night waking 30 minutes after going to bed

[zap]

Hi!

Wondering if anyone can help.  For the past 3 months, my now 6 month old son has been waking up screaming anywhere from 30-60 minutes after we put him to bed for the night (does this every night).  It usually takes at least 10 minutes to calm him and then we'll put him back to bed.  Then he usually wakes up screaming again anywhere from 20-30 minutes after and could do this 3-4 times a night.  He never does this for any naps or after we put him down from a night feed.  I know he's not hungry either because he's not close to his eating time. 

Does anyone have any insight as to why this is happening and how I could break this cycle?

Thank you!
Alison Zap

[Ethans Mommy]

Hello,

My 6 month old son was a great sleeper until last week, and he has started doing the same thing.  I am wondering if waking up at certain times is becoming a habit.  I am going to try waiting a few minutes before I go into his room to see if he will self sooth, then the next time he wakes, wait a bit longer.  I will let you know how that goes.

T.

[gracecody]

You've been going through this for 3 months?  My goodness.  Our son has been doing this for 3 weeks and I am going nuts, can't imagine 3 months!  I would think after 3 months it's a habit.  Our son is behaving like it's a cat nap and doesn't seem to realize this is the time where he's supposed to sleep a long stretch.  Even though we do the bedtime routine each night before putting him down, he still wakes 30-50 min later just like your son.  AT first it seemed like it was spit-up/saliva/reflux related and now I think it's that he is treating it as a nap.  So if that's the case then the trick would be to try to extend the nap.  Like you, it takes us a little while to get him back to sleep only to have him wake again.  Some nights this has gone on for 3-4 hours because eventually it's time to nurse him, and usually at one point he will get so worked up that we'll have to do a very long wind down.  Let me know if you get any advice or hit upon anything that helps.

[Angel Face]

Hi!
My DD is doing the same thing. I have been working each night to get her back to sleep after she wakes up. Some nights are better then others. I have a friend who uses bw with her children so I called her and asked her. She said that the book talks about this and it is because they are too over-tired to fully shut down. My DD "crashes" at her 7:30pm bedtime, but then wakes up 40 min later like you guys talked about. So my friend suggested putting her to bed 20-30 min sooner (even if that is at 6:30pm) and seeing if that would help. It did with her son so I thought I would give it a try as well.
I wasn't able to try it last night, but I will tonight.
If you want to try that let me know if it works for you as well. It might take a couple of nights for it to totally work itself out, but it should work.
Good Luck

[notenoughshelfspace]

Yes, I have also heard that a wake up so close to bed time is either overtiredness or not enough wind-down time just before bed. WHen mine does it ( very rarely) it is usually trapped air; she lets out a massive burp and off we go.  I do not know what your night time routines are but perhaps that is a good place to start.

[ambersmum]

An earlier bedtime helped us with this problem. Also I think we had a longer wind down in the dark in the nursery. I know not everyone baths their LO every night but a bath seemed to relax amber and help her not to wake up 45mins after going down. I definatley agree that it can become a habit to wake at a certain time.
HTH
juliet

[Angel Face]

Okay... Here to testify that after 3 nights this as worked! She isn't waking up after 30 min and I watched her ques and got her to bed before she was overtired. This was tricky for me because my DD doesn't give a lot of signs. She is happy and tired at the same time :roll: so she never would really give a clear sign if she was overtired!
Just thought I would confirm that this did work!

[ambersmum]

Great news rebecca! Long may it continue!!!

[Angel Face]

Thanks!!
I was wondering if others have tried and if it has worked for them?