4 month old and we're both exhausted!! Wakes all night and short day naps.

[Karel]

Ok, I do have some new questions so I need you to gang together again and help me out!  (What would I ever do with my support team!?).  I've been doing a lot of analyzing and watching wake times.  Daytime is going great (unless we have a really bad night-like last night).  He's down for bed usually by 7pm.   DF is around 10:30.  He generally wakes around 3:30 am (has made it to 5am once) .  If he wakes earlier (i.e. 1am or so) he's easy to settle down back to sleep, until 3:30.  Then, as much as I re settle him he wakes every  10-20 minutes until I feed him around 5/5:30 and even after than, he doesn't sleep peacefully.  Last night I tried to feed him at 3:30, hoping that he was just hungry at 3:30 (and that was why he always wakes at that time) but he only slept from 4:00-4:30 and was then up and restless until 6:30 am.  He then slept until 7:15 when I got him up to try to keep him on his routine.  I guess what I'm trying to get across is that he sleeps great the first 1/2 of the night but once he wakes (2:45-3:45) he never really resettles, with nothing more than cat naps.

I'm just so confused (still!) as to why this child won't sleep much at night.  He is almost 5 months and I still haven't had one night where he slept through the night past 5:30 (and that time he did wake a 1 or 2 times but went right back to sleep with a pat/ssh).   UUGGHH!!  Am I asking too much of you to try to figure this child out.  I hate to compare but his older sister was sleeping through the night much sooner than this.  I don't know how he's growing so much on so little sleep!!!

Thanks again in advance,
Karel ( I'm losing it!!!)

[rob1lu2]

Have you tried W2S for that3:30 waking? Beat him to the punch!

They do say that if he settles and then wakes back up he's hungry. Do you think he's going through a growth spurt?

I know it's frustrating. I still go through this with Inez. I did W2S for about ten days with her. She's not solid, but she's slept through the night the last two nights. I shouldn't even say that for fear of jinxing myself.

Did you say his day sleeps have improved? Do you think he's teething?

[lyndsy_p]

Karel, are you settlinghim? Is it with a paci? 10-20min of sleep before a wake up all night, and so often makes me think he is only getting into a light sleep, paci falls out...then he wakes up. Or possibly a little AP? It would help to know how you settle.....

Lyndsy

[Karel]

Yes, usually paci (I hate to admit it) but he does also settle if I just give him a ssh/pat.  BTW, last night was much better.  Awake only at 1:30, 3:45 and then at 5:15.  I gave him the pact the first 2 times and he went right back to sleep.  I think some of the wakings are hunger, especially the 5 ish feeding.  Crazy thing I did last night, when he woke at 3:45, I turned off his night light and he went right back to sleep (a common time for him to wake over and over).  I'm going to try keeping the night light off tonight too.  Sounds crazy but I also realized I never have the night light on until his dream feed. 

Also, in defense of the paci, I started to think it was that too but he tends to fall asleep with it and then spit it out and is ok other times (i.e. naps and first 1/2 of night).

Thanks again for your input,

Karel

[benandmichelle]

Karel.....I feel your pain. I really hope things get better for you soon. I can totally sympathise. We have similatr problems. Big hugs to you.

Michelle

[lyndsy_p]

Crazy thing I did last night, when he woke at 3:45, I turned off his night light and he went right back to sleep (a common time for him to wake over and over).  I'm going to try keeping the night light off tonight too.  Sounds crazy but I also realized I never have the night light on until his dream feed. 

Isn't it funny...we turned of Grae's night light about a month ago too. It made a difference, because when she woke, there was nothing to look at as it was so dark. 

I too use a paci, Grae went through a spurt where I was replugging every 20 mins. I stopped using it for a while, then started again 3 weeks ago. Remember that night sleep is different for our LO's than daysleep, so that's probably why he's okay with naps. If the replugging gets out of control, try to ditch the paci for a night and see how it goes with just shh/patt. The 5ish waking may still be hunger. Are you treating it like a night feed? Ie: feed and then straight back to bed? That would be the best...then wake up for the day at 7ish.

Good luck with the "darker" room, keep me posted
Lyndsy

[Karel]

HELP!!!!  I hope this is the regresion you were talking about and it will end again soon.   I starting to resort to CIO as it's the only thing I can do.  I've been up since 1:15 for and 1 hr 15 min play sesssion.  Then I couldn't sleep so DS woke at at 3:15 (or somting like that, I've given up trying to remember the time) and was up again until I fed him at 4:00, hoping he would just return to sleep.  But NO, he slept for about 20 minutes and then was up every 20 minutes until we did get up at 7:15.

[lyndsy_p]

Repeat after me.....I will not try CIO, I will not try CIO! Karel, you are stronger than that. Look at how far you've come. Don't throw all that hard work out the window. Yes it is just regression. It will get better!

{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Lyndsy

[rob1lu2]

I know you are frustrated but don't CIO!!! You've made it this far! Keep in mind what your long term goal is and don't CIO in the short term!

You can do it! YOU ARE DOING IT!!

[Karel]

Thanks for the encouragement.  My DH keeps asking if anybody online can help me. (LOL).  I'll just do a little AP to get us through this rough road (hopefuly it won't last as long!)
Karel

[treacy]

Hi Everyone

I hope you don't mind me jumping in.  This is all too familiar!  We have an adopted son (adopted at 5 months) who was a dream sleeper and feeder and now have a gorgeous biological daughter just 5 months who is waking in a very similar manner!  I am following all the advice so will keep checking in and let you know how we get on.  BTW Dd has acid reflux and is medicated so possibly contributes to the problem.

Treacy

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Welcome Treacy!  Hope you find some of this advice useful   Do you elevate the crib mattress for dd's reflux problem?

[treacy]

Thanks Anne Elizabeth!

Yes she has been elevated since 4 weeks.  It was so bad she had to be medicated as she was chucking up all her feeds and losing weight.

Her reflux is under control at the moment but we are left with shocking sleep patterns.

In saying that, I've been following al your advice since Friday and her sleep has improved dramatically- such a simple answer, she must've been chronically overtired.

She had 3.5 hrs day sleep yesterday and only woke once every 3.5 hours from 7pm last night. She has already had 3 hours sleep today (it's 1pm in Aus at the moment).  This is a major breakthrough as she would only nap for 40 minutes before.

So THANKS AGAIN!

Treacy (married to Nicolas, Mum to James and Sacha)

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

YAY!!  So glad to hear things are improving!!! 

[hannahbanana]

What you considered NOT waking him for the df and letting him wake on his own, since he seems to be waking plenty.  The df may be disturbing his sleep and setting off the series of wakings?  I have not experienced this, but I have read others say that this can happen. 

If you're having such a hard time with wakings, why wake him on purpose?  That's my thinking.