Please help...constant night wakings!

[leahbeth]

I am currently working on naps with my 4 1/2 month old (she was 3 weeks early) and transitioning her from a 3 hour easy to a 4 hour. I am using the outline in Tracey's new book and am on Day 9. Prior to this, she was going to sleep around 8, waking at 3 and 4 and up for the day at 6:30. But in the last week she is waking all the time! She goes to sleep at 7:30-8ish. She wakes at 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30!!!! This was last night's wakings after she had had 4 good naps yesterday (with the help of wake to sleep and shh/pat)! I fed her at 11:30 and 3:30 and shh/pat her the other times! Is she relying on me to shh/pat her back to sleep? I tried the dream feed two nights ago at around 10:15 and she didn't wake at 11:30 but continued to wake every 2-1 hours after that!
Please help...I'm so frustrated and tired. I thought the progress with the naps were going to make the nights go smoothly!

Thank you,
Leah

[leahbeth]

I just wanted to add the answers to these questions .

How old is your child? 4 1/2 months
What’s his/her daily routine? Straight from BW, currently on day 9 of the transition from 3-4 hour EASY. Lo is spirited so we do very low-key activities!
What’s nap routine? Currently taking 3 naps (1-2 hours long) and a cat nap. Must use wake to sleep every 25 min. Uses noise machine that we don't use at night (It only last 30 min and we have to reset it)
What's bedtime routine? Time? .bath, nurse, bed
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breastfed
How much? or how long? every 3 1/2 hours.
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) one side
How many wakes per night? As mentioned above...too many!!
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? Cries, rubs face into mattress, tossing and turning. Up for about 15-20 min.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? crying
What have you tried to settle?? shh/pat, pu/pd
What do you do for A time and how long is it? Very low-key, carpet play, stories, trying to stay up for 1 3/4 hours
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? no
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) no
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? during naps the sound machine
Do they have a lovie? no

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi there! My son did a similar thing, and I know it is frustrating. I think you are on the right track moving your lo to a 4hr EASY. I found that was the key to Gage having a good night sleep. After many tears of my own, I learned that Gage was getting too much daytime sleep and was not tired enough to sleep at night. I fixed this by increasing A time and limiting naps. If you post your routine I can take a look at it or is it exactly as in the book ?

Also, I learned that Gage was hungry. I closely monitored his ounces. I moved to faster nipple, intro. solids (your lo is not quit ready for), and gave a 10 min break to get more food in him. I am not sure how this works with BF, but the ladies in that forum are Awesome and I bet they can help. I know if Gage wakes out of hungry he will go in and out of sleep until fed.

Also, what is your bedtime routine? What do you do for wind down? Do you swaddle? BTW I dont think the noise machine is considered a prop. I think this is a good thing to have.

[teezee]

noise maching is a wonderful thing!! we have used a humidifier for months now..trying to figure out what i will use now that it is starting to get hot and humid out soon   

pls do post the routine - but i think gage's mom has it right on the nose!  4 hr easy will let lo take more food at each feeding and therefore let lo last longer even at night.  the naps and A time are also key.

[leahbeth]

Thank you ladies for replying! We had a better night last night.  She was in bed at 7:30 but needed help until 8:15 to sleep. I DF her at 10:45, she woke at 2 and 3 and I shh/pat her to sleep, she woke at 6:30, I fed her but she was still very tired so I put her back to sleep and I had to wake her up at 8! The change...I purchased a noise machine that goes on all night. The one I was using for naps lasts for only 30 min so I couldn't use it at night. Not sure if this was the difference. My bedtime routine is always bath, massage, nurse, sleep. She falls asleep nursing but I wake her to burp and she is awake when I put her in bed. She is not swaddled, she sleeps on her tummy. (The only way we could get her to sleep, but have an angel monitor just in case!)

 My daytime routine is very similar to the one in Tracy's book but she is having trouble staying up for 2 hours so we end up going for naps after 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 hours. She is usually having at least 2 good naps (1 1/2 hours with wake to sleep) and the other two are 30 min.

Gage's mom, how long is Gage napping each day? Is he happy and content? My Lo seems very tired and needs to nap. Did you find the transition from 3-4 hour EASY difficult? I think I may have to stay at 3 1/2 hours for awhile because she seems so tired. Should I keep going and she will adjust to 4 hour EASY? Teezee, what do you think?

Thank you again, off to wake to sleep, it's been 20 minutes into her nap already!
Leah

[teezee]

the transition from three to four hours was really rough being able to adapt to easy and i found that it was more like aeasy for the longest time - which is fine b/c you still have a routine - and that is what is most important.

congrats on the extra sleep..i think a little bit of sleep training will clear everything up!

btw - where did you get this noise machine from? and approx how much did it cost? thanks!

[leahbeth]

Thanks Teezee! It is amazing how good you feel after 1 1/2 hours of extra sleep! I feel like a million bucks! I don't wanted to jinx it though, it seems whenever I get excited about something I think has worked, it proves me wrong!!!

I'm from Canada and we have a store called Home Outfitters. This is where I got the noise machine from. The brand name is Homedics. The one I have has a Cd player and 6 noises including rain, ocean, thunder, waterfall, summer night and rain forest. My LO, Emma, likes waterfall. It is a constant hush, like a soft am static. It was $100.00 but there was one there without the cd player for about $40.00. If this doesn't work I think I will order the cds I found on a sight that was posted here on BW. Here is the address if you are interested:

http://www.purewhitenoise.com/

Thanks again for your help!

[teezee]

hmmm...i am from canada too - where are u from??  thanks for the link and the store name - have checked at wal mart but they didn't have it and was kinda at a loss as to where to look next. will have to make a trip there very soon!! thank you soo much!!

[leahbeth]

Hi Tawnya (just saw your name now, sorry!)

I'm from Winnipeg. Where are you from?

:)Leah