5 month old waking every 2-3 hours

[Picker blocker]

About 2 weeks ago my daughter (5 months old) seemed to be off. She started doing this high pithed scream, and wasn't eating well (BF, but would suck a little and then pull off and screech over and over again) and was fussy all day.  When she woke at night I fed her but couldn't get her back to sleep - she just kept screeching.  After 3 days like this I had her checked out and they couldn't find anything wrong, said she could be coming down with something or it could be reflux.  I started her on rice cereal and put a wedge in her crib so she would sleep more upright.  2 days later she started having diarrhea and she puked 1-2 times a day for 3 days.  On the third day she had her 5 month appointment.  Doc said it was probably just a stomach bug and if she keeps puking to come back.  She stopped puking that day and her stools have been more solid as well.  But during this bout, I was feeding her whenever she wanted it which was any time between 1.5-3 hours, usually about 2 hours, so that she didn't get dehydrated.  It has been 5 days since she stopped puking and she is still eating every 2.5 - 3 hours, but she is also waking up more during the night.  Up until 2 weeks ago, she usually just woke up once to eat during the night.  The past 3 nights she as gone to bed around 8 30 (eats around 6 30-7, have to do it well before bed cuz she spits up a lot), and woken up at 12 30 or 1, and then again around 3-3 30 and won't go back to sleep without eating.  She even woke up again at 6 30 again this morning.  ALthough, yesterday she only pooped once and at 6 30 she had a big poop, ate and pooped again.  Could it be that her bowels are causing these wakings and if so, how to deal with it??  It has also been hard to get her to nap and they only last 25-45 min....sometimes she wakes up and I know she is tired still, but I can't seem to get her back to sleep.

Any advise??

When she was 2-3 months she was sleeping from 10-5 pretty consistently, but right around 3.5- 4 months, she started waking up earlier and now twice per night.  My husband is against sleep training because he doesn't want her to cry.   

[Layla]

Hi there,

Did the DR give her the all clear? Could she still be recovering from the stomach bug?

You mentioned your DH is against sleep training.. how is she going to sleep at the moment? Have you read any of the BW books? Could you please post your daytime routine?

Eat - ?
Awake - ?
Sleep - ?

[Picker blocker]

Doc says she could still be recovering.  Here's what yesterday looked like:
7am - wake
7 15 eat
9 - sleep
9 40 - wake
9 45 - eat
11 30 - sleep
12 10 wake
12 15 - eat (fell asleep for just a few minutes after eating but didn't want to go for another nap)
2pm - sleep (out for walk in stroller, woke up at 2 40 once back home but still in car seat, gave soother and back to sleep))
4pm wake, eat
5 30 - tried to get her down for nap, but not successful, tried again at 6 with no luck
6 20 - eat
7 15 bath
7 25 eat (top up before bed)
7 30 started to try to get her to sleep, but by 8 she was just screaming, offered more food but she didn't want it, finally put her in her car seat and swung it for a few minutes and she was alseep by 8 30.  transferred her to her bed around 8 50.  note - she usually goes to sleep around 8 30, so that might be why???
11 pm wake, give pacifier, back to sleep
12 am awake , eat
12 45 back to sleep (with me in my bed - only thing that worked, and I wanted to see if she would sleep better next to me...no such luck)
3 30 awake screaming to eat. fell asleep for 10 min after eating then woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. tried to feed again at 4 to see if it would help but it didn't.  she pooped twice, then spit up, but by 4 30 was just screaming again. 
5 am - put her in car seat again to swing and she fell asleep, but was still quite restless - moved to bed just before 6, and she woke at 6.  gave soother, back to sleep
6 30 awake, brought her to my bed and snuggled with her....fell back asleep
7 30 wake, eat

This is the first time I have ever had to use the car seat to get her to sleep.  She was just so upset and no position in our arms (my husband and I were alternating) or in her crib was working.  Tried shh/pat and pu/pd, but she was so upset that we then just tried different positions in our arms.  she was calmest in the car seat.  I don't plan on using the car seat going forward...only as a last resort.

She used to eat at 8 30 pm and sleep from 10 til 5, so I know she can easily do 6-7 hours straight.  DOn't know what's happening this week.  THe past 4 nights/days have been similar except it wasn't as hard to get her to sleep during the previous 3 nights.

[Layla]

Thank you for writing that down.

Looking at your schedule, I think your LO is quiet overtired... she's taking short naps throughout the day and she's awake for 4.5hrs before bedtime, which is quiet long for her age. The short naps could be from being under tired/so she's tired enough to sleep but not tired enough to sleep long, if you see what I mean. So could you try and push her A until you get to 2.5hrs and maybe aim for something like this:

7am - wake
9.30-11 - morning nap
1.30-3 - afternoon nap
5.30-6 - catnap
8ish - bedtime

I would probably stop the rice cereal too. I had to stop rice cereal with dd3 because she got really constipated. Milk is enough for your dd and when you start solids, I don't think rice cereal is necessary and we made do without it.

What do you think?

