9 month old waking 7 times a night

[ArianaCR]

Ok, so my 9 month old (but born a month early) has been getting progressively worse at sleeping over the past few months.  He used to sleep through the night and go down awake for naps easily.  Last night I had to comfort him 7 times and every time I try to put him back down he wakes immediately and starts screaming.  I feed him about twice a night and hold him the other times.  In the early morning I resorted to letting him sleep while I held him because I'd been trying for an hour to put him back in his crib.  He basically has to be asleep to be put down for any naps/night time sleep now, and he wakes VERY easily, starts screaming, and won't stop till I hold him (holding, rocking, and nursing sometimes don't work).  I've also resorted to a pacifier to resettle him when he wakes from a nap after only 45 minutes.  I don't use a pacifier normally.  I don't think he's sick or teething but he has been walking with assistance a lot better over the past few days so maybe a developmental leap/separation anxiety combo?  He is still swaddled because he needs oxygen when he sleep and it's the only way I can keep him from pulling the tubing out of his nose.  He doesn't have a lovey (no point when he's swaddled) and he never gets a pacifier at night.  Any suggestions for how I can get him to sleep through?

[becj86]

Do you have a humidifier to help with the dryness the oxygen causes? That can be seriously uncomfortable and prevent sleep.

What's his day routine?

[ArianaCR]

Yes, we use a humidifier every night.  During the day, he does 2-2.5 hour awake times with two naps and a catnap.  For a while I tried extending the awake time but that only made it worse and other people told me to cut it back. 

[becj86]

For a while I tried extending the awake time but that only made it worse and other people told me to cut it back. 

When was that? Now, even using his corrected age, he's right at the tail end of the age range for dropping the catnap.

What is his EASY? I'm just trying to get a picture of nap lengths, etc. and how the overall day is working.

To be completely honest, I'm not sure sleep training is going to make a huge difference until his medical issues are sorted. I will see if I can get someone else with more relevant experience to have a look.

[ArianaCR]

I have been using a more Babywise version of the schedule which is basically the same as Baby Whisperer but with more sleeping.  As for the oxygen, he's been on it since he was a week old and previously slept through the night and taken good naps (put down awake, no pacifier needed, etc).  Thanks for the help!!!!!!!!

Here's what our day looks like:
7a wake, nurse, solids
9 nap
1030 wake, nurse, solids close to 12 (he's been waking after 45 mins of the nap so I give a paci which usually works to get him back to sleep)
1245-1p nap
2ish wake (he has been napping about an hour here), nurse
430ish nap
5 wake, nurse
6 solids
730 asleep

[becj86]

Looks like the more frequent naps mean that none of them is restorative, so he's likely getting overtired by the end of the day. The 45min waking in the middle of nap 1 -  this indicates he's having trouble getting through that transition between sleep cycles - could be discomfort, could also be undertiredness or overstimulation. My bet would be undertired.

[Shiv52]

I wondered if he's OT by the end of the day too. But starting UT at bec said.

2 hours is an appropriate A time for a 4/5 month old. At 9 months both mine were doing 3.5 hours. I can't posts links but am sure bec will but I think aiming for a more age appropriate routine will help the naps and NWs.

[becj86]

Here are some sample routines that have worked for various babies: Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

Here is some other useful info: Average A times and "Is my baby ready to increase A time?" All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

[JennŠ]

OK, I stink at EASY, but good with preemie/medical.   Have you tried any sort of tape to keep the O2 in place?  Socks on a hand so one could be unswaddled?
What would happen if you added another night feed for a time?  Any other health issues such as reflux?  Will keep thinking, but LO is awake now.   

[ArianaCR]

Thanks for all the help.  I know his A times are short for a Baby Whisperer baby but they're ok for a Babywise baby.  I'm willing to try increasing them again though (I tried several weeks ago and it didn't help at all).  Right now, he normally goes down for all his naps including the cat nap quickly and doesn't wake up from any naps or night sleeps happy/playing (always crying).  He doesn't even wake up happy in the morning (either I wake him or he wakes crying).  So he doesn't meet the signs for needing the 3-2 nap transition or increasing A time (from bec's links above) except that he wakes at 45 mins from some naps.  Do you still think I should try increasing A time?  Also, it seems that when I keep him up even 15 minutes later he is VERY difficult to get down for a nap (lots of screaming).

