Almost 7 mo old still waking to feed 1-2 times/night...needed?

[vail mom]

I have a 6.5 mo old who was full term, almost 20 lbs, great independent sleeper as we did sleep training at 8 weeks. She can get herself to sleep without props. Takes 2-3 naps/day, she goes to bed at 7pm and still gets up 1-2 times a night; 1st feed sometimes after only 6 hours, sometimes after 8 hours, on occasion 9 hours. I have tried to let her cry after only 6 hours and she will cry for up to an hour before returning to sleep. If I knew after 3-5 nights this would stop the waking I would do it. However, I lay there for the entire time awake thinking I could nurse her and be back to sleep in 20 min. My first child was sleeping 12 hours at 4 months. What should I expect from my 6.5 month old?

Thanks in advance!

[newmama12]

Hugs, b/c I'm in the same boat! Except mine is sleeping even worse. He's just over 7 months, weighs a good 20 lbs and wakes 3x a night. He goes to bed around 6:30 pm and wakes every 3-4 hours until 6:00am. It's exhausting! If I nurse him, he'll go back to sleep. We've tried letting him cry and he'll go for an hour on/off. I, also, lay there listening to him and just give in after an hour b/c he'll be back asleep right after I feed him. I do not know if it's habit or if he really is hungry. It's so frustrating! My older dd was only waking once at this age and I don't know what to do to get him to that point.

[vail mom]

Thanks for your reply newmama12...have you tried anything besides the CIO? I am contemplating giving water a night and seeing if that stops the urge to nurse.

[newmama12]

The only thing I've really done is rocking him and PU/PD (but not consistently). Sometimes he just wants to snuggle and I can rock him and he'll go back to sleep for another hour or so. I tried sshh/pat and that tends to upset him even more. However, I really haven't given it a 'good shot'. I need to do something though b/c feeding him every 3.5 hours or so is just getting to be too much...

[vail mom]

Hi Jane

Thanks for your reply. I am new to this forum so I will do my best to post in the correct format.

E   6-7am cereal with banana and bf
A   2 hours floor, sitting, Jumperoo, snuggling
S   8-9 am depending on wake time  usually 2-3 hour nap; put down totally awake she crys to sleep for 2-7 minutes
E   10-11 solid of veggie/rice/fruit and bf
A   2 hours floor, sitting, Jumperoo, snuggling
S   12-1 depending of wake time usually 1.5-2 hour nap;   put down totally awake she crys to sleep for 2-7 minutes
E   2-3pm solid of veggie/rice/fruit and bf
A   2 hours floor, sitting, Jumperoo, snuggling

Sometime she will have a 3rd short catnap of 30-45 min if her day is off and she doesn't take a very long 2nd nap
E 5.30  solid of veggie/rice/fruit and bf
S  7pm bf to sleep for night

I struggle with whether or not she wakes at night out of habit or necessity. She is 19 lbs, great eater, gets herself to sleep without any props, on good schedule and a very easy baby. She is very sporadic in that once down for the night she sometimes sleeps 6-7 hours and sometimes 8-9 hours. The most consistent she has been was when we were at my parents at 3 months she slept 5 nights in a row of 8.5 hours, one night feeding at 4am and back to bed until 7am.  She hasn't slept any better at almost 7 months than when she was 3 months.
Some say once a baby can prove themselves; sleeping 8-9 hours in this case, hold them to that as they can do it. I am very tired and don't want to be doing this same schedule 3-6 months from now.

Thank you....Stephanie

[vail mom]

Thanks for your reply Jane

For the 2-7 min crying to sleep, I think it is just her way of getting to sleep. Sometimes she starts crying as I lay her down...kind of saying I want to continue playing, etc. This morning started 'talking' then cried for 2 minutes. It is not an angry cry, just her way of getting herself to sleep. My first child used a paci and therefore I never heard crying going to sleep. As for the duration of naps I think it might be OK, since it is a total of 4-5 hours per day. I know a lot of the time when I nurse her around 5-6pm when she has been up for 2-3 hours she has trouble staying awake. Sometimes I let her nurse and nap for 10 min on me.

