7 mo old with 6 - 7 NWs every night. Getting desperate for help

[Lewa]

Hi Sim - I'd just drop the last 50ml DF completly.  It becomes more of a pain if DS wants more because they are awake, but they don't seem to mind if they are already sleeping (does that make sense?).  At least you've a few days before you go away.

Mika great news on the STTN!!  Hopefully your little DS will be much happier now the ear infection and hives are under control...poor bub.  Good luck when you are away!  It is so hard to keep to the routines when you are away!  I always resort to AP when we're away and have to re-introduce the routine when we get back.  Need a holiday by the time you're back on track

[sim75]

Good thing his ear infection is clearing up before you get on the plane! Phew!
Yay on the sttn too! We have also had a good run (touch wood) - 2 nights in a row now.
Lewa - he doesnt wake during his df so isnt looking for more. But I might go halfway and just speed up dropping his DF even more. So tonight bring it forward to 8pm, then the final one tomorrow at 730pm. So Thursday being the first night without it. That gives us 4 nights to test the waters before Im away for 2 weeks with him, instead of just the 1 night.
Im dreading the upset to his routine when we are away, but what I dread more is people's comments and interference!! As if they know my baby better than I do. Ive had my mum already trying to tell me he was forming a habit with his recent NWs!!! He had bloody teething pain woman!!! I wasnt feeding him in the night and havent done so since he was 16wks in a growth spurt (except for the 1 night when we first tried to drop the df recently thinking he didnt want it anymore). But people always think they know your baby better than you possibly could despite spending only a few days in his 7 months of his life!

[Emma-Rose's mom]

I'm devastated. Just found out DS's lab results. He's positive for egg and peanut allergy, and those are staples in our family diet. Plus, nearly everything has peanuts or are processed at a factory with peanuts or have egg products baked in. How do I eliminate those from my diet so I don't pass it on in my breast milk? Will have to start reading labels... Positive test for cat dander, too, and we have a cat that sleeps right next to his pack-n-play. No wonder he breaks out in hives nearly everyday! Don't have much time to respond to your posts, ladies, since I'm about to hop on a plane in a few hours. But I'll probably check in every now and then if I have on-line access while I'm away. Sim, good luck with your time away!

[jennyandgraham]

Well at least you know and can do something about it. 
Peanut oil is used to lubricate loads of machinery in food factories, that is why it appears on so many labels.  Unless he is supersensitive I'm guessing most things are ok provided they don't actaully contain peanuts.  My friend discovered her son had peanut allergy while she was eating peanut butter on toast and managed to transfer a little onto his skin.  It made his arm swell up, eeeekk.
Cat hair is bad not just for allergies but because it is really fine and kids can breathe it in and it sticks in thier lungs causing physical irritation.  I don't like cats so I'm biased.

[Emma-Rose's mom]

Just got back from my trip 2 days ago, and it was a DISASTER! We were visiting an aunt who was totally clueless about kids, so our poor los were up at the crack of dawn at 5:30 and not getting to bed until 10:30 PM and they had horrible naps, if any, at all.  It was as if she didn't realize that babies can not have adult routines!  She was so busy planning our entire visit, dragging us from place to place and taking us all over timbuktu and back. She even took us on a 6 HOUR car ride to see the NCarolina scenery w/o giving any of us a break to eat or stretch our legs. We just had one gas stop, and that was it! The los were screaming at the top of their heads, and she was STILL clueless. I tried so often to tell her that the kids couldn't take that much activity and needed sleep, but it was like in one ear and out the other, kwim? I was so stressed the entire time and had to AP soooo much, including rocking, nursing to sleep, and everything in the book that I wasn't supposed to do, but my los were so OT/OS that I didn't have much choice.

Two days home now, and I am so surprised how they have managed. They just bounced right back, and have been easy to put down for naps and night sleep. No hives for DS, either, since I changed my diet! Yay! And, I'm down to 1-2 NWs. So, I'm hoping that the hives were the reason for the hourly NWs from before. I haven't had any of those since I eliminated peanuts and eggs from my diet. But,  DS hasn't sttn the entire time while we were away, but hopefully with routine back in place, he'll give me a few of those, too.  Cross fingers.

