Author Topic: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy  (Read 1163 times)

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Offline pprin

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7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« on: August 14, 2013, 04:03:22 am »
Would really appreciate some suggestions and I really think I have exhausted all options.

My son is 7 months and during the day he is a happy bunny, eats well and plays well, but at 7:00pm when we try to put him to sleep he cries and cries and cries and just would not settle. When we finally manage to do so he keeps waking up so many times.

Here's his routine:
7:00am Wake up and breastfeed
9:00am Put down for 1hr nap, but wakes up after 30-40min and not willing to resettle most of the time
10:30am Solids & 8oz formula (solids - 2cubes of veg + 1cube of rice)
11:30am Put down for 2hr nap, but wakes up after 60min and not willing to resettle most of the time
2:30-3:00pm 8oz formula
4:00pm Put down for quick nap, but 80% of time not willing to nap, otherwise nap for 30min
5:30pm Solids (solids - 1cube of fruit + 1cube of porridge)
6:00pm Bath
6:30pm 8oz formula
7:00pm Get ready for bed

Also between 4am-6am, he just stays awake the bulk of the time wanting to play. We try to keep him in the crib for as long as possible but he would normally be picked up and brought to the living room by 6:30am. He wouldn't be hungry normally so I don't feed until 7am.

We use a pacifier to help him when he is awake at night and he sleeps in a zipadizeep. He normally starts off grizzling and then start crying in earnest at the NW. We then have to hold him and help him calm.

People say it is the age for teething, and we have been putting teething gel on his gum which doesn't really seem to improve the matter, plus there is no sign of teeth when we feel his gum.

When he wakes up apart from not being able to re-settle, he sometimes has flipped over to tummy down but is unable to flip back (sometimes he can) and starts crying...

Sigh I think he is not getting as much sleep as he needs, but I thought every baby is different? Any suggestions really help thanks!

Offline Bex09

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2013, 08:31:41 am »
Hi there, I think you are right and your DS is getting OT by BT. I think it is probably a sign to try to drop the CN (which he is refusing anyway). So to do this I would slowly try to push out that first nap by extending his first A time by maybe 10 or 15 mins at a time and see if that extends his am nap at all. Most 7mo can handle between 2 and 3 hrs A time with the longest being in the morning. So you might find that DS is short napping because he isn't tired enough to have a long sleep. As the day goes on he is then getting OT causing the NW. I would also try early BT if he is short napping and refusing the CN. How does that sound?



Offline pprin

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2013, 18:53:28 pm »
Thanks Bex09. Today DS slept for 30min for his first nap, 1h50min for his second nap, and then another 30min for his last nap. For the evening, he started sleeping at 7pm but then woke up at 9:15,9:45,9:53 and we decided to let him have 3oz which helped him sleep. Then he woke up again at 1:45, and 2:35, and we fed him another 2oz. I feel that he wasn't really that hungry, but he wanted the comforting from the sucking (pacifier didn't work). I am based in Asia so now is actually 2:50am... What do you think?

I am new to the forum, could you let me know what BT and CN are please? We used to let him nap at around 9:15-9:30 in the morning, but now are trying to let him go to sleep when he displays a number of tired signs. Thanks much.

Offline Bex09

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2013, 19:11:53 pm »
Sorry! BT is bedtime and CN is catnap.

Can you post your EASY for today please? Would be worth seeing what A time DS had after that first 30 min nap in the morning as the second nap was great. That might give us some clues as to what A time he prefers. Watching for tired signs is obviously ideal and great if you can pick up on these but some babies can be very difficult to read, showing tired signs if they need a change of activity or scenery.

Lets see if your easy gives us any clues.



Offline pprin

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2013, 19:36:39 pm »
It didn't follow exactly the EASY method yesterday~
The day before he woke up at 6:10am and would not go back to sleep, just playing and moving about in the crib the the whole time. I took him out of the crib at 6:40 when he was getting restless.
6:10 Awake
7:00 Breastfeeding for 15min
        Introduce 2cubes of pear
8:40-9:15 Nap
10:30 2cubes of cauliflower + 1cube of rice. 230ml formula milk
11:25-1:15 Nap
2:30 230ml formula milk
4:00-4:30 Nap
5:15 2cubes of carrot + 1cube of rice
6:00 Bath
6:15 230ml formula milk
7:00 Sleep
Woke up 9:15, 9:45,9:53 -> 3oz of formula to pacify
Woke up 1:45, 2:45 -> 2oz of formula to pacify, woke up again at 3:10 but now sleeping...

Offline Bex09

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2013, 20:12:22 pm »
Did your DS wake himself after 30 mins for those two naps or did you (or something else) wake him? 30 min naps are often OT but seeing as he did such a good nap after over 2 hours A time and a short 30 min nap I am not sure that is why he short naps for that first nap. I would maybe try to push slowly towards 2h 45 A time tomorrow. What do you think? Does he seem really tired at 2h 30?

I also think the NW could be that he is waking for a feed. Not that he needs it but because he has got used to that so it has become a bit of a prop. If I were you I would decide that if he has a good feed at BT say at 6.15 then he really doesn't 'need' another feed before at least another 4 hours. He goes that long in the day so he can go that long at night too. Then you will have to find a different way to settle him, such as paci, rub his back, etc. What do you think? Would that be possible?



Offline pprin

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2013, 23:08:40 pm »
I forgot to mention that for the 2hr nap at lunch, he did wake up in-between but we re-settled back to his sleep.

And, we only just started doing the two night feeds two days ago- he was going with no night feed at all for at least two weeks already. Somehow, the pacifier and all the normal settling methods like holding did not manage to settle him and he got increasingly upset with his cry so we ended up giving him the milk and somehow he felt better this way... that's why I was so lost.

After the 3am feed, he woke up again at 4:30 and took a long time to resettle. He woke up again at 6:10am and went back to sleep, am going to let him rest until 7:30am before his feed...

Offline Bex09

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2013, 06:42:16 am »
To wake that frequently if it is not something that has always gone on sounds like something else is at play then. Is DS teething or any other issues like illness? It sounds like discomfort to me.



Offline pprin

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2013, 12:56:12 pm »
He did have a cold that lasted for a week that ended last week, and before that, he had vaccinations two weeks earlier. Those might be still affecting him you think? He doesn't have any teeth yet, but is drooling quite a lot so that could be a factor. So what do you think we can do now to help him, as am a bit lost. When he wakes up at night, should I just not feed him and try and resettle so as do the ST, or let him have NF during this period?

Today again, he only napped for less than 1h10min in total from 7am to 7pm... and in the past hour, already woke up twice (but it was because he flipped over and was unable to flip back).

Thanks so much!

Offline Bex09

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Re: 7 month old NW non-stop driving us crazy
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2013, 13:44:26 pm »
I doubt it would still be his injections but it could well be teeth. Will he let you look in his mouth with a torch to see if his gums are red or any teeth are poking through? If so then you could try teething gel or medicating.

If he isn't used to having a NF I would be reluctant to start feeding him in the night again. Unless of course you think he is really hungry, then obviously feed him then. But I would make sure that I was leaving at least four hours between feeds as he can do this in the day.

Is your DS an independent sleeper? So can he settle himself to sleep at night and for naps?