6months old Casper wakes up almost once an hour throught the night!

[JennyinSH]

  Hello
  Can anyone suggest anything we can do to improve Casper, our 6 month old Son’s sleeping habits ?
  Generally he gets off to sleep OK, and sleeps fine the first 4~5 hours. But seems to wake up about once an hour throughout the night and cry out (usually just needing his dummy replaced, to comfort him).
  He is pretty good at getting off to sleep (either by himself) or with Shush Pat for a few minutes. We started dream feeding at about 3 months but are now finding that he wakes up in anticipation of the DF, so we are going to phase this out.
  Sometimes in the night he has 1 or 2 feeds( each over 100ml) after the DF. We are not sure what we should do about this. The obvious ‘feed him more in the day’ is not that straightforward as he is very clear when he won’t take any more at a feed ..Should we deprive him of milk at night, even when he is clearly hungry ?
  Here’s Casper’s schedule, if anyone can suggest anything to help, his sleep deprived Mum & Dad would be very grateful !!!
  E: 7.30a.m. Wake up – drinks about 120ml milk   
  A: 8-9 a.m. staying in his cot, play by himslef. Dummy time when he gets bored of laying there.
  S: 9.00a.m. Nap (should be 2 hours), but he wakes after 45 mins, and then we shush pat him to sleep again for another 45 minutes
  E: 11.30a.m. feed – drinks about 150ml milk and half an hour later, have some porridge mixed with milk
  A: 12:30~1:00p.m. not happy to lay down anymore, so sit on the highchair or sofa with help.
  S: 1p.m. Nap (using dummy and shush pat) to get him to sleep (should be 2 hours), but he wakes after 45 mins, and then we shush pat him to sleep again for another 45 minutes
  E: 3p.m. feed – drinks about 150ml and a little solids (rice & milk)
  A: 4-5p.m. need adoults being around, and “coumunicating” with him..
  S: 5pm 30 minute cat nap
  A: 5:30-7p.m. being hold around. Not happy to sit anymore...
  E: 7pm drinks about 150_180ml milk
  A: 7:30pm Bath time, followed by Wind-down
  S: 8-8:30pm sleep (usually goes off to sleep by himself)

[JennyinSH]

About the Eat, he normally can drink 110ml straight down without a break, and then it will become a little difficult to make him drink the rest milk off...

[fireredjewel]

Hi there & welcome!
Sounds like you're having a pretty tricky time with your little one :s
 he is most likely experiencing a big growth spurt - at 6 months old this happens with most babies, and this is the time that he should be starting solids (which he obviously has started some). Perhaps he needs to increase his intake of solids, so that his tummy is fuller. This might help him to sleep longer during the night. I'm not sure what you would add into his diet in china, but common things to add into a 6 month old's diet here (australia) are rice, pear, apple.

also,  it looks like his routine might need adjusting. Because he wakes at 45mins for his naps, and he wakes up during the night so often. that's a sign that his A time (awake time) needs to increase. He's just not tired enough to sleep for that long i think!! The average for his age is 2 hours awake before a nap, and usually just two 1.5 hour naps a day, with a catnap of about 40 minutes in the afternoon. This link has some example routines for his age: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164029.0
 So what you could try doing is for his first A time, increase it by 10-15 minutes every three or four days until you get him to sleep for 1.5 hours, then do the same for his second & third A time. You have to be careful doing this, otherwise you can end up with a very OT (over tired) & cranky baby!! When my DD (daughter) was this age, I was adjusting her routine every couple of weeks - so you will probably have to do the same to, as their ability to stay awake increases as the baby gets older.
Make sure that you give your baby lots of time playing on the floor & practising lying on his tummy & playing with his toys - and lots of playtime with you  (maybe less time in the cot/highchair, because that won't be very tiring for him- this is a big developmental stage & all of those sorts of activities help them to get tired too

Let us know how you are going!!

