7 month old waking every 3 hours! Help, please!

[newmama12]

I am tired. DS is tired. We are a mess.  He wakes every 3-4 (on a good night) hours all night long. He's 7 months and a week old and has been doing this since he was 4.5 months old. I can't take it anymore!! There is no reason I should be feeding him 3x a night! He's a good 20 lbs. He eats 3 solid meals a day. I am nursing and often worry about my supply, so I offer a few ounces of a bottle after 2 of our day time feedings to be sure he's getting enough. Yet, he still wakes all night long! He's on a 4 hour EASY during the day. Naps are hit/miss in length.

I really don't know what to do. He's a big time crier when he wakes. Normally, nothing soothes him except nursing and he'll go right back to sleep afterwards. He doesn't even nurse that long, but there is no reason to be doing it all night long anymore. Any suggestions, advice, support, help?! Please!! 

[newmama12]

Jane, thanks for replying. I'm afraid you might be right and I am a prop at this point. Ugh! How do I fix this?!

Here's his schedule. By no means is this completely accurate, but it's pretty close.

6:00: wake (I usually let him fuss, play, chat till about 6:30 if I can)
7:00: nurse
8:00: breakfast
9:00 (the latest)-10/10:30: nap
11:00 nurse
12:00 lunch
1:00/1:30-2:30 nap (depending on how long the morning nap was)
3:00 nurse
4:45 dinner
6:00 nurse and bottle top off then bath
6:30 bed, normally asleep within a few minutes.
9:30pm first wake up crying. I feed him here and he goes back to sleep by 10
2:00am second wake up crying. I usually try and do sshh/pat or pu/pd, but it never works well. I end up feeding and he goes back to sleep.
5:00-6am: 3rd wake up. If it's early at 5, I feed. If it's 6, I let him fuss/play/whine till 6:30.


For the morning nap, he is going 3 hours from wake time till nap. In the afternoon, most of the time, it's 2.5 or close to 3 hours of A time depending on the length of the am nap. Should he be on a 4.5 hour EASY?! That seems like a long time between feedings (nursing) though, right?! Maybe I'm not understanding it the right way. Would it be something like EAES?

He falls asleep on his own at bedtime and naptime. I do not nurse/feed to sleep. When he wakes from a short nap, I don't do much to extend it. Most of the time he wakes happy and is wide awake. Even if the nap was 30 minutes. If he's crying when he wakes, he's still wide awake and there is nothing that soothes him back to sleep. I just don't bother. I know - probably not good.

When he wakes at night, he is fully crying. I've tried sshh/pat and that only makes him more angry. I've tried PU/PD. He will calm after I pick him up, but the second I lay him down he starts screaming again. Honestly, I've given neither one a really good shot. I've used them spoaradically (sp?!) and not consistently.

Any thoughts on how to get me from being a prop would be much appreciated! He does have pacifiers and many of them in his bed. He has a lovey but has not taken to it.

[newmama12]

Yes, he can replug himself with the dummys. There is teething going on. He's about to get his first one or two. But considering this waking has been going on for 3 months, I don't think it's really the issue. I do give him pain meds before bed too b/c of the teething.

[vail mom]

I would try about 2-2.5 hr of awake time and no more, otherwise I think it is too long and he will be OT. Maybe try to leave him if he wakes early from a nap to see if he goes back to sleep. I would say my 7 month old 50% of the time stirs after 45 min on first nap of the day and about 80% of time stirs after 45 on second nap. Sometimes I will give up to 15 min of crying to let her get back to sleep. A good nap to me is over an hour and at least 2. I don't shhh/pat or PU/PD as both seem to stimulate more than help.
Can you have your husband help out with soothing as he probably smells you and wants to nurse.

Steph