6month old waking every hour at night-perfect during the day!

[zoem]

My LO is 6 months tomorrow. We have struggled with night waking a since he was about 3 months. He's had spurts when he will only wake once but generally we have at least one waking between bedtime and the DF (if we manage a DF before he wakes!!) and multiple times at night. This past week he has literally been waking every hour and I am so tired I don't even know how I'm surviving! I really need help to figure out why and I would be so happy to just get him to wake 1 or2times.
During the day, he goes down well for naps and I nearly always get a 1.5hr nap in the morning with maybe just one longer nap in the pm or two short ones. I was taking him for naps after 2.5hr A time which meant total A time was around 2hr 35mins to 2hr 45mins. When he wakes at night although he cries, he settles easily when I pick him up and on some occasions would laugh and smile at me. I interpreted this as UT so I pushed A times to 3hrs but the first nap got shorter so I have gone back to 2.5hr. Throughout these changes, we were still getting hourly night wakings. Today he seemed pretty tired in the morning so I put him down at 2hr 15min and got a 1.5hr nap.im so confused as to what is going on!!
I am breastfeeding so usually am the one to get up at night. DH did Friday night with bottles whilst I slept in our loft conversion with ear plugs and DS only woke once! I'm not sure if DH didn't hear him when he woke the other times...?
Our EASY looks like this:
WU 6:30am
E 7:30
A 2.5hrs
S9:30-11
E 11:30
Solids at 12:30 (just started weaning so only take a tsp)
A 2.5 hrs
S 1:30pm-3pm
E 3:30
(45 min catnap around 4:30/5 if 2nd nap short)
E 6/6:30
BT by 7

He then wakes either every hour or at least once before 10:30DF
Then every hour NW!!

How old is your child?  6 month
What’s his/her daily routine? See above
What’s nap routine? Swaddle, white noise, sit in rocking chair till eyes closed then straight down to cot on side with about a minute patting then leave on side for 10 mins till asleep then I place him on his back.
How long are naps? See above
What's bedtime routine? Time? Wash, feed (7oz expressed breast milk in bottle)with a break to watch his sisters get ready for bed
Do you bottle or breastfed?? Breastfeed
How much? or how long? No longer than half hour
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) both
How many wakes per night? Too many!
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? He is crying but settles when I pick him up and usually stays asleep when I put him in the crib although lately he has been taking about half hour (or 2hrs last night!)to settle.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? Crying
What have you tried to settle?? Usually end up feeding as an aprop
What do you do for A time and how long is it? A time us playing in okay mat if sitting and playing with toys or watching me do jobs
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? He  has recently started turning but I haven't seen him do this in bed
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)
Do they have a prop? If so what is it?no
Do they have a lovie?no


Any advice would be so appreciated!,,

[katie80]

He's not getting any teeth? Waking so frequently can indicate discomfort. How many times do you feed him throughout the night?

It sounds to me like you might have a prop issue at night, in that he needs to be picked up and held a bit to settle. I would also try to get him to settle on his own a bit more during the day and at bedtime. At his age, holding til eyes closed and then patting is probably a bit much to consider him an independent sleeper, which is what you want so he is able to get himself back to sleep when he wakes at night. Have you tried just holding him til he calms during wind down (not til his eyes close) and then putting him down awake? You can shh/pat if he needs it (i.e. cries for help), but otherwise he should drift off on his own.

I also think it's time to push to 2 full naps. Your morning A (from waking to falling asleep) looks to be about 3hr and you're getting a good nap after that. I'd start pushing the second A to 3hr as well, so you can drop the CN, as it can really start to interfere with night sleep at this age. Have a read through this link: All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

[zoem]

Thanks for the reply.
I've been thinking about it and you may be right regarding the prop theory. DH thinks I go in too soon and that I should leave DS to moan and I admit that I probably do because I don't want him to wake his sisters.
I will try tonight to hold out till he properly cries and try to settle in the crib.do you think that if I can't settle him in the crib that I should try pick up/put down?
He's actually slept from 6:30 till 9Pm tonight which is unusual and it may be because he had 3 hr a times today due to school runs etc( I don't usually do the morning one).

[katie80]

Can you use white noise at all for the girls, so they don't wake? All of mine sleep with a fan on in their room for that exact reason.

Yes, you can try PUPD if you can't settle him in the crib. Just try not to let him fall asleep on you when you pick him up!

[zoem]

The white noise for the girls is a good idea. To be honest they probably won't wake, it's more me being a worried mum!
Last night we had a better night. He woke at 9pm for a feed (last feed was at 5pm yesterday as had an early wake up) and I got him back to sleep with shush and pat in the crib. Then he woke at 12:30 so I fed him, then 1:30 and then at 5:30 when I fed him again. Everytime I managed to get him to sleep with shush and pat in the crib. I was actually thinking that he may be cold and that's what's waking him as last night was a mild night.i didn't feel that frostiness that I have been feeling lately when getting out of bed. It also explains why he seems to sleep longer after 4am(when our heating comes on).im not sure whether to put a heater in his room. I get so paranoid about overheating! He's already in a best, baby gro, sleep bag and swaddle.

[zoem]

Vest not best!

[katie80]

Sounds like a better night and great that he settled with shh/pat. Now you can use it with confidence to stretch out feeds.

The temp could have something to do with it definitely. I don't know that I'd be comfortable with a heater either, although I know there are some with automatic shut-offs at your set temp and I have a friend who uses one for her DD that doesn't get hot at all (the unit, I mean). Would you be willing to turn up the nighttime temp on your thermostat? If it meant better sleep, I likely would.

Keep working at the longer A times and getting to two naps. I think that along with whatever environmental factors you can work out should help a lot. Let me know how it's going!

[zoem]

So, a bit of an update.LO is a bit better at night now-only waking 3 times which is a result. I'm not sure if the improvement is from settling him in the cot or if last week was the 6 month spurt...? Who knows but I realise that I may have started a prop with nursing to sleep too so I am focusing on only feeding if he wakes at least 4 hrs after a feed. Sometimes in my sleepiness I forget and just put him on the breast!! I will work on it though.
Pushing out A times seems to be working too. Today we did 2hr 45 A and got 2 2hr naps so we'll see how the night goes!

[katie80]

Sounds good!

Sometimes in my sleepiness I forget and just put him on the breast!!

BTDT! And still doing it...