Tired mom needs help w/6 month old

[mom2Emma]

I have a wonderful little daughter named Emma (she is 6 months) who just won't sleep through the night. She will normally wake 2-3 times a night either with crying out and unable to soothe herself back to sleep or is fully awake and wants to play. When I come in the room to sshhh/pat to sleep she starts giggling and wants me to pick her up. I don't pick her up, but instead try to soothe back to sleep -- sometimes with no avail.  Last night she awoke at midnight and stayed awake until 2:00 am, and then promptly awoke at 4:00 am and stayed awake until 11:30 am.  Getting her on a regular naptime schedule has been very difficult.  She usually cries for long periods of time and fights sleeping when she is clearly so tired.

Here is her tentative schedule:

6:00-ish am - awake
6:30 - 4 oz bottle (formula)
7:00 - 2 tblsp rice with 2 tblsp fruit (either peaches, pears, or bananas)
7:30-9:30-ish - activity
10:00 am - attempt nap -- if successful, she will sleep about an hour to 1.5 hours
11:00-ish am - 4 oz bottle
11:30 am - 2 tblsp rice w/2 tsp veggie (either sweet potatoes, squash, or peas)
12:00-2:00-ish - activity
2:30 - attempt nap - usually unsuccessful in the afternoon
3:30 - 4 oz bottle
4:30 - 2 tblsp rice w/ 2 tblsp veggie
activity
6:30 - 4 oz bottle
7:00 - bath
7:45 pm - 4 oz bottle
books, quiet music
8:00 pm - bedtime 
10:00 - DF - 3 oz

Her wakings usually start around midnight.  Any suggestions for this new mom would be greatly appreciated!  She doesn't sleep with any props other then a pacifier on some nights - most times she spits it out.  Many thanks for the help!


 

[Katet]

Looking at the routine, it sounds like she is always awake too long, at 6months, the average awake time is 2.5 hours, although that may mean 2 hours sometimes & up to 3 on the odd occasion. my ds#2 would only stay awake about 2hours 2omins at that age, so I think that would be the first place to start, trying to start wind-down for naps after 2 hours of awake time... most 6mo have 2 x1.5-2 hour naps + a 45min cat nap around 4.30pm & 7/8pm bedtime & 67am wake up... normally about 11 hours overnight.

My guess is she is chronically overtired & I would look at getting her to sleep after maybe an hour in the early days as if she is fighting sleep then she is definitely overtired.

[colenliam]

I don't know if I will be much help as my lo is 7 months and doesn't sleep though nights, but we now have nap time under control.  Currently we are working on prolongin our activity time from 2-2.5hours to 3hours but, what i started to do was I introduced a lovely (the one I got was a pale blue blankey with satin arounf the edges and a little bear attached to the center of it, so the blankey hangs from it,kwim)and as soon as ds started to get fussy or bring his hand to his eyes took him right up to bed, give him his lovely, and away he goes to dreamland.  It wasn't always that easy, the first couple times, he cried a bit but he eventually got it.  If we miss that first sign of him being tired then nap time is doomed.  It is all just really paying attention to lo for a couple day to see there sleep cues, and catch it.  I have had to adjust his meal times once we got on a better schedule for naptime but....
Now we just have to work on nighttime, as soon as the cold is gone, the teeth have come though, and I get a bit of shut eye.
hth, at least a bit for nap time.
Let me know how things go

[mom2Emma]

Well things have gotten worse with our lo.  I wa successful on one day in getting her to take two really good naps throughout the day.  However, that night she woke at 2:00 am and stayed awake until 11:00am!  I couldn't get her to sleep at all -- and she wasn't even fussy -- very happy to just play and sing.  Last night she woke at 11:00, 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00 and just talks away for hours. She doesn't want the bottle and I try to give her a pacifier, but she spits it out. She just wants to chat and she is constantly moving her feet - as if she is running while laying down.  I can't believe that she isn't tired after so much awake time, but she seems quite content.  I, of course, am just exhausted.  Any other suggestons that you can think of to help me with this new phase?

[LŠuren]

Hi Mom2Emma
You say that she woke throughout the night was it to feed, cry or was she just happy lying in her cot?
Would she be able to fall aslep herself if you left her to play or talk? It may be that you are going to her to quickly and she now know she can get you to come, I did this myself for a while before I posted her and was advised let him be if he is not crying, I do so and he not falls alseep him self if he wakes up and has slept through the last 9 nights. 

Good luckx

[Katet]

To be honest if she is happy then there is not a lot you can do, my aunt tells the story of my cousin who lay awake playing for hours on end & the only thng she could do was learn to go back to sleep herself... if you have a monitor, I'd turn it down so you can't hear much, or if like our house, you don't need one as you can hear everything, I'd just try to sleep yourself & let her be... it is actually normal for them to be awake for periods & she will probably sleep well soon, when the novelty wears off