How are you ladies doing? Any progress on your end?

[sim75]

Oh  to the allergies, but at least you now know what to avoid and it seems to be helping. Hopefully he will grow out of them soon. My friends ds has so many allergies. They came to stay with us a few weeks ago and I felt so sorry for them, his diet is so limited.
Sorry to here your trip away was such a disaster  My last trip up north was similar in that people didnt respect that I had a 3mo baby and they needed to work around HIM/US not the other way round. But this time, Ive been so firm Im just saying NO if anything would disrupt his sleep. As a result he has been a lot more settled this time round - although he is waking earlier than he would at home (5/530am!!) We had a few nightmare nights last week (one night I ended up just sleeping on the floor next to his cot cos there was no point going back to bed!) -  his top 2 teeth have finally cut through but the pain is subsiding now they are through. So I was doing so AP for a few nights but figured when they are teething and unwell (he also caught a nasty cold) then anything goes.
Im also wondering how things will be when we get back home on Sunday. Will he return to waking at the normal time (between 6-7am) He would normally happily babble away in his cot for up to an hour but with me sleeping in the same room as him that doesnt work as he knows Im only a few feet away!

[Emma-Rose's mom]

Sim, I'm sure things will be so much better once you get back home. Hopefully he will give you some descent mornings instead of those EWs. I'm sure he's much more comfy at home, too, in his own element and will be probably be much more willing to just entertain himself when he wakes early, too.

For me, two nights in a row of DS sttn! Woohoo!! Amazing what a normal routine at home and no allergy induced hives can do! If he can keep it up for at least 1.5 - 2 weeks in a row, I'll be moving him out of our room and into his own room, finally. But, still too soon to tell. Still need to drop that df, but with all the hubbub of that trip to NC, I didn't think it was a good time. Maybe if things look up from here on, I'll have to start on that too.

[sim75]

Oh I hope you are right Mika - we are now down to 345/430am!! Noooooooooooo  There are bloody kookaburras and roosters crowing away and it is so disturbing. I had to shut the windows and turn the a/c on for the last few hours this morning to block it out and get him back to sleep! Ive now extended our stay here for another 9 days so Im hoping tonight is the start of a turnaround now that his teeth seem to have finally settled. Just need to work on the wildlife!

Thumbs up to the STTN...may it keep up for the next 2 wks!! And good luck with then dropping the df.

[Lewa]

Seems things are slowly turning around for everyone!  I've just got back from a trip as well, and we had the same issues too.  DS was up early each morning and just wanted to play - no chance of extending his sleep   We got back last night and although he did wake up at 4am this morning, I managed to put him back to sleep and actually had to wake him at 7:30 so I could drive hubby to work! 

Im suspecting DS might be transitioning from 2 to 1 nap at the moment which is why the EW and bad naps.....might be worth checking out the nap boards Sim.  Sounds like things are better now that you've cut out the allergies Mika - fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks!  I've got a funny feeling I may be pregnant (damm romantic trips away!) so I will be doing everything to make sure DS stays STTN and stops EW!!  Have to wait a little longer to test though....

[sim75]