[JennyinSH]

Hi, fireredjewel. Thanks for your advise. Extending his awake time make a lot sense to me. But I’m still not sure if that is the only thing I should correct now..

 

 We just had a horrible night again last night. Casper woke up many many times all through the night, even the first half night which he usually behave better....Feeling so exhausted, and so discourage..

 

The night before last night, he only woke up twice. The first waking up was at 1am, and he went back to sleep right after being fed. And then, he woke up at 4am, but we decided not feeding him till 7:30. Although it took us something like half an hour to shush,pat him back to sleep, he didn’t wake up again till 7:30. Yesterday we let him have a swim in the afternoon, and I fed him some rice before he went to sleep for the first time, so I don’t know what make him sleep better.

 

Last night, he was fed 180ml milk, and some rice before he went to sleep. But he didn’t have swim which I don’t think should let him swim everyday. So he just had a bath at his regular bath time. And then, nightmare started at 9:30, he instantly waking up every hour. Well, when I said “waking up”, most of the time, he didn’t open his eyes actually. The first half night, when he woke up, he was just being fussy, and started crying if we didn’t help him put the dummy back…then the 2nd half night, he cried even the dummy was still in his mouth.. So, we had to spend more time with him, shush pat him till he went back to sleep. And that repeated every hour or less till 7:11am!!!!!!!!!!!

 

He actually ate a lot better than usual yesterday. I increased his first 3 meal from 120ml to 150ml. I saw your reply yesterday afternoon here, so I tried to give him longer and more tummy time. I move his dinner from 7 to 7:30 after his bath, followed by 3tsb banana porridge. I don’t know which bit I did make him waking up so much last night… Is it because he was fed too much solid before sleep? Or I moved his dinner later? Oh, and I fed him some half egg yolk yesterday lunch. Which also is the first time trying..We were suggested to add solids when baby is 4months old. So, Casper started taking rice when he was 4 months old. And only until last week, we increased his solid feed from once/day to twice/day, and just from the day before yesterday, we fed him 3 times/day. He was fed egg yolk for lunch, some rice in the afternoon, and some banana porridge before sleep. These are all the recommended food for baby start solid here.. from rice, then egg yolk, then vegetable, etc...

 

Now is 10:39 in China. He has waken up since 9;30, which is a good news. He was fed milk at 7:30 180ml, 2tsb banana porridge at 8:30.

I will try to let him do more tummy time which is a little difficult. He doesn’t like laying down or playing toys in generally. He likes being hold up, and look around...but I think I will figure out a way to make him do more excise... BTW, is swimming suitable for a daily excise? I’m slightly concerned that swimming every day would tire him out...
 

Thanks again, and will keep updating.. 

[fireredjewel]

Hi there,
wow, sounds like a tough night! You have done a great job to be so patient with him & help him sleep.
Remember that changes to your baby's routine can take a few days to work out - unfortunately there isn't an 'instant fix'. Sometimes things get worse before they get better!

He may have been waking up a lot because he was over-tired. By the end of the day, if his naps are interrupted & short, he will be very exhausted & less likely to keep sleeping. If his first nap of the day is cut short (eg, 45 mins instead of 1.5hrs), you should also make sure his second nap happens earlier, because he won't have as much energy to stay awake until his next nap!
At the moment he seems to go to bed quite late (8/8.30pm) - try putting him to bed earlier (7pm or 6.30pm even!) especially if he has had short naps during the day or a very bad night's sleep the night before, otherwise he will be getting extremely tired. I would also not feed him rice right before bed - you could try giving him the rice just before his last bottle before bed, then his bottle after that.

How do you put him down to sleep? My daughter at that age enjoyed being read to (3 books usually), in a quiet, dark room, and then I would sing her some songs, and put her in her cot. At bedtime, we would start with a bath, then reading, singing, sleep. This was a good WD (wind-down) routine, which is essential for helping babies to get themselves ready to go to sleep!

