Author Topic: 14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!  (Read 2174 times)

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Offline Cecilia~Olivia's mom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« on: September 11, 2005, 08:10:20 am »
Hi all.
Olivia has been waking at 2:50am for almost a week now.  She has been a baby who has had night sleep issues, but usually multiple night wakings at all different times.  This finally came to an end just after 11 months, but know things have changed.
I want to try the wake to sleep method & I guess I will try it tomorrow night; I need to break this cycle.
I think it began when she cut her seventh tooth last week, the same time she started at the new sitter (which is going surprisingly well).  Anyhow,  think I am guilty of accidental parenting as well, because I was having the guilty mom syndrome (new sitter, returned back to work almost a month etc.)  She had several rough nights where I picked her up & cuddled her for longer than I should have.  I did this for one nap & the same night waking as well.  After that it seemed like she was looking forward to the attention.  If were teeth, she would be miserable rather than happy to see either DH or me.  We have fed her about 4 times during this week of wakings, which she has drank a full bottle, but still hard to settle afterwards, taking about 2 hours a night.  Tonight DH gave her a 1/2 & 1/2 bottle, milk & water. 
She will wake fussing. babble and then cry.  She seems to be uncomfortable & not pooping as well as she normally does during the day as well, being extra clingy, overtired & fussy as the day goes on.  I'm sure anxiety fits in there somewhere too.
1.  Is this a common pattern for this age?
2.  should night feeds be stopped even though she could very well be hungry due to less food consumption during the day? (even though she has slept well in the past with less than 1/2 her normal food intake)
Upon finally settling, we wait several minutes before leaving the room, but she will wake shortly afterward, thus making it a long wake up session for the night.  The air matt in the room seems not to work either this time around.  It's as if she would gladly stay up if we let her.
3.  Is this developmental?
She was given Motrin 3 times in the last week (7 days), at night.  One night earlier just before bed & she slept well.  One night after an hour of wake time, makes her groggy a clumsy during the day & one night a day ago, before bed again, but still the same 2:50am wake up.  This shows me that Motrin is not necessary, especially if she wakes at the same time anyways. she is teething though because she is rubbing her face and gnawing sometimes, hard to tell if she is thirst/hungry as well.  We do a diaper change before trying p/d (which she will do on her own if asked), meds or bottle.  As a last reort, we will do the whole wind down routine as if it were bed time to help her settle.  Aside from the new sitter, not much has changed in her daily routine, but I suspect that her nap will start to become a problem.  for the last 6 weeks she has been napping like a champ, 2.5-3.25hours (one nap) & her night sleep was so peaceful.  I really want that to happen again. 
4. Is her overtiredness during/end of the day a big part of this?  Even though we offer an earlier nap & bedtime (20min earlier) as well as longer 'low key' periods during the day, she does not seem like she has made up for her lost sleep or been put back on track.
5.  Is wake to sleep the answer here?
Any suggestions or survival stories appreciated.  TIA.


Holly n Harvie

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2005, 23:39:54 pm »
Hello Cecilia,

Well, I only have a 4 month old, so I dont know if I will be any help.
Is there a reason why she is not eating much during the day? If she ate more during the day she will sleep better during the night. The night feeds only disturb her and it will be a really hard habbit to break.
The waking at the same hour every night is a habitual thing according to the BW book so Wake to Sleep may be something to try. You never know. You may have to do it a few nights in a row.
Sorry if this is all stuff you know. I know how hard it is to have a LO not sleeping through ESPECIALLY at Olivia's age! Good Luck!!

