6 months old waking hourly for comfort nursing to sleep

[Chrisyong]

My dd used to be able to take the pacifier to sleep and she used to wake up once or twice for nursing but since 5 months, she only wants to nurse to sleep and started waking up every 2 hours for nursing. However, in the past 2 days (she is currently 5 months, 4 weeks), she wakes up hourly to nurse and it is taking a toil on my wellbeing.

I hv tried, shush/pat and pu/pd, CIO method. She will only wail hysterically for 1 hour plus until she gets her breast. Pls help!!

[PaulsMom]

Hugs Hun.  It's really tough when you're sleep deprived.  How long has she been waking to eat?  There is a growth spurt at 6 months so she may be going through that.  Has she started eating any solid foods yet?  If it is the gs, then things should settle down in a few days.

There are many other reasons for nw's, including being over tired or over stimulated.  Could you post her routine in the following format?

Eg.  Wake up 7:00
E 7:05
A
S 9:45 to 11:15
E 11:20
Etc.

Please note that on the BW forum, we don't support the CIO method.  This can lead to many more problems.  Here is some information why CIO can be harmful to your Lo.
Cry it out (CIO): 10 reasons why it is not for us
Research on why 'cry it out' and 'controlled crying' is NOT recommended!

HTH

[Chrisyong]

It's been more than 1 month since the problem started n she has been waking up almost hourly about 1 week back. When she wakes, I realised she is not hungry but nursing for comfort cos she is not really sucking (suck a few times to go back to sleep). I hv tried offering her bottle but she rejected it (she will usually drink from bottle during her mealtimes in the day) and she has also rejected the pacifier.

As for her routine, I hv been trying to build one since she was young but no success. She normally sleep about 10ish 11pm to about 9ish 10am and I will try to put her down for a nap every 90mins (but her naps is very short. Usually about 30 to 45mins). During the day, she doesn't seems to be hungry much n I hv started her on solid 1 week plus back.

Recently, I went to a lactation clinic and they saw the way she sucks on my breast, I am her pacifier. I am feel so helpless now cos I hv tried to wean her off nursing to sleep but she will be ballistic n scream for hours until I give in.

[Chrisyong]

Forgotten to mention, napping has been a big problem before this night waking came along. Her record for being awake was 10:30am to 2am with a 30mins nap in between. I hv tried all methods to get her to nap but the only 2 ways which worked is nursing her for naps and wearing her in an upright carrier.

[PaulsMom]

Hugs Hun.  Ok, I think she needs to be on a routine so that the feeds are spaced out and not given prior to naps and bt.  Please note that by routine, this is a sequence of events and not a schedule where you would feed at a certain time and nap at another.  So the routine can go as follows

Wake up, then breast feed, play for approximately 1 hr and then give solids and play some more until its nap time. First nap will be approximately 2 hr 45 min from the time she woke up in the morning. 

If she short naps, try to extend the nap but if that isn't working, get her up.  Breast feed if it has been at least 4 hrs since her last feed.  If its not 4 hrs since her last feed, then do a bit of A and then feed her.  Solids can be given about 1 hr after.  Her next nap will be about 2 hrs and 45 min since she woke up.   

Again, if she short naps, try to extend.  When she's up from her nap, follow the same pattern of bf, play and then sleep. 

Hopefully with feeding every 4 hrs at a minimum, she will take a good feed.  Solids at this age are more for fun rather than nutrition and are an "activity".  If she stays up for an age appropriate amount of time, hopefully she will nap well.  Note, if she hasn't been staying up for 2 hrs 45 min, then you may need to gradually increase the time she stays awake over the course of days to weeks.  Here is more info on starting an older baby on easy.  Starting E.A.S.Y. at Four Months or Older

Here are the average A times by age as a reference for you.  Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

Now, for teaching independent sleep. Here is some info on sleep training Sleep Training  - the early days. You will need to wean her from
Her feed to sleep association.  The gentle removal plan may be a good option for you.  Gentle Removal Plan. Or you can try settling without feeding and putting her down drowsy. To calm her you could try shh pat or rocking her a bit.  I realize that rocking could become a prop so it is important to try to put her down before she falls asleep.  At this point, I don't think I would use PU/PD. 

HTH

[Atomic1010]

I had exactly the same issues with my LO at that age and I was on my knees with tiredness after being woken every hour every night for 5 weeks. I'd let it go on for too long hoping he would grow out of it and it ground me down. What worked for us was sleep training using PU/PD and breastfeeding after naps as recommended by the E.A.S.Y routine (although we still kept the bf before bed).  It took about 3 very tough days and nights of PU/PD for my LO to start to self settle at night and then it soon came he settled relatively easily for naps with only 20 mins of crying at most.  When we started the process my other half was on leave from work so we did it together, and it was hard work especially listening to the crying.  But it's short term pain for the benefit of you both and once you start you must see it through.

The relevant PU/PD forum on this website was a great source of info and advice on the method and what to do if the crying goes on for too long for example. So it would be worth you looking at that.

Now my LO is coming up to 8 months old and he now self settles and is much happier.  Whereas before he wouldn't nap for more than 40 mins, he can now generally nap for 1hr 20.  If he wakes in the night and I feed him I stop the feed if he starts dozing off on me.

I appreciate this method isn't for everyone and you need to try and find the best method for you, but it was the best thing I ever did and I wish we had done it sooner rather than me struggling on for weeks!

Really hope you find something that works for you as I know what you must be feeling! And its a problem many mums have....Good luck 

[Chrisyong]

Hi, I have tried to prolonged her waking time between naps for the past 4 days:

Day 1:-
morning nap after 3 hours of wake time, duration:- 2.5hrs
Noon nap didnt happened till 5 hours plus later when I wear her in a carrier eventhough I tried to get her to nap at 3hrs, 4.5hrs from her morning nap. Lasted only 30mins

Day 2:-
morning nap after 3 hours of wake time, duration 1.5hrs
Again, noon nap was a big problem.. refused to nap even after 4.5hrs until I wear her and duration is also about 30mins

Day 3:-
Decided to reverse to napping after 1.5-2hrs of wake time and duration of nap:- 45mins
Managed to catch 2 more naps about 45 mins each in the afternoon and early evening. Waketime in between each naps is about 1.5 to 2hrs

For her night sleep, I tried the Pu/Pd method but it didnt work... she giggled when we pick her up and scream before her head touches the bed... tried for almost 20mins and she just kept giggling and screaming...

In the end, I was so upset with her, I scolded her and after that, she dare not screamed but more settled to sleep at 11am... however, she still wakes up 2 times at 3:30am and 7am. During these waketimes, I tried not to breastfeed her but give her bottle instead. She settled down to sleep for the 3:30am but insisted on the breast for the 7am feed and she will wake up at 8am.

I know I am all over the place with her schedule and training... I am so lost and confused cos sometimes, something will work for 1 day and not the other... am unsure which direction to go currently cos when I shush pat her, she will only scream louder and when I do the pu/pd, she will giggle and scream, giggle and scream...

Hope to get more advice on this matter. Thank you in advance.

[PaulsMom]

I would keep the 3 hr A time in the morning.  For the 2nd A bring it forward just a bit so 2hr 40 min may be better and we can see how her pm naps are.

Wrt settling, how are you settling her for naps?  I would tend to do the same at bt and for nw's.  PUPD doesn't work for all Los and it can be trying when it's the MOTN and you are sleep deprived.  When she wakes, what is she doing ( playing, crying)?

The one thing is about sleep training is that you need to be consistent and give time for things to work. If you continually change things then it becomes more challenging.  Try to keep wind down routines the same, settling techniques the same so your Lo knows what to expect.