Keep trying with the tummy time. They generally don't like it, but it is actually good for them! You usually have to get down on the floor with them to encourage them & help them feel that it is ok. My daughter was the same as your son & liked to be able to 'see' everything, so we got her a walker. Some people don't like these, and use exersaucers instead. It means they can look around & feel involved & grown-up!
Does your son roll over or look like he is starting to try and crawl? Tummy time helps these things to happen as well and is good exercise (in small amounts!) I think you are right in thinking swimming every day would be very tiring - maybe every few days. Do you get to take your son outside much?

best of luck! BTW, he is very cute!

[fireredjewel]

I forgot to ask - is he sick? or teething? both of these can make it hard for babies to sleep at night, and 6 months is about the right age to be getting teeth. If he is drooling a lot & chewing on things a lot, and maybe even has bright red cheeks, he is probably getting his first teeth. you can use infant painkillers for this (like baby ibuprofen or paracetemol)- if you are comfortable doing that & can get them! Otherwise try offering him a cold facewasher to chew on.

[anthsmum]

Hi just thought id mention if it might help - cold he be too hot or maybe too cold? It is summer in Australia & I thought my son might be getting too hot but it turns out he was cold & that's why he kept waking up. Since dressing him in a long sleeve singlet & jumpsuit & putting him in a warmer sleeping bag with a cotton blanket he sleeps much better. Also plastic mattress protectors used to make my son sweat & then get cold, I don't use one now & it's much better. Hope you see some improvements soon & can get some rest

[JennyinSH]

I tried to give him some teething gel last night. It didn't work. So I think teething shouldn't be the reason...

Anthsmum, I think too warm could be the reason...coz quiet few times, I found him sweat a lot that damp the duvet...It's very cold in Shanghai. So we turned the heat in the room(19~20degree), and rap him up with 2 sleeping bags, 2 blankets......I will try to get rid of some layers...

Thanks for you guys tips!!!

[fireredjewel]

He probably is too warm! Although it's so hard to judge sometimes - it would be easier if they could say "too hot mum!".

When the bedroom is 19-20 degrees, we just have DD in a long-sleeved bodysuit, a singlet, and a 2.5 TOG sleeping bag (winter weight sleeping bag). we always refer to the "what to wear" at the bottom of the page on this website.
http://www.thesleepstore.com.au/Product++Brands+Information/Grobag+Information/grobag+sizes+togs+and+what+to+wear.html

We also found teething gel to be useless when DD was teething. It only lasts for about 3 minutes apparently - just numbs the gums, but doesn't stop the pain. Most mums I talk to (here and offline) use baby ibuprofen - it lasts for 6-8 hours, although you can only use it for 48 hours at a time (but you can alternate it with paracetemol), ALWAYS taken at the recommended dose.

hope tonight goes better for you.

[mmom]

I agree that there is an UT/OT cycle going on and that is why there are so many NWs.  The A time for this age is 2.5-2.75 hours and you have a 1.5 hour A for the 1st and then A's too long for short naps after.  After a short nap, the next A needs to be shortened.

[JennyinSH]

The reason I put him back to sleep after a short A time in the morning is because I persume he must be tired as he didn't sleep well in the night....plus he did give me quite obvious hints such as yawning, rubbing his face to my shoulder...

We decided to help him quit the dummy last firday. As we think it could be the reason that he "wake up" that often in the night and the short nap in the day time. He need the dummy help him back to sleep when he is in the light sleep, and if he didn't get it, he woke up...

Anyway, it's been 3 days since we started doing it. It was easier than we thought of stop giving him dummy. He did cry, but normally won't take more than 15mins to get asleep...However, He still woke up quite few times in the night. couples of times before mid night, shush pat back to sleep;  got feed at 1am, coz shush-pat didn't work (however didn't take much..which I assume he just used it as dummy...), back to sleep till 4:30, woke up couple times at least before 7am.

Exhausted... I don't know if quiting the dummy will make big difference... although, he woke up less than before, but still too much.....

