Constant night wakings - 6 months old

[Alyssa11]

I just got on this sight today.  My second baby is having the EXACT same issues as yours.  I used BW with first and it made a huge difference but she didn't sleep through the night until she was 14 mo.  My DD starting sleeping terrible at night waking every 1-2 hours or more.  We use a binky, she sleeps on her side too, she is EBF and isn't eating much for solids except cheerios.  She is almost 7 months.  I am going to be following your progress but wanted to say I feel your pain.  But way to go on naps, if he will just lay in his bed and play with his lovey that's great.  My first would play in her bed sometimes 2 hours before putting herself to sleep..we had to take her socks away at 8 months because she would play with them for hours!  But my only advice on your son playing in his bed forever is to let him, sounds like he is happy and you can get some chores done. He is a smart boy and BF babies seem to give more hell about sleeping, at least mine have.

[katie80]

He could be going through a growth spurt... there is often one around 6mo and he's only just over that. I'd say if it's been 4-5hr and he's looking for the breast to go ahead and feed. A long NW like that could definitely indicate hunger or discomfort. (((Hugs)))

Alyssa11 - Welcome to BW! Please feel free to start your own thread if you'd like more specific advice.

[alemattos]

Hi Katie,

We have perfect nap days, where his A time is never longer than 3 hours. We have bad days when he doesn't nap well, and won't take his 5pm nap no matter what I do. And still his nights are getting worse and worse cause now he won't settle anymore with just shush/pat. We even tried PUPD at night, but he just gets angrier and angrier, and won't settle.

We don't know how to on handle the NW anymore. He will only calm i f he stay in our arms for a long period of time and he ends up falling asleep. But when we put him back on his crib he wakes up. It just feels like all the progress we've made through the course of more than a month was for nothing.

I am not sure if he is in discomfort of hungry. I am not sure if I should do PUPD.

What would you do, Katie?

Our longest stretch last night was 2 hours, and I can't handle that anymore. I am at a loss. I am not functioning, and can't think clearly. I can only imagine how my son is feeling.

Hi Alyssa,

I you have better luck. I do not wish this to anyone, but it is comforting to know I am not alone. Let me know if you want to talk about our progress.

[katie80]

Our longest stretch last night was 2 hours, and I can't handle that anymore. I am at a loss. I am not functioning, and can't think clearly. I can only imagine how my son is feeling.

(((Hugs))) hon, that sounds exhausting. I'm sorry!

If the NWs aren't dependent on the daytime routine at all and he used to settle with shh/pat but now is not, I'd guess that he's either having discomfort from something (teething, new solids causing gas or constipation, etc) or a GS.  But, if it's a GS, I wouldn't expect him to be waking every 2hr, so that makes me think discomfort.  Did he have vaccines at the doctor appt last week?  Could he be having a reaction from that?  Is it worth it to try giving him pain meds at BT or in the MOTN to see if that helps?

I'm sure we've said this before, but right around 6mo can be a difficult time of sleep because there are often lots of developmental changes too.  Hang in there, hon, it will get better.

[alemattos]

Quick update:

Things got better at night for the past week and a half. Once he woke up at 3 and 4, talked to himself and wnet back to sleep. It was so cute, and amazing...

The other nights he woke up just once and we put him back to sleep just by shhh/patting.

The last 3-4 days he started waking up between 8:30 and 9 screaming, especially if I am not the one to help him settle. Once I fed him. The other night I just kept him in my arms. I tried PUPD, but he was hysterical, and I don't think I can handle PUPD anymore, especially now that the crib is lower. He just screams more and more when I put him on the crib. I tried wake to sleep last night and it didn't work. I was going to try it tonight but he was already awake. It looks like separation anxiety or something. Any tips on how to deal with this?

At least nights are much better!

[katie80]

Glad to hear the nights are going better!  Those early NWs are often thought of as OT wakings, but it does sound like there could be some SA mixed in as well if he screams harder if it's not you to go to him.  There's not much different you can do at NWs if they are from SA, but to continue to reassure him of your presence, without making yourself a prop.  Here are some things you can do during the day to help him deal with SA (a lot of them are for older babies, but you can start them now)... Tips for seperation anxiety

HTH!

[alemattos]

Thanks a bunch!

I don't know what todo about OT anymore. He's been having good naps and isn't staying awake for more than 3:30h. During the day is 2:30/3:00. Close to bedtime is 3:30 since we are avoiding catnaps.

Also, he's been waking up earlier and earlier. I haven't researched about this on the forum yet, but I will.

[katie80]

Can you post your EAS from the last 2-3 days and we can take a look?  How old is he now?

