How to get my 6 mo old back to sleep at night.

[leannew]

Hi

i have a spirited, touchy baby girl who has been waking two times a night to eat for about 2 months now.  She used to only wake once.  But lately she has been waking and wanting to stay awake and it takes 1.5 to 2 hours before she will go back to sleep.  She goes to bed around 7:30 to 8:00 and will wake up about 4.5 to 5 hours later and then 4 hours again after that.  It seems like at least 3 times a week, she will wake up one of those times and not want to go back to sleep.  We dont talk to her and her room is dark and quiet.  I will usually lay beside her and bf her and we will both go back to sleep but this is not working and we pat/shush her but it still takes her  a long time to go back to sleep.  We found that PU/PD was too stimulating for her so we don;t use it.  We just cut out her afternoon cat nap 4 days ago hoping that less sleep during the day will help at night but it hasn't made any difference yet.  She has been doing great with the two naps a day because she can easily stay up 2.5 hours without getting fussy.  I am wondering how we can get her back to sleep more easily.  I am also going to start doing wake to sleep to see if I can cut out that first feed.  She is having solids 3 times a day and bf 4 to 5 times a day so she shouldn't be hungry 2 times a night.

Anyway she is awake from her nap so I have to go.  Hope someone can give me some suggestions.

Thanks Leanne

[Diego's Mama]

Well, it sounds like the nursing is her prop and she depends on it to fall asleep and then looks for it when she wakes. Is she falling asleep on the breast and then going to her crib very drowsy or fully asleep?  How she initially falls asleep at night will dictate how the rest of the night goes too.

Has she started solids?  She may be truly hungry at these times if you're just in the process of establishing them.  How much does she eat during the daytime? 

How does she go to sleep for naps?

[leannew]

HI laura

The only time I nurse her to sleep is through the nite.  I have a mattress on the floor and when she wakes up I go in and lay with her and we both go back to sleep.  This works really well for us and I have been doing it since she was born.  I know I have to end this but I wanted to wait until she was on enough solids that I knew she wouldn't need to eat any more at night.  It has been only in the last 3 weeks that she is waking and not wanting to go back to sleep.  She doesn't really cry unless you dont go to her for a bit.  She just plays and talks.  When she does this we pat/shush until she goes to sleep but it can takeup to 2 hours before she will go back to sleep.
As for the solids she has been on them for 3 weeks now and she eats like a horse lol.  She has 5 tbsp 3 times a day and would probably eat more but I want to talk to her dr. first because I am worried about overfeeding her and then she wont get enough breastmilk.
As for naps she is fine.  She used to be a little hellion to put to sleep but after reading tracy's book and using her techniques it is much easier to put her to sleep.  All her naps and bedtime start with quiet time in her room, looking at a book and singing to her.  I then swaddle her, hold her for a bit patting and shushing and then put her in her crib awake and pat shush until she goes to sleep.  This has been working like a charm but I didn't want to have to start doing this in the middle of the night as well.
I dont know what else to tell you, I hope you or someone else can give me some ideas.  I want to cut out the early feeding soon and am going to try the wake to sleep and see if that helps.  I am just logging her sleep now to get a more consistent idea of when she wakes.  I go back to work in two months and need to be able to get more sleep.  I dont know if this is a developmental thing or seperation anxiety or what but this lack of sleep is killing us lol.

Thanks Leanne

[Diego's Mama]

When you think back, do the nightwakings coincide with starting solids?

Tracy would tell you not to go to her unless she's clearly upset and crying. By going to her during her nap when she's not settling, you're not giving her a chance to work things out on her own -- you're not giving her a chance to fall asleep on her own.  Do you have Tracy's newest book?  In it she teaches how to distinguish between a baby's "Mantra Cry" and a cry that you know means, 'get in here, I need help.'  It sounds like your baby is dependent upon you to settle back to sleep.

Have you had any difficulties with any solids you've started?  Constipation?  Stomach upset, etc?  Any chance she's teething or is on the verge of a developmental gain?

Does she suck her thumb or use a pacifier? 

How many naps a day and how many hours of awake time between them?  If you've not told me her age, include that.

[leannew]

Hi laura

She has been waking to eat at night 2 times for about 2.5 months which also coincided with her going to bed earlier.  She used to be colicky and wouldn't sleep until 10 or 11.  Now she goes at 8:00 so that could be why she wakes up 2 times a night.  The staying awake has been occurring since she started solids but I don't give her solids within two hours of bedtime because I found it would give her gas and make it difficult to get her to sleep.  Even for naps I make sure that she eats at least 1 hour before her nap.  It doesn't really seem to be related to her eating solids because she is not uncomfortable and crying just wants to play.  She has been teething on and off for the last month but nothing too serious. there was only a couple of nites that we actually gave her tylenol.  Other wise it hasn't been bothering her too much.  She just turned 6 mos last week.  As for developmental, she has rolled over a couple of times but it seems like she is too lazy lol to do it more often.  She doesn't seem to care whether she rolls or not.  I don't know how long this could affect her sleeping habits.  She doesn't really suck her thumb and never took a pacifier.
i think sometimes we do go in to early to her but it seems like if we leave her she wont settle back to sleep.  She has only done that 2 times since she was born.  She has never settled to sleep by herself.    I might try leaving her longer until I know she is really crying before I go in at night but I don't think that will help.  She needs to learn how to go back to sleep herself.Even with the pat/shush we have to do it until she is asleep because if I leave the side of the crib when she is almost asleep she will wake up.  It took alot just to get her to go in her crib awake and then go to sleep from there.

You said in an earlier post that you thought that she was associating nursing with going to sleep but I am wondering if she is associating waking with eating because since I got her on easy, I feed her as soon as she wakes up and maube this carries over into the night time.  It seems like this raises more questions than it answers any but I hope you can help me out some.  Thanks for responding.

Leanne

[leannew]

Hi agian Laura

Regarding the naps, she used to nap 3 times a day for 4 to 5 hours but I thought maybe that she was getting to much sleep during the day and that was what was causing her to stay awake at night.  For the last 5 days, she has been having 2 naps for  a total of 3 to 4 hours of sleep a day.  Here is her awake and sleep schedule it this will help.

8:00 awake and bf
9 breakfast
10 to 10:30 sleep  for 1.5 to 2 hours.
12 bf
1 lunch
2:45 to 3:15 sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours
4:30 bf (varies abit depending on how long she sleeps or how long I let her sleep)
5:30 supper
7 bf
7:30 to 8 bedtime

Sometimes the 7pm bf she doesn't take much, I just try to tank her up a bit.  The transition to two naps has gone reallysmoothly as she has been able to stay awake for 2.5 to 3 hours quite easily.

Thanks leanne