PLEASE HELP THIS EXHAUSTED MAMA!

[kr1kinney]

How old is your child?  8 months (turning 9 months on 7/10/12)
What’s his/her daily routine?
6:00 a.m. WU and nurse
7:00 a.m. Breakfast (fruit purees)
8:30/9:00 a.m. Nap/nurse
10:00/10:30 a.m. WU and nurse
We usually go on an outing (to the store or on a walk usually)
Nurse
Playtime
1:00/1:30 p.m. Nap/Nurse
2:00/2:30 WU Nurse
Play time/Go outside and play in yard
Help mom with starting dinner
Sometimes takes a catnap (30 mins)
5:00/6:00 p.m. (depending on catnap) dinner (pureed veggies)
If no cat nap bedtime routine starts at 5:30 p.m.
Bedtime at 6:00 p.m. and nurse
If cat nap depending on time we usually go 2.5 hours from WU and start bedtime routine
falls right asleep nursing
What’s nap routine? Diaper change and Nurse
How long are naps? 1.5 to 2 hours for first nap, 1 hour for 2nd nap, and sometimes 30 min catnap
What's bedtime routine? Time? See above for time, Routine: Bath, Jammies and sleepsack, read story and then nurse to fall asleep
Do you bottle or breastfed?? Breastfeed
How much? or how long? He seems to only go 5/10 minutes at a time
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) Usually both, sometimes only one if falling asleep
How many wakes per night? Several at random times all through the night
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? He will cry and I will go get him and bring him back to bed with me to nurse, he generally falls right asleep then I usually put him back in his crib.  He sometimes stays in our bed but will still wake.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? Crying
What have you tried to settle?? Nursing
What do you do for A time and how long is it? See schedule above.  Playtime consists of crawling around the floor and playing with toys, sometimes sitting in walker while I clean the kitchen, sometimes sitting in exersaucer, playing in the yard, etc
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? Teething but this has been going on regardless of whether he is teething or not
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) Yes, at breakfast started at 6 mos
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? Nursing
Do they have a lovie? Yes 2 in crib

Please someone help!  I feel that I have tried everything, but obviously not since we are still having problems.  Night wakings are the major problem.  Naps are usually great.   

[PaulsMom]

Hi there,

Hugs for the nw's.  Are the nw's very long or does he nurse and then fall asleep right away?

Thanks for posting your routine.  Given that your LO is approaching 9 mo, I'm thinking that your A time needs to be increased to around 3.5 hrs or so.  I would start by increasing the A in 10-15 min increments until he's up for 3.5 hrs.  this will push out your naps and make the last A, shorter (likely he's a bit OT at BT). 

Is he only on two meals so far?  What kinds of foods have you introduced?  I'm thinking that if you haven't introduced a lunch, you might want to consider doing this. Given that LO's this age are usually very active they do need to have meals in between their milk feeds to sustain them.

I gather that your DS doesn't self settle for sleep and needs to be fed to sleep.  I think to get him sleeping independently you will need to get rid of this prop.  Given his age, this will likely be met with some resistance as you are making a big change in the way that he falls asleep but in the long run, I think it will benefit both of you.  you might want to try the gentle removal plan. 
Gentle Removal Plan
Note that this is not an overnight solution but I don't think that anything really is.  You will need to be consistent to ensure that you do not send any mixed messages to your LO.

HTH 

[ZacsMumme]

Hugs! I agree with PM. I had to ST my ds2 at 8 mths. It is tough, but it can be done. Here cheering you on if you want to start x

[kr1kinney]

Thank you SOOOOO much! We tried the gentle removal plan last night and LO slept from 7:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. without any NW!!!!  I also did a dream feed at about 9:30 p.m. but I don't know if that was really necessary?  I tried to increase the A time this morning but he was getting pretty fussy so I went ahead and put him down at about 8:30 a.m. AND he slept until almost 11:00 a.m., it was amazing.  We are starting lunches today as well. 

[ZacsMumme]

Yay! Just remember you may still have a rough day orient ahead, sometimes these processes are 2 forward 1 back, but YK he can do it, and that you can too.
My 8 mths old has regressed a little with teeth (and me rocking a little - booo) so trying to get back on track today. They get re in the end.

Let us know how things get on x

[PaulsMom]

Yay!  Awesome update!  Just remember to be consistent with how you are doing things. 

