8.5mo and I feel like i have a newborn again

[sunshine29]

My DS is 8.5mos and a couple of weeks ago started having NW.He will be crying hard enough that I have to go into him and pat his back or bum to settle.  He will typically sleep for a solid 3hrs before they begin, but then some nights he wakes every sleep cycle just like when he was little.

I'm getting so exhausted waking with him every 20-45min and I'm not sure what to do. There doesn't seem to be any consistency from days when we have a good EASY to days when he naps poorly.
I recently increased his A times to between 3.25-3.5hrs thinking he needed more A time to practice his new skills (pulling up, sitting up on his own, walking, crawling).

It feels like its been going on so long now that its hard to believe its developmental.

Is this what SA looks like? Could he be hungry?

A good EASY looks like this:

600am wake (I let him play in his crib for as long as he is content)
700am bottle
800am solids
915/930 nap (about 60-90min)
1200 solids
200ish (or about half hour before next nap)
215/230 nap (between 60-90min)
500 solids
615/630 bottle
630/700 bedtime

There's usually a 5am wake up too. Sometimes we have to replace his soother, sometimes we don't.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

[sunshine29]

I'm going to try giving him a bottle when he wakes. When we were getting rid of the 4am bottle, we would just try and resettle. If he resettled, he wasn't hungry. If he didn't, we assumed he was hungry.

With all the moving around and the warm weather lately, I would be surprised if he was hungry/thirsty.

[sunshine29]

At bedtime he gets a bath every other day. And its either my husband or I who put him down.

So, on a bath day its...
Bath, pjs, books, bottle, burp, bed.

Most of the time he goes to bed drowsy, but not asleep from the bottle.

I tried the bottle again last night and he drank the whole thing, resettled himself whenever he woke (which was less frequently) and slept later. The downside is it may be affecting his breakfast as the past 2 days he didn't eat as much solids. Don't know whether its a new aversion to cereal or related to too much formula.

Not sure where to go from here.

[*Ali*]

Do you think the dummy could be a prop? Do you replug it at night each time he wakes or does he go to sleep without it?
How many bottles is he having daily? Looks like only 2 from the EASY you posted above but did you miss more out? If he resettled after a bottle last night it could be that he is hungry.
Waking every sleep cycle is normally either a prop (like a dummy) or pain/discomfort like reflux, indigestion or teething meaning he cannot transition to the next sleep cycle. Do you think it could be any of these. Has he started new foods lately that could be causing him tummy trouble at night do you think?
The other thing I was thinking is that if he is getting more mobile it could be that he actually needs LESS A time as this will leave him more tired since it burns more energy. You are right, he needs plenty of time to practice his new-found skills, but that doesn't necessarily mean he needs to stretch his A times.
What do you think?

[sunshine29]

Hi, thanks again for helping sort this out

We don't replug the dummy at each waking anymore, I typically place it near him, so if he wants it he can grab it, but he's usually not interested.  I originally suspected it might be some kind of tummy problem, because he had a lot of issues with gas pain when he was little and it seemed to be similar to then. So I was keeping an eye on food, but there were no new foods that he hadn't already had.

Then my friend suggested he might be thirsty and I thought about how restless my legs are if I haven't had enough to drink, so it could have been that. In the last few days, I've been trying to give him his sippy cup more often in the hopes he'll take in more liquid.

He usually has 3, 8oz bottles, so I must have missed one when I posted his easy. The middle of the day bottle is usually close to his afternoon nap, depending on how his naps go. I may consider adding a morning snack, but its hard to fit it in.

I was wondering whether the A time was too much, but he's always been on the higher end and lately when I put him down around 3.25hrs, he babbles for about 15min and it ends up being 3.5hrs I'll keep an eye though and see what kind of naps I get. As lately naps aren't much more than 60-75min.
-
Last night, he woke a couple times, but not with the same urgency (I'm told, as my husband was here and I was out at soccer). He didn't wake again between 10ish and maybe 6/630am.  So we didn't give him a bottle last night. I guess tonight will be interesting to see. I'll keep you posted!

[sunshine29]

So we had a couple NW last night. I waited a bit longer to see if he's SS, but he just got more worked up. I didn't give him a bottle though. When I went in to pat his bum to resettle, it didn't seem to take as long as in the past week. I tried to leave and he cried once or twice, but the third time he managed to SS to sleep.

I am beginning to think teeth, because he was a bit randomly fussy yesterday and today, with the usual rosy cheeks and drool. But its the fussiness that has me wondering because he's normally very good-natured. He's on nap 2 now. Nap 1 was around 1.5hrs.

Our EASY the past couple days have been better as I've been staying close to home.

So another wait and see what happens tonight.