Waking up at night and wants to play/talk

[Amelin]

Hi there everyone,

We need help!!!! Bub is 6 months old and haven't slept through the night yet.  He's still getting up 2 - 3 times during the night, and the bad news is that he doesn't always falls back to sleep after feeding, he wants to play and talk.  We have tried everything and nothing seems to work, and at most nights, he won't fall back to sleep unless he's in our bed.  We have tried rocking him to bed and each time he seems to have nodded off, we'll put him in his cot and he'll scream his head off again.  We have tried letting him cried himself to bed but it never happens - he'll just screams and yells harder (he could go on and on for hours - not that we have left him crying for that long, tops 15 minutes but at most time we'll pick him up after 5 minutes and put him in bed with us).  Any suggestion/help would be greatly appreciated.

Bub's schedule (approximately):

Between 6:00am - 7:00am - Wake (play/talk to him in the bed until 7:30am)

7:30am - Walk in the garden for 5 to 10 minutes

8:00am - Feed

8:15am - Nap (1 hour)
It is not always 8:15 as it depends on if he does fall asleep after feeding.  If he doesn't I normally play with him till 9:00am or when I see sign of him being tired.  Then I'll try rock him to sleep (sometimes is easy but sometimes I have to go through all the screaming and yelling and at most time he'll give in after 10 - 15 minutes).

Between 9:30am - 10:00am - Wakes up and feed (depending on what time he has his nap)

11:15am - Playtime (depending on what time he has his nap)

Between 11:30am - 12:00pm - Nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours)
It is not always the same time as it depends on if he does fall asleep after feeding.  If he doesn't I normally play with him till I see sign of him being tired.  Then I'll try rock him to sleep.

Between 1:30pm - 2:00pm - Wakes up and feed (depending on what time he has his nap)

2:15pm - Play time (depending on what time he has his nap)

Between 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Feed and then nap if he's tired.

(Between 6:00pm - 6:15pm - if he has his evening nap) - wakes him up if he's still asleep. 

Between 6:30pm - 7:30pm - Bath time (If he has a nap in the evening, we normally bath him at 7:30pm).

Between 7:00pm - 7:45pm - Feed (depending on what time he has his bath).

Between 9:30pm - 10:15pm - Wakes up ( He normally falls back to sleep fairly easily at this stage)

Between 11:30pm - 12:00am - Wakes up and feed (lately, he's been wanting to chat or play at this time - falls back to sleep again at around 1:30am).  We normally put him in bed with us at this time, and at most time he'll eventually falls back to sleep.  However, he wouldn't go back to sleep if he's in his cot.

Between 3:30am - 4:00am - Wakes up and feed (sometimes will back to sleep and sometimes he would want to play/talk).  We normally put him in bed with us at this time, and at most time he'll eventually falls back to sleep.  However, he wouldn't go back to sleep if he's in his cot.

... and the day will start all over again at 6:00am or 7:00am.

Sorry for such a long message. 

Cheers,
Amelin

[Kimberly®]

Hi there

After looking over your routine I believe the problem stems from your LO being overtired.

In the AM he's going to long between wake up and nap, and this sets the tone for the rest of the day. When he wakes in the am give him is bottle/breastfeed, then solids about an hour later, sooner if needed. Try changeing your morning so that you can get him down 20-30 minutes earlier then you currently do, then don't rock him to sleep. Lay him down awake, use PU/PD to settle him. Try to extend this nap to 1.5 hours. This should then reset the tone for your day.

In the evening move bedtime rouine to 6:30 pm and bedtime to 7pm, he's going down to late and thats why he's waking at 9:30-10:15ish. He's overtired. When he's waking at 11:30 you need to start encourageing him to sleep in his own bed. Use PU/PD to settle him. Sleeping in your bed is becoming a prop. Moving him to his own bed, and his own room will make sleeping though a lot easier for both of you.

He can have solids now so you can give him solids in the AM and at about 5pm in a few weeks you can add a 3ed meal around noon.

Your LO doesn't need to eat at night, or at least shouldn't need to. When he wakes at night start PU/PD to resettle. Try this before you feed him. The wakings sounds like habbit not hunger. If when he wakes he is fussing but not crying give him a few minutes to resettle before you go to him. Another really good reason for him to be in his own room and his own bed. Its time to start sleep training.

HTH

[Amelin]

Hi Karita,

Thanks for the help and suggestions.  I've give it a go but BB still wakes up roughly around the same time.  Well, it's only been 2 days so we'll keep trying and see what happens.  We did try to make him sleep in his own bed as well but to no avail - bubs kept waking up and scream his head off every 3 to 5 minutes, all night long. I think overall he (and us) only gets about 4 hours sleep on that night.  He eventually went to bed at 5:50am when we put him in bed with us.  We decided to put him in bed last night as he refuses to sleep in his bed.  He use to sleep in it at the beginning and would cry if we put him in after the second wakeup but now he screams from the beginning.  It seems like he has learn to associate his bed with unhappy thoughts.  Can baby learn that quick?  Anyway, we're going to try again tonight and see what happens.  Any suggestions anyone?

Regrads,
Amelin