ARGH! Frequent waking for long periods

[Glor]

So I posted here a couple of weeks ago about breaking the swaddle habit, which I think we have completed.  Now is a whole new problem - my DS is now waking several times per night, sometimes for a long time.  The last few nights have been for an hour, last week he was up for 2 hours (8:00 - 10:00pm).

Here is last night's schedule:

7:15pm - Asleep
7:35pm - Awake (whereupon I sh/pat and pop his paci back in, and he's back to sleep in less than a minute)
8:40pm - Awake, same as above
12:00am - Awake; sh/pat for 20 minutes
1:20am - Awake; sh/pat for 30 minutes
1:55am - Awake, eat 4 oz and back to sleep
7:00am - Wake for the day

I can see that he was probably hungry at 2:00am as he settled quickly after eating and slept until morning, however the frequent waking prior to eating is driving me nuts.  If I don't get to him quickly he will be wide awake for a very long time.  I'm not sure why he's waking as he's obviously not hungry at 7:30 or 8:30pm.  I also considered over/under tiredness and this happens no matter what time I put him down.  He is napping around 3 - 4 hours during the day, eating 6 - 7 ounces at each feeding as well (4 hour EASY). 

He is now 5 months old and I feel like his sleeping is getting worse, not better (AT ALL).  I have also let him fall asleep on his own in his crib - naps are no problem and neither is the initial falling asleep at night, but upon wake-up he will get so worked up that I can't leave him on his own and I need to sh/pat for a long time. 

Any insight??!

[ZacsMumme]

Can you post a 24hr EASY so we can see when he naps and how long he is awake for during the day

[Glor]

My usual 24hr EASY usually looks like this:

7:00am - Wake

E - 7:30am
A - until 9:00am
S - 9:00 - 10:30am

E - 11:15am
A - until 12:45/1:00pm
S - 12:45/1:00 - 2:30pm/3:00pm

E - 3:15pm
A - until 5:00pm
S - 5:00 - 5:30pm (catnap)

A - until 7:15pm
E - 7:15pm

Naps are still a bit of an issue as he has just started to break his 45 minute nap habit.  Before he would often go for 45 minutes and then take a marathon 2.5 or 3 hour nap in the afternoon.

[ZacsMumme]

Do you think there could be discomfort at all ie teething, cold?

Your EASY looks good. Though I think your LO may be ready to increase his A time a touch. How long has he had these A times?

[Glor]

I know he doesn't have a cold.  It could be teething a bit but it's hard for me to tell since he's been chewing on his fingers/other objects since he was 1/2 hour old (literally!). 

I have been thinking of increasing his A time, particularly the second session (after 1st nap).  Ideally I would like A times of 2/3/4 hours but I think that's still a month or two away.  Just can't figure it out!

I gave rice cereal the last couple of nights - the first night he didn't have any wake-ups until 1:00am, and I did sh/pat for 10 minutes and he was back asleep until 3:30am.  Last night though he was down at 7:45, up at 9:30pm and 10:40pm.  At least he went back to sleep within seconds (as long as we popped the soother back in immediately).

[ZacsMumme]

One way I can tell if there is teething discomfort is to have a look in DS mouth (he hates it but too bad!) if the gums are white and swollen then it is likely they could be causing discomfort. DS also puts his hands or finger in there when grizzling which indicates it hurts.

2/3/4 can work for some babies, but for others it encourages EW.

Actually looking at your EASY again your A after the CN looks a bit long. The CN really only tides them over to bed, so maybe try increasing the A after the PM nap, and reducing the A to bed may prevent some of the early evening NW and help him to sleep less fitfully.

4-6 months is a tough time developmentally. My LO was similar in that he would wake screaming It is not uncommon for them at this age to still need 1 NF you could try feeding him at a NW close to 12 and see if that stops the NW after that? Be careful with cerial it can cause constipation and sore tums in some LOs.

What do you think?

[Glor]

Actually yes, he is REALLY cranky after the catnap.  Well, not immediately after but he is really rubbing his eyes and fussy around 6:30pm. I just figured it was too early to go to bed at that time so I do keep him up a bit longer before his bath.  Maybe I will try an earlier bedtime.

Tonight seems good though, he was asleep at 7:15 and hasn't woken up yet.  I agree that he seems to need a feed as he usually downs a full 7oz. bottle at 3:30am or so.  I think I will soon start reducing the amount of that bottle as I can't see a paci holding him over until morning.

Thank you!

[ZacsMumme]

Maybe try BT 30mins earlier for a week and see how he goes It is very common for LOs this age to need a NF so I would keep it for now if he is drinking the lot. If you are unsure then post on the E Bottle board and you may get some good advice re NF
Let me know how you go!