Offline Cecilia~Olivia's mom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2005, 00:48:45 am »
Hello Holly.
thanks for your reply.  I just decided to see if any replies were sent, & saw yours, unfortunately i did not recieve it in my in box?
Anyhow, Olivia woke again at 2:50am, we gave her 1/2 water & half milk & she decided she was not intersted, so no more night feeds.  Tonite I will try the wake to sleep method, so hope it works out.  Olivia also has a bit of a cold too, it's been bothering her all weekend & affecting her naps too.  every time there are night wakings, habitual or not (mostly not habitual aside from this week & when she was a little wee thing), there's always a reason, a cold surfacing just when I'm at my witts end.  I hope this passes quickly so we can get back on track.  i'm sure there will be plenty more colds comimg her way, especially with fall/winter just around the corner.   
thanks for your imput & support.  Cecilia


Offline Colesmom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2005, 13:17:26 pm »
Cecilia...did you try wake to sleep?  did it work?  I'm considering it myself tonight and am curious.

Thank you

Traci
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Offline Cecilia~Olivia's mom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2005, 13:16:42 pm »
worked like a charm.  The next night she woke again, but at an odd time.  Her humidifier ran out of water, so i filled it up, gave her a taste of water from her sippy & then some orajel & she settled & asleep within 45min.  The night I did wake to sleep...took 45 min to get her back to sleep - no crying or michevious behaviour onher part either.  I tell you, 45 min for 2 nights sure beats 2+ hours every night for a week!  BTW, She napped 2.5hrs (the norm) & she slept through last night, no meds, just coughing from 9-11pm, snuck in & gave her gripe water which she took half asleep & went back to sleep immediately.  I still use the stuff once in a while & for some reason it works better now than it did before when she was an infant.  :?  Her appitite is improving as well which is a good sign too.  Looks like we are getting back on track, fingers crossed.  We still have 13 teeth to go, it's going to be tough but we'll all survive it together.
Good luck.


Holly n Harvie

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2005, 23:42:40 pm »
Oh Cecilia, that is GREAT news about Olivia. Congrats. Its cool to see something like WTS work. That is encouraging for me for the future. See, you taught ME something!!! Good luck with it sticking. I amstill trying to break Harvie of the 45 min nap. The morning nap seemed to work... so we will see. I was getting quite discouraged as I have been doing it for 3 days and nothing seemed to be changing. He is sleeping better through the night too. YIPEEEE Sleep for Mummy !!!!  :wink:

Offline Cecilia~Olivia's mom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2005, 01:26:27 am »
Sleep is good!! :lol:


Offline bananasmom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2005, 00:47:02 am »
Hi Cecilia 8)
    Your original post describes exactly what is going on with my DD (12 months) right now! I feel like I could have written it. My problem is that I'm not sure what to do with her when she wakes up during the night right now. We have previously very successful with PD (which is why she's sleeping so much better than a month ago) but right now that doesn't seem to be working for us. She is waking up between 3:30 and 4:30 am (although not at a predictable time every night so it's hard to do wake to sleep) and it's taking us hours to settle her. She is obviously teething and is also very grumpy during the day. When we pick her up she will try to bite our shoulders and face and anything else she can fit her little mouth around. We are giving her motrin/tylenol but she just will not settle back to sleep. My DH did PD with her for 1.5 hours last night and got her to sleep several times but she would wake up screaming a few minutes later. I am getting to the end of my energy supply (I started back to work two weeks ago) and am desperate to help my DD feel better and also get some more sleep. Any suggestions would be very welcome! I don't think PD is really working for us right now because she is in pain and wakes up right away again so I guess I just need to know how I can help her with teething, get her to settle more quickly (all without instilling bad habits), and get myself some more sleep :lol:

Thanks for any suggestions people may have :D

Sheryl

Offline georgia's mama

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2005, 01:28:25 am »
we had a similar situation with our lo right around 12/13 months where she was having these night wakings several times a night and her paci wouldn't calm her so we did PD and it worked great.  apparently it is very common around that age for this to happen (that's what i was told when i posted something just like yours), their minds are extremely active with how much they are moving around now compared to when they were just wee.
as far as teething goes, it has been different for us for almost every tooth but this is what we have done recently because this seems to be the worst of it (ps. our lo is 15 mos).  we found acetominaphin (sp?) suppositories worked way way better then Tempra and even Motrin (it's faster acting because it goes in the heinie and there is no fighting with them to take it or keep it in their mouth).  our dr. recommended that we use it for as long as we needed to at bedtime (if she was fussy right then or not) but only the one dose, not to do it every 4 hours for several days because we all know how long teething can last.  the other thing we did was give her a sippy of water to keep in her crib and use a dimmer switch on her light so she could see a bit.  we could hear her in the middle of the night sucking on her sippy!!!  this was the best we could do and if we had to cuddle her it was okay because she was in pain...apparently teething is ALOT worse at night for some reason.  if it starts to happen consistently at the same time every night for more then 3 days, it's obviously a habit and you could try PD.
hope this helps i posted myself just the other day.
good luck and let me know how things go.
loving my baby girl


