Hello,
I got some great advice about 2 months ago on the frequent NW of my daughter, who at that point was eating at night every 2 hours.
This has improved and we were down to about 2 feeds per night+ DF, which was fine for me. Since then we have been travelling for 6 weeks and slipped into AP. Now back at home I am trying to get her on a routine again.
However, she recently started to wake up at night screaming, not her usual cry, but screaming. Initially I thought it maybe pain from reflux (she has been off medication for 1 month now), but the minute I pick her up she calms down immediately, therefore I doubt it is reflux. When I try to put her back in the cot she starts screaming again and calms immediately when I pick her up. I have to be standing, if I sit down with her on my shoulder she screams again. During the day she has also been showing extreme separation anxiety, screaming like crazy the minute I leave her with my husband and go to another room, even though she can hear me as I keep talking to her.She does not like to be on her own on the floor ( max 15 min, if she can see me that is) either and always tries to climb on me when I am near and wants to be held/carried most of the time.
Here is her EASY which we try to stick to to most days.
E7 am wake up and Eat (BF)
A7-9.30/10 am Activity including eating solids (fruit) at about 8.30 am
S 10-11/11.15 nap
E 11.15 (BF)
A 11.15-2 pm (solids at about 12.30, veg + meat/pasta/couscous)
S 2pm-3 pm
E 3 pm (BF)
A 3 pm-7 pm (solids, fruit or veg at about 5 pm)
6 pm feed (BF)
7 pm bedtime
9.30 pm first waking (not screaming)
from 11 pm - 5 am multiple wakings (screaming)
She falls asleep in the cot and usually has a lullaby playing and me at her side. I sometimes place my hand on her tummy to soothe her, but usually falling asleep for naps and bedtime has greatly improved and the "only" thing I am struggling with are the very frequent NWS. When she wakes up at night I have tried calming her with my voice, placing my hand on her (we sleep in the same room), but the only thing that helps is if I pick her up and wait until she falls asleep before I put her back in the cot. As the night continues usually sometime between 1-5 am she ends up in bed with me as I don't have the strength getting up and trying to put her to sleep in her cot.
She uses a dummy. I was thinking of doing PU/PD, but have read that you can't have a dummy for that. She can re-plug during the day, but at night she just screams for me if the dummy falls out and can't re-plug unless I place it in her hands (but when she is screaming this does not work anyway).
I have given her a little stuffed animal that she uses for naps/BT but for the moment I don't think she cares too much about it.
I know that her A time before bed is very long (4 hours), but she does not want to CN anymore, even if I put her in a sling or pushchair. I have tried to bring bedtime to 6 pm, but she refuses this too and we end up with 7 pm each night.
If she wakes up screaming at night, I feed her if more than 3 hours have passed since the last feed. She is a very small baby, (just below 9th percentile).
I should also add that if I take her to bed, she does not usually want to sleep next to me lying down and keeps screaming, but sitting propped up against my body in a reclined position, but it takes a while until she finds a position that she is happy with. She has started sitting up during the day, but does fall over after a while.
I am not quite sure what the cause of her NWs is and why she is screaming like crazy. Could it be the separation anxiety or is she very OT? Would you suggest I try PU/PD ( I wanted to keep the dummy as it does seem to give her great comfort).
Any help would be much appreciated again. Thank you!
Eva