Do you think shortening the total nap time by 1 hour would help night sleep? The link you sent shows 2 naps 1-2 hours each.

I could try increasing the A time from 2.15 to 2.75 and therefore it would push the second nap later, not as long of a period A before bed and not falling asleep during 5pm nursing. She just get cranky, rubs eyes after 2-2.15 hours of being awake.

I will try solids after bf...in the beginning(4mo) she would not eat solids with a full belly of milk.

I have read Tracy's books, but could refresh on them.  Also will watch video link you sent later today.

Thanks again Jane....I just feel we are so close(everything about her is so easy) if I could just lengthen the night time sleep...just want to know what I should expect from her at this point. Her doctor said waking one time is normal at this age and I got lucky with my first child.

Steph...have a great day!

[vail mom]

My LO is doing better....only waking once now. For a few weeks she has been sleeping 7pm to 4am or so, BF back to bed until 6-7am. It seems more often than not if I give her a bath before bed she sleeps 7pm to 7am without waking to BF. I don't know if it is coincidence or not. I don't want to give her a bath every night as her skin is already dry, but if I knew it was helping to sleep all night, I would.

Then last night she woke at 1am, only after 5 hours as she went down at almost 8pm since we were out for dinner. After 10 minutes of crying(she is able to put herself to sleep during the day with a few minutes crying)my husband tried to comfort with pu/pd and rocking. She was not crying hard..only fussing. Eventually after 1 hour of not going back to sleep, I BF and back to sleep she went until 6.45am.

Anyway, I think she can do 12 hours since she has done it half a dozen times in the last two weeks and then at the least 9 hours. I know last night could have been an anomaly, but I don't want to nurse after only 5 hours when she has proven more.

I am not sure if the pu/pd can work as we only use it occasionally like last night.

So, I am looking for direction on whether or not baths can affect sleep in this case, what to do if she wakes after only 5-7 hours when she doesn't consistently wake after such a short time.

Thank you in advance

[vail mom]

Thanks Jane
When you say 'settle', how exactly do you suggest? My husband has tried a night or so of shhh/pat and pacifier. Three nights ago, I BF after 45 min of trying. Two nights ago he put the paci in 5 times and finally she went back to sleep. I tried last night(4am) and after 5 times of her pulling it out or it falling out, I BF. Back to sleep she went until 7.30am.
I don't really want to head down the paci path as I have worked hard at getting her to put herself to sleep for naps without props. In the middle of the night if I BF she will either be asleep or can get back to sleep with a full belly. She is also not good at hold the paci in as she never gets it.
Also, I think I need my husband to do this as she gets excited when she smells/sees me in the middle of the night.

Thanks

[vail mom]

How do I know if the 4am feed is habit and a prop because that is 9 hours and that is the most she has done besides the 4-5 nights of 12 hours? I just assume she should be able to go all 12 hours, but am I wrong?
I assume the dummy you refer to is the BF because the paci we have only recently tried using.
I looked at the prop board;thank you.

Steph

[vail mom]

Really frustrated and sliding backwards in progress. My LO has had a cold/runny nose for the last week; tho' it doesn't seem to bother her so I don't think that is the reason for her changes. The last three nights she has woken around 11.30-12am after only 5 hours of sleep. Trying to comfort her works about 20% of the time and the rest she gets more upset. So I ended up BF and in 15 min she was back to sleep. Two of the times she wasn't asleep, but I put her down after BF and she cried for 2 min and then back to sleep.  Does that mean she was hungry or just ate because it was offered. She then woke 3 hours later and I BF again. Last night DH tried for 45 mins at 12am to soothe, lots of snot, really upset so I BF, put her down awake and she slept until 7am.

1. I'm afraid the 12am feed will become habit if I continue to BF.  It is after only 5 hours sleep and I don't think she can be hungry as she is 8 months and has slept 9-10 hours lots of times. Also, shouldn't the first block of sleep be the longest and not the second? Has anyone tried the water instead of milk to break a habit?

