NW? 7months

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Actually, what worked was a shorter morning A, longer pm A, then back to a shorter bedtime A.

That is sort of where we are at too. It seems to work better. He still has the early evening NW's but if he has a long A time, he has a hard time settling for the night so I think OT. I always feel that the CN ruins everything! But that being said, DS went to bed at about 6:55 last night so he woke at 6:30 this morning and his A times are not long enough yet to get us past 6pm without a CN. Hopefully he will have super long naps today and that won't be an issue. He slept super well last night. He woke up 3 times before 9:45pm and then he slept until 4am and then until 6:30 when he was up for the day.

DS does settle himself sometimes. Usually he just babbles away for a while and then he starts getting really upset and crying. Usually at this point I go in and pat his back for a second (like literally maybe 30 seconds) and leave and then he will go to sleep. He seems to just need to know I am there. This might have become a prop a little bit. I can try leaving him a little bit longer and see what happens, but usually when I go in, he is actually crying. During the night (between 10pm and 3am) he usually wakes a few times and talks for a minute and then goes back to sleep on his own. Then some OT nights, he will not go to sleep by himself when he wakes those times. I always give him his paci when he goes to bed. He sucks it for a few min and then spits it out but he always seems to want it when he lays down. Is this a prop? I don't even give it back to him when I go back into the room when he starts crying, just the first time I lay him down at night.

One day I will figure at this out! By baby number 4 I will be a pro!

Thanks so much!

[~inbalance~]

I'm not sure if the paci would be a prop or not seeing as how he doesn't use it the rest of the night, but it does seem interesting that you don't give it back and he has a hard time settling for the first little while.  I wonder if he is waking so often thinking about it, then around 10 forgets about it and goes to sleep for a good stretch.  TBH though, if you're wondering you could always ask on the prop board.  We ditched the paci cold turkey at 5mo because it was one less thing I didn't want to have to wonder about causing problems!   

We had a run of really long A times and OT at that age because DS wouldn't take the catnap, but wouldn't nap long enough to do proper A's as well.  It was really tough, nothing I did would make him nap long, so we were always stuck with a long A time until bed.  We just rode out that phase! 

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Okay maybe I will post over on the prop board about that just to make certain that it isn't a prop. As long as our nights are still going okay with that long A time before bed, I am not too concerned about it either! It is when he wakes 10 times a night because he is so tired that I start getting concerned in a hurry! It is amazing how when they start to sleep better your body adjusts to getting that sleep again. Then when they wake up so many times a night, your body is so exhausted!

[~inbalance~]

So true!  Although it took me awhile to start sleeping soundly again even after DS started STTN - having him wake so often for so long made me the lightest sleeper (previously I slept like the dead)!  And for awhile I would still wake even when he didn't!  Thankfully not so much anymore - now it's just the frequent bathroom breaks and pregnancy stuff that keeps me awake!  LOL

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

now it's just the frequent bathroom breaks and pregnancy stuff that keeps me awake!  LOL

I totally remember that!

We are having a crap day. Our am nap lasted 1hr 10 min. Then our second A time was 5 hrs. DS would not go to sleep. I literally tried everything. I rocked him, took him for a car ride (which he never lasts longer then 5 min without falling asleep) everything and he would not go to sleep! So frusterated! It is one of those days when I wish I was back at work (even though I am going to be a SAHM). He was so clingy and fussy, I never got a chance to eat lunch. Finally he went to sleep and I rushed into the kitchen to find something to eat before I fell over. Just want to scream!

Tomorrow is a new day.

[~inbalance~]

So sorry!     Clingy and fussy sounds like teeth!!  Although DS gets that way when OT too.  Actually, OT is more cranky, teeth is more clingy and fussy.  Maybe he's cutting some new teeth now!

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

I was thinking the teething thing too. He seems to be alright today. I can't even remember how many times he woke up last night. We will be doing shorter A times today and hopefully getting good naps. We do not have to go anywhere today so there will be no chances of falling asleep in the carseat, etc. I will be one hundred percent watching him and getting him into that crib in time!

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Okay....so here I am again! We are back to NW's every hour but having perfect naps? Have been giving tylenol for teething, tried some natural teething tablets out, nothing is helping the NW's. This is what DS's EAS looks like now:

Wake: 7:15
E: Bottle 8 oz 7:15
E: solids 8:00
A: until 10:05
S: from 10:05-11:40 (has not been waking at all in this time; if he does wake, it will be at the 45 min mark)
E: bottle 7oz 11:40
E: solids 12:40
A: until 2:35
S: 2:35-4:10 (same as am nap, does not usually wake up)
E: 7oz bottle 4:10
E: solids at 5:30
A: bath. massage, stories until 6:45
E: bottle 8oz
S: asleep by 7pm


Then he wakes up every hr. all night long. This has been his identical EAS for the past 4 days. We have stayed home, tried to get the routine in order. His naps are great but his nights have now fallen apart again.

