8 Month Old Unable to Resettle All Night!

[Tao]

Hello There,

My DD is 8 months and 1 week old now and when she woke at night she has always been able to go right back to sleep. Usually she wakes anywhere from once to twice a night; however, in the past few months it has been more like twice a night and then EW between 4:45 a.m. and 5 a.m.!!

The problem is now it seems to be that she is waking around the same times at night, plus or minus 30 minutes and after I nurse her and put her down she screams so I go in and do the same thing all over again. This is what her night schedule usually looks like:

6 p.m. BT (this is because she wakes so early, even with two 1.5 hour naps and 3 hour A time, it's hard to extend beyond this).

9-10 p.m. (first waking. She'll start with a mantra cry, sit up sometimes, roll around the crib and eventually loud cry so I go in there and nurse her as I usually do. Sometimes if it sounds like a repeated mantra cry I avoid going in to prevent a habit from forming. Although, I think it's too late    . Last night, she wouldn't resettle when I put her down in the cot. I kept going in and she didn't fall asleep until midnight!!

2-3 a.m. (this is her second waking. She never resettles on her on at this time and I anticipate it really being hunger because she drinks ravenously. Luckily, she went back last night. I couldn't handle being up with her for another 2 hours..)

4:45 a.m. - 5 a.m. (she usually wakes between this time. If she didn't have very good sleep during the night, then she may resettle until 6 or 6:30 a.m. I try to leave her to resettle on her own if possible, but I have had to go in at times to nurse her back...but I try to keep her in cot until at least 6 a.m.)

Here is what our EASY Routine looks like: (I have had a lot of trouble figuring out her A times until recently with the help of some great moderators, they helped me get two 1.5 hour naps in)

6:00-6:30 a.m. Wake, BF
9:30-11:00 Sleep

11:00 Wake, BF
2:00-3:30 Sleep (the past two days she had woken after 45 minutes. I think I will try to decrease A time in this slot because I don't think she can handle being up for another 3 hours here).

3:30 Wake, BF

5:00 Solids

6:00 BT, Nurse

* I am sad because when I look at her during the daytime now her eyes are always so droopy and you can tell she is exhausted. If I'm exhausted, I'm sure she is. Could it be that my BF every time she woke in the night has become a prop? I have started a thread on PUPD board and am considering starting this this week.

* She used to be able to settle right away after BF, but for the past two days suddenly she screams when I put her down. Could this be signs of SA or maybe BF does not make her sleepy enough to go back down?

* Do you think PUPD would be helpful to get her sleep back? I was always worried she was hungry at night and felt bad. Last night I tried to keep her in her crib for the first 9 p.m. waking and she SCREAMED! I finally gave in and nursed her...

I appreciate any insight you may have. I am so exhausted from 8 months of waking 2 times a night and then being up at 5 a.m. I go to work two jobs afterward no sleep and I am starting to feel so depressed. Not to mention I feel bad that my baby is not getting enough rest. Her sleep always seems so uneasy. Even if she does resettle she's always crying out or rolling around.

Much hugs,
Christine

[Tweakster]

Hi there Christine, you are getting good help from Emma on PU/PD board and I think the issues are interrelated.  The BF has become a bit of a prop, she needs to learn to get to sleep and transition in sleep on her own.  She may need an increase in A time as well (45 min nap is normally UT), but I think the main reason she is unsettled is because she has trouble sleeping independently.  I totally understand your exhaustion and the sooner you commit to an independent teaching method and implement it, the more sleep you will all be getting :-) 

What's going on with her teeth these days, any chance she's teething?  I find that teething manifests more at night and also after feeds.  She could be unsettled because the feeding may be hurting her gums.  Just throwing that out there in case it is a possibility.

[Tao]

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for responding. I was thinking the same thing along the teething lines. I don't see any teeth just yet; however, when I touch her lower front gums, I do feel something starting to poke out. If it is, indeed, a teething issue do we not do PUPD?

How do we resettle without using a prop when they are teething?

Thanks for your insight!

Christine

[Tweakster]

Hi there, teething is a big spanner in the works as far as routine goes.  When Finn was teething at 6 mths his tops were coming in and it was brutal.  So we did a lot of APOP to get through it, rocking etc.  Then when he started on his molars about a month ago, we just decided that we can't keep APOPing through all these different things that are going to crop up.  We make sure he is medicated for any true pain or discomfort and just try to help him continue to get to sleep on his own.  I won't say do not do PU/PD but we never found PU/PD to be very effective because it would only cause Finn to become unglued and overstimulated.  We used shush/pat and then a variation thereof (shushing from afar in the room) until I started walk in walk out about a month ago.   Best to follow Emma's lead on the other board since she has PU/PD effectively.  I think it really depends on your LO temperament and how confident you are implementing the technique.

I would recommend that you do your best to settle without a prop but follow her lead while she is not feeling up to par.  If she's genuinely hungry of course you feed her but maybe try applying some of the Orajel before or after her feed to see if it's the gums causing the problems.  I find they have a harder time dealing with the pain at night because they are more distractable and interested in the world during the day, but at night they can't block it out.  Have you tried some ibuprofen before bed?  You can talk to your doctor about it.  It's really very safe and tends to help them a lot.