6 month old waking through night

[tracefo]

so basically just relax and it'll happen when she's ready.  It's just that she did it for so long and now we're going back.  It's hard!
Thanks,
Tracey

[Mommy in Moose Jaw]

I agree that sometimes there is just a blip that you have to ride out but I have also found that there is usually SOMETHING that contributes to the blip that you can adjust and provide some help.  As for tracefo, I had your concern about dd getting used to feeding overnight following the growth spurt.  Her '6 month' growth spurt started at 5 months and lasted 6 weeks on and off.  On occasion I had to feed over night, sometimes twice.  When that happened I just made sure I stuffed her to the gills the next day offering extra at each BF and feeding solids until she refused rather than judging by previous amounts.  One lunch ended up being 9 oz and she was averaging 15 oz of solids a day.  Now it is more like 5-6 oz per day, so she obviously needed those extra calories while growing.  Once I was pretty sure the growth spurt was over she did still have the 'habit' of feeding at night.  I knew it was a habit as her solids intake dwindled to nothing.  It only took 3-4 days to fix that.  First night I only fed once per 4 hours, using pu/pd (roughest night) then the next time I only fed one side after 4 hours, then I pushed that feed back 15 minutes each night.  She jumped a couple of hours on her own that way.  Then if she woke to feed at 5:00am she only got half her 7:00am feed and I gave her the other half when it was time to get up.  Worked like a charm and solids are right back on track and no feeds from 11pm to 7am.

THe other thing I found helpful was the little tidbit that too long a morning nap can create sleep problems the NEXT early morning (think I read that under an early waking post).  Sometimes when dd woke too early I let her have a big morning nap to make up for the early morning but then over a few days her night sleep got progressively worse.  As soon as I shortened the morning nap to no more than 1.5 hours, she slept 13 hours the next night and didn't need ANY midnight help back to sleep!!  It took a couple of days to get the pattern all straightened out but it sure worked!  I discovered that if she has more than 2.5 to 3.0 hours of sleep in the day her night sleep gets messed up even if total awake time is the same.  Funny the things you learn.

[tracefo]

I wish I could get her back to 1.5 hour morning nap.  She's right back into the 45 minute nap.  I think I'm going to have to wait until we are all done with the cold she started us all on and then try to figure out for sure what is going on and there are just too many variable for now.  She certainly takes a full feed at night right now but I'm not sure that's happening during the day.  She's only taking one side at some bf's and I can't convince her that she wants more during the day. This is how I'm feeling right now! Thanks, I'll certainly follow this advice once we are all feeling better!  Question about your pu/pd, when I've tried this she stops crying as soon as she's picked up and starts again as soon as she's put down.  Do I pu right away again or wait/  It's a full on wail when she's crying.

[Mommy in Moose Jaw]

DD actually has had a few 30 and 45 minute naps too lately and we go back to pu/pd when that happens.  I think it's due to overtiredness when they're nights are out of whack.  I know for sure that if she has been up for 3 hours before the nap, that a 30-45 minute nap is not adequate so I do pu/pd and so far it has worked to put her back to sleep.  Sometimes all she needs is 'sh' while in the crib, sometimes I have to pick her up.  If she fell asleep after only 2 hours awake time and woke up babbling and happy, then she's had enough nap and pu/pd would only result in screaming bloody murder for the next hour.  DD is fairly easy to read that way, that is if she needs more sleep, the whole resettling routine calms her.  If she really doesn't need more sleep I could pu/pd till bedtime and it wouldn't work.

Her only taking one side at feeds is interesting.  Is she on a 4-hour EASY?  I'm sure the cold is a big contributor.  DD just had her flu shot and that has made her feel pretty tough for the past 3 days and her food intake has definitely dropped.  In general I don't worry about intake as long as she's not trying to feed at night.  Following the dreamfeed my rule of thumb is no feed for 6 hours at this age, so if I DF at 11:00, the soonest I would allow BF is 5:00am.  And even then I try to help her resettle first.  She WILL NOT resettle and cries quite hard if it is actually hunger at that time.

As for pu/pd dd does the same thing sometimes and will settle as soon as she's picked up.  I have found with her that if she cries as I'm setting her down I put her right down and try to sh/pat for a few seconds to see if she'll settle.  Eventually that does work and I don't have to pick her up again.  My dd's cue that she won't be settling is if she is kicking her legs.  If she sounds frustrated but not kicking, she'll probably settle with more sh/pat.  If she's kicking, I keep doing pu/pd, then eventually on one of the pd's with sh/pat she jsut turns her head and settles.  I just try as much sh/pat as I can first before picking her up.  I have found with little regressions that it only takes about 3-4 sleeps (naps and bedtimes) to correct little problems with pu/pd.

All that being said, it is pretty tough to implement anything while a baby is sick.  Once she's feeling better, then you can go hard at the routine Good luck

[chechebean]

 :oHI!  My LO just turned 6 months and has been waking through the night for the last month.  Teethign has been a part of it I think, but I know that there is something else involved.  I am getting to my witts end from exhaustion.  I try patting on the bum.  He goes back to sleep for 45/1 hour then is up crying again.  Now even the pat on the bum is not working.  I have brought him in bed with me on the early morning and even at that he still gets up and the same routine.  He goes down at about 9pm and will get up anywhere from 2-4pm.  He gets a dream feed at 11pm ( only 4oz at the best of times).  He eats solids and still drinking 32-36 oz a day so it is not a hunger thing.  Any help.....

[tracefo]

Hey, I feel for you.  My daughter is finally sorting herself out.  She usually has one good nap a day again and much fewer night wakings but she's still needing the extra night feed! 
Have you tried an earlier bed time?  What time does you lo wake in the morning?  I found that I just had to gradually put her to be earlier and it seemed to work for me.
Tracey

[Psmum]

Just a suggestion, but my lo had frequent night wakings, i would give df at 10pm-ish and she would wake anytime from 1am-3am, not crying just babbling and she would eventually go back to sleep at 5am! she wasn't hungry because she would refuse a feed, i was permanently exhausted and couldn't figure out why she was doing this. I spoke to my Health Visitor who suggested that i may be causing the problem myself by dream-feeding, she said that although your baby is asleep you may still be disturbing their sleep, especially if they are in a light sleep when you df, and as my lo is the lightest sleeper ever i thought she may have a point. So i stopped dream-feeding and increased solids during the day and she started sleeping through. It did seem odd as she was fine with a dream feed when she was younger but this problem started at 4 1/2 months.