7 months and waking every 1.5 hrs for food, and now short naps in day.

[Suzyboo]

My 7 month old was a great sleeper at 2 months, sleeping from 8pm until 4am, and 2-3 good naps a day. That stopped a few months ago. He now wakes throughout the evening and night, and screams until I feed him. His naps are now between 30-45 mins 3 times a day. I think he is just horribly OT? I don't know what to try. I have tried PU/PD, but he doesn't quiet unless he gets food. I don't think he has silent reflux, as he can happily lay flat. He sleeps in our room, often in our bed after around 2am... It has been getting progressively worse over the last 5-6 weeks. He is not crawling yet, maybe teething (has bottom 2) but no signs of it, and I've tried gas relief and pain relief in case teething or gas.
Please help , we are all exhausted and cranky

[ZacsMumme]

Hun can you please post you day in EAS format? (hugs) does he go down for naps and bt independently?

[Suzyboo]

Well....I've resorted back to nursing him to sleep, though that's not always working anymore either. He also uses a pacifier.

An approximate daily routine looks like this,

A 8.30
E 11/11.30
S 11

A 12
E 2
S 2.15

A 3
E 5.30
S 5.45

A 6.30
E 7.30
S 8

Then he wakes up after 45 mins, sometimes 1.5 hrs. He will sometimes do a 3 hr stretch but mostly less, and wants to eat all through the night.

I realize we have gone horribly wrong somewhere with this routine!

[Suzyboo]

So today he actually woke up early, 6.30, feed then nap at 9, awake at 9.30, feed then fell asleep in car at 11 for about 20 mins, solids at 12, then he fell asleep in the car at 1.15, and stayed asleep until 3.30. I was hoping this would help him feel better as he'd recovered some sleep, but I put him to bed at 7 and he woke at 8, and is inconsolable still at 8.40, as I write this...

[ZacsMumme]

I think his A times are too short for his age, he should be able to do closer to 3 hours first A. He sounds like he is in an UT/OT loop. I think the feeding to sleep may be becoming a prop fr him as well. This is an age where this kind of thing can become a prop. Do you believe he is hungry at night, or comfort feeding?

Do you have another LO? I would be tempted to try to not take car trips when he is close to needing a a unless it s the CN as LOs often dont get a long rested seep in the car.

Are you trying to feed 4 hourly (roughy) are you BF or bottle Hun?

[Suzyboo]

I'm pretty sure he's comfort eating, I am BF him. I guess I'm on more of a 3 hourly schedule, do you think I should push it to 4? He is already 20 lbs, so definitely not starving, and now we have started solids.
I do have another LO so I haven't been able to keep a routine as well with him, but I can do my best to avoid car trips if he is ready for a nap.
So I should stretch out activity time for 3 hours, for the first, how about the next a time?

[roimata9]

My little guy has bad reflux, but has always been happiest lying on his back, so I wouldn't rule that out. When his reflux is bad he just wants to feed constantly, I guess because if it's going down it can't come back up and hurt him! He also wakes a lot and is usually inconsolable. When his meds are at the right level he sleeps well. Have you tried a dummy? The sucking would help if it's reflux. I'd see a doctor to find out, if I were you.

[ZacsMumme]

Do you feel he is in any discomfort when he is waking? As roimata says when reflux is bothering them they often either like to feed for comfort to ease the acid pain, or refuse to feed IYKWIM...Did you have issues with reflux like behavior when he was younger?

If you can rule reflux out then yes I think we need to get him onto a 3.5 then 4 hour feeding routine. I have asked for some other mods to have a look at your post so hopefully you can get some EASY and BF advice. Once he is feeding more effectively and on a good A time I think things will improve on the sleep front

[Suzyboo]

Thank you for your thoughts! I had been thinking about silent reflux, as he never spits up, I will talk to the doctor about it. It could explain the constant need to feed and the large weight he has. however he didn't have any issues when he was younger, that I knew of, although his sleep problems have been getting worse since about 3.5 months.
Today he took just 2 30 minute naps, then bed at 7, only to wake up screaming at 7.30. It is now 10.50 and I have given up on pu/pd and am feeding him....I have noticed that when I feed him when he is upset he gives a gasp of relief, and the dummy doesn't soothe him at this point.
He woke at 7 this morning, ate and fell asleep until 8, then was screaming to eat by 9.30 and asleep by 10.30, even though I was trying to stretch out his A time.
I appreciate any input you and the other moderators/mums might be able to offer!

[ZacsMumme]

Do you think he is screaming because of OT and needing the breast to settle, or hunger?

[Suzyboo]

He doesn't nurse very long when that happens so my guess would be OT. So today he woke up at 7.15, BF, now I should have him A until 10.15 and then BF before napping, or no BF until he wakes from his nap?

[ZacsMumme]

If he has had a good AM feed and some breakie/snack I wouldn't feed him until after his nap. you may find this upsets him if he is used to being fed to sleep and you may need to give extra cuddles to get him to settle. let me know how it goes x

[Tay]

Hiya,
 DS has reflux and the way you're describing your LO sounds so much like the way he was when the meds needed increasing.
You were saying this started a few months ago, can you remember when? (DS only really got bad at around 7 weeks, was an angel baby before that).
Another thing I do think is worth a try is to move towards a 3.5/4hr EASY to see if it helps, start by pushing one feed by 5 or 10min - whichever your LO can cope with without getting distressed and work it from there.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=120362.0
xx

[Suzyboo]

So yesterday's schedule looked like this...
E 7.15,
A 3hr30
S 10.30 ( nurse to sleep) 45 mins

A 3hr (Ate some veggies/snacks during)
E 2.15
S 45 mins

A 1hr30
E 4.30
S 45 mins

A 2 hrs (Veggies and cereal during)
E 7.15
Bed at 7.30, slept 45 mins, husband pu/pd, slept 2 hrs, pu/pd, 2 hrs pu/pd, 3.5 hrs, pu/pd, feed at 7, back to sleep, still sleeping now at 8.15.

I am trying to change around the eating to not be right before bed, I am slowly introducing more solids to try and help with this. As PU/PD was working last night I will try with naps today - is it worth doing this after the 45 min mark or not? I've tried soothing him, his pacifier is usually still in, and he seems so awake. It was taking between 20-30 mins of pu/pd each time. I was all for feeding him at the 4.30am wake up, but DH refused and persevered. What do you think?

Tay, I think this started around 14/15 weeks - does this seem late for reflux to start? Thank you for the link, we started towards it yesterday, but by the afternoon he struggles. We will keep trying today.

Thank you for your support!!!

[Suzyboo]

Can you please take a look at todays schedule and let me know if I should have changed anything?
E 7am
S 3 hrs (We are in Alaska and sunrise isn't until 9.20am so its still dark late)

E 10.30
A 10-12.45 (Some veggies)
S 12.45 - 45 mins

E 1.55
A 1.30-3.40 (Some veggies)
S 3.40-6.00 (woke up at 35 mins, self soothed for 15 mins then back to sleep)

E 6.00
A 6-8.15 (Some cereal and fruit) bath time and stories
E 8.15 Stories after nursing
S 8.30

Wake at 10.20pm, pu/pd.

That's it so far, hopefully he will sleep well tonight. Was it ok to let him sleep until 10am? It messed up his schedule, but then he slept so well this afternoon - I was so happy he got himself to sleep, and there was no nursing to sleep, though he still has his soother.

I realize this is a lot to look through, I guess being in different time zones isn't helping!