2. She is so sporadic that I can't tell if any of her feeds and wakes are habit or necessity. She will go weeks only waking once after 8-9 hours, then she will do a night or so for 12 hours, then she will do a week of 5-6 hours, wake to BF and then sometimes another 6 hours and sometimes 3. So many things I read say by 9 months there is no longer a need to feed from bedtime 6-8pm to wake time 6-7am. I get hopeful and then discouraged. How do I know what she is capable of and hold her to that?

3. The other problem has surfaced during the day. I increased her A time to 3 hours as suggested in an earlier post after reading my EASY. Her morning nap is still super easy...I put her down and after 2 min of mantra crying she is out. The afternoon nap is another story. The last 4 days as soon as we start to head down the stairs towards her room she starts to fuss. I know she is tired as she is rubbing her eyes and wants to be held. I lay her down as I have always and she begins to cry really hard and is very upset. Yesterday I picked her up and rocked her and in 5 mins she was asleep. Today I tried again and as I sat down she began to cry. I don't want rocking to be a prop and she didn't want it today. So I kept her up for another 15 mins and tried again. Same results, but I left her to cry as I watched for 10 min. Then she was fast asleep. Could I be keeping her up too long? Another reason?

Thank you

[vail mom]

Thanks for your reply. Runny nose is definitely a cold or sinus infection for 1.5 weeks now. She has the two bottom teeth and I don't see any others yet.
As I mentioned, she is very sporadic. After those three nights, now LO is back to waking around 3-4 am for BF and back to sleep until 6.30-7am.  She could do this for a week and then go back to her other agenda; I just can never tell.
 If she wakes in a week or so around 12am again, I have to know that this is not out of hunger since she has made it at least 3 hours longer.
From your post....By my day...do you mean my EASY?
E    6-7am  BF and solids
A    3 hours after wake
S    10-11.45  nap for 2 hours
E   12pm   BF and solids
A    3 hours
S   2.30 or 3 depending on wake time; nap for 1-1.5, but no longer than 4pm
E   4pm BF and solids
A   4pm-6pm just solids
S  7-7.30pm BF and to bed for the night
E usually once sometimes twice around 3am

I know all babies are different, I just have a hard time believing that I could be doing this same routine with the NF for another few months. So many things I read say by 9months, babies don't need to eat in the middle of the night anymore.

Thanks again

[vail mom]

Hi Jane
I couldn't tell if you couldn't see my post or didn't see it for a few days.

Here is what I posted:
Thanks for your reply. Runny nose is definitely a cold or sinus infection for 1.5 weeks now. She has the two bottom teeth and I don't see any others yet.
As I mentioned, she is very sporadic. After those three nights, now LO is back to waking around 3-4 am for BF and back to sleep until 6.30-7am.  She could do this for a week and then go back to her other agenda; I just can never tell.
 If she wakes in a week or so around 12am again, I have to know that this is not out of hunger since she has made it at least 3 hours longer.
From your post....By my day...do you mean my EASY?
E    6-7am  BF and solids
A    3 hours after wake
S    10-11.45  nap for 2 hours
E   12pm   BF and solids
A    3 hours
S   2.30 or 3 depending on wake time; nap for 1-1.5, but no longer than 4pm
E   4pm BF and solids
A   4pm-6pm just solids
S  7-7.30pm BF and to bed for the night
E usually once sometimes twice around 3am

I know all babies are different, I just have a hard time believing that I could be doing this same routine with the NF for another few months. So many things I read say by 9months, babies don't need to eat in the middle of the night anymore.

Thanks again

Today's post:  Two nights ago LO woke at 11pm, after only 4 hours of sleep. After my husband tried for 2 hours of soothing and LO on and off sleeping, I finally BF and in 15 min she was back to sleep until 6.30am.  Last night LO went to bed and didn't wake until 6.15am. I think maybe she wakes and sometimes can get herself back to sleep(last night) and then other times she is unable to get herself back to sleep. Is that possible that a baby can get themselves to sleep unassisted, but not know how to return to sleep unassisted? What should I be expecting at 9months, full-term, currently 20 lb baby?  What do I do tonight if she wakes after only 5-6 hours when she seems to be able to sleep for 10-11 hours without eating?

Thanks Jane!