Oh how exciting for you Lewa!  All the best with the testing. Im a self-professed POAS addict but i resisted this time til it was way over.
We only have 1 more sleep til we return home to hubby. I cannot wait. The past month while Ive been away with ds we've had only 1 night with 1 NW, all the rest have been minimum 3 or 4. Those are the good nights!! The worst have been where he has refused sleep for up to 2 hours in the middle of the night. Then there are the EWs and no chance of him going back off to sleep knowing Im a few feet away in the bed next to his cot. Im exhausted beyond the point of comprehension as no one comes to help in the middle of the night!! Im 14wks preg now and in desperate need to recouperate. Id hate to say it but out of that complete desperation Ive even resorted to cc the past 3 days. I was at my wits end and had nothing left to give. Ive surprised myself in finding it less stressful for both of us than what we were going through.
So after tonight, he will be back at home, in his own room without me sharing it. I hope he returns to his old ways and that being away for a month hasnt been too long to set things in stone.
Hubby and I have made a pact that we wont be spending time apart like this again and I wont be staying up with the family this long again either. We leave tomorrow and MIL/FIL havent even bothered to see ds for over 2 weeks now - alas they are actually on their way here now cos we leave tomorrow!! I have a strong feeling they think Im keeping him away but I am at my mums which is out of town and it takes a lot out of his 3 hr window to come in and out and then he loses it in the car on the way back meaning I have to stop several times, then his afternoon is a disaster followed by a disastrous night! As if I need to add to what Ive already got on my plate. I also wont let her have him on her own as she always has a wine in her hand and it disgusts me and I dont trust her alone with my child. Ive made it very clear to them this trip that they need to fit in with his routine as I will not compromise it for anyone and have him suffer as a result, and they are more than welcome to visit any time but MIL is a pi**head and puts her social life first as if she is a 21yo not a 60yo!  They were supposed to finally show up on friday just gone but when she was due here she text to say she was shopping and would call later. She did not call til sunday night! They are just so used to us bending over backwards to suit everyone else but that was on our visits home before we had a baby and it will never happen again!  Sorry for that rant... just needed to get it out!

Good luck with the testing Lewa. I hope you're still on to a good thing Mika. Please let it all rub off on us as of tomorrow (or even tonight might be a pleasant surprise!!) 

[Lewa]

Hi Sim, thanks, and congrats on your pregnancy!  Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon once you're in the 2nd trimester!  It really is hard without your partner there, and sounds like you've had some tough nights.  Feel free to have a rant and rave - better out than in I say

Didn't realise we weren't to discuss CC (sorry Jay!).  But hopefully things will get back to normal once you are back home!  Last night was the second night back for us and DS slept from 8pm to 7am without a sound.  A bit of a late bedtime but he had a sneaky nap at 5pm so he wasn't ready for sleep at the usual time.  So things can change around that quickly once you're back   The best thing to do is follow the old routine EXACTLY.  Don't hold LO for longer than usual or do any of the other AP things that you did over the trip, you want to get back to normal as quickly as possible - and usually the LO's are grateful for it.

Let us know how you go once you're back a day or two - fingers crossed the NW and EW are just part of the trip!!  Good Luck

[sim75]

Definately going back to the old routine and no AP when we return. Plus Im handing the reigns back over to hubby so I can have a break. I think a break in the association with me will do ds good too. We did this back a few months ago when he started NWs and didnt actually need a feed.
Will report back in a few days! Wish me luck!!

[Emma-Rose's mom]

Hi Sim, Hi Lewa. Sorry it seems like I dropped off the map. I've been AWAY again. Still away, actually, so my access to the internet is on and off. Nice thing about summer is that DH is home and can help me, but at the same time, it's our vacation time, so routine sort of flies out the window while we make our yearly visit to see our families, none of whom live near us. I often wonder why they don't all come to us instead of us going to different homes nearly every week. Anyway, DS within two days of being home, he was GREAT. So, go back to old routine and hopefully most of the problems will resolve itself. Let us know how things are going!! As for me, five more days until we are back home for at least 2 weeks before we have to take off to see my mom's side of the family. Blah.

And, I can't believe both of you are PG! Congratulations. That's wonderful! But totally understand how stressful that can be, too. Feels like I just went through this myself just yesterday, but here it is, my boy, nearly approaching 10 months, and I'm wondering how I've survived the past 10 months and kept up with both los that are really close in age.

Lewa, I think DS is going through 2-1 transition, too. He's still plagued with EW, although we are down to 1 NW when we are home and about 3 NWs when we are away, I'm sure from being OT/OS and totally out of routine.  But at home, he totally resists PM nap if he takes long AM nap. So, I'm trying to shorten morning nap to 30-45 minutes so DS will be tired enough to do PM nap. Plus his A time is 4+ hours now, which also seems to be a clue to me that he needs nap tweaking. I don't know if that has anything to do with the 1 NW he still has, which is random, especially since I never know what time that NW will be. But, three days out of the week, he sttn, too. So, can't complain too much.

Okay, so I'd better go so that my family doesn't think I'm glued to the internet. Keep posting!