Author Topic: Night wakings at 5months  (Read 3432 times)

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Offline rosetoes

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Night wakings at 5months
« on: December 30, 2014, 09:38:54 am »
So DS is just 5 months and is having increasing night wakings which has been going on for 2 or 3 weeks. He has a dummy and he likes to have his lovie when I put him down for a nap but doesn't have it at any other time. He is swaddled for naps and bedtime& if he escapes his swaddle then this results in a short sleep.
He is exclusively breastfed, predominantly just one side as doesn't like the right side however I do try to offer both.
Bedtime is usually around 8/8:30 and usually has a dream feed at 10ish, however the last two nights he's woken before this. He then tends to wake every 1.5/2 hourly. I just feed him whenever he wakes as I'm conscious of him keeping my husband awake and waking dd. Last night I did try shush pat for one feed, took around an hour for him to settle and was awake within 20mins, so I ended up feeding him anyway as he'd woken dd and was getting to 3 hrs since last feed. He doesn't usually wake up upset at night, just babbling but will get increasingly noisier and upset if left.
Our easy is never fantastic and feeds are a bit all over the shop, I don't take much notice of feed times if I'm honest but he's never fed to sleep & almost always has a feed when he wakes.
I usually walk about with him before naps, a bit of patting before going into his cot sleepy but awake and rarely have trouble getting him to nap independently.
wake up 7/7:30
eat 8
sleep 9:15-10:45
eat 11:00
mornings tend to be the same but afternoons go a bit wonky as we tend to go out so then has 1 or 2 30 or 45 min naps, a time then tends to be around 2 hrs.

cat nap 17:30/1800 for 30mins, I often don't swaddle for this nap.
Bedtime 8ish, bedtime story with his sister at 715 then breastfeed around 730.
I'm sorry the easy I've posted isn't very insightful.
I think naps might be going a bit squiffy the last few days too, has just woken after 45mins which is very unusual for him.
hope I've made myself clear.
If anyone can offer some insight as to why he's waking so regularly that would be great. Thanks in advance.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2014, 16:11:23 pm by rosetoes »

Offline nevinsmama

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2015, 04:22:34 am »
Hi there! The frequent wakings sound like a growth spurt to me. How well is LO eating during they day? For how long? EASY looks pretty good, if LO continues to get stuck on the 45 minute bump, I would move A time up by 15 minutes and see what you get. Pending knowing what day eating looks like, I wonder if LO is using breast as a prop and it could be time to start persisting with shh/pat some more. If you are worried about the noise, a fan on high turned to the wall can drown out a LOT! I would start by having LO go in to the cot more awake and less drowsy. Calm is always good, but where LO is doing the sleepy bits himself.

Maryn


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Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2015, 22:19:12 pm »
Thanks for your advice. The following few days after I posted were pretty awful so I've been waiting for things to calm down. I think we had a massive OT few days. 
I'm wondering if the swaddle and dummy needs to be weaned, so a few days of shush pat hence  complete self settling? The dummy helps him fall asleep but if he wakes then it doesn't help so I kind of don't see the point. If he escapes the swaddle though he pulls his dummy out&scratches his head. I put him to bed without the swaddle a few nights ago&he woke every hour. Will he outgrow the need to be swaddled?
I've been trying to put him downow less sleepy the past few days however he just gets all happy. I shush/patted for catnap this afternoon, was sleepy going down however I find it difficult to pat when he's in his cot. I left him in his cot&he happily played with his feet for 20/30 mins, he definitely seemed sleepy prior to this. I ended up rocking him off to sleep as he'd had 3 hrs A time and it was getting close to  BT.
yesterday looked like this :
a 745
e 8
s 10-1120
e 1130
s 14-15:30
eat 1530
eat 1715
tried for around 20/30 mins to get to catnap.
e 1830
Bedtime 1855
woke and fed at 2035
woke and fed 2300
woke and fed 115 awake babbling for around an hour! I just kept giving dummy back.unsure what time he went to sleep
fed 320
sleep 330-430 ? sister woke him.
brought into my bed, 1/2 further wakes I think.
awake 830

eat 830
eat 1030
sleep 1100-1130
eat 12
sleep 1400-1510
eat 1515
eat 1720
sleep 17:40-18:15
eat 1830
eat 2000
eat 2110 (upset from shush patting ? OT
sleep 2115
DF 2230

Do you think it's routine causing the night wakes or does he need to learn to sleep more independently? or is the dummy a prop?
Hope this post makes sense! sooooo tired!

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2015, 06:08:57 am »
Hi there.

I actually think your NWs stem from the fact that he is not getting enough A time and the first nap of the day is too early. At 5 months, most Los are doing 2.30 -45 A.  Also, this is prime time for them to drop the catnap and move towards 2 naps. You mention that he seems happy at nap time - this to me says that he is not tired enough at that point. You could gradually start extending his awake times by 5 - 10 minutes every couple of days. I find the easier to go by the clock, now that DD is older, than to rely on sleepy signs.

