5 month old unpredicable at night

[pickwick72]

Hi,

My 5 month old daughter is on the 4 hour easy routine but her night time wakings are extremely unpredictable. One night she might wake once other nights it can be 3 or 4 times. She woke once on Tuesday/Wednesday at 4am and but last night she woke at 12, 2 and 5, she settle almost as soon as i went in and shushed her.  I have tried to leave her to see if she will settle herself but most of the time she just gets more upset.

She slept right through the night when she was around 3 1/2 months a few times but then learned to roll over and would roll over in her cot and wake up as she couldn't roll back. She now can roll back but it depends on her position in the cot if she has the room. She is quite happy to sleep on her stomach and when she wakes in the morning she is perfectly happy to be there chatting to herself.

She is very easy to settle in her cot at night and at naptimes but they can also be erratic. She can sleep for anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours but on average she normally sleeps for around an hour and half.  She does not need a dummy to settle and I only give her one if she is very upset but generally she spits it back out. She doesn't really have anything that she takes to bed with her, only a muslin.

I am at a loss as to why she is waking, most of the time she does not even appear to be fully awake. She still gets a dream feed at around 10.15pm but again she doesn't always drink it and this doesn't seem to have any connection to the times she wakes at. She can take a full 200ml but still wake 3 hours later or take only 30 ml and wake at the same time.

She may be teething but it is difficult to tell as she has been drooling for weeks and has had her hands in her mouth every since she was a month old.

She has been on solids for around a month on the advice of my HV and has taken to it very well but her sleep issues started well before this.

She is otherwise a very happy and settled baby.  Any help would be appreciated.

thanks.

[PaulsMom]

Hi there.  Hugs for the nw's. 

You have mentioned a few things that could be the cause (ie. rolling or teething).  Could you post your routine so we can see if any changes are needed?

Format like this would be great.
Wu 7:00
E 7:00
S 9:45 to 11:00
E 11:00
Etc.

Thanks!

[pickwick72]

Hi,

Yesterdays routine was

WU 7.15
E 7.30
S 9.30 - 10.45
E  11.30
S 1-2
E 3.30
S 4- 4.45
E 7.15
Bed 7.30

She woke at 11.30pm and 2.30am last night. Took 3 return visits at 2.30 to settle her over the course of about 30 minutes.

Thanks

[PaulsMom]

Her routine looks pretty good.  She is approaching the 3-2 nap transition which may cause some nw's so do keeo that in mind esp if she has cot parties.  however since the nws are erratic I'm also thinking that it may be related to discomfort (so either teeth or hunger).  If you feed her does she go back to sleep right away?  Teeth are tricky.  Does she have any teeth yet?  Sometimes the tooth moving through the gum hurts more than cutting. 

Also, she's getting to an age when rushing in can be more disruptive than hanging back just a bit.  I recall telling myself to count to ten and listen to the type of cry rather than jumping at the first peep because sometimes they can settle themselves. 

[pickwick72]

Thanks for the response.

I was thinking that it might be the transition but she's been doing it for about 6 weeks now.  I suppose one sleep issue might've rolled into another.  I dont normally feed her when she wakes, she gets 5 210ml bottles (including her dream feed) plus porridge and fruit during the day which should be more than enough to see her through till morning. She normally settles pretty quickly once soothed which if she was hungry she wouldn't do.

She has no teeth as yet but i did think i saw two small white areas on her gum yesterday that could be about to erupt.

I normally give it a couple of minutes before going in but with my partner rising at 4.45am for work i'm very aware that its disturbing him.

Last night she woke at 1am, 3am and 5.30am.

[PaulsMom]

If you are seeing white bumps then its likely teeth.  Unfortunately teeth don't always follow a predictable timeline so there are no guarantees as to when things will calm down.  I've found that the first tooth, canines and sometimes molars are the most painful.  Some Los find the movement of the teeth in the gums painful where as others don't seems to be as bothered by this but the cutting through the gum hurts more.  Don't be surprised if she wants to drink for comfort during these times either. 

Would you consider giving some pain meds to see if it makes a difference?  Other moms will use teething gels or powders.

[pickwick72]

Its so hard to see if there is anything there. As soon as i try and look she covers her gum with her tongue.

I've bought some of the teething rings that go in the fridge and i have already used a teething gel. I'm not averse to using pain medication but it really would be a last resort and only then if i was 100% sure that she needed it.

She went almost 3 hours between naps this afternoon so I'm wondering if that might be one of the issues along with the teething.

[PaulsMom]

Is she getting close to 6 months?  She might be ready for some more A.  If this is the case then the CN should be dropped.  You can try it and see how she does.  Usually you will have some days with just two naps and others with three if she short naps. 

[pickwick72]

She's 2 1/2 weeks off 6 months. She didn't CN yesterday but was still up 5 times last night. She seems to be going backwards again. 

[PaulsMom]

OT can also contribute to nw's so if she drops the CN, you may have to do an EBT.

If she's waking that frequently would you consider trying a bottle?  I know this seems like a step in the wrong direction but sometimes they truly need more calories over night even if its seems like she's eating a lot during the during the day.  Also, keep in mind that purees don't provide lots of calories at this age.  Solid food eating is more of an activity to get them used to different textures.

[pickwick72]

EBT isn't really an option as she'd never see her dad during the week. 7.30 bedtime gives him a chance to give her her last feed and put her to bed.

I fed her last night every time she woke but she never took more than 10 or 20ml. She seems to be taking a catnap in the morning and napping longer late morning and then late afternoon. 

[PaulsMom]

Ok, if EBT isn't an option (i know its hard), then just watch for signs of OT.  She may need 3 naps until she can handle 3 hrs A. 

[pickwick72]

She was really bad again last night. Up at 1, 3, 3.45, 4.45 and just got her up when she woke at 6.30am. Easily settled every time but still a very broken night.

I'll get the book out again and read up on transition...really hope this helps I'm at my wits end!

[PaulsMom]

Hugs Hun.  Here is some info online Tip's on how to get your LO to take more oz's during the day.  At this age there is a fine balance between keeping the CN vs dropping it depending in how well your Lo can handle long As.  You may find that not all of the As are equal (eg. My dd could handle a longer A before bt if she napped well).

[pickwick72]

She napped really well in the morning and afternoon but when i put her down for a CN at 5 i was in and out of the room for 45 minutes trying to settle her so it was too late by that point. Put her down at 7.15pm, over 4 hours since her afternoon nap. She fell asleep almost instantly but i just hope she's not OT.

Thanks for the link but on reading it i dint think she needs anymore during the day. I stopped feeding her at night 6 weeks ago. I did try her with a bottle again several nights ago but she drank less than 100ml over 4 wakings. She settles quite quickly once I've shushed her which i dint think she would do if it was hunger.

I shall see what tonight brings, hopefully a decent nights sleep for all of us.