Still waking in the night NO idea what to try next! 7mnths

[loopyloo80]

Hi

I am reaching the end of my tether,

My little boy is almost 7 months old. he has never slept through the night and I am returning to work in a week and dont knowwhat to try next.

He is fully weaned and breastfed.
His typical day is something like this

5/6 am Breastfeed (this early because I will be leaving for work at 6.30am!) then back to sleep
7.30am Wake
8am Breakfast
9.30 am Sleep usually 30-40 mins) - sometimes longer
10.45/11am - Biscuit and water
12pm - lunch & pudding
12.30pm Nap (30-40 mns)
3pm BF (or EBM when at work)
4pm Biscuit/Rice cake & water
4.30pm Napy (30-40 mins - sometimes longer)
5.30pm Dinner & Pudding
6.40 Bath
6.50 BF
7pm Bed

Day does vary if we have been out and he sleeps in car or if he has a late nap (after 5pm) then we move bedtime later to about 7.30

He struggles to nap if not in cot or car, if we are at someones house or out but he will eventually go!

He eats LOADS

3 weeks ago I cut down both the daytime feeds and then cut out all night feeds (he was feeding every 3 hours ish at night) I offered water in the night if he woke and it worked briefly - he started after a week waking at 11/12 ish just for his dummy to be resettled then had a small drink of water at about 4 am.. I then fed him when he woke around 6ish and he then reslept till 7.30
However the past 3 days he has woken at about 11 and wanted water (will not resettle with dummy) and at 4am he has become so agitated and upset at the water its taken an hour of crying fidgeting etc to get him back to sleep for him to wake again, so I have given in and fed him at about 5 am..

I dont know what else to try. He gets excited when he sees the water bottle!! Which i didnt want to happen!
I am on my own so have no partner to help or go in. I am also moving house this weekend and starting work next tuesday so am really worried what will happen.

ANy advice PLEASE

Lorraine and Freddie x

[loopyloo80]

He sleeps on his front or side, and he has just learnt to crawl which doent help as he tried this in the night in his grobag !!

L x

[newaussie]

Have you tried the same resettling technique each time he wakes?  It will take some time for any method to work.  Even if you give in and feed it might still be worthwhile to go back to the same technique the next night and try it again.  (You don't need to feel bad about giving in.  You're human)

Eventually he will realize a pattern and it will take less time to settle.  One of the things Tracy always mentions is patience.  Nothing will work in one or two days.   Try to decide on a plan and stick to it.  It really took me a long time to learn that but when I finally decided to do sleep training with my DD I knew that if I gave in it would be back to square one.  I actually was very motivated because I knew that no matter how tough it was that if I stuck to my plan it would work and I would have more sleep and be much happier! 

One thing that might help is to actually keep track every night of exactly what you do to resettle and how long it takes.  It might help you stay on track when you see you are making progress.

Just some ideas.  Good Luck.  You will get there.

Judy

[loopyloo80]

But When he goes to sleep first of all in night, he feeds comes off boob takes Dummy then I pop in cot he is asleep within minutes.

I have been doing water for over 2 weeks at night and I would have thought he would have stopped waking now?

If I give him Dummy it works but maybe for half an hour he wakes up again for water! So Igive water and thats ok for first time he wakes 11 ish but after that he is a pain to resettle so what can I do

I dont believe in leaving him to cry though i have for a min or tw but he gets soo worked up and I cant bear to hear it, we are moving this week in with other people and I dont want him waking everyone up

is CC the next option ?