Offline bananasmom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2005, 03:50:20 am »
Thanks so much for the reply  :D 

  I guess the second part of my question is this: she gets so worked up (because of the pain I guess) and she just really wants to nurse for comfort. I am afraid of doing that because I don't want to get her in the habit of nursing during the night again. Do you think that allowing her to comfort herself by nursing would be okay at this point as long as I'm putting her back in her bed to fall asleep or should I just keep avoiding it all together?

Thanks again!

Sheryl

Offline georgia's mama

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #10 on: September 16, 2005, 15:58:48 pm »
i didn't nurse for very long myself but i know that with a bottle once we stopped the night feedings we stopped.  i was afraid that it would start all over again.  would a sippy of water work? or giving them a bit of breast milk in a sippy and giving it to them while you wait...or how about a hard teether or a paci...cold was cloth.  the thing we found too was not to take her out of her crib unless absolutely necessary so we would try to comfort her other ways.  hope this helps
loving my baby girl


Offline Cecilia~Olivia's mom

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #11 on: September 16, 2005, 16:38:19 pm »
Hi Sheryl.
Teething is so much fun isn't it? :cry:
Just give comfort & if you feel the need to feed, no breast, just bottle with very little milk.  I watered down Olivia's & she decided it was not in her interest to drink it after the 3rd time.  Just be careful with the comforting thing.  I know it feels wonderful to have your little angel close to your heart & in your arms, especially when not well & you seem to have a calming effect, but this will back fire - it did for me.  So I just gave enough cuddles & kisses & when it was time, I'd lay her back down (with a dose of meds & fresh diaper b-4 hand) & lay right down beside her crib on an air mat (that I have readily available hiding under her crib & covered up by the skirt).  at least this way if she feels the need to be near me, I'm there.  she is so tired at this point that after about 5-10 min, from standing to sitting then she usually lays down & falls asleep.  Mind you when she feels this way, she tends to wake up ALOT, but knows to look for me on the floor by her crib & settles quickly.  I usually do this for one night (the really bad one).  You may have to do it for 1-2 nights, depends.  This is just my suggestion, seems to have worked or maybe I was just better able to handle the situation using these methods. Beats getting up a hundred & one times during the night.  at least you will be lying down & semi comfortable - just make sure you have a blanket in there to for yourself. DO NOT do wake to sleep if it is not the same time every night give or take 5/10 min. or if baby is sick/pain.   Good luck & wishes of good sleep for you & your lo sent your way!

Georgia’s mama - I think I may try the sippy idea in with Olivia in the next few months...I’m sure I’ll be running out of ideas real soon & we have 13 more teeth to go, yeah.


Offline georgia's mama

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14 mos old waking at 2:50am for a week-help!
« Reply #12 on: September 16, 2005, 20:50:52 pm »
oh yeah teething is such a sad time...for everybody.  you just feel so bad for them.  georgia is literally working on 8, yes 8 teeth at once  :cry:  :evil:  :shock:  another thing is that we tried not to veer from her routine or schedule unless absolutely necessary, ie. taking her out of the crib, sleeping on the floor, bringing into bed, bathing at 3:00 am and feeding her cheese toast and watching baby einstein at 4:00 am - you know crazy things that we have to do to make them feel better.  i think that you just do what you have to for the interm and those really crazy times and when you both feel well enough to cope, deal with getting back on track.
loving my baby girl