6.5 month night waking and early waking!

[tathi-b]

Hi,

My little girl is 6.5 months and has been pretty much sleeping through the night (7pm - 7am!) from 9weeks.  We've had a few stumbles along the way and had to adjust her schedule and I'm so grateful to this forum for all the help I've received so far. 

I'm here again - I have tried everything that I can think of to push her WU time past 6am (at this point, I'd be happy with 6/6:30!) and now we have some night wakings in the mix to sort out!

She has pretty consistently woken up around 5:30 most days for almost two months now, so I think it won't be all that easy to move her back to 7am.  After the 4month sleep regression (which was bad, very bad!) her sleep her was all over the place (short naps, night wakings, early wakings, generally overtired and crabby all the time!).  We have slowly managed to increase her nap times and awake times so she isn't overtired anymore, the last piece of the puzzle is the 5am cot party (and now the night wakings)! 

I work full time so I have to admit that of late I have been holding her in the darkened room and she sits on my knee very happily playing with her fingers or my hair until 7am when the nanny takes over for the morning and I leave for work. I don't want her to get used to starting the day that early, but equally I think I might be teaching her that she gets cuddle time with mummy when she wakes up at that ungodly hour!

To add to everything else, she also seems to be teething.  There is lots of hand eating and biting of anything that she can get her little hands on and her nappies are always full.

Her EASY at the minute goes more or less like this (allow 15 minutes give or take)

WU - 5am/ 5:30
Sit with mummy until 7am

E - 7am - milk
E - 8:30 - Breakfast
S - 9:30

A - 11am
E - 11am - milk
E - 12:30 - Food
S - 1:30

A - 3pm
E - 3pm - milk
E - 5pm - Dinner

5:30 - bath
6:15 - Milk
Story
Bed by 6:30/ 6:45

DF - 10:30

At the minute her night wakings are at 8:30 for a few seconds, just before the dream feed (could she be hungry?), 3:30am for a few seconds and then again at 5am when I can't resettle her anymore - she chats, smiles, sings. At the 8:30 and 3:30 wake ups she doesn't quite wake but cries in her sleep?  I literally turn her on her side and give her the lovey and she sleeps again... If I don't go then she wakes up and it takes much longer to settle her again.

Any insight on what I can do would be really appreciated!

xx

[FPT23]

Hi there! Her schedule looks great!

Teething is definitely a big possibility! Have you tried medicating?

I do want to also mention there is a growth spurt at around the 6mth mark- so that is something to consider as well! Upping the oz or more sessions at the breast for now. Another thing to consider.

Also, you are right about encouraging her WU time to be at 5am if you go and play with her etc. It will teach her that, that is an appropriate wake time since mom comes in and plays ....

One last bit of advice--- being as how she's happy waking at nights, have you considered pushing her A time a bit more in her day? I see she gets 2.5 hr awake time after her first nap- maybe try increasing that one a bit more? Hopefully the long nap continues and also maybe push BT a little later? Something to try. At her age as she is getting closer to 7 months-- most are averaging 3/3.15 hrs of A time?

You may also have to accept that your LO does best on 11hr nights too! So maybe pushing that midday A time can push her BT a little later and at least get you into the 6am range. Many babies at this age also have EWs and it could just be developmental.

Hang in there! hope this helps

[tathi-b]

Hi there,

Thanks for your input!

She was definitely hungry, last night I gave her an extra 60ml after the dream feed and she went straight to 6am with no NW! I'll increase her before bed bottle because she woke up a few minutes before her 22:30 bottle and also her dream feed and hopefully that will sort the night waking out.  One problem at a time... Once she is done with this growth spurt (another couple of days I'm guessing?) we can take the milk back down to the 150ml per bottle in the evening.

We are slowly pushing her towards taking her afternoon nap closer to 2pm but it's by about 5 minutes every few days.  She is so active that she tires herself to a standstill!  I think that part of the problem is that her bed time is a tad early at the minute but equally she can't seem to stay awake past 18:30 without becoming overtired! 

I could hear her singing in her cot at 6am today but didn't go to her until 6:30 so a big improvement already!

Thanks for the idea to increase the feeds! x

[FPT23]

Aww glad things went well then!

[tathi-b]

It's getting worse!    

I don't know how to fix it!  She cries so hard, as if she is in pain!  I've medicated her thinking it's teeth but she wakes up a half hour later at around 9pm.  I've considered a paci dependency, but the rest of the night she is fine without it and often falls asleep with no paci.  And when she is crying she is so distraught that she won't take it either... In fact, when I offer it to her she slaps my hand away.  It took me over 45 minutes to settle her the first time she was up last night.  Wonder weeks?  She is 28 weeks now so I thought we were past that?


Her EASY yesterday was:

WU - 6am (hurray!  We moved it to a more reasonable time but she is still wide awake and there is no settling her back down)
Sit with mummy until 7am

E - 7am - milk
E - 8:30 - Breakfast
S - 9:30

A - 10:40 (really short nap for her)
E - 11am - milk
E - 12:30 - Food
S - 1:30

A - 2:40 (another short nap)
E - 3pm - milk
E - 5pm - Dinner (already tired)

5:20- bath
5:45 - Milk
Bed by 6pm - asleep by 6:15

9pm - awake and crying lots which is not like her at all. 
9:15/ 9:20 - We thought she was hungry so offered her the bottle.  She took 90ml (of the 180ml dreamfeed she would normally have at 10:30)
10pm - Settled

11pm - Crying again
11pm - offered other half of the bottle.
11:20 - gave some gas drops (maybe griping pain?)

Midnight feel asleep on my chest so I put her in bed

5am woke up briefly - shush pat back to sleep

6am woke up wimpering but not crying

Sat with me until 7am when we got up for the day.

She was super fussy all day and biting loads so gave her some Panadol at bed time thinking it could be teething. Now thinking about it wondering if it could be a sore throat (mine is a bit scratchy) or maybe tummy ache (she was very constipated yesterday).

I think I exhausted every avenue!  Help!!

xx

[FPT23]

Oh noooo! Hugs

Wonder weeks go up until 72-76 weeks believe it or not. Or so they say! Into the toddler years.

I would say that many NWs so close together (from 9-11) could be discomfort. Have you tracked what she is eating and what could be affecting her? I see her dinner is really close to BT too. Maybe try moving it to 4pm and see if that could be an issue? Perhaps? Just a suggestion

If she's short napping maybe try decreasing her next A time to avoid "some" OT. Cut it back 10-15 mins? That might help a bit too maybe.

Hugs

[tathi-b]

She has CMPA and had been doing beautifully on the ladder. The minute  I realised that could be the culprit I stopped giving her any milk products and she's a different baby already! Napped like a champ and only woke up once last night at 9pm for 10 minutes. She probably had tummy pain.

Because of her allergy we are really careful with what she eats so at the minute she's still getting used to foods, 1 veg or 2 and fruit. Your suggestion to make dinner earlier is good though. That would give her more time to digest before going to bed.

I'm so scared that she will stop sleeping (she didn't for the first 8 weeks!) that I panic every time there is a blip!

Thank you so much for your help!x

[FPT23]

Oh so sorry to hear that

But I'm glad she's better and hope it continues! That must've been tough :-/

Your welcome