Author Topic: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(  (Read 817 times)

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Offline Angelz79

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8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« on: January 07, 2013, 19:47:13 pm »
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and desperate for some help!  My 8.5 month old was a pretty good sleeper (3-4 hour stretches) up until about 6.5 months when we hit a huge bout of teething, then sleep regression from crawling, and then more teething.  He has always nursed to sleep and refused a bottle, which makes his nights all my responsibility.  I was doing alright teaching my son to self-settle before the teething hit and even got some 5-7 hour sleep stretches, but not he's up every hour on the hour!  He wakes, rolls, and then lifts his head to see where he is, then cries because he is alone in his crib.  I've been terrible and letting him co-sleep after the first 3-4 rounds of this each night for my own sanity.  He will sleep 8-10 hours co-sleeping, with 1-2 nurses during that time. 

I think my biggest challenge is going to be weaning him off the night nursings and have no idea where to start.  I try feeding him more during the day and he's a good solids eater, but he still screams for the boob and then feeds ferociously each time he wakes.  He naps twice a day for only 30-60 minutes and always has. 

Help!!

Offline anna*

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2013, 20:18:20 pm »
I think you've got to teach independent sleep which quite simply means no more nursing to sleep, not for naps and not at bedtime. At night, I'd feed him at 10.30pm and 5am, but not at any other wakings. You can settle him instead with shush-pat, or PUPD, or just sit with him next to his crib until he sleeps. Yes there will be a ton of crying, but unless he can put himself to sleep all by himself, he's not going to do longer stretches at night by himself.





Offline Angelz79

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2013, 07:34:58 am »
Tonight we did our normal bath, books, nurse routine and after an hour, my son was done nursing and ready to sleep.  He was all snuggled up and I went to put him in his crib, which woke him as usual.  I had committed myself to get him to fall asleep in his crib tonight, so I put him down and began rubbing his belly and whispering reassuring words.  As expected, he started freaking out and resisting sleep, wanting me to pick him up and bring him back to bed with me.  I continued to rub his belly/back as he tossed and turned, crying his little heart out, but I stuck to my guns and just kept reassuring him.  After half an hour I wanted to give in and stop his crying, but I knew it would only reinforce the problem so I kept with it.  Sleep training is so heartbreaking!  He fell asleep after 62 minutes and is sleeping so peacefully right now.  I'm praying he stays down for a few hours because I don't know I can put us both of us through it again right now.  I know it needs to be done because he is too dependent on nursing to sleep and co-sleeping, however it doesn't make going through the process any easier. 

The bright side for me is that I know I CAN do it and he will eventually fall asleep and learn to self-settle.  I can hear him breathing a deep sleep, which he hasn't done in months. 

Offline anna*

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2013, 07:37:52 am »
Well done, keep us updated on your progress.





Offline Erin M

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2013, 03:13:42 am »
Awesome job sticking with it!  It is hard, but you're right there with him, reassuring him the whole way. 

Offline Angelz79

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2013, 06:30:35 am »
Update: He did wake after 3 hours, did a 2 minute nurse and went back in his crib without any fuss.  He woke 3 hours later again and needed a full feed, but again went back in his crib no problem.

Tonight we did his normal routine and I fell asleep nursing him because I was so exhausted from the night before.  However, when I woke up after 2 hours, I picked him up so he could burp if he needed it (which he did), put him down in his crib eyes wide open, rubbed his back and said goodnight.  Minutes crying?  None!  Not a peep or fuss at all!  He turned to his side and has been down for an hour!  I'm still stunned, but so proud of him!

Offline Erin M

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Re: 8.5 months - nurses to sleep, wakes every hour screaming :(
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2013, 02:23:05 am »
Yay!  Progress is great!  Keep it up.  :)