3 consecutive months of NWs... HELP!! Mama needs her sleep

[Dairy Queen]

Hi
DS was a good sleeper until about 4months of age.  At that point, NWs started and we assumed it was because we needed to move him to a 4-hour easy.  We did.  Still, we had NWs.  At 5 months, we assumed it was a growth spurt, I pumped more often to increase my supply.  Still, we had NWs.  At 6 months, he started solids.  We thought it would take him a few weeks to adjust, so we gave it some time and meanwhile weaned him off the pacifier.  Still he had NWs.  Now, he’s 7 months.  He has gone from 3 to 2 naps.  Rolls over.  No teeth yet.  It’s been 3 months now, we have at least 1 NW, usually 2, sometimes 3.

Here is a typical day for our 7-month old:

7am wake
7:30am breastfeed + 8 am breakfast (cereal + fruit)
10am naps for 1hr20min.  He can go down on his own with a little shush pat.
11:30am breastfeed + 12:30 lunch (chicken + veggies + fruit)
2:30 nap 2.  Usually a little harder to put him down but still ok after the 4S.  Sleeps 45min and wakes crying.  I sometimes do PU-PD to put him back.  Works half the time.  I also tried to see whether he would sleep if I just held him when he woke after 45 minutes.  Yes, he slept another 45 min cycle in an upright position in my arms, for a total of 90 min. 
3:30pm breastfeed + 5:00 supper (chicken + cereal + veggies)
7:00 bath, a little stroll outside
7:30 breastfeed.  He sleeps within the first 10 minutes and he’s in a deep sleep on my breast.  I put him in his bed.

About an hour later (8:30pm), he wakes up crying.  It takes a few minutes of reassuring (in his crib) and he goes back to sleep.
At 10:30pm.  He wakes and has a full feed.
At 2:30 am he wakes and has a full feed.

Sometimes he also wakes at 5am.  I can either put him back to sleep using shh-pat or PU-PD, or if that does not work, I give him a little bit of milk.  But this one is never a full feed.  I tried re-introducing the cluster feed at 5:50pm, but that didn’t make a difference.  I also tried waking him for the DF (instead of him getting up at 10:30, I woke him at 10pm).  Still no difference.  He slept only until 2am.

Any ideas?  I have no clue what to try next!  I’d love to get a full night’s rest 

Thanks.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sherry


 

[PaulsMom]

Hugs Hun for the nw's.  a couple of thoughts about what is going on.  I think he may be OT at bt which is causing the 8:30 nw since he's up from around 3:30 to 7:30.  Is there any way that you can do an early bt in days that he only has a 45 min nap in the pm? 

How much of an independent sleeper do you think he is? 

When he has a night feed, does he go to sleep right away or is he hard to settle/ is he up for a long while after the feed?

Wrt feeding at night.  If he's taking a full feed (or 2), I think he "needs" it.  If he was just sucking for comfort or doing a feed to get himself back to sleep, then that's a different story.  Some babies are sttn at this age but others are still getting 1 or 2 feeds during the night.  What kind of solids is he eating during the day? Are they purees or table food cut or mashed for him?  Purees contain a lot of water so have fewer calories in them.  In general, you will have to increase day time calories to hopefully sustain him through the night.  At his bt feed, is this a full feed or does he fall asleep before then?   if he's not taking a full feed, then try to feed him earlier so that he gets a full feed before bt.  Def at 5 am, I would try to settle him using pu/pd rather than feeding since its not a full feed. 

HTH

[Dairy Queen]

