5.5 month old, multiple NWs

[AliR]

My LO is now 5.5 months and has multiple NWs.  I thought I could work out what I needed to do from other people's posts, but my experience this evening has indicated not!!  What can I do to help her to sleep better?

We are generally on 3 hour EASY during the day, but sometimes this is shortened to 2 hours at night!  Two nights last week it was up to 4 hours and I thought we'd cracked it, but now back to 3 hours again.  Last night she woke 6 times but I only fed three of those and managed to get her back to sleep with sh/pat.  The first wake up after a bed time at 7 can be anywhere between 9.30 (tonight) and 11.30!  I don't know whether I'm coming or going and certainly can't go out in the evening unless I'm really local and can run home if she wakes early!

Last night's wakes were:
10pm. Sh/pat back to sleep
10.55pm feed
12.45pm sh/pat back to sleep
3am feed
5am sh/pat back to sleep
6.15am feed
Slept til 8.

She sucks her finger so if she's going to resettle with sh/pat, she normally ends up with her finger in her mouth and then I know I'm safe!  I do this at nap times too to extend if I think she needs it.

Tonight I tried sh/pat and the cries just escalated and so after around 20 minutes I fed her and she's now sound asleep again for a while!

We've been on EASY for a while now but are still on a 3hour easy.  She has average A times or around 3 hours.  Our day generally looks something like this:

Wakes any time between 7 and 8.30 depending on night feeds (for this I'll assume 7.30)
E 7.30
A. 3 hours
E 9.45
S 10-11.30 generally long nap in morning, shorter afternoon, sometimes reversed)
A 3 hours
E 12.45
S 2.30-3.30
E 3.30
A
E 6 to give enough energy for bath
Then bath and bed by 7
For night wakes see above!

If we reach the end of her A time and she's going to need feeding about half an hour into her sleep, I'll bring her feed time forward so she's got a full tummy and doesn't wake for the feed.  This doesn't happen all the time so I don't think she has the association of needing a full tummy to go to sleep. 

Food wise, she's exclusively breastfed.  Only one side per feed, generally 6-9 minutes.  No solids yet.  Teeth may be on their way.  During daytime naps, if she wakes yelling, I normally know she needs to go back to sleep, and will wake later content.  At night she's immediately yelling.  Sometimes passes wind and sleeps again.  She does have a lovie but is at the stage where she puts it on her face and then her breathing goes crazy so I'm putting it out of reach at the moment.

What can i do to help her (and me!) get more sleep!  (Sorry for the really long post!)

[AliR]

Tonight was another 2 hour cycle!   

[Layla]

Hi there,

Did these night wakings when she dropped the catnap? I wonder if maybe she's a little overtired by bedtime, which leads to more night wakings? Her afternoon nap ends at 3.30 and she's awake for 3.5hrs before bedtime? Could you maybe take things back and shorten her A's to 2.5hrs so that she takes the 3rd nap (although some do start dropping the catnap as early as 5 months... maybe she's not ready?). Do you think she may have an intolerance to something? Does it seem like she's in pain? Is she working on anything new (rolling over)?

[AliR]

Hi Layla,
Thank you for your thoughts.  She's never been a great night sleeper so, no, I don't think it started when she dropped the catnap.  I think you're right that sometimes she does seem to be in pain.  Last night she woke at 10 and I fed her, then 12 and I picked her up and after 10 mins of howling she burped and then settled straight away.  Feed at 3.30 and again at 6.30.  Awake for the day at 8. 
I'll try shortening the A times and see what happens.  Is it ok to feed her before going back to sleep if we're still on 3 hour EASY?
Re rolling over, not a huge amount going on there...

[AliR]

I feel like such a muppet!  After your comments about pain, I paid more attention to when she burped properly and when she didn't.  I realised that often after a feed she was too sleepy to burp and I'd mistakenly thought that that meant she didn't need to.  No, on those times, that was when she woke 1.5 hours later howling!  Now I'm being much more carful to make sure she burps, sometimes it takes 15 minutes to get it out but it's worth it. 

I've also shortened her A times to 2.5 hours which she's certainly not objecting to.  Her WU times overnight now are:
7pm bed
10pm feed
2.30 am feed
5.30 am feed
7.30a WU for the day. 

It still feels a lot but I more relaxed about it now I know about the burping!  Thank you for helping me realise this!

[Layla]

So maybe that was it then ...am I right in that her NW's have reduced? Is she taking 3 naps now with 2.5hrs A time?

[AliR]

I though that had sorted  it but no such luck!    .

Yup, we're mostly at three naps with 2.5 hours A time.  One of the naps is a short catnap, usually the last but sometimes not.  It wa s better for a few days.  Last night was:
7.30 final feed
11.30pm
1.45am
5.30am
7.30 WU for day. 
I fed her at all of these... 

But the night before was rotten again;
7pm final Feed,
11pm feed
12.45 no feed
2am feed
4.30am feed
7.15 WU for the day
I tried to resettle but after half. An hour decided it was fruitless.  Along with her sister coughing all night and my brain working overtime on something else, I think I got a total of 3 hours sleep!

I know she doesn't need all these feeds!  Would you suggest cutting short the feed times to try and get here out of the habit? 

[Layla]

Is she fed from both sides at night? You could try both sides for the 1st night waking and then single side for the other night wakings.

[AliR]

It's worth a try.  She's normally fed only from one side each feed, but today I started giving her both again (I haven't since she was about three weeks) to try and get more daytime calories into her.  I'll try it for a few days with your suggestion too of both sides for the first night feed and post back. 

The 2.5 hours A time is definitely making her a more content baby!  Thank you. 

[Layla]

How are things going?

[AliR]

Hi Layla,

Thank you for checking in on me, the last two night have not been too bad.  I've been trying to make sure I offer both side during the day and using your suggestion of only feeding one at night (except for the firest feed).  So both nights we've fed at 10.30, 2ish and 6.30. 

She's had a runny tummy for a few days.  On the mend now but it has meant that even when she just stirs in the night and pees, she'll poo too so I have to get her up to change her.  Since yesterday, we've had a few wet -only nappies so definitely on the mend.  Once her tummy is properly better, I'm going to start her on solids.  This can play havoc on night wakings for a while can't it?

The biggest thing in the last few nights has been that she hasn't been waking up howling!  She'll stir and slowly make it known that she wants to eat rather than an immediate cry.  This makes quite a difference to my sanity! 

I'll stick with our current routine and let you know in a few days how we're getting on.
Thank you again!