3.5 month old with LONG early night waking

[lfeick]

This is my first post on the fourms, but I've been reading them for a while and just can't seem to find any posts of similar situations to what I'm dealing with right now...

I have a 3.5 month old daughter who has been on EASY since about 6 weeks and is really doing great with it.   She takes GREAT naps, transitions herself well, and is generally a very happy baby.   She started sleeping through the night at about 10 weeks, but for the past week she's been waking up and staying awake for a very long stretch (3~4 hours) at night.   After she settles, she'll then go on to sleep a solid 6~7 hours for the rest of the night.   I'm really at a loss about how to help her resettle, because I know that she can put herself to sleep and transition herself just fine.   Generally I nurse her when she wakes, so I know that she's not hungry, and then I will nurse her again if she's still awake after a few hours.   Here is our EASY routine below....   

E 8am
A 8~9:30am
S 9:30~noon (she transitions herself without my help for all sleep)

E noon
A noon~1:30pm
S 1:30pm~3pm

E 3pm
A 3~4:30pm
S 4:30~5:30pm

E 5:30pm
A 5:30~6:30pm (bath & bedtime routine)
E 6:30pm
S 7pm

She falls asleep on her own for bedtime with no problems, but around 9~10pm she wakes up and is generally VERY upset.  Her cries sound like something is wrong.   I pick her up and check her temperature to make sure she's not too hot/cold then rock her to calm her down.   She usually calms down in about 15 minutes so then I nurse her, but after that she refuses to go back to sleep.   From there she's generally awake until about 1am, but it's like 1am is the magic time, because at that time she'll fall asleep and then sleep straight through until 8am the next morning.

My questions are....
1. Why might she be so upset around the same time every night?   I've checked everything I can think of and have yet to find a reason.
2. Why will she not go back to sleep for such a long time if she falls asleep (unassisted) so easily throughout the rest of the day and initially at bedtime?

Please give me your thoughts and suggestions.   Do I need to change something in our daily routine to help her?

[mmom]

((HUGS))  Looking at your routine, what stands out is the long nap in the morning.  I would cap that at 2 hours.  You don’t want too much day sleep, as this can cause NWs too.

NWs at that time are normally OT for us.  But I don’t see anything in your routine that indicates OT, so I am wondering about UT.  Have you tried cutting that first nap and maybe your LO needs a shorter cat nap?

What about teeth?  Is your LO teething?

How about hunger?  Any chance that your LO is hungry?  There is a major growth spurt at 4 months and it can cause a lot of sleep disturbances.  Many Los who are STTN, start having NWs to eat.

[lfeick]

Thanks for the response.   I did try cutting the first nap to 2 hours for a few days last week and it didn't seem to make a difference in the NW.  In fact, it kind of threw her off for the rest of the day, as she had trouble then going down for the next naps. 

Maybe I can try cutting the evening cat nap down some....  would you suggest 1/2 hour or 45 minutes as opposed to an hour?   

I don't think that she's teething (3.5 months seems early to me), but it's hard to tell sometimes.   I don't see anything on her gums, but I know sometimes it takes those buggers a while to show up.  My older daughter (2 yrs) didn't get her first tooth until 11 months though, so if this one takes after her, then she won't be teething for a while.

I think that the initial wake up for her is hunger and I do nurse her right away when she wakes, but the problem that I'm having is getting her to go back to sleep.   After I nurse her (and we've even tried giving her a bottle in case my supply was low) she just won't re-settle for another 2+ hours. 

Do you think maybe she just needs longer A times in the day?   She does show signs of tiredness/grizzling at the 1.5 hr mark and seems to settle for naps right away, but should I try to keep her up longer to see if that helps with the NW or would that just make her OT?   

[mmom]

Tracy always said not to let a baby sleep longer than 2 hours.  I don't see how it would throw off your next nap, since it would just be slightly earlier.  I am trying to find the reason why, but can't seem to find it atm.

Babies can teeth for months before a tooth shows.  Have you tried medicating at bedtime to see if it helps?

When you say you go right to her when she wakes, are you giving her a chance to self sooth if it is a mantra cry?

If you are going to cut the evening nap down, I would start with 45 minutes.  But honestly, I would cut the first nap before I do that and give it a few days to see if it helps.  If you are thinking she is waking in pain, then it could be teething.  You are not seeing any signs of reflux right?

[lfeick]

Thanks!   Last night when she woke I gave her a dose of meds and she seemed to calm down.  She went back to sleep then within an hour of the medication does, so maybe she is teething....   Tonight we're going to try medicating before bedtime and we'll see if she wakes at all.   

Thanks for your help...  I would have never thought of teething this young!

[mmom]

Great!   Good luck tonight!