nearly 9 mo with multiple nw

[emilykstew]

My son is five days shy of 9 mo, his EASY is approx:

7am- wake- BF
8:30- solids- oats/fruit
10-11- nap
11- BF
12:30- solids- yogurt/fruit or veg
2:30-3:30/4- nap
4- BF
6pm- solids- veg + things from our meal that are soft enough
7:15/7:30- BF to sleep

He has been teething like crazy for over a month, cut his first two teeth around New Years and then since late Feb has cut 5 more teeth!  I realize this is a huge part of his NW, but it's just getting ridiculous.  Maybe I need to wait till that 8th one comes in (and hopefully we have a breather before molars) before posting, but I'm just exhausted.  I also don't want to keep giving him baby Advil/Tylenol when it may not be that as often as I think. 
I never did a DF with him because he wouldn't let me.  He would just arch his back and refuse, so I was fine with feeding once in the night when he woke.  All that to say, he's only slept straight through about a dozen times.  He is able to put soothe himself back to sleep and has been for several months, but he's starting to fight it now with vengeance.  I have stopped NF this past week because though it would calm him down when he woke, it didn't put him back to sleep and he would still cry and refuse to settle afterwards, so I realized it wasn't worth the extra time.

He wakes between 3-4 times per night, which I know compared to some people, this doesn't sound that bad, but the problem is, it's getting worse.  And the main issue is, it's not like we're doing anything to put him back to sleep other than be in his room.  He only cries harder when picked up, so we don't do PU/PD, so what was working is my husband or I would press firmly on his bum and rub his back and 'shhh' or sing, but now that's not even working.  So, we let him find what is comfortable and basically he cries himself to sleep.  Essentially he is 'self-soothing' just not very quietly!  Usually at least one waking in the night, he will self-soothe after 5-10 minutes, but when the cries get louder and harder, I feel like I need to go in.  If his fist is in his mouth, I will give Orajel and/or baby Advil, but I don't do it all the time.  He's starting to get worse and worse at self-soothing at naps too and seems to be starting to have an aversion to his room/bed.  Am I going in too much, not enough?  Any ideas of other things that could be bothering him?  Any other suggestions?!  During the day, he's the happiest baby and will occupy himself for up to an hour with the curtain or a box!  

[amayzie]

bumping this for you...

[emilykstew]

anyone have any ideas?!  i'm so frustrated... and tired... It's been two months of this

[Layla]

Hi hun, sorry you haven't had any replies yet.

You mentioned he has been fighting naps... do you think he may need more A time? With regards to night wakings, I know what you mean about trying to help but in the end it makes things worse. I know with my LO, if I go to her at night, she takes a lot longer to settle (or used to) than when DH would go in... what happens if you send your DH in?

Rather than leaving him to cry to sleep, could you go in and comfort him and then walk out (the wi/wo method)? I would probably stop the meds... especially if they don't seem to be helping . Does it seem like he's in pain? Could it be that he's in pain? Maybe the food he's eating?

Could you post what the last couple of days have looked like? Are there any props? Does he go to sleep on his own for naps and at bedtime?

[emilykstew]

Sometimes I have wondered about food... he is often constipated, and sometimes after he finally falls asleep, when he wakes up an hour later there's a little nugget in there.  I give him prunes or peaches every day, along with other veggies and fruit.  Any other ideas for relieving constipation?  I don't give him rice cereal, the only cereal I give him is oatmeal.  I do give him plain yogurt, which I've sometimes wondered about, but sometimes (like the past couple nights have been a bit better) he doesn't wake up till 4am, and I may have given him yogurt at noon with no ill effects until then, so I can't tell if that's it.  I don't know. 

I have tried to keep him up a little more between naps- so often he'll have 4 hrs of A time, from 10:30-2:30. 

I don't leave the room and let him cry it out, I'm in there 90% of the time, softly singing or 'shh-ing'.

Yes, it does often work better for my husband, and he is willing, but his knack seems to be wearing off too.  Last night he went to sleep fabulously, no props, fully awake, no tears.  He stirred around midnight for a few minutes, but fell back to sleep.  Woke just before 4am and seemed to resettle, then was crying(ish) by 4:45.  I went in, picked him up, he instantly settled into my arms and seemed to fall asleep.  Nope, tried pu/pd a bit, no luck, tried rubbing his back and soothing, nope, just irritated, tried just humming from afar, got more exasperated, picked him up again and he nearly fell asleep in my arms again, but no luck in putting him back down.  I gave up, sent husband in.  He tried similar things, no luck.  Finally, around 5:20, he'd rocked him a bit and rubbed him in the crib back to sleep.  Woke by 6:20 and I fed him and he's up. 

One thing my husband thought when he came back after he was finally back to sleep was wondering if he was simply thirsty for water... so, we might give that a try tomorrow. 

Thanks!