Author Topic: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!  (Read 2097 times)

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Offline Sarahmm

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6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« on: June 11, 2018, 18:56:33 pm »
My DD used to go to bed at clockwork at 7pm but for the last two weeks has on/off being falling asleep at 7.45-8.30pm. She’s tired and rubbing her eyes when I start her bath routine but as soon as I put her to bed she’s wide awake. We intermittently do walk in/walk out when she grizzles. We dropped the CN about 3 weeks ago and when we increased her A time to 3 hours. I started purees at lunch today so only just on the weaning road. I have also been introducing a bottle before bed to help her to sleep longer at night.  Our routine is:

Wu- 7
E- 7.10
A
E-8.10
S- 10-12
E- 12.10
A
E- 13.10
S- 15.00-16.00
E- 16.10
A
E- 17.10
Bath- 18.00
E- 18.30
Bedtime- 19.00

She only sleeps 13hrs a day which isn’t enough! What am I doing wrong?!


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2018, 20:43:22 pm »
Hi there
It sounds like she maybe got OT from dropping the CN and that's what has brought on this BT problem.  Does she actually need you at BT?  Is she crying?

Have you tried to extend nap 2 so that it's 1.5 - 2hr long?  At 6 months and having only just dropped the third nap she could probably do with two long naps.
have you tried an earlier BT if that second nap is only 1hr long?  Maybe at 2.5hr A time instead of 3hr?


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2018, 21:00:18 pm »
Hi Creations, thank you for your quick reply! At BT at the moment, she goes down asleep from her feed and about two mins later starts chattering and screeching. Eventually it becomes a whinge which is when we go in/out until finally she cries and we do pu/pd.
I’ve not tried extending nap 2 as she’s only just started making it through to 1hr then wakes up happy (bad case of the 34min sleep ☹️). But I can try that.
Also will try pushing BT earlier. She was rubbing her eyes at 6pm so I’ll try a 2.5 hr activity and see if that helps.

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2018, 21:10:56 pm »
I’ve not tried extending nap 2 as she’s only just started making it through to 1hr then wakes up happy
Well that's a good result if you were getting only 34 mins previously :)
I would try to extend it though, a short nap is not really suitable at this age unless a LO is low sleep needs.  How about trying a W2S for 3 - 4 days on that second nap?  Are you familiar with the method?
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=223809.0
look at naps options 1.  You will adapt it to your LO, use whatever soothing method you'd usually use, shush/pat or a firm hand or stroking, a key phrase if you use one.  Also adapt the time, you need to be in the room about 10 min before she wakes, so around 50 min into the nap. Either begin the W2S or hover your hand very very close and wait for the first sign of waking then begin.  Sooth and keep going until she's asleep and then keep going until deep sleep, 20 mins.  If she fully wakes and cries you might need to pick up and try to resettle her.
See how that goes.
If it isn't helping after 4 days perhaps add an additional 10 mins onto the second A time (before nap 2) and see if that helps along with the W2S.
Increasing A time might lead to an OT nap which you'd need to resettle, if so then the following day go in to start W2S earlier to see her through the nap and see how long you can get it.

You can still do the earlier BT until that nap extends.
You can also try at BT to stay a bit longer with her, if you are putting down asleep from the BF maybe stay 20 mins and continue having a hand on her either firm or patting, whatever you usually use. is she usually an independent sleeper putting her self to sleep for naps and night?


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2018, 15:34:22 pm »
As soon as we moved her A time to 3 hrs she started clocking better naps. (Though that's not happened today 🙈) The best sleep I've managed to get her to do is 14 hours in a day so she's definitely at the lower end for sleep.
She has become an independent sleeper probably the last three weeks, though this can change day to day. She's supposed to be an angel/textbook baby but as soon as we correct ourselves on one thing she changes something else!
I've never done shush/pat with her. I do pu/pd and a firm hand but that's not always successful at getting her back to sleep. Is it too late to start shush/pat? She does get easily distracted so if the curtain is slightly open she is looking at it!

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2018, 09:15:16 am »
You can use a firm hand for W2S, any key phrase you use along with the PUPD?  Often there's a key phrase involved which you can then use at any time it's needed for verbal reassurance even if you are not physically picking up and putting down, so firm hand (with a little rock or rub is fine if that's what you do) and the phrase repeated at needed.  The idea is that as she starts to wake you are giving her the soothing, reassurance and instruction to go back to sleep so do whatever you would do on a nap or BT when she's harder to go down and you have to help more, same thing.  Don't worry about props this is a short term method which do use 4 days on 1 day off the see results then maybe repeat the cycle. It teaches the habit of sleeping longer and confidence to transition from cycle to cycle - she doesn't need to wake to check everything is okay because you are already there telling her it is.

Some LOs do need a bit more than 3hrs A time. I would increase with caution say 10 min rather than anything big if you do need to increase.


