5.5 months old keep waking up every 1-3 hours after bedtime

[bbjmom]

My 5.5mths boy is on 3.45 hr E.A.S.Y with 2 hrs cluster feed after 4pm.  He usually in bed by 7-7:30pm.  Here is his schedule anyone sees anything wrong?

Between 7-8am: morning wake time
2 hours activity followed by 2 hours nap
Eat again at around 11-12p
2 hours activity followed by 2 hours nap
Always end last nap around 4pm
Cluster feed at 4pm, 6pm, and top up before bed time around 7pm
Goes to bed between 7-7:30pm
DF 10-11pm

Last night he went to bed at 7:20pm and up crying at 8pm.  Tried an hour of PU/PD didn't work.  Nursed one breast at 9pm and went to bed awake no cry.  Then up again at 1:10am and my night nurse used PU/PD six times to put him back to sleep at 3:05am!!   He was then up again at 6:10a!

Its been like this every night.  It used to be much shorter wake time when my night nurse would rock him to sleep.  Now we try PU/PD for 3 nights and its been a disaster.  I know we have to try longer so we will keep going but wonder if we also need to change our schedule.  I did try 6:30pm bedtime once didn't help but maybe I need to try for more nights.  I don't know!  Any help would be great! 

[FPT23]

Hello

Sorry to hear about your troubles

There are a few things to be aware of around this time, that is always good to take into consideration

LOs begin their nap transitions from 3-2 naps... this means pushing their A times. In my experience recently, and of course all babies are different... when he would wake suddenly after BT PD, it was normally because he wasn't AS tired to continue sleeping at night. I realized pushing A times through his day worked. Took a few days to adjust him, and then he slept on through. Something to try.... I see he's already on 2 naps and long naps for that matter! Great! ....but, I would try and push one of the other A times to 2.15/2.30 over the course of a few days/weeks. At this age their A times are ALL getting closer to 3 hours. His last A seems good. I would do 3 hr not 3.5 as that is pushing farther out. Try adjusting his A times and see if that works! Here's a link for you to keep on hand

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

I found that he was tired enough to fall asleep but not STAY asleep. Especially when you mentioned he was up but with no cries.

Around this time, also comes new found mobility! crawling may start to commence!! Yay! This can cause some disruption and a few NWs here and there as well.

One last thing... growth spurts! There is a growth spurt around this time so I would make sure he's getting enough in his days and not waking up at nights to make up for it. It's not uncommon to still BF at this age at nights. Usually until solids are well established do I feel nursing can be given up at nights. Also, starting solids is common around this age and may cause some tummy troubles. Not sure if you have started but, also something to think about if and when you are ready to begin solids .....you also mentioned you do a DF still... does he wake or do you wake him for this?

Hope this helps some. Xo!

[malibu_nikkus]

Hi there. We have the sam problem. Following to see if we can find a solution. We have increased wake time whoch helped lengthen day naps, but night wakings are happening more. Ah.

[FPT23]

Ahh
Sorry to hear that!

How old now?

Can you update us a bit more please

Current easy.

[malibu_nikkus]

For us, its dependent on if we have errands to run or not. If we are out and about he'll have a short nap in the morning and then a longer one in the afternoon.  If at home, other way around. He is 6mths today.

Yesterdays EASY
7am wake
10am nap
12pm wake
3pm. He fought this nap hard. No matter how much sleep he's had that day, he always seems to fight the second nap.  It's like trying to put a baby to sleep late in the afternoons when they are dropping their third nap.  Surely he isn't moving to one nap already...is he?
3.30/45pm wake
6.30pm - sleep - went to sleep with me standing next to the crib, uses a paci
He then woke 2hrly for the rest of the night. I only feed every 3-4hrs, otherwise I'll put the paci in and try and resettle the same way I got him to sleep in the evening.  Usually after 3am, he is IMPOSSIBLE to get resettled.  In the end I'm having to bring him into bed with me and feed to sleep.  This will then see us through to 7am. Not ideal but I don't know what else to do.

[FPT23]

Hi!

First I would rule out hunger, pain (either from possible teething and new solids beginning at this time), and of course -- if he's sleeping without a prop. Has he ever slept independently? Does he rely on you for to sleep every time or you to pop the paci back in?

Based on your EASY- it actually looks good! BUT, I would def increase the AT after such a long and glorious morning nap I would attempt to push slightly by 15 mins and see if that helps.

[bbjmom]

OP here.  Thanks so much for all the responses!  I'm still struggling!

Update:
LO is six months and I've introduced solids (cereal, avocado, chicken).  He eats well.


Latest schedule:
7:30 Wake, E(bm)
8:00 A
8:30 E (solid)
9:00 A
9:30 S (usually goes down quickly without help)
11:30 Up, E (bm)
12:00 A
12:30 E (solid)
1:30 S (usually goes down himself but sometimes takes a bit longer)
3:30 Up, E
4:00 A
4:30 E (solid snack)
5:00 A
5:30 Bath
6:00 (solid)
6:30 Bedtime routine (sometimes just sit by himself)
7:00 E (nurse)
7:30 S
10:30 DF
1am wake up and put back to sleep by rocking his bed.   Can take 15mins to 2 hours!!
4:00 same as previous nw but usually takes a long time to put back to sleep
5:30 / 6 am same thing.  If I feed him he only takes 2-3 oz
7:30 Wake w/o cry so I use this as his wake time to start the day.  Sometimes he sleeps till 8am especially when he was up for 2 hours the night before


I tried DF at different time between 10p-midnight nothing works. LO simply wakes up every three hours and even more frequently after 5am!  He also won't take bottle at DF and only nurses one side.  During the day he takes bottle and would go to bed by himself so I don't understand why he is so needy at night!  I do work during the day and only nurse when I'm home not sure if that matters.

I don't know what to do welcome any suggestions!

[Martini~]

Is he daily sleep 4h? If so, I would definitely work towards 3h as 4h for many Los at that age will prevent from good night sleep.

[malibu_nikkus]

I'm still having problems. For a few weeks he would settle with paci and me standing next to the cot, but now he needs me to roll him on his side with paci in.  Last night he self settled with paci, me out of the room but still woke 2-3hrly. I don't know what to do. I only feed at night if it's been after 3hrs, otherwise his crib is nex to me so I put paci in and put my hand on his chest and he goes back to sleep.  He's so dependent on me being there. I don't know what to do.

[Martini~]

Hon, sleep training in any form is hard work and you need consequence. One off here or there won't bring you solution. If you want your child to STTN or just sleep better you need to stick to a solution. At that age imho feeding every 3h is a prop, as is the paci. If you want to change something you would need to stick to a chosen solution for 2 weeks at least, and accept that there would be good nights and bad nights at first.