Feeling Defeated...

[jenniferr]

So...I posted here several times as we've had MANY night sleeping issues. I was always given great advice and have implemented every recommendation. It all works great with my 8 mo old DD for a period of time, but then a new issue comes about or she regresses, but never comes out of it! She may have some teeth on the horizon, but I've been giving her MOtrin to rule out pain from teething. She could be getting ready to crawl and moves from sitting to hands and knees. She was lacking interest in pureed food, so we started more finger foods. She falls asleep independently. She uses a paci but can put it back in herself. So with all that said, she still has many NWs. Here's a typical day:

6:30 - Get her out of crib although she's usually been awake since 5 AM
7:00 - bottle of 4-6 oz
8:00 - solids (try for 2 tbsp cereal, but half the time not interested)
9:00 - nap (usually 1.5 hours, although been shorter lately b/c so OT from all the NWs. Has been earlier too b/c I can't keep her up in the AM)
10:30 - bottle 4-6 oz
11:30 - lunch. Various finger foods
1:30 - snack (I cut out the PM bottle as she would not take her before bed bottle)
2:00 - nap (this nap she'd sleep for hours if I let her but I try to get her up after 1.5 to 2 hours)
4:30 - dinner (combo finger foods and purees)
6:00 - bath, book, bottle (6 oz)
6:30 - bed

She does great from 6:30 until midnight, with no NWs. I stopped df and let her wake on her own for feed (she still takes one overnight). She bf around midnight. Before, she would go back to sleep, wake for feeding at 5 AM and then go back to sleep until 6:30. For the past week, she settles back down after her feed only to wake at 2 AM (screaming, not just mumbling or playing around). It has been taking SEVERAL rounds of pu/pd to finally get her to stop crying. I can then leave the room, but she stays awake. She'll amuse herself for about 1 hour but then it all starts again. I think around 4:30 she sleeps for about 30 mins. So needless to say she's very tired throughout the day. THis morning for instance, she went down for a nap at 7:45 b/c she was soooooo tired.

I'm out of ideas. My one and only thought was that if it is teething, maybe I should top up her Motrin at midnight when I feed her. I just hate giving her meds for no reason if it's not teething. It's amazing after 8 mos of no sleep I don't even feel tired anymore Just want to help my LO sleep better so that she can enjoy her awake time more! I think her lack of interest in food lately is probably b/c she's so tired as well. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Jenn

[momofclaire]

I am sorry you are feeling so down.   

I see a few things that could be causing problems.  First, is she only getting three bottles during the day?  At her age milk should still be her primary nutrition so if she was refusing a bottle I would cut solids before the bottle. Milk simply has more calories and nutrients than solids. 
The other thing is that she is having a lot of A time in the morning.  I know you get her out of bed at 6:30 but if you know she has been up since 5 she is probably OT when you get her down for the first nap.  A times around her age should be about three hours.  Some babies can do longer but if she is having periods of awake time at night I would cut A times short.  I would also move her bedtime earlier because of the 5 am wake.  I know you don't want that to be your wake time but for now I would work on getting her sleeping and then moving the morning wake time later.

Teeth can certainly be causing wakes.  Do you see signs of teething?

[jenniferr]

Hi there.
Thanks for the reply. Glad to report yesterday went much better. I had shortened the first A time and I just let her sleep as much as she needed during the day yesterday to catch up on some sleep. She slept for 3 hours in the AM and 1 hour in PM. She also drank all four daytime bottles and a bf at 11 PM and did fairly well with her solids yesterday too. She only woke twice throughout the night - once for her bf and the other around 4 am but with a cuddle went right back to sleep until 6:30 AM. Also, I was thinking it was teething so I was giving her Motrin before bed hoping it would help with the pain. But then I was hearing comments that it was causing some babies to have trouble sleeping, so I didn't give it to her last night and she obviously wasn't in any pain. So with all that said, she's very unpredictable so who knows how today will go.

Thanks everyone for listening to me vent.
Jenn

[momofclaire]

I hope it continues.  Keep me posted.

[jenniferr]

Quick Update -
The day after our "good" night, I let DD nap for as long as she wanted again (figured she needed the rest!) and I think she slept a total of 4.5 hours, 2 in the AM and 2.5 in the PM. She went to bed great, ate great all day too, but woke at 2:30 AM and stayed awake until 4 am. Unlike the other nights however, she was not screaming and upset. She was just kind of chatting and whining. I think I only went in once b/c she threw her paci out of the crib. So....she was definitely not OT last night but it could possibly be too much day sleep causing the awake time at night, right?

Today I woke her from her PM nap after 1.5 hours ( a total of 3 hours sleep today) and she was definitely not OT before bed. So my question is....if she wakes again at 2:30 AM and stays awake, any other thoughts what it could be???

[momofclaire]

It could be habit. Is she waking at the same time every night?  If so you can try w2s and see if it works. It could also be developmental.  Maybe she is working on learning a new skill.  Is she starting to stand?  I would leave her unless she crys for you and keep up with the good naps.

[jenniferr]

Mom of claire.
When she wakes it usually the same time. I tried w2s for a week before and it only seemed to make things worse  . Yesterday, she had about 3 hours day sleep and she still woke at 2AM, but she went back to sleep until 6:15. So she had a 2 hour nap this morning and is having her PM nap now so I'm only going to let her sleep for 1.5 hours and see if that's the trick. Fingers crossed.

If it is just habit, will she eventually outgrow the habit?

[momofclaire]

If it is habit it would stop unless you are accidentally doing something to reinforce it.  What do you do in order to get her back to sleep? Is there something that could be waking her at that time?