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2018, 18:11:56 pm »
I tried w2s and managed to get an extra twenty mins from her so I'll take that as a small victory. I then tried pu/pd to no avail. So she did 1hr 20 mins. I will keep trying though!
We've also tried an earlier bedtime tonight but she's having none of it and is currently yelling her head off with my husband ☹️

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2018, 19:00:26 pm »
Ok, she’s still awake and I’m so confused. The days were her naps are bad and she as 4hr A pre bed she’s goes down at 70’ bedtime. Today she’s slept better and had 2.5 A pre bed and she’s now at 3.5 hours and not asleep! Help!

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2018, 08:36:39 am »
When routines change things can seem confusing.  You'd need to continue for several days (or longer) to see what happens really.
You did say that there was a BT issue of her not going to sleep well which I think is indicating OT after a shortish nap and a long A time.  Sometimes OT can result in the occasional really good nap or BT as it builds up until eventually LO crashes for a good long sleep, or non-resistant BT.  Try not to get confused by the occasional time she went right to sleep at 7pm because if this was consistent I doubt you would have started the thread about the BT issue.

1hr 20 nap is better and more suitable for her age.  If you can get it a bit longer then great. I would continue with what was suggested:
- W2S for 3-4 days, then hold off to see what happens
- if the nap doesn't extend properly another cycle of W2S (3-4 days again) and possibly an additional 10 min A time before nap 2
- if nap 2 is short (1hr) then reduce A time before BT.  Adding to this I would suggest if the nap is extended you could increase the last A time to 2hr 45.  If the nap extends significantly (1.5 - 2hr long) then I would follow that with a full A time of 3hrs.
- I would not in any case aim for a 4hr A time prior to BT.
- If she is screaming and crying at BT to a significant degree where she just can't calm down I suggest bringing her out of her room to help her calm. Perhaps stay in a dimly lit area but different room, have a cuddle and calm words, then try again.

Sleep begets sleep. It might seem that she is not tired at BT but I believe it is more likely she is too tired to relax properly for her night sleep.  If she can nap better in the day she is more likely to go to bed easier and more calmly and be able to relax for her night sleep.
The process of increasing nap length, overcoming any OT build up and getting a consistent routine in place will likely take a week or two with the methods and times I've suggested.  You can post updates and you go if you like :)


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2018, 11:21:11 am »
Thank you creations. Sorry for the posts yesterday. I’m just getting so fustrated as we’ve been working on nap lengthening for two months! I will keep you updated!

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #10 on: June 15, 2018, 08:09:53 am »
It's okay. I understand the frustrations, been there myself :)

Post updates if and when you want to just try not to expect an immediate change.
You're doing well to have dropped to 2 naps and increased the nap length so remember your successes.  Also that time from 4-6 month is a time when very many people struggle with short naps (my DS had 40 min naps from 3.5 - 5.5 months), it can be very draining, but your are coming out the other side now and 6 months is a better age for sleep as it starts to calm down.
Hang in there x


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2018, 14:30:52 pm »
Update!

We had one day (Friday) of good naps 1hr 30mins in the morning and 1hr 28mins in the afternoon. She went down at 7pm and all was well.
Saturday things changed. She did a 1hr 14min nap in the morning then we were out for her second nap. This resulted in only 30 mins 🙈 We put her to bed at 6.20 and she was out like a light but awake at 5.45am!
Sunday she did a 1hr 42 min nap in the morning but did only 41 mins in the afternoon. I put her down at 6.30 and she was again fast asleep in seconds. However, she was awake at 5.30 this morning. Should I be putting her down at 6pm and is this OT the reason for the early wake ups?
Both Sunday and today I've tried to do w2s but she has woken up and won't resettle despite my best efforts! 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2018, 09:13:04 am »
Okay, the feeling I get from your update is that she might need an extra 10 min on the first A time.  The reason is that after a good night she took a shorter first nap but after a bad night and early wake she napped longer. I think you are on 3hr currently so I'd go to 3hr 10 first A time, try the W2S if you can and just try to get that nap 1hr 30 or more.

Second nap, you might need ot play by ear for now. If the first nap is 1hr 30 or over I'd add 10 mins to the second A time because she neds to be tired enough to take a longer second nap.
If the first nap is shorter than 1hr 30 though I would keep the second A shorter.  Try to extend nap 2.

is this OT the reason for the early wake ups?
I do think that OT is the likely reason for the earlier waking.  You can certainly try 6pm BT to try to hold off the OT but ideally you need 2 long naps to keep her well rested and to promote good sleep.
Certainly keep the last A shorter, absolutely not more than 3hr and even less (2.5hr or even 2hr) if she only had a CN for nap 2.

Good luck :)


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Re: 6 month old no longer settling at night time- Help!
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2018, 10:12:18 am »
Thank you I’ll give that a try and see! Will let you know my progress!