It could be teething but nothing is working for that. He has been drooling, with red cheeks since he was 4 months old so it is very hard to tell when he is really teething. He is not a fussy baby. When he cut his last two teeth, he slept totally fine; he woke up and had a tooth, then he slept fine that night and woke up the next day with another tooth and was cranky that day and then back to his normal self the next day. So teething is hard to figure out for us.

I don't really want to cut back on his A times as that seems to just mess up his naps but what else can I do???

[~inbalance~]

I think teething is always very hard to figure out.  They can be totally fine sometimes and a disaster at other times, and I think it's very common as well for meds to not help much. 

You're right, probably best not to mess with A times and naps, and I very much doubt this is a routine issue at this point since the NWings are so frequent.  When we went through that I was pretty sure it was teeth, although I figured that out in retrospect I think.   

Another thing to think about would be a diet change or the possiblity that some new foods are upsetting him, maybe causing him tummy aches or gas?

Sorry things aren't much better at the moment! 

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Another thing to think about would be a diet change or the possibility that some new foods are upsetting him, maybe causing him tummy aches or gas?

Could be. He gobbles down everything he sees and just loves eating. He never seems to be uncomfy or anything but that being said, he is such an angel baby that it is so hard to tell if something is bothering him. As soon as I pick him up, he stops crying, fussing, anything! He never shows any sign of allergies or sensitivities. Do you know how I could tell this? As for a diet change, what can I do at this point? I did try putting him on Soy formula a while ago as there are some milk intolerance's in my family. It did nothing but makes him incredibly constipated, and the Dr. told me to go off it after a month if it did not change anything. Other then that, all he is eating is veggies and fruits and his rice, barley and oatmeal cereals. He does not have anything dairy or wheat yet. It may just be teething. Who knows? If DS takes after me, morphine will be the only drug that helps his pain! I think that is a little extensive for teething! LoL.

I am honestly starting to think crazy things like maybe we have a ghost who is waking him up! (I think my lack of sleep is leading me to this, LoL). I guess I maybe just need to accept this is how he is and when he moves out I will get to sleep again!

Ohh, I just saw your ticker! Congrats on another boy!!!!

[Mom to M&M]

Rice can be very constipating though, and barley contains wheat. Has he ever had any signs of reflux? Could he be cold at night?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Oh I did not know that barley contains wheat. He did show some signs of reflux when he was really little. I thought he had reflux a little bit ago but that turned out to be excessive spitting up due to teething. It stopped after two teeth cut. It is possible that he could be cold, I guess. His room is cold but he always feels warm? I will try a few more layers tonight!

[~inbalance~]

Thanks, we are really excited to have another little boy around!!  I hope him and DS will be best friends.  

DS never had any sensitivities, nor was he ever a really gassy baby, so it's hard for me to say what the signs are.  I do know that something as simple as a runny nose can be a food sensitivity, but then again it can be teething or a cold too so who ever really knows??    Since dairy and wheat are big culprits and he eats mainly cereal and veggies, I'm sure he's fine.  Although I've read that rice can be hard to digest.  Things like brocoli, cabbage, onions and garlic I think can be gassy foods too.

I hate the whole teething thing because sometimes it's so hard to tell!  We are going through that at the moment, DS is waking more frequently in the early evening and while I've been certain it's teething, I still can't quite tell!!  We're working on canines at the moment though which are supposed to be really terrible.  

I think if you know you have a high tolerance to pain meds, it makes sense that maybe your DS would too!  

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

I think the same thing about the food sensitivities. As far as I know, wheat and dairy are the problem causers so I have tried to stay away from that (with the exception of the barley I guess). Anywho, I guess it might just be teething and like I said, he will move out one day and I will get sleep again. By the time he actually starts sleeping, we will be wanting another one so I might as well just get used to sleepless nights!

[Mom to M&M]

It really sounds like some sort of discomfort to me. Based on his past teething well and not responding at all to teething meds, I'd guess something else - be it reflux or food sensitivities. Or could he have an ear infection? One time my nephew's only symptom of an ear infection was terrible sleep!

Yes, barley and oats both contain gluten. And cereals (all grains really) can be very hard for infants to digest as they don't really produce amalyse (necessary to digest grains) at this point.

Big hugs!