Jenn, for the oxygen I can't put the stickies on his face because his skin is too sensitive and it gets very irritated.  I can try taping it at the back where you adjust the sizing for the nasal cannula though.  Socks on his hands won't work because he just shoves a fist or arm at his nose and the tubing comes out.  He doesn't have any other health issues and he only needs oxygen because he has periodic breathing so his oxygen saturation levels drop whenever he sleeps.  I don't know what would happen if I added another night feed.  I do about two now, basically because the screaming escalates to a point that nothing else seems to help.  In the past I've done zero.   Do you think he needs more food at night if used to be able to sleep through without any? 

[ArianaCR]

Also if it helps here is last night's ordeal:

715p alseep in crib
730p crying (rocked back to sleep)
1130p crying (attempted rocking, no success so fed)
1230a crying (rocked back to sleep)
340 crying (attempted pick up and rock, no success so fed)
430 crying (rocked back to sleep)
450 crying (rocked back to sleep)
5 crying (rocked back to sleep)
620 crying (attempted rocking, no success so fed)
730a I woke him

[becj86]

Right now, he normally goes down for all his naps including the cat nap quickly and doesn't wake up from any naps or night sleeps happy/playing (always crying).

Has he always cried upon waking? That was a sign of accumulated OT for my boy

A restorative nap is two sleep cycles - usually about 1.5hr. A nap of 1hr15 or 1hr at this age almost always indicates undertired at naptime, where a 30min natural waking is almost always overtired at naptime.

I think he's going down easily because he's so used to going to sleep at those times (he's been doing it a long time now - its become habitual) so it might be easier but not necessarily meeting his sleep needs. Pushing the A times will help, I believe.

[katie80]

Hi there, just hopping on for a bit more support. Bec is right, pushing the A time should definitely help. Lots and lots of babies have come through this forum and we would give all of them the same advice with an EASY like that. If he doesn't do well with pushing 15min, then just to by 5-10. It takes some babies a few days to get used to a new A time.

I know you say Babywise expects more sleep, but you can't make a baby sleep longer than he is tired enough to do. I have actually read the first Babywise book as it was recommended by an old friend, but I couldn't go through with it. I did follow some of the routine info until I found Babywhisperer when DD was short napping. I had kept her on too short of an A time and we never got good naps until we straightened her out with PUPD, got rid of the paci, and got on a good A time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't actually remember specific times in the Babywise book and they assume almost every early waking from a nap is down to OT rather than UT. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

It's possible your DS wakes crying because he's not an independent sleeper. It's possible he wakes crying because that's just his personality. My DS woke crying until about 15mo, it's just how he was.

[*Kara*]

Hello   Just popping on to give my take too hun.. I agree with previous posters, his naps are too frequent and not at all restorative.  His first nap is too soon after he wakes for the day, so he takes a short nap... babies rouse after 45 mins of sleep and will transition to the next cycle if they are tired enough to do so... if not, they wake up and will need another nap after a short time again, creating a cycle of short, poor quality naps for the whole day.  Once night comes, he is completely overtired and unable to rest enough to sleep well, causing multiple wake ups that he cannot get through without your help to go back to sleep.  Overtired babies are much like a hyper child and are unable to calm down.

Make sense?  I am sure that you would find your day much easier to balance if you had 2 nice naps each day to work around as opposed to feeling like you never get a break with multiple short naps??

Here's what our day looks like:
7a wake, nurse, solids
9 nap
1030 wake, nurse, solids close to 12 (he's been waking after 45 mins of the nap so I give a paci which usually works to get him back to sleep)
1245-1p nap
2ish wake (he has been napping about an hour here), nurse
430ish nap
5 wake, nurse
6 solids
730 asleep

BabyWise does suggest more sleep but as PPs have said, a baby who is well rested won't sleep as much as a house cat will.  It would be nice, but biologically, a human only needs so much sleep in a day to be well rested and happy.

 

I know his A times are short for a Baby Whisperer baby but they're ok for a Babywise baby.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but we don't condone the use of BabyWise for more than one reason.  His A times might be by the book for BabyWise, but they are clearly not working for him as an individual.

If you want help with BabyWhispering, we are happy to help

[JennŠ]

Here's a weird idea for the O2, KY jelly.  You put a smear on each cheek where the tubing goes.  Let it get tacky, then put the tubing over it.  Not foolproof, but it does help.