[alemattos]

It tool me so long cause I didin't have my computer with me yesterday.

Also, it's been 2 days he is napping for only 30 minutes and I can manage to put him back, but only by keeping him in my arms. Shh/Pat is not working for naps. I might start to do wake to sleep again and see what happens.

Here it is:

The last 2 days were not so good, but the days before were better and he still had early night wakings with screaming. I don't remember what time he had his night waking, but it was just once on average.

The days he woke up later was because we managed to put him back to sleep, and our rule is: at 5am anything is allowed to get him back to sleep.

18 Jun
E 6:21
A
S 8:55 (1:30)
E 10:36
A
S 1:24 (1:39)
E 3:09
A
E 6:31
S 6:54
E 21:35 (DF after screaming session)

Jun 19
E 6:06
A
S 8:48 (1:32)
E 10:36
A
S 1:25 (40 min)
E 2:17
A
S 4:57 (39 min)
E 7:18 (he snacked at 6:18 too, but for only 3 min)
A
S 8:05
E 10:37 DF (I can't remember if he woke up, or what happened)

Jun 20
E 6:30
A
S 8:45 (1:14)
E 10:39
A
S 12:55 (2:21)
E 3:21
A
E 6:31
S 6:48
E 9:59 DF (I kept him with me until DF time)

Jun 21
E 6:56
A
S 9:55 (38 min)
E 10:54
A
S 1:43 (43 min)
E 3:01
A
E6:13
S 6:30
E 9:21 DF (kept him in my arms but he wouldn't settle after I tried PUPD - he only went down again around 11:30 - it was insane!)

Jun 22 (we drove to my mom's - 4h drive - in the morning)
E 5:57
A
S 8:15 (34 min)
E 11:01
A
S 12:13 (2:26)
E 3:57
A
E 6:16
S 6:28
E 10:05 (DF - kept him in my arms)

Thanks, Katie. You've been amazing. I can't find words to thank you enough.

[alemattos]

He is 7 months old today. 

[katie80]

I can't remember... have you tried an earlier BT in the past?  I think the EAS's look pretty good, but that last A might be just a tad too long and thus the reason for the early NWs.  Could you try a last A of closer to 3hr and see if that helps?  A lot of times (but not always), LOs will still sleep til their normal time in the morning, even thought BT is earlier.  Until you can gradually push the other A times out to 3hr (I think you can start pushing the morning one, as when it's shorter than 2.5-2.75hr, you're not always getting a full nap), and earlier BT might help to keep things a bit more settled.

Are you giving him any new foods around lunch or supper time that could be causing him tummy discomfort?  No sign of teeth, still? 

[alemattos]

I tried a 6pm bt once and he woke up at 6:30 thinking that was a nap. It was hard to settle him again. The earliest we did was 6:30. When you see him sleeping at 6:45 it's probably because I put him down around 6:30. One thing I've noticed is that the earliest he sleeps, the more early NW he has. It's been like that forever, but that's the only way to do if I am dropping the catnap. The bad thing about lat BT is that he still wakes up at 6am and doesn't get enough sleep.

Yesterday he had to catnap and his bt was 8:20. He slept until 11:50 when he asked for his df. It was a good night. He woke up at 5, and put himself to sleep again until 5:20. I had to put him down and he slept until 6:10.

No teeth yet.

I am working on solids. Now he is used to his morning meal, an starting to get used to a 5/5:30 meal. He won't take anything during lunch time. I've been trying and having to throw away food, so I decided to give him later and he takes it much better.

Thanks!

[alemattos]

The craziest thing about this 8:30-9:30 NW is that he o my settles in my arms. Even if he is completely down, as soon as I put him on his crib he wakes up. PUPD only makes him more upset. Tonight I even tried laying him down with me on my bed, and he started complaining.

If we have NW before 8:30, shh/pat solver the problem. If it is after 9:30, I usually DF him and we are fine.

Crazy stuff.

[katie80]

Yes, that is strange.  I wonder what the difference is...

It could be discomfort from the solids at supper as that is a new time to give them.  I'm assuming you're giving foods you've already tried, but maybe his tummy is just getting used to digesting them in the evening.

I think the CN needs to go, unless you get a 30-40min one for one of the others (then you can give the CN a little earlier).  The late BT is just causing him to have a short night and then he's starting the next day tired. 

[alemattos]

Do you think I should feed him? After he eats, he can settle in his crib. But I am afraid he might wake up in the middle of the night or earlier in the morning because he is hungry.

His last feed is 6:15/6:30. Then, DF at 10:15/10:30, but I am hoping to drop the DF soon, so bringing it earlier would not be a bad idea.