7 months old never stopped waking up 2 times at night since 3 months.

[Karole]

Hi. Sorry if my English is not very good.

My daughter is 7 months old and she wakes up EVERY SINGLE NIGHT between 10pm - 11pm and then between 2am - 3am since she was 3 months. I always BF her and she eats a lot. She is on E.A.S.Y. since 2 months (the waking at 10pm - 11pm started from 3 months).
I always wonder whether she wakes up because she is hungry or because of habit. I have already tried "wake to sleep" once and I was waking her at 9pm, but it never worked properly, and she always really woke up. Never could do that for more than 2 days in a row.

I would love to understand whether she wakes up because of habit or hunger, and after that, the proper way to deal with it.

Thanks a lot!!

[becj86]

Hi Karole,

Can you post what your daughter's day routine is like? eg.
7 - wake up, feed
8 - solids
10:30 - nap
12 - wake up, feed
and so on.

It is normal for a baby this age to still wake at least once per night for a feed - are you feeding at any of her wakings?

[Karole]

Hi.

Her routine is:

7 - wake up, feed
8 - 8:30 - solids
9 - nap
10:30 - wake up, feed (sometimes this nap lasts up to 2 hours, but she usually sleeps from 40min to 1:30)
12 - solids
13 - nap
14 - wake up , feed
16 - nap
17 - 17:30 - wake up, feed
19 - feed, bath, bedtime at 19:30 - 20:00.

Sometimes it looks like that:

7 - wake up, feed
8:30 - solids
9 - nap
11 - wake up, feed
12:30 - solids
13:00 - nap
14:00 - 14:30 - wake up, feed
16:30 - nap
18:00 - wake up
19 - feed, bath, bedtime at 19:30 - 20:00)

I'm introducing solids at night but I still don't know what the best time is.

The things happened this way: when she was almost 3 months I started dreamfeeding her at 11pm (she used to sleep until 1am without waking up). The thing is she started waking up when I pick her up, and in a few days she was waking up on her own between 10pm - 11pm. That was when I stopped feeding her so that she doesn't get the habit of waking up, but it was already late. She never stopped waking up ever since...! I used to calm her in the crib without feeding her and she went back to sleep, but sometimes it took almost 1 hour, then I tried "wake to sleep", but it never worked properly for more than 2 days. When she was 5 months I started feeding her again so that she could calm faster, and I've been doing that ever since. And she never stopped waking up at 2 - 3am since she was born, and I always feed her at this time.

It's been 2 nights I stopped feeding her at 22pm again and I'm calming her by patting or giving the paci - which is something I really would't like to do - she sleeps and then wakes up for a feed between 2 - 3am. I noticed she eats better, and wakes up at 7am, which wasn"t happening in the last 10 days, when she also started waking up ate 5am, but I guess that was a growth spurt, wasn't it?

Sorry if I talked a lot, but I had to so that you could understand how things got this way.

Thank you for your help!!

[becj86]

Alright, I think her night will probably improve if we can get her awake for a bit longer in the daytime. I suspect the 5am waking is your LO saying she needs more A time rather than that she's hungry.

At 6 months, average A times are 2:45-3hr and your 7mo is doing 2-2.5hr. She's either high sleep needs or really angelic. I think the best thing to do will be to increase her A times, drop down to 2 naps instead of 3 and get to a night of 11-12hr and a day of 12-13hr.

I'm envisioning a shift to a routine like this:
7 - wake, feed
8:30 - solids + milk drink
10 - nap
11:30/12 - wake, feed
1:30 - solids + milk drink
2:30/3 (depending upon when she woke) - nap
4:30ish - wake, feed
6 - solids + milk drink
7/7:30 - asleep in bed for the night

You can move towards that with some smaller increases on A time or you can just jump there straight away - you know your LO best as to what she will cope with. Whilst you increase A times, you may get some OT 30min wakings from naps as the A times, whilst age-appropriate are longer that she's used to. They should be easy to resettle if you jump in before she gets too worked up and should pass in 1-3 days.

when she was almost 3 months I started dreamfeeding her at 11pm (she used to sleep until 1am without waking up). The thing is she started waking up when I pick her up, and in a few days she was waking up on her own between 10pm - 11pm. That was when I stopped feeding her so that she doesn't get the habit of waking up, but it was already late. She never stopped waking up ever since...!

I think a combination of being a touch more tired at bedtime and using wake to sleep will help with this. It certainly sounds habitual. I think I'd try the routine change first, then use WTS if she's still waking at 11pm after the change.

What was her behaviour like when she woke at 5am? Did she resettle easily?