Night wakings ALL night :( s.o.s.

[zportiss]

My 6 mo old used to wake 2x a night for feedings, which we were hoping to wean soon. We started ST about 4 weeks ago for naps, and initial BT with great success and held off on ST during the night because I think she needed the calories since she is a very small baby.  Then about a week and a half ago lo started coughing at night disturbing her sleep. We did what we always did, nursed, our rocked her back to sleep, since like I mentioned she hadn't been ST at night yet, and clearly when she is ill is not the right time to start. 

Then a few days later I took her in to the Dr and found out her culture came back completely negative, she's not sick, they suspect teething.  Sure enough, a couple days later we see her teeth cutting through, and now we're now on about day 9 or 10 of what is now an increasingly horrendous nighttime sleep disaster. She's up every hour or more, and often wakes within minutes of being put back in her crib.  Somewhere around 3 or 4 am I break down and take her into bed with me because I am so tired and exhausted, and I am very sick with a nasty cold also.  I'm so scared the nurse prop is now a very bad habit because now when I try to rock her back to sleep she arches her back and gets furious until I nurse her back to sleep.

My husband is ready to cio, but of course that's not going to happen.  Do I start ST now? One of her teeth has broken the skin but the other has not.  Should I just nurse only 2x at night like her previous feeding times, but if I do that wont it confuse her when I sometimes nurse her back to sleep and other times refuse?  Please help.

[ZacsMumme]

(Hugs) some babies teethe badly don't they.
Are you giving pain meds at BT? - do they help?

What is your LOs routine?

[weaver]

For the teeth:  if you're giving her meds for teeth, I'd try ibuprofen rather than paracetamol, as the ibuprofen is anti-inflammatory so it does more for the painful gums.  I also give mine homeopathic teething granules and they have both worn amber teething necklaces which seemed to mean they didn't 'suffer' with teeth until we got to the big ones aged 1-2.  My attitude to teething is to try everything that might help. 

Having said that, my LO1 often refuses to take any pain meds and would only take BM to get back to sleep.  Of course he would be really distressed so I would feed him, it was great to be able to calm him down and help him sleep.  He would only do this on occasional nights, though, never repeated nights in a row, and he was past NFs, so we were in a different situation

If you are sure that you have her pain under control, then I would revert back to 2 feedings at the usual times.  BUT I would not do this when you are ill and she is under the weather.  Take it easy on both of you.  *You* need to feel fit and ready before you do anything, don't beat yourself up right now, just focus on getting better. 

And well done for standing firm on CIO.  (())

[zportiss]

Yes she's getting Motrin and hyland's homeopathic teething tabs.  Things seem to be improving the last two nights!  She's only waking about 3 times a night and the center two teeth have cut through.  Its still not ideal, but much better! 

She's still wakes at 10:30/11 ish, then 1:30/2, and 4 ish. 

She's been very distracted during her feedings, and we're working on her snacking during the day (she bf every 2 hours still) so I think she is nursing because she needs the calories at night, but that first night feed still seems way to early to me...

Here's her schedule:  We are in the middle of transitioning from 3 to 2 naps so this is a very inconsistent routine, depending on her 2nd nap which she struggles to get more than 30 minutes

A 6-7 a.m. (7 is our goal)
E immediately after she wakes
E 9:00
S 10:00-11:10 (her nap starts a little earlier if she wakes before 7 but I try to make her go until 10 or as close to it unless she seems very tired otherwise the whole day is off)
E 11:30
E 1:30
S 2-2:30 (usually only a 1/2 hour nap but with her frequent night wakings she has been taking an hour nap to make up for lost sleep)
E 3:30
S about 1/2 the time I get a catnap around 4:30-5, it just depends on her and if she seems tired.  If she only took a 1/2 hour afternoon nap, then I usually get one even if its APOP for 20 min in arms after she's nursed
E 5:30
BT Routine starts at 6:30
E 6:50
S 7:15-7:30
 
Thanks for taking a look and I appreciate any advice!

[weaver]

She's still wakes at 10:30/11 ish, then 1:30/2, and 4 ish. 

At 6 mo, that's pretty standard!  One DF and two NFs, a lot of babies would be doing that as their normal.  Do you do a DF at 10.30/11? If not, I mean if she is waking rather than you doing it on purpose every night, then I'd consider starting to routinely feed her every night around that time.  Perhaps a bit earlier so you forestall her waking.  It might be that a DF at that time every night would help her drop the 1 am feed, and you would feel more in control.  Things change a lot around 6 mo anyway so take heart!

[zportiss]

Thanks Weaver!  It makes me feel better hearing her NW are pretty normal   I will try the DF...I have kind of held off on starting it because I thought at her age they start dropping the DF so I didn't see the point in starting it, but apparently she does need it!

Thanks for all your help!  I'm now having nap issues....heading over to the naps board to post for some help. 

[weaver]

See you there