7 month old night waking

[Miagirl]

Hi, my son is 7 months old, soley BF. Over a month ago, he was sleeping well at night, waking once which I was happy and fine with. He got a bad sickness and I BF more at night for comfort and since then he is waking so much more now. I will say I am also in the midst of transitioning him to 2 naps. I have flip flopped some between 2 and 3 naps which I know is not consistent. Now at night he may have one 4 hr stretch and then wakes q 2-3 hrs thereafter till morning. Im trying to get throughout the night with just 2 feedings at this point, but it can lead to a lot of crying.

Yesterday was a tough day.

E: Awoke 730 and BF him
S: Slept 930-1030
E: 11 (BF)
1230 solids
S: 145-230 (tried to get him back to bed but didn't work)
E:2
S: 430/445 (played in crib for a while and then refused to nap, I tried for an hour and gave up)
E: 5/530 solids
S: 630/7 BF and sleep (seemed overtired and hard to get down).

Woke at night at 11 (BF), 130 (BF), 230 and 430 (BF).

Maybe last night was so bad because of overtired. He refused a 3rd nap and then got overtired before bedtime. Today Ive decided Im not going to flip flop and go with 2 naps, although I have concern he will get overtired if he doesn't nap well. Im also trying to figure out if there is a hunger issue at night or if its just over tiredness and routine from his sickness. he was sleeping 8 hrs prior to sickness. Any advice will help. Thank you!

Other info: I BF only, usually both sides, max 20 minutes. He's pretty obvious when he's tired, yawning and rubbing eyes and in the morning will do this as soon as 1.5-2 hrs. His activity is closer to 2-2.5 as day goes on. He doesn't use a pacifier and goes down well if timed well, awake and no props in bed in a sleep sack. He chews on his sleep sac for comfort to help him go to sleep. He goes down well, except for the 3rd nap which he is fighting as I mentioned. If he wakes at night and I don't BF him right away we try to pat his back or lay a hand on him and shush him. Sometimes helps and sometimes not, usually lots of crying if I don't feed him right away. milestones. He learned to roll over 2 weeks ago and has been a tummy sleeper ever since.

Day 2: trying to do 2 naps consistently bc he's refusing that 3rd nighttime catnap

Awake at 730
E: 8 (BF)
S: 10-1045 (tried to extend it but didn't work).
E: 1115 (BF)
solids: 1230
S: 2-4 (woke up at 3 and I was able to get him back to sleep)
E: 415 (BF)
solids 530
S:645

Nightwakings: 9, 1115 (BF), 2, 4 (BF) woke up around 8 this morning.

[Layla]

I think moving to 2 naps will help - try and aim for 3hrs across the day so that he isn't awake for too long before bedtime, which would lead to overtiredness and more night wakings!

With regards to feeding at night, I used to apply the same feeding schedule rule as during the day, so if mine was fed every 4hrs at night and if she woke at night 4+hrs, I would feed. If he is awake less than 4hrs, try not to feed him right away and use shh/pat (if he still responds to that) or pu/pd to settle him back to sleep. The other thing you can do is gradually wean the night feeds by offering one side only and then reduce how long he is feeding for... for example, if he takes 5mins to feed from one side, let him feed 5 mins the first night, then reduce to 4mins the next couple of nights, then 3mins, 2 mins and towards the end try and resettle.

Would DH be willing to help out here? I know with mine, she would almost always expect the breast at night and it would take longer for me to resettle her whereas when I'd send DH in, she would go to sleep almost immediately!

What do you think?

[Miagirl]

Ok, those are good tips. Yes, my husband can help and has helped some. Quick question about whats going on today. My son had a great first nap from 10-1145 and then unfortunately his 2nd nap was only from 3-330 and my mother in law got him up right away without asking, as I would have tried to extend it.

Tonight should his bedtime be about 630? That'd be an awake time of 3 hrs, but that seems like a lot for him since he just only slept 30 minutes. Ugh. 600? That seems so early!

Thanks.

[Layla]

I would have done bedtime no more than 3hrs awake time... some babies can do full A time on even just 30 min catnap. Shame your MIL got her out straight away... how did you go last night with the earlier bedtime?

Fwiw, I used to do bedtime as early as 5pm some evenings... it does seem ridiculously early but it really helped and mine would almost always wake at her usual 6-6.30am wake up time.

[Miagirl]

Hi,

Thanks for all your feedback. So, I have been very consistent with the 2 naps. Sianara 3rd nap. His 45 minute naps seem to be decreasing little, which is great. Im not letting his A time be over 3 hours even if its going to bed at 6pm, like tonight. So, his routine has been roughly as follows give or take 30/45 minutes depending on how long he naps.

wake: 730, BF
S: 10-1130
E: 1145 BF
solids: 1
S: 230-330
E: 345 BF
solids 5pm
S: 630 pm. ( a little more BF)

He still consistently wakes anywhere from 2-3 hrs after putting him down for the night (and sometimes sooner). We are able to get him back down fairly easy with PU/PD. difficulty ranges but I haven't fed him at this time for probably almost a week. So this would be anywhere from about 830-930. And, then he usually wakes again somewhere between 10 and 11 and I feed him. Then I feed him once more about 2, and then he wakes for good around 7. He sleeps better the second half of the night. I would have thought by now that his early evening wakings would go away. The other thing is that he is super mobile in bed right now. He can't crawl and while awake not showing too many signs of trying but he is ALL over the crib. his head is pushed up against the slats, in corners, legs and arms out of the slats. He is a mover. I have a mesh, breathable bumper coming in the mail tomorrow bc he is a crazy mover. Anyways, don't know if this is playing into his wakings too. Any feedback is appreciated! Love this site.

[Miagirl]

bad night last night. He did stay up closer to 3.5 hrs before bedtime bc of me being out and about. bedtimes was still at 620. He has a little congestion/runny nose, so maybe thats why last night was worse, but his mood is great during day, not appearing too sick at all. 

bedtime at 620

woke at 740, 815, 930 and then not really settled until 10, at which point I fed him. 2am feed, 530 pu/pd. awake at 745. How does a baby go to bed at 620 and wake at 745? So strange to me.

[Layla]

How are you going hun?