The thing is, at this point, I found that day sleep started to actively interfere with nights. Too much and she was UT and I would have trouble getting her down, and too little and she would wake between BT and dreamfeed and earlier than usual in the morning. That is why we dropped her catnap and moved to 2 x1.5 hour naps with an A time of 2.45. In fact, it quickly jumped to 3 and by 6 mos we were at 3.20 A.
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!!
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

Hope this helped!






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2015, 21:04:34 pm »
Thanks for your reply. I'll give it a go&keep fingers crossed! he's nearing 6months now so A time is a bit low. I've not done the DF the last two nights as it seemed to be disturbing him too much&I think he's slept better at least for the early part of the night.

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2015, 15:57:26 pm »
Hi my little  boy is 28 weeks and we're having  terrible  trouble  with multiple night wakings which has been going on for 2 months but getting progressively  worse. He was initially  waking 2 hourly  on the dot, I was feeding &putting him straight  back  down, i then started shush pat which would  take an hrs or so. He's now waking at random intervals, I try to only feed 3-4 hourly unless very upset but still takes a while to get  him off to  sleep  after feeding. I have to admit of just brought  him into bed with me more recently from 4 am as I just need some shut eye.
He eats well most days however breakfast is often less successful.
he's breastfed, has a dummy,  swaddled,  suffers  with a  bit of  eczema to his face and chest, will scratch if not swaddled and knock his dummy  out. 9/10 will self settle for naps. I swaddle, give dummy and  put his glowing seahorse  on, which plays music  for 5 mins, he's usually  asleep by the end of this.
I've  been  trying hard the past few weeks to tackle his easy but still struggling to get  it right, I try and stay at home as much as possible to stick to a routine and then he'll  throw in a stupid nap leaving me a bit lost.
We had one good night two weeks ago &I've tried to follow that days easy but to no avail 
should  I be going by sleepy  signs at this age or clock watch? some days he's very grumpy &tired by 2 hours other times he's still quite happy  4+ hours. I'm desperate to get  this sorted  now, my mood is so low.

I've been  looking  back through  our easy for the last week or so&it's rubbish! I think the  harder I tried to  sort his routine  the worse I made it!  he's baffling me. I don't really know how you'll  help me as our easy  is so all over the  place.






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2015, 18:59:19 pm »
Hi yes we were trying to stretch a times. Like i say he is totally confusing me. Today he woke at 7 after an 8pm bedtime, 4 NW I think,  no dream feed, fed twice. He was a total grump for most of the morning,  fell asleep at 925, A time for the morning is usually about 2hrs 45. Only slept 40mins which is rare for his morning nap. Second A time was 4hrs 20, overtired by this point, did try putting down earlier around 3.5hrs I think but was laughing at me&perfectly happy, napped 2:30-4. Just finishing feed for 7pm bedtime now so 3hr A time, although he probably would have liked less.

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2015, 05:30:49 am »
He sounds massively OT, hun. How come 3.5 for second A? After a 40 minute nap, I would aim to PD again after reducing the A by 10-15 minutes. The laughing and perfectly happy sounds like he got his second wind due to the long A. And yes, on a bad nap day, you could try for early bed time.






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2015, 14:55:37 pm »
I don't know what I was thinking. Think it would have been when I was collecting dd from playschool, and he showed no sleepy signs. See I'm losing the plot! So today he was up at 630 had 2.25hrs a time but went to sleep easily and was grumpy, slept 1hr 40 mins.  second A time was 2hrs 55min but has only slept just over an hr (think he may have been disturbed by the door :-( ) woke at 230. So I  should try and get in a 30 min cat nap about 430/5?

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2015, 15:36:24 pm »
You will have to decide that based on what time he wakes up and how long he can manage till bed without getting OT all over again






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2015, 16:19:31 pm »
Yes I meant today.

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2015, 16:32:56 pm »
Yes definitely. From 2.30 to bedtime is a bit much






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2015, 07:39:38 am »
His sister wakes him most mornings. Could this contribute to the fact that he only wants short A times in the morning? I.e this morning he woke at 6, I AP'd back to sleep by 615 and she woke him at 7, he's pretty grumpy already so just wondering if that could be the cause.

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2015, 08:42:05 am »
What time does she wake up? Maybe you would have to start and end your day earlier in that case






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2015, 11:21:00 am »
Between 7 and half past, which is fine, I'm just starting to think is he grumpy from being woken rather than being unable to do a longer A time in the morning IFYKWIM. A time this am mind was 2hrs 55, more so because we were running errands than anything though so we'll c how today goes.

Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2015, 10:39:40 am »
I'm still struggling here. I feel like I haven't a clue what I'm doing. I'm still trying to stretch a times but every time I do we end up overtired and difficult to put down, needs to be rocked. Should I go by sleepy signs (read elsewhere to clock watch at this age rather than sleepy signs)? Today he woke at 735, was giving sleepy signs at 10, tried to stretch through, PD at 10:15 but wouldn't settle&just got upset so rocked to sleep at 10:30. We did have one good night this week where he just woke once but that easy day was far from perfect. I feel I might be making things worse by trying to stretch A times? But this mornings was especially short.
I feel I need a plan.

