Please help us....

[LeeLeeMelis]

The last several Wesley has woken around 1, 3:30 and 5:30. He is 11 months old and EBF.  Last night he refused to go down even with my husband trying. We tried pu/pd but he wouldnt even calm down on our shoulder. How long do you all pu/pd before you suspect teething or other pain?  He continued to lean towards the recliner when I was holding him and then leaning towards the door (he knew I was in the other room) when my husband tried.  I finally nursed him after bringing him to bed for both of us to sing and cuddle him. He was fine until the next waking after I nursed him. What would you suspect here?  I have to wake him up at 7:30 the last two days because he's so pooped from not much sleep. His naps were sorta short yesterday but he woke up happy and rested.

I'm thinking we wont sleep through until we're done nursing (after his first birthday we'll start weaning) How else will I comfort him if we arent breastfeeding? Please let me know what you ladies will do. I have a very will husband here to help me.  Thanks for your time!

Melissa:-)

[anna*]

He can totally sleep through, if you're consistent about not nursing at night wakings!

The problem could be that you're doing PUPD as if for a much younger baby. Does he pull up to stand in his cot? assuming he does, you really don't pick up at all, just put down when he is standing and crying in his cot. If you suspect pain, you could try giving him some meds when you go  to bed (in a syringe so you don't have to wake him) and see if that helps. If he still wakes, it's not pain that's waking him. When teething, my LO always has his fingers in his mouth if his gums are hurting, does Wesley?

[LeeLeeMelis]

Somedays when I think he's teething he makes obvious signs like sucking on the fingers. Not always though.  Of course do we ever really know it's teething?? 
Wes isnt standing in the crib yet though any day now since he's standing on everything around the house.

Here's another question, is it worth continuing to work on since we're traveling in less than two weeks?  So we just reassure and not pick him up?  I do know he can sleep through but after an hour of thrashing and screaming bloody murder I thought he needed something else. I guess he's just persistant! When do take into consideration OT?

Thank you so much for your super fast reply, I really appreciate it!

[anna*]

OT is always a consideration, but I don't think that feeding back to sleep is the answer to it. When you're sleep training, some OT is inevitable but it should get better pretty quickly as you make progress. You're right, we never really know it's teething until after the fact! With my LO, if the crying goes on longer than about 10 mins I give painkillers, just to rule that out as a cause.

Personally, I'd tackle it now rather than wait until you're back from travelling. What's your alternative, to nurse at every night waking? At this age you do pretty much all your settling in the crib, only pick up if he is absolutely hysterical, and even then only for a moment. He needs to calm down in his crib, not in your arms. If he's pushing your hands away and fighting you, just stay by his crib and be with him until he starts to calm down. Once he's quiet you can gradually start to leave the room so that he'll fall asleep without you there.

I'm assuming he can get himself to sleep independently for naps and at the beginning of the night? What's his daytime routine like? There's a link here that's worth reading too: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

[LeeLeeMelis]

To be totally honest I fully intended on nursing at each NW until we returned home.  We're camping this weekend and then we're off for three weeks.We'll be at my parents ( dh is coming later in the trip) so my mom is fully available to help if I need it.  Wesley does fall asleep on his own at bedtime, not always for naps but usually. I'm so afraid of OT or that he'll take too long to fall asleep on his own it'll knock of the entire day.  I'm working on it though.

Here's our daytime routine lately:
6:30-7:15 wake, BF
9:00-9:30 nap, usually 60 minutes
2:00-2:30 nap, usually 60-75 minutes
6:45-7:15 bedtime
These days NW's are around 12, 3:30 and 5/5:30

We missed our morning nap as he was in the stroller and I was walking. He sometimes sleeps and Mommy needed her workout. He took a short doze in the car and then a 70 minute nap at about 2pm. He's down now (7:15, it took about 20 mintues for him to get down on his own). My dh and I are fully prepared for tonight, I wont pick him up as much and see how that helps.  I'll let you know how we do. Have a good day!

[anna*]

If you're going to feed for NWs while you're away, I'd say don't start sleep training til you get back.

Your routine looks good, you could try pushing both naps a wee bit later so he has a slightly longer first A time and a slightly shorter A before bed.

[LeeLeeMelis]

We had another rough night but I didnt try to settle for as long so we could all get sleep. I'm not trying to make excuses with the travel but I simply cant have him screaming for too long while we're at a campground in a tent or at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Once we get to my mom's we'll work on it. I will push those naps a bit too. Thanks for all of your help! I will post back after the 27th of July when we return from our trip with a big one year old and am ready to sleep train. Have a great day!