multiple wake ups throughout the night

[sleeplease]

Hi everyone,
I’ve had a quick search around but can find any posts with others with a similar sleep pattern.
Our 6 month old son wakes up frequently during the night, sometimes to feed, and sometimes just to reassure himself that the breast is still nearby.
Typical day:
9-10: wake up, clean & change.
10: breakfast
10:30 - 1: Play (30min Nap often during this time)
1-1:30: lunch
1:30-2: bed ready
2: in my bed
3-4:30: sleep (until he wakes), he falls asleep on the breast in my bed
5-6: play
6: snack followed by play
8: snack followed by play
9-10: Bed ready
10:30: Falls asleep in his cot with bottle
2:30am: Wakes us up, and feeds well, taken from cot to our bed where he remains. (he has slept through to as late as 4am or 5am but I think that was about 5 times)
4:30am Onwards: Wakes every 1-2 hours checks breast is there, drinks a little and nods off again.

He’s never been a good sleeper, and we’ve had this nightly pattern almost from day 1. Slowly but surely it would be nice to get back to sleeping at night.

During the day he’s wide awake, smiling, talking and laughing. Doesn’t give the impression that he isn’t getting enough sleep.
If anyone has any ideas on how to get him sleeping from 10-3 and then 3-7 I’d be over the moon.
Thanks   

[Erin M]

Hi there!
A few things that I'm noticing -- first off, I don't think he's getting enough sleep during the day.  Even though he seems wide awake, that's sometimes just a sign of overtiredness.  I can't think of any 6 month olds who can truly get by from 9-3 with only a 30 minute nap.  Have you seen some of the EASY schedules for babies of his age?  There are some here: chronological EASY samples, 4-6 months -- what you want to be aiming for is about 2 hours 15 minutes A time - 2 hours 30 minutes A time before putting him down for a nap.  He probably needs help falling asleep because he's overtired.

Second, does he ever fall asleep completely independently (without the breast or bottle)?  If not, that's probably causing your wakings as he's waking up and looking for it in order to get back to sleep.  Would you like him to be sleeping in his cot all night or do you want him to stay in your bed after the feeding? 

[sleeplease]

Hi Erin,
Thanks for your answer. I've looked at those samples, if he slept through 10 hours at night I would be a minor miracle.

When I go out for walks with him, he often falls asleep for at least 30 minutes (no breast or bottle). Other then that getting him to sleep without breast or bottle is a non starter.

Ideally he should stay in his cot over night, as I think we wake each other with our general nightly movements.
Over the past 2 nights I've put him back in the cot after feeding, but he still wakes up after 1-2 hours.     

[Erin M]

OK, I would work on getting him to fall asleep independently then.  I would start with bedtime -- do your whole regular routine like you always do, but perhaps move the breast/bottle before a story or something so there's a break between that and bed.  Then put him in his crib -- he's probably going to protest (if he's used to falling asleep the same way every night, he will not be happy if you change it).  I'd first try using pat/shush to comfort him (Pat-shush for babies under three months old -- despite the fact that it says for babies under 3 months, it's something that can be used for older ones as well).  You can also use pick up/put down, but I'd use that as more of a last resort (How to PU/PD (inc age adaptations)).

I would also work on your daytime routine, trying to get it more in line with what you see on those samples. 

If you have more questions about weaning the feeding-to-sleep prop, you can post on the Props board for more help.