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2015, 11:04:51 am »
Okay. A plan sounds like a good step. I go by the clock as her sleepy signs are quite unreliable. If he fussed on PD, maybe he wasn't tired yet? Is he still falling asleep independently? Are the NWs continuing?






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2015, 11:32:46 am »
Yes nws still continue. I think he was tired yes, I felt it was more of an overtired PD than an UT struggle. Sleeping independently less frequently now.
We normally get a 3hr stretch at night but after that doesn't seem to settle. Not having hr long wakings now as to be honest if he wakes and it's been less than 3/4 hours since last feed then I've just been bringing him into bed to get some sleep. I gave up on shush patting through the night as I felt it made little difference and just left me exhausted and frustrated.

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2015, 13:48:12 pm »
What is your day looking like now?






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #19 on: February 22, 2015, 18:00:50 pm »
so today
wake 735
bf 735
solid 9
s 10:30-12:20
bf 12:30
bf 14:30
solid 1400
s 15:00-16:15
 planning on  bedtime  at 7
This is a  pretty good  day for us tbh  so maybe tonight will be  good.
yesterday was an overtired day
wake 7
7 bf
s 10:05-11:05
s 14:55-14:55 ( husband took for a walk,doesn't sleep well in pram)
17:15 solids too tired &getting upset so tried to PD for cat nap, massive resistance, fell asleep in arms but woke on PD, eventually rocked to sleep at 18:10. planned to make this bedtime but woke half hr later, I could probably have resettled but dd kept disturbing us. resulted in a very upset boy for half hour
Bedtime  easily at 9:15
I've probably  posted two extremes, a pretty good day  and a particularly bad day.

Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2015, 10:01:26 am »
Hello me again. So last night was a pretty good night, woke at 230 after dream feed at 10, fed and straight back to sleep, then woke at 5&again at 6, fed at 6, resettled and up at 730.
This is the second occasion he's slept well after a similar easy to yesterday's:
Wake up 730
Bf 730
Solids 9
Bf10
S 11-13:05
Bf 13:15
Solids 14:30
S 16:10-16:45
BF 17:00
Solids 18:00
Bath time 7pm
Bf 730 and bottle 3oz
Bed 8 (was aiming for bed around 745) settled easily
Problem is is that he was overtired for 1st nap, pd was at 10:30, however was shouting in cot, had to rock him off,he was dozing at bf at 10 but pushed through as felt it was too early. He woke after an hr &the remainder of nap was spent in my arms.
What do you think it is about this type of day that seems to work for him?

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #21 on: February 26, 2015, 14:28:44 pm »
Hi. I'm sorry for not replying sooner. I didn't see it.
In the previous post with the 2 days, the first day seems great. How was the night?

What do you think it is about this type of day that seems to work for him?
I say go with whatever works. If possible, stick to a fixed WU & BT.






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #22 on: February 26, 2015, 15:22:53 pm »
That's ok. The night was dreadful, fell asleep at 7:15 and woke just about every hour 😟 confusing little chap! Think putting his sister to bed at 8:15 disturbed him but Can't think of anything that would have disturbing him the rest of the night.
I do bedtime based on whatever time he last napped, should I wake him at a set point every morning? It's usually within a half hour window.
Thing is I don't know how to repeat yesterday's! I can't cuddle him every day to keep him asleep for 2 hours😜

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #23 on: February 26, 2015, 15:37:54 pm »
BT can fluctuate but WU time should be fixed.It will give your day some structure. I guess to get a repeat performance, you'll have to just keep pushing A times. Go agead and APOP if necessary to get a few long naps. He really needs to catch up on all that OT






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #24 on: February 26, 2015, 15:55:51 pm »
Even though he was overtired going down for the nap? I think that's why he woke early from his nap. Isn't 3.5 hours a bit long at 7months? (7months tomorrow). Argh! Why is this so bloody difficult! Surely not everyone has this much trouble who's LO's STTN? 😔

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #25 on: February 26, 2015, 16:34:34 pm »
We were doing 3.40 at 7 months but my DD does do pretty high A times. I didn't mean to push more than 3.5. I meant to keep it somewhere around there. Don't judge an A time's effects until you have held at that time for a few days to give his body time to adjust. Reduce just by 10 minutes and see if that does the trick.

Haha. It is difficult, isn't it? Like an extremely confusing brainteaser






Offline rosetoes

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Re: Night wakings at 5months
« Reply #26 on: February 26, 2015, 17:15:28 pm »
Yes! I used baby whisperer  with dd too but don't remember it being this difficult. I was more strict throughout the night mind 😕
right I'll attempt  that and see how we do,maybe I'm not giving enough  time. Thanks