Waking every 5 minutes after going to sleep

[newkidontheblock]

I am so sorry to keep posting. I feel like it is one issue after the other but I really need some insight.

We weaned the swaddle from our 7 mo textbook/spirited DD. Although it was tough, naps started falling into place and on Day 5, she self settled for both naps without a problem. We were even getting a good 2 hour first nap. However on Day 6, something weird happened. She settled to sleep without a problem but then WU crying 5 minutes later and couldn't resettle herself. I resettled her -- but this time stayed in the room continuing with the patting & covering of eyes but still she WU 5 minutes later and completely refused the nap after that. She was not at all fussy -- very happy and smiling away. I tried to APOP a nap in arms, in the sling and in the car but nothing worked. Finally after 5 hours A, she got fussy and took a nap in my arms. Night was fine. I figured regression or discomfort.

Day 7 was fine although she put up a bit of fight. Day 8, the same thing happened with the morning nap. 7 hours later, we got a 20 minute nap! Followed by a 30 minute pm nap. This time we thought discomfort as we couldn't think of any other explanation for wakings every 5 minutes and we medicated.

Yesterday again a fight at nap time on an A of 3.40. So today we pushed closer to 4 hours. She went down for the am nap without a problem and seemed completely asleep for 10 whole minutes. Then again, up crying - DH settled her -- again crying -- and repeat.

Before weaning the swaddle, we were getting 1.5 hour naps on an A of 3.20. Her times seem to have jumped since then but today, even at 4 hours she didn't seem to want to sleep.

Help me understand what is going on, please! I have already inclined her mattress and although I formerly thought it was teeth, nothing is showing. Naps have always been tough but till recently, she would settle on her own or with minimal help. We are also getting EWs, probably due to the OT from bad naps. We are not having any issues at BT.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[lauradj]

Wow, that must be really frustrating for you!  Although no teeth have shown up, don't forget it can be a long, very uncomfortable experience, so it may still be teething related.
When your DD wakes, does she always cry?  If she's just fussing, I would leave her be to see if she'll resettle.  It's hard but it might be frustrating for her to have a parent interfere before needed.  I found with my DS (not until he was 13 months mind you), that it made it more difficult for him to settle if I stayed in the room. It was hard for me to not be there with him but because he wasn't genuinely crying, just fussing, I knew I wasn't letting him CIO. 
Most LO's are getting 2.75-3.25 hrs of A time at this age but it may be that your LO has LSN.  Is this a possibility?  In which case, I'd suggest you stick with the A time that is most successful for a solid week or two to see if things settle down. 
Just throwing ideas out that might help.  Let me know what you think.

[newkidontheblock]

Thank you for replying. Her spirited side only seems to show come nap time, when she bypasses fussiness and moves straight on to full blown yelling and crying. But DH and I have noticed that our presence doesn't even make it better. She just takes longer to settle. I feel in my gut that this is related to her being exhausted and jolting more as a result/ not being able to control her limbs. Due to swaddle weaning, naps have been pretty terrible and although I have tried to APOP when resettling ins't working and do EBT, we haven't been able to catch up on her sleep. On days when she naps less than 2.30, she inevitably does 11.5 hour nights, making EBT useless and messing the routine of the next day once again.

So yesterday I decided to just do everything I could think of
In case of teething, I have
1) Inclined the crib mattress a bit more
2) Given meds JUST so I can rule it out
3) Cold teether her right before + rubbed her gums for ages

In case of discomfort
1) Burped her for ages
2) Light solids that I know don't affect her and instead bf twice

In case it is simply the swaddle weaning/ A time related
1) Darkened the room further by clipping another curtain on the blinds
2) tucked a heavy sheet over her to hold through the jolts. I noticed she is jolting very strongly
3) Gone over all the past days' routines and figured that 3.40 seems to be a good time.

PHEW!
So, no crying at PD. Then some fussing on and off for a while, which did escalate to crying but I held back and it did stop quite quickly. I noticed that she would fall asleep but then her hand would raise in the air and then she would start crying again but then stop in a bit. I did not respond and instead stuck my fingers in my ears and counted to 600. She finally fell asleep 20 minutes later, after a total of 4 hours A but only did a 35 minute nap, which I could not resettle. She wouldn't even fall asleep in my arms. Does that mean UT?

Anyway, WWYT?

[newkidontheblock]

Just adding what solved the problem to help anyone in a similar situation who goes through this post...

It turned out that it was related to weaning the swaddle and all the 3 things we did worked perfectly. With the swaddle gone, she cannot settle easily when OT and swaddle weaning had led to lots of OT due to short naps. We folded two sheets together to increase the weight and that seems to work for her - more comforting, maybe? So the room is very dark, we place the sheet over her and she is out like a light! Oh, and her A times had jumped from 3.20 to 3.45

[lauradj]

Fantastic!  Excellent sleuthing as to the best solution.  I apologize for not responding to your previous post, we had a nasty round of colds in our house.  I'm glad everything worked out! 

[newkidontheblock]

Not a problem! I hope you are all feeling better now:)

[lauradj]

We are, FINALLY!