8 month old wakes once every single night!

[louise2004ym]

Hi, I am new to this board and have read lots and lots of the threads trying to find a solution to our problem.  The information is great - I am hooked reading all the different topics and subjects!  But, I haven't found anything that relates to what's going on with us.  So, sorry if its already discussed (as it probably has), but please help! 

Our main problem is that DS (8 months tomorrow) wakes up every night at about 4 am (+ or - half an hour or so).  He wakes babbling.  If we ignore it, it gets louder and louder and eventually turns into a full blown crying.  So, we go in and try to pat him back to sleep - to no avail.  He screams, in my arms and out of my arms.  He arches his back, kicks his legs against my belly and is nearly impossible to hold - why is he doing this?  Is he in pain?   If we lay him down in the cot he screams there too.  Eventually we get him a bottle (I stopped breast feeding 2 months ago) and he drinks that - gobbles it up in fact - and then we have a bit more screaming and wriggling and he then calms down to babbling.  But he needs us there ALL THE TIME.  If we even make to leave the room, he starts crying again.  So, in all it could take to 1.5 hours from the time he woke to get him back to sleep!

Any help or tips will be much appreciated by this tired Mum and Dad!

We have tried going in at the babbling stage, but it ends the same way ... eventually he's screaming and we feed and he screams some more, he babbles for ages and ages, and then falls asleep 1.5 to 2 hours after he first awoke. 

The funny thing is that he usually wakes again at 7.00 in a great mood and babbles away for ages - and doesn't seem all that hungry when we feed him.  But, will take about 180ml followed by breakfast at 8.30 am. 

Other routine details are : He goes down for a sleep easily at 9.00 and will often sleep 2 hours at this sleep.  The afternoon sleep is very unpredictable - sometimes does 1.5 hours, sometimes only 30 minutes.  (And no amount of patting gets him back to sleep!)

He has a great dinner before bed (which is about 7.30 to 8.00 pm) - 180ml milk, followed by a generous bowl of cereal with fruit, followed by another 90ml milk.  He goes down very easily to sleep - but usually wakes at least twice in the next 2 hours where a quick pat pat gets him back to sleep.

He also eats very well during the day.  (Total about 700ml milk and three generous bowls of solid food - cereals, vegetables, fruit). We haven't given him meat yet - actually today he will get chicken for the first time!

So, what should we do?  We haven't had an uninterrupted nights sleep since he was born.  Up to January, he used to wake 5-6 times a night, and now its only once - but still, I wish it was none - or that he was easier to settle when he did wake!

[teezee]

ok - from my experience i think that if lo wakes up babbling it isn't hunger, esp if it is at the SAME time every night and by feeding you are starting another bad habit..the reason that lo isn't hungry first thing in the morning (which he should be) is b/c he is getting those calories at night - i would suggest trying not to feed at night and if that can't be accomplished bc lo is used to feeding at night now - try to extend by 15 min every few days until you reach the morning wake up time so he has a full feed first thing when he wakes up.

the reason lo is going down for an early nap is b/c he is making up for the lost nighttime sleep with this early nap kwim? your lo is getting too much day sleep and it is affecting nights.  let lo stay up at least 2.25 -2.5 hrs before a nap(just don't let lo get overtired and slowly extend it a bit..)and then don't let lo sleep more than an hr and a half i would say. the shortest A time and the shortest nap 'should' occur in the am. Am naps are to be thought of as an extension to night sleep - so lo doesn't mind waking for an hr or two at night b/c soon after that it's all caught up with the nice long nap kwim?

i think you lo doesn't necessarily NEED sleep when it comes to the afternoon, which explains why 'no amt of patting will get him back to sleep). i think the approx max amount of sleep time for a lo 8mo is approx 13.5 - 14 hrs and it seems that lo is getting that much sleep just in the night and in the morning. so if you limit that am nap, the pm nap should be more apt to happen i think.

as far as lo waking soon after bed (within three or four hrs of falling asleep) i def think that is overtiredness.  probably b/c lo isn't taking good pm naps and is overtired b/c of this before going to bed as lo isn't fully rejuvenated to get through to bedtime.

let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

[ColleenL]

Hi,  I'm also new to this board and not sure if it's appropriate to "jump"onto another's post, but I am having almost the exact same issues with my 7 1/2 mo old.  She is on a good schedule for eating/sleeping during the day but is awake each nite.  She too babbles and coos and will continue for 1.5-2hrs eventually escalating into a cry.  I have been bf her-sometimes back to sleep-sometimes she is still awake after and will put herself back to sleep.  Her schedule is as follows:

6-630 awake happy coos babbles etc
7 bf (5 min)
830 cereal/fruit
930-1030 nap
1130 bf (5 min)
1215 cereal/veggies
130-300 or 330 nap
430 bf (5 min)
530 cereal/fruit
715-730 bf and sleep (10-15min)

For her naps she is put down awake and will put herself to sleep with pacifier.  For night she usually falls asleep while bf.  She is definitly in the "nosy" stage righ now and her daytime bf are very short.  She goes longer for bedtime and the nighttime feed.  She is not waking at the same time each nite-it can be anywhere from 100 to 300 or thereabouts.  On a rare occasion she has slept until 500 or 530 w/out waking so  iknow she probably doesn't need the feed, but she will bf for a good 10-15 min and sometimes even take the other side! She is a very big baby-22lb and otherwise doing very well.  I'm wondering if too much sleep during day?  But she shows the signs of needing to go down at those times?  Any help or advice would be appreciated. 

[teezee]

colleen:
first off i would put lo down awake for nap times and bedtimes - nursing to sleep isn't good b/c lo will wake and expect to be with mama still and cry out when she does realize where she is. it could very well be that she is not feeding well during the day b/c she is feeding alot at night and thus affecting her calorie intake during the day. she could be getting too much sleep during the day - when was the last time you tweaked her routine? i mean, to me it looks ok the only thing i could possibly point out is that 2.5 hrs for a nap may be too long. i have also heard that sometimes lo's will wake in the night between 4-6 am and just 'play' or talk to themselves and then go back to sleep for a bit - could this be what your lo is doing?? have you maybe tried putting lo down 6:45-7ish instead??

[ColleenL]

Tawnya,

Thank you for the reply.  I have been putting her down awake for naps and will try to wake her before bedtime-maybe if I do try to get her down a little earlier she won't be so sleepy after bf.  I have tried to get her to bf for longer time during the day, but she is having none of that!  She decides how much she wants and there is no coaxing her to take a little more!  I have been limiting her afternoon naps to 2.5 at the most.  Maybe I will wake after 1.5 or 2.0 and see how that goes.  My son used to wake briefly in the early am to sing and talk but it was always early am and for short periods.  Lo wakes any time during the nite and if left to put herself to sleep she eventually works herself into a crying state.  Last nite I went in as soon as I heard her, gave her a dose of tylenol (teething I think-though it seems like it's been going on for months) bf her for as long as she wanted (10min) put her down drowsy but awake and she slept until 6:30. I will try your suggestions and see what happens.  Thanks very much!

Colleen

[aidenmc]

I just thought I'd add that my lo is always more likely to wake up and babble when he is overtired. I find putting him to bed extra early (sometimes even before 6) really helps cut down on the night wakings and those dreaded early morning babbles (when you know it is not their time to get up)!