Hi there
Thanks for the advice.  I tried adjusting the 3rd A time by slightly increasing the first and second activity periods.  He actually slept an extra hour during the day, and I still opted for an earlier BT.  So the day looked like this:
7:00 wake
10:30 – 12:00 nap 1
3:00 – 4:30 nap 2
7:45 sleep
He drank more than usual before going to bed since he was more ‘awake’.  I put him to sleep.  He wok 30 minutes later.  I put him back down with a little shush pat.  He woke 10 minutes later.  Then, again 10 minutes later.  I helped him settle using shhh-apt for 3-4 minutes.  Finally, he was out until 10:30pm.  He woke up crying and I fed him, although I felt he really didn’t take a full feed.  I also gave him some Tylenol (to test and see whether that would make a difference) and then he slept straight until 5:30am.  I fed him at 5:30am, put him right back to sleep and he slept until 7:00am.
He’s not totally independent when it comes to sleep.  I typically need to shh-pat him in his crib for about 5 minutes until he settles a little bit (eyes closed but still moving body and his head around) and then I leave the room and he usually goes to sleep.  30% of the time, after I leave, he cries and I go back inside, repeat and then leave again.  Some days, if the timing is off, I have to pick him up, shh-pat until I can tell he’s no longer agitated (but he is still awake), and then I put him in his crib.
As for solids, it’s three tablespoons of food per meal.  I’ll pick 3 of 4 groups (chicken, cereal, veggies or fruit).  I still puree the fruit and veggies with some water, except for bananas.
Should I be doing things differently?     
Thanks again for your help
Sherry

[PaulsMom]

That sounds like a better night.  I'd repeat that day for a few more days. If he's been OT, it may take him a few days to catch up properly. 

If he didn't take a full feed at 10:30, this is good.  See how it goes over the next few days but if he's taking less and less, it will be easier to wean this feed. 

Using shh pat is fine as long as you are not using it until he is asleep.  So I would do what you are doing since its working!

Wrt solids.  Sorry I forgot he's only 7 months although he's not too young to start with finger foods.  If you are making all of his food, start to make it lumpier or give him small pieces to try picking up and feeding himself.  See what he likes.  If fruits are too slippery to pick up, then you can roll them in some cereal (if you are using baby cereal).

[Dairy Queen]

Hi again
So I didn't feed him last night when he woke around 11 pm and sent DH to put him back to sleep.  It took 2 minutes and he was out until 3:30am.  I fed him and he slept until 7:15am.  So we had 1 feed instead of two last night :-)

As for finger foods, DS can't really sit on his own yet... I've been feeding him in his swing (he flops to the side on his high chair).  What would you suggest?  Should I put the pieces of food in his hands?  There is no tray on the swing...

Thanks again for the great advice!

[PaulsMom]

That sounds like a good night.  Yay for DH helping out.  Do you have an infant chair or could you prop him up in a high chair with some rolled up towels?  Being upright will be important for eating solids.  I wouldn't put food in his hands though as I think it's important for the Lo to decide what to pick up, etc, iykwim?

[Dairy Queen]

Ok, I can try with towels.  I also put less water in his purée today, so that he gets used to a slightly different texture. 

So assuming he wakes up again around 11 or 12, I try settling him again, right?  I mean, should I be trying to drop the DF?

[PaulsMom]

Hopefully she doesn't wake or self settles.... But if she does need help, I would settle her without feeding if at all possible. 

[Dairy Queen]

OK, so I asked DH to help last night when DS woke at 11pm, but he just couldn't put him back to sleep.  The crying kept escalating and I could tell that DH needed help.  After about 10 minutes, I went inside the room and the only way I could calm DS was to feed him.  Otherwise, even when I held him in my arms, it was one of those uncontrollable intense cries.  He drank for about 10 minutes and went to sleep, exhausted from the crying.

DS woke again at 2:30 am.  I spent 40 minutes trying to settle him, he would fall asleep and wake after 10 seconds, cry, settle, wake, cry etc.  Finally, he feel asleep bit for only 20 minutes.  More intense crying.  I fed him again (full feed).  He slept until 7:30 am.

I increased his solids again (more meat), but I'm really not sure what to do at this point... it seems he is really just feeding every 3-4 hours (including at night)!

 

[PaulsMom]

hugs hun.  My DD was feeding like that at 6 months (for the entire month).  I felt like I had a new born again.  If he's taking full feeds, then I would feed him at night while during the day, try to increase his food.  Is your LO teething?  I'm wondering because it seemed that my dd ate more (bf) when she was teething.  I've heard that for some bubs, bf is soothing so I'm wondering if that's what may be contributing to the nfs.

Sorry in my previous post I referred to your DS as a she.