. What the hell? I am sooo tired. Last night not only did have trouble going down for bed, it took about 4 times to get him to sleep but he woke up like 4 times after that durimg the middle of the night letting out a cry and going back to sleep. He's starting to do this more and more now.

He never did any of this before!

I'm soooo confused.

[Katet]

Thats the thing about babies, you just get things working well & the goal posts change. So you need to change the way you do things with that change. I find with ds #2 I know it is going to change, so when something stops working, I know I need to change the way I do things too.
Separation anxiety is also quite common at 10mo, so you proabably need to give that extra reassurance too for that reason.
I know what it is like to be up many times a night (with a sick toddler & a 6mo... 3 hours straight is a dream for me at the moment)
Not much help, but unfortunately there is no magic trick, just a matter of slight (& sometimes big) changes along the way

[a_astorga]

Thanks for all suggestions.

They worked!!!!

I also started giving him lighter suppers and having a 3 hour awake time before bed instead of 3.5 and stopped the walking before bedtime and it worked like a charm.

Thanks so much!!

Now I'll just wait for the next problem. But meanwhile I feel better.

However he still does not want his milk before bedtime and does wake up at 3 am to drink it. So last night I just didn't want to get up at 3 am again so I dreamfed him at 9 pm and he woke up until 6ish. Which is great. Still has poo but at least sleeps after 6 am.

So the ped suggested to switch how I feed him in the evenings to see if he stops waking up hungry.

So here's our routine:

6ish wake

6:30-7:00  6 oz bottle

7:30-8:00  solids, about 5-6 big frozen cubes (all kind of fruits)

8:45-9:00 sleep (1.5 hours)

11:00-11:30 6 oz bottle

12:00-12:30 solids, about 5-6 big frozen cubes (here I give him stuff like broccoli, chicken, beans, cauliflower, etc. pretty much anything plus finger snacks like cottage cheese and raisins)

1:45-2:00 sleep (1-1.5 hours)

4:00 6 oz bottle

5:00 solids , 5-6 cubes (lighter meals like pears, apples, zucchini, squash, etc. with some rice cereal)

6:00-6:30 sleep no bottle.

So the ped recommends to skip the 4 pm bottle and give him his dinner like at 4:30 pm, maybe even pushing his lunch a little later too.
Then give him his bottle before bedtime so he can fill up.

However I'm afraid he won't finish the 6 oz, cause he's tired and just wants to go to bed. Sometimes when I try to give him a bottle before bedtime he only drinks 2-3 oz.

So I am afraid he'll do this and drink less milk per day. He's only getting 18 oz a day plus a night feed which usually does happen then he drinks 5 oz.

Anyway don't want to bore you.

Thanks again for your help.

Bye

[Susie-Q]

Just curious ... why would you give him a lighter supper at night and a heavier lunch?? Wouldn't it be the other way around to help them sleep at night - to give them something heavier and/or with protein at night?  But what do I know .. I give him the protein at night and he wakes up to eat in the middle of the night anyway.  He's 10 months also.   I wonder if I should be reversing it and why???

[a_astorga]

Hi, the reason for that is I did give my son all kinds of heavy meals like lentils and chicken, chick peas and potatoes, etc. However he started to take a crap after his bedtime and woke up once in a while moaning all thru the middle of the night. So I figured the meals were too heavy and that's why he was pooping and also maybe he had an upset tummy during his sleep. Also he will poop at 5 am and wake up at that time.

So I experimented with apples and pears for the last 3 nights and he did't wake up with poo 2 hours after his bedtime and doesn't moan during the night anymore. So now I'm really just experimenting cause I don't want to give him heavy food if he's going to have a bad night.

However, it could also be pooping from teething, but I will try this for another week just to sleep better (we were sleeping so baad for the last 2 weeks).
 
Now I am switching to squash, zucchini, pumpkin, etc. Something not too heavy too see how he does and then do the chickpeas, chicken, lentils, etc in a little while.

BTW,

What do you feed your loved one for dinner? Does he take a bottle before bed? Or is that why he is hungry? Maybe we can compare and help each other out.

Thanks

[Paulsmama]

Hey that's great!  I'm glad you're getting some much deserved rest. 

If you're concerned about his calorie intake, maybe instead of dropping the 4 pm bottle you can offer him a small bottle (3 oz?) right after he wakes from his afternoon nap, then supper at 4:30 and then offer a 6 oz bottle before bedtime.  If he doesn't take much then you can do a dreamfeed until he gets the hang of it?

[a_astorga]

thats's a great idea thanks!

Ill try that today.

[Katet]

Thats great... now you have confidence to know that as things change with your baby "little changes" are needed to the way you do things too

Well done