I dont have a lot of patience left to be honest and I am getting really upset and angry with me and him as sooon as Ileave his room Im in tears Im soo tired frustrated and fed up

Even during the day is getting to me

I have a whole house to pack up in less than 2 days and he whinges the minute i leave the room i havent done anything so far today and its already almost 4


sorry i am moaning but i cant bear the thought of moving house having to reshare a room with him going back to work and not having any sleep plus where i will be i will have people interfering though they think its being helpful
ARGH

L x

[newaussie]

Is there anyone who can give you some help or support?  I have found that the midwives that I have access to are excellent.  It sounds like you need someone to help you through this.  I had a lot of trouble getting my DD to sleep through and even now she's not really sleeping through at 81/2 months.  Occasionally like last night she slept through from 8:00pm till 7:00am but when she was seven months her night pattern was

7:00 Bedtime
9:00/10:00  Feed (180ml)
2:30/3:30 Feed (120ml)


I talked to my midwife several times because the main problem was initially a feeding one.  I was so focussed on how much milk she was getting I wasn't letting her have all the solids she wanted.  I took the midwife's advice and let her have solids as much as she wanted and then she settled nicely into the routine above (before that her waking was more sporadic).  At that stage resettling with water never worked.  After several weeks of this (she was now eight months) I decided it was just a habit and not a need to feed because she was only having small feed in the morning.  So that was when I implemented sleep training. 

I did not like the Cry it out method but what I learnt is two things:
1.  If your baby is used to getting up and getting a feed then he will cry if he wakes up and you don't give him a feed.  It will take some crying to get him out of that habit.
2. You don't have to leave him to cry it out.  I stayed with my DD until she fell asleep for three nights.  The main aim in the beginning was to get her out of the feeds because I knew she could fall asleep on her own since she did at nap times and at bedtime.  The first night I fed her after almost two hours of settling.  I also eventually picked her up and lay with her on the floor of her room! The second night the same thing and the third night the same thing but each time it took less of a feed to settle her.  By day four or five I was able to go in a settle her without picking her up (I had to be persistent).  I rocked, sang, talked, made up stories talking in a calm voice.  Anything to get her quiet.  I was so surprised when one night I walked in and patted her and she went straight back to sleep.

I think you need to rule out feeding problems and any other problems so it might be wise to talk to a professional.  Hopefully you have access to a midwife through your health system.  I can't say enough good things about the midwives I've talked to.

I don't want to make any other suggestions because I found that too many changes just confuses things.  You need a solid plan that you're comfortable with.  Once you find that plan stick to it.


At the end of the day you have to find a solution that works for YOU... not just your baby.  A happy mother makes a happy baby!


One last thing... do you know anyone else who has had similar problems in your area?  They might be able to recommend someone who can help.

[Katet]

Lorraine sorry you are still having trouble, unfortunately for some babies it just seems to take an age for them to sleep through.

2 things the dummy use could well be a problem, does he spit it out early in his sleep (ie first few minutes) or does it stay in... if the latter, it is a prop & a problem
Second by the looks of it he is only on 2 BF + one expressed bottle a day... From all my information at his age he should be on 4-5 (one of those between 7pm & 7am - say as a dream feed). If you don't want to express more milk (or can't) can I suggest offering formula (11am) instead. The fact he is willingly drinking water at night & litteraly wakes for it says to me he is thirsty. 12 hours is too long for many babies to go without drinking esp when they are on as much solid as you are giving Freddie, he is filling up on calories, but looks to be very down on liquid intake... he shouldbe getting about 700-1000mls of liquid a day & as a baby he willbe very good at self regulating his food, so will wake for drinking if needed.

[webfoot]

I had the exact same thought as Kate. A baby that age should be getting most of his nutrients from breast milk or forumla. Food should be introduced to learn about flavor and texture but should not be the primary source of nutrition. I also think he is waking for milk for good reason. I'd up his bottle feeds/ milk intake during the day and I bet it makes an impact at night.

[katejude]

Hi there,
You've recieved some great advise so far and I hope things are getting better for you.  You have alot on your plate at the moment with moving and returning to work and being a single mum.  And getting up several times at night.  I really feel for you.

My DS woke regularly until he was 10 months old and I was a mess.  I have alot of advise on how I got my DS to sleep through but I think you are on the right track as it is.  Also be prepared for there to be more disruption with your move as your LO will take a bit of time to adjust to the new environment.

Good luck.  Hang in there.