[Picker blocker]

I think she gets overtired when she is up for that 4 hr stretch, but we couldn't get her down for a late nap that day - the late one is always the most challenging.

I can try to stretch her A time - I started just putting her down when she showed signs of tiredness so that she wouldn't be overtired and have a hard time settling for a nap...and she usually gets tired around the 1.5 hr mark.  I have noticed though, that even when she is awake for 2-2.5 hours she still has 45 min naps...maybe that is just her sleep cycle and once she wakes up she's too awake to go back to sleep??

THere are sometimes when I can go in and get her back to sleep, but often times she just wants to get up.

[Picker blocker]

Any suggestions on how to get her to nap for 1.5 hours? she consistently does 45 min....even after being awake for 2+ hours.

[Layla]

For many short naps are developmental but what I used to do was leave dd in the cot for a further 15-20mins and she would sometimes put herself back to sleep. I never had success resettling  as her seeing me would hype her up and she wanted to get out and play!!! So, I gave her the opportunity to "practice" resettling and eventually she started doing it more and more for her morning nap and around 5 months, when we dropped the catnap and extends our A's to 3hrs, she was doing it consistently. Mine didn't have any props and was/is a thumb sucker. If your LO needs something to get her to sleep (like a pack or being rocked, etc...) and that thing/action isn't there when she wakes, that could be another reason for the short naps? One thing that works for some is to sneak in just before the baby wakes up at 45mins and shh/pat or replug the pack and resettle back to sleep for another 45mins.

How did you go last night?

[Picker blocker]

OK, so here was her schedule yesterday:

5 20 am eat
7 30 sleep
810 wake
8 15 eat
10 30 sleep
11 50 wake
12 20 eat
1 40 sleep
3 10 wake - was either starving or still tired b/c she was not happy when she got up
3 15 eat
5 sleep (car)
5 30 wake (still in car, seemed tired when she woke up and seemed tired until bedtime)
5 50 eat
7 eat
7 45 sleep (I think she was overtired b.c it was really hard to get her to sleep)
10 30 wake, eat
12 sleep (she fell asleep 6 times for just a few minutes before waking up and crying again....finally went to sleep)
1 30 wake but I got her back to sleep
2 30 wake
245 eat
4 15 sleep (after eating she pooped and then was wide awake, not unhappy though.  took a while to get her back down)
6 wake, but back to sleep
6 30 wake, but back to sleep
7 wake
7 15 eat


So it was a little better last night.  Only thing is, her last nap was short and she was tired when she woke up for the next 2 hrs.  We tried to see if she would sleep more, but didn't force it and so she didn't.  Should we be forcing her to go back to sleep if she seems so tired.  Because by 7 I think she was overtired and then cried a lot before finally falling asleep.

Also, the 1.5 hr naps, during both, she woke up around 45 and I had to go in and help her back to sleep....sometimes multiple times.  But at least she had a decent nap.

During the night, she woke at 10 30 screaming as if she hadn't eaten all day but it had only been 3 hours.  This is the feeding that is not normal for her.  any suggestions on how to eliminate or deal with this since it is new?

And the 3 30 am feed - wide awake after,,,,just lying in her crib talking to herself.  What can we do to get her back to sleep quickly?

How do I keep her up for 2.5 hours without letting her get overtired?  This morning, she woke up at 7 and by 8 she was already showing signs of tiredness.(Sometimes she only lasts 1.25 hrs in the morning)  I know she wouldn't last 2.5 hours, so I figured I would try to push it by 15 minutes to 1.75 hours.  Just after 8 30 I brought her upstairs to change her and was planning to read a book or sing some lullabies, but by 8 45 she was too tired and just started screaming.  Took til 9 20 to get her down.  If I read her tired cues, she doesn't stay up long, but if I keep her up she's overtired....any suggestions?

[Layla]

If possible, start regulating her day a little so that she's going to nap around about the same time of the day to get her internal clock set, if you know what I mean. So if you want to start the day at 7am, wake her up around 7am (you could probably do +/- 15mins) and offer her a morning nap around 9.30am (I see that you are at 2.5hrs at the moment in the morning) and keep that A throughout the day so that your schedule looks something like this:

7am - wake
9.30-11 - morning nap
1.30-3 - afternoon nap
5.30-6 - catnap
8pm - bedtime

Do you think she may have actually been not tired enough before bedtime, which is why she fought sleep so much? I know some babies can do full A on just a short catnap. But I still think there is a prop issue - if you're helping her get back to sleep and not resettling her by pu/pd or shh/pat then she probably expects it at the next wake up. How are you putting her back to sleep when she wakes at night?

[Picker blocker]

When she wakes up and doesn't eat, we go in and give her the paci (sometimes she still has it) and hold her hand, stroke her face until she falls back asleep.  If she is too wide awake she  won't go back to sleep without eating.  I can try that sched, but I can't always get her to sleep for  hrs...sometimes just 30 min (they seem to be getting shorter).

It is just doesn't make sense that she used to go 8 hrs without eating during the night and now sometimes it is only 3 hrs before she is up again.