Question, should we try not to feed him in the mid-night? 
BTW, we sleep in the same room with him since he was born. Our idea is once he is more used to sleep withouth dummy, we let him sleep in his own room. by that time, if he still wake up, we probably will leave him cry it out till he can work out how to get back to sleep by himself....

Can someone tell me if our plan worth to stick on and have a try??

[mmom]

((HUGS))

I still think you should push that first A.  Putting them down too close to wake up just solidifies the EWs.  Also, sleepy cues at this age change and eye rubbing isn't necessarily a sign of sleepiness.  He could just be showing cues at his 'old' nap time.  It appears you are getting an UT nap.

Once you work on some routine issues, you may get better nights and longer naps.

There is also a major growth spurt at 6 months and you may need the NFs for a bit longer.

[fireredjewel]

i agree with mmom - she's the expert here too :-) try to push that first A & make it longer!
my LO started to rub her eyes when she was bored & until I figured that out she was having short naps.
best of luck - keep us updated.

[JennyinSH]

 I think I forgot to tell at last post that I did try to push the first A since I was adviced. I think it does work on him. xxx
 He goes to have his first nap at about 9:30am now. Yesterday, he had a 2hrs nap without waking up in the middle at the first nap. The 2nd nap wasn't as good as first one. I put him down at about 1:20pm, he woke up in 30mins. I got him back to sleep by shush&pat. He got another 1:30hr sleep afterwords.  Does that mean that I should push the 2nd nap a little bit later as well??? Oh, and he didn't have cat nap in the late afternoon. Tried, but failed. He seems very sure that he didn't want that nap...

He slept a lot better last night. Slept from 7:30 till 12:30, got fed when he woke up, back to sleep till 4:30, wanted to be fed again, but we didn't give him ( coz as our experience, he actually can't take much at this feed, only 30,40ml..). Then he woke up again at 5:30, got back to sleep till 6:10, then fully awake since then.

There're couple question in my mind:

1. If he woke up earlier than 7am in the morning, should I keep him awake till 9:30 as usual??
2. He always need about an hour to finish his milk each time. Say the last feed at 7pm yesterday. He was supposed to have 180ml b4 bed. He had 80 at one go at 7pm, 15mins later, had another 40, anther 15mins later, finish all the milk....He seems very easy to be distracted, and not really that interested at having milk...once he felt he's no longer feeling hungry, he would turn the head away, and wanted to do something else but drinking milk...That's why it's difficult to get him to sleep earlier..coz he can't finish his milk quickly enough....

Anyway, I finally feel that I can see some hope now...

[fireredjewel]

That's great to hear :-) So glad that he is sleeping better! Keep persisting with pushing the first A.
I agree with pushing the 2nd A later: if he has a good 2 hour nap for his first nap, then he will definitely need to stay awake longer before the 2nd nap. Again, just do it gradually (10-15mins every few days). I would suggest not letting him sleep longer than 1.5 hours for his first nap.

so to answer your questions:
- he might be ready to drop his catnap. This is very common for this age. This is a helpful link , with a good 'sample' routine. http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64837.0 Casper seems to be pretty close to this. Dropping the catnap might help him sleep even better at night.
-If he woke up earlier than 7am, that's when you 'start' the day. So if my LO woke up at 6.30 (for the day) I would adjust her routine to fit that wake up time (so if she normally woke at 7, and napped at 9.30, i would put her to sleep at 9 instead).
- what kind of environment do you feed your DS in? At 6 months old they tend to be very easily distracted. If you don't already, try feeding him in a dark room, with a bit of white noise, and no other people in it. He could also be 'cluster' feeding (getting a full tummy for the night ahead), although I'm not sure if that's usually done for his age... someone else might know the answer to that one. It may also be that he just doesn't want to eat the full 180ml - you could try giving him a bit less & see if it affects how he wakes up during the night.

keep going, you are doing REALLY well!! :-)