[kr1kinney]

You were so right, we took some major steps back last night. He was up what seemed like all night and then wanting to play and talk at 4:00 am . Do you think the 8 month sleep regression is really a thing? I am at a loss but am going to keep trying the gentle removal plan for at least a week..

[PaulsMom]

there definitely is a sleep regression around 37 weeks and a 9 mo growth spurt  .  Keep with the gentle removal plan and try to be as consistent as you can when re-settling at night.  Things will get better.  Although Sara is right when it's 2 steps forward and 1 step back.... 

[ZacsMumme]

I'm a big believer in sleep regressions through developmental periods. Both my boys were textbook with these spurts and sleep disruptions came with them.

What exactly are you doing at naps and BT with the gradual weaning?

[kr1kinney]

For the gentle removal, I have been nursing him until his sucking slows down and his body relaxes.  Then I try to unlatch him, if he fights I let him latch again and then try again, if not I try to transfer him to his crib.  He usually whines a little when I put him down but then I rub his back and he settles right down.  We weren't able to make any progress with the schedule today after last nights restlessness.  He went right down tonight so hoping he will do better tomorrow.  Thank you for the feedback and support. 

[PaulsMom]

Keep us posted on how he does tonight.  FX things go well.

[ZacsMumme]

Great, good luck and hopefully he is more settled tomorrow x

[kr1kinney]

Last night went better than the night before but he did wake from 1:30-2:30 a.m. and then again at 3:00 a.m..  He did actually seem hungry so I tried to make sure he was actually nursing long enough today and he had lunch.  I just realized today that he is on his 37 week this week, which I hoping accounts for some of this!  Naps went well today and I was able to bump the first nap up by 5 minutes and of course hoping to keep increasing.  I was also curious if you guys recommend 3.5 hours between each awake time?     

[ZacsMumme]

Re A times T is almost the same age and our routine is as follows...
WU 7/7.15
Nap 10.15/30 I wake after 1 hr (sometimes 45 mins)
Nap 2.30 ish for 1.5 hrs
BT 7.30 ish

We get long nights so I have had to cap day sleep a little. At this age my first had a longer day 3.5 hrs each A with 2 long naps and 10.5-11 hr nights. He just didn't do long nights.

So really, it's about getting your balance. But 3.5 is avge A at this age I'd say with naps over 1hr. Teething and increased mobility may mess with your As too though.

Glad you had a good day. Long NW for us are usually teeth or developmental. Some kids get them with OT or UT.  BT I personally find if OT my kids go back to sleep quick just wake more or ew

[PaulsMom]

My dd is at week 39 and is at 3.5 A.  Some times she can handle a bit more if we are having a "routine" day but today we were at a friend's cottage so her a was a bit less (roughly 3.25).  Teething seems to get us more nw's  .  I haven't been capping naps for the purpose of increasing nt sleep.  On a good day we will get 2.5 to 3 hrs of DT sleep and 11 hr night.  If she has a shorter night, them I usually find I get a longer am nap where she catches up.

[kr1kinney]

Well, its been a little while since I last updated and I wish I had better news  .  Today went pretty good, I have been able to stretch the morning time out and naps have been going great.  Today, LO woke at about 6:30, napped about 10:00-11:00, napped again at about 2:30-about 4:00.  I nursed him to sleep at about 7:30 using the gradual withdrawal method that has been working great, but when I went to put him down, he shot up and started crawling around.  I tried to rub his back, say night night, and ssshhhing sounds but he was just talking and wide awake.  I went back to nursing him to sleep but he was not acting drowsy at all.  So we just got up and played until he started showing signs of sleepiness again, which wasn't until about 9:00.  I tried just putting him down in his crib before that and telling him its night night time.  Then I stayed in the room and he stood up for the first time in his crib.  His 2nd top tooth is also breaking through this week.  Should I just chalk this night up to milestones and teething? 

[PaulsMom]

Should I just chalk this night up to milestones and teething? 

that's what it looks like to me, especially the crawling around and standing.  When he's standing, is he crying or in "party mode"?  I know it's hard but I would leave him be if he's not crying even though he's awake.  He might surprise you and settle down and sleep on his own.  If he starts to cry then you can go to him and soothe him with back rubs and shh-ing.  Hope the rest of the night goes alright.