Author Topic: 6 months old constantly waking at night  (Read 1548 times)

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Offline ecbohmer

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6 months old constantly waking at night
« on: February 08, 2015, 11:17:56 am »
Hi!

My daughter is 6 month old has been a very good sleeper since the beginning, she doesn't feed during the night anymore but about a month ago she started waking up multiple times (from 4 to 6 times), she cries and gets calmed really fast, I put the pacifier and my hand on her and she falls asleep almost instantly again but wakes up again soon.
She seems to be crying in her sleep but I have tried to wait a little bit before I calm her down to see if she can self soothe but it just escalates.

She is on the following EASY routine:

7:30 wake
8:00 Eat (Bottle)
8:00-10:00 Activity
10:15-11:30 (or 12) Sleep
12:00 Eat (Solids)
12:00-2:30 Activity
2:30-4:00 Sleep
4:00 Eat
4:00-5:30/6.30 Activity
6:00-6:30 Sleep (catnap)
7:30/8 Eat and bedtime Routine with bath.
11.00 Dream feed (she usually wakes up by herself if we wait longer to give it)

There is no specific pattern in her wakings, sometimes they start soon after the dream feed but sometimes it starts at 4 am.

Usually after she wakes at 6 or 6.30 we take her to our bed until 7.30 (we have been doing this almost since the beginning)

She normally falls asleep with little problem for naps and at bedtime.
We keep the last activity calmed and her bedtime routine as well. She is not teething.


I would be happy to hear some advice!
Thank you!!
« Last Edit: February 08, 2015, 14:30:59 pm by ecbohmer »

Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2015, 15:08:28 pm »
Hi and welcome to BW! :)

It looks to me like she's ready to transition to 2 naps and lengthen her A times during the day. The NWs and EW at 6/6:30 are likely indicators that her daytime sleep is interfering with her nights.  Have a read through this link and let me know your thoughts... All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months



Offline ecbohmer

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2015, 18:04:55 pm »
Thank you! I will start trying tomorrow and I will write how it goes! thank you.

Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2015, 00:20:54 am »
Sounds good... let us know if you have any more questions. :)



Offline lornioiz

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2015, 17:39:12 pm »
Hello there!

I'm a (very) sleep deprived dad and I'm having roughly the same problem with my boy (5 and 1/2 month old).
I read the post you linked but I'm having trouble figuring how to fit the "eat" part of "easy" in the new schedule.
We are following a schedule were the baby eats every 4 hours, starting from 07:00 am. With this schedule the est time overlaps with the sleep time. Should I move forward the eat time of half hour every slot (see below the eat slots)?

Now.       After.
07:00.     07:00?
11:00      11:30?
15:00      16:00?
19:00.     20:00?
23:00      23:00?

It is that correct? Could you please help me figuring out what to do?

Thank you!!

P.S.

As you can see I'm not english mother tongue, so I apologize in advance if I have not madre myself clear. Thank you again!

Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2015, 00:46:22 am »
Hi lornioiz, welcome to BW! :)

Yes, you are correct that the feeds get pushed past 4hr when the A times lengthen and you move toward two naps. If your LO is BF, this may mean that you need to offer a top up feed in order for him not to wake hungry. If LO is FF, he may be able to make it longer between feeds or may need a top up as well.

It's also important to note that the feeds near the end of the day can and often do get closer together so you can maintain a 12hr (or close to it day). Here are some sample routines that might be helpful to look at... chronological EASY samples, 4-6 months

Hope that helps. Please always feel free to start your own thread if you'd like more specific advice!



Offline ecbohmer

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2015, 16:53:57 pm »
Hi again!
an update: we did the transition to 2 naps with little problem, but she is still waking up a lot at night and in the morning she started waking up almost an hour earlier than usual :-[
Once she wakes up the first time at night it seems that she doesn't fall completely asleep again, for example last night I dream feed her at 11 and she woke up again at 3.30 and until 6.30 she cried about 4 or 5 times. I don't know if i should wait a little longer to confort her, I am scared she starts crying really loud and will wake up completely.
She also wakes up by herself before I dream feed her...is this normal? should I try to wean off the dream feed?
I am really confused, she is a good napper and used to be a great sleeper at the beginning  :-[

I would really appreciate some help!!
Thanks!

Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2015, 06:26:02 am »
(((Hugs))), sorry to hear you're srill struggling. Can you show us what your EASY looks like now? Is she getting any teeth? Eating new foods? Doing new things developmentally? Is she an independent sleeper, i.e. she goes to sleep on her own without any props?



Offline ecbohmer

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2015, 11:08:02 am »
Thank you!!
Her routine now is more or less like this:

6:45 to 7:15 - Wake up. I try to leave her in her crib until 7:30... she is awake, not crying loud but complaining... :-\
8- Eat (6 oz Formula)
8-10 Activity
10-12 Nap 1
12- Eat (Smashed vegetable with potato)
12-2:30 or 2:45 Activity
2:45-4:30 Nap 2 (She normally makes one 2 hr nap and one 1:30 hr (or 1 hr) nap sometimes the long one is in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon).
4:30: Eat (6 oz Formula)
4:30-7 Activity
7 Eat (Cereal with some fruit)
7:30 Bedtime routine with bath and she is usually in bed by 8
11: Dream feed


She is not teething
Started rolling from back to belly but in her crib she doesn't do it, just sometimes when she wakes up she rolls to her side.
Started solids 1.5 months ago vegetables for lunch and now eats vegetable with potato for lunch and about 10 days ago started eating cereal with some fruit at night.
She uses a pacifier to go to sleep and at night I give her a soft toy so she can grab it instead of my hand.
She goes to sleep by herself about 90% of the naps and at bedtime about 50% and she normally falls asleep super easy.


Last night was really bad, she woke up about 6 times from 3am on...she wasn't crying just moaning/whining loud.
I am really tired...

Thank you again for your help!





Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2015, 06:26:10 am »
The routine looks pretty good. You might want to think about pushing the afternoon nap closer to 3pm to get two full naps each day, but it's normal to have one not be a bit shorter.

Does she only have the two bottles during the day or is there one at bedtime as well? Even then, could she be hungry when she wakes at night? I also think cereal can be harder to digest. All those NWs could possibly be from tummy discomfort. Have you noticed any change in her bowels?

Why not offer the cereal/fruit in the morning for breakfast and make sure she's still getting all the milk she needs? Milk is still more important at this age and higher in calories than any solids she'll be getting, so you want to make sure she's getting enough.



Offline ecbohmer

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #10 on: February 24, 2015, 18:47:39 pm »
Thank you for your help!

I think you are right about the cereal, she has had constipation since she started it so I stopped a few days ago and I am giving her a bottle before bedtime instead (as I used to do 2 weeks ago) so she is having 4 bottles a day (8am, 4pm, bedtime and dreamfeed). I have been doing this for about 3 days but nothing has changed with the NW, her bowels are still not normal...



Offline katie80

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Re: 6 months old constantly waking at night
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2015, 00:47:09 am »
I'd give it a few more days and see if her bowels even out.

Are you giving her a chance to self-settle at the NWs or do you think you could be going in a bit too soon? Do you think the paci is an issue at all? Can she replug it herself?