7 mos and sleep is worse than ever.

[sparky]

Our lo started to sleep thru from 3 mos however for a variety of reasons started to wake up frequently thru the night from around 5 mos.  He used to go to bed with a dummy however following a particularly bad cold would wake up for comfort.  We unwisley responded by popping the dummy back in which then created a dependency.  He then stated to wake up several times a night wanting the dummy replaced. He actually pulls it in and out of his mouth, and loses it over the side of the cot which means we have to retrieve it sometimes a dozen times a night. We would like to get rid of the dummy ideally as it is now causing us more difficulty than anything. Over the past month he has started to roll onto his tummy but unfortunately cant turn back so wails for us to rescue him. In addition, with all this rolling, his nappy leaks and we have to change him.  He is teething too and seems to be in pain in the evening and at night

He has a routine at night: bath 6.30, play in room with mum and dad, bottle 7.00 then bed.  He cant stay up any later than this.  We are giving him a df at 11.00 and he takes it all.  When he wakes, I dont think he is hungry (he usually has around 21 oz during day) however we had been feeding him to get him back to sleep.  He will take his whole bottle if offered.

He is at nursery and hasnt yet settled into a good nap routine, usually 3 x 30/45 minutes. At home he will have 2 x 1 1/2 hours during the day.

He was weaned around 3 months ago and is on solids twice a day. Generally we have been sticking to veg and fruit but he is now getting toast and some other bread variations for his snack. He gets 3 bottles a day, 7 oz at breakfast, 7oz at lunch and then 7 oz at bedtime. 

We hope you can help us as we are really struggling with this.  I hope we have put down all the pertinent information required.  Hope it doesnt sound too disjointed, its really hard to organise my thoughts as so many factors appear to be influencing his sleep or lack of it!

Susan

[teezee]

as far as the leaking diapers - have u tried using one size bigger for nighttime?  it worked like a charm for us!

the rolling is a pain until he can learn to do it the other way.  maybe someone else has some suggestions for that - i just kind of rolled with the punches and hoped that it ended sooner than later.  at 7 months, if he does in fact roll onto his belly it is ok to leave him there as he has good neck control and movement.

have u given him something for the teething pain?  pain killer (tylenol/tempra), or orajel before bed?

how is his daytime feedings?  you say when he wakes that he is not hungry -- is that wakes in the night or in the morning??  my lo would take a whole feeding even if she wasn't hungry during the night - as she stopped feeding so much during the day and was used to getting all of her calories at night.

i am not an expert on weaning - but at 7 months shouldn't he still be getting 4 bottles a day? morning, lunch, dinner, and bedtime?..and at 7 months i also had my lo on 3 solids meals/day.

it would really help if you could jot down his routine for us, as it will help if it needs to be tweaked at all.

as far as the paci goes - if you want to wean it you can use this link - i have not used it yet myself but have heard great things about it. let us know how eveyrthing is going!

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52857.0

[Katet]

I agree with Teezee at 7months I would still be offering 4 bottles in the day (8oz each) + a df & 3 meals of solids. That should help with the night bottle, that if he is taking the whole bottle he is hungry as they will refuse if not.
I am now only in the process of dropping to 3-4 bf a day with my 9.5mo & he was on 3 solids + 5bf at 7months.

[sparky]

Thanks very much for your replies.  Re nappys, he is 20 pounds in weight and the nappy that we use can be used until he is 40 pounds so I think that using a bigger one might swamp him, but its worth giving it a try.  As for the rolling over, I'm happy to leave him on his tummy but he's not! I think you are right, I just have to grin and bear it.

You are right re the amount of bottles that we give him, he does get 4 a day at 8 oz each: breakfast, lunch, dinner and before bed + df. Daytime routine varies as he is at nursery 4 days a week and a home 3.  This is generally what happens.

7ish: Wake up, wash, dress.
8am: Bottle. Journey to nursery.
9am: Breakfast at nursery. Toast/bagel/fruit.
11.30: Lunch: solids ( 2 courses) and 8 oz bottle.
2.00: Snack.
4.00: 8oz bottle.
5ish: Taken home
5.45: Solids. Playtime.
6.30: Bath.
7.00: 8oz bottle then bed.
At nursery his routine will vary as he doesn't nap well, usually around 3 x 30/45 minutes.  At home, he sleeps for around 60 minutes, usually being awake for 2 hours before needing a sleep.

Use teething gel and usually give paracetamol before bed however worried about using it too regularly.

When he wakes in the night, he doesn't seem hungry as its not a hungry cry that I can identify, but maybe he is and I'm misreading him. I don't think I can add any more to his bottles tho.

Thanks for any help.

[teezee]

it may be time for u to cut out the df. if it doesn't work after a week(or at least show some signs of improvement) then give it back. u could stop cold turkey or wean it down ounce by ounce - choice is yours!!

from your routine i can't see for sure when nap times are - i can assume but that wouldn't help you much.  if he is not napping well at daycare maybe you want to give him a nap as soon as u get home?...just so he isn't so overtired as this is probably causing some of the wakings.

[Katet]

I think (from my own experience) daycare & napping & night waking are something that time kind of has to fix... I think his night sleep is disrupted by his bad day sleep at day care & until that kin of gets better it is hard for him to have better night sleep.

Not the advice you want to hear, but I know for us & many other mothers I knew from daycare that was the case between 6 & 12months

[sparky]

I didnt put naptime down on his schedule as at daycare they vary enormously.  I think that you are right re the link between poor daytime sleep and night wakings, I was just hoping for an easier solution!  We actually decided to stop the df yesterday and feed him in the night, cutting that down oz by oz.  I will try to discuss naps with nursery staff tommorow to see if we can come up with any practical solutions to his poor sleeping, but maybe time is all we need for him to adjust.

Mant thanks for all your hepl.
Susan.

[teezee]

good luck!