pu/pd when lo not crying?

[Christa]

Hi There,

I've been reading through some of the info on this thread (there is so much, at least I am comforted that I am not the only one!) but I haven't come across my specific situation (maybe it's there, I just haven't found it yet)

The past week or so my lo has been waking several times a night. He used to just wake once and eat and go right back to sleep, so I didn't mind. But now he wakes up and is WIDE awake and won't go back down. I'd like any advice people have based on reading my answers below, but my biggest question is what do I do when he gets up (say at 4am) and is wide awake (whining turns into crying) and when I go into his room he just stops crying and wants to get up.
~Do I pick him up and try get him sleepy?
~Do I wait for him to cry? This takes forever as if he knows I am there then he doesn't cry so I end up standing there practically falling asleep on my feet. If my dh goes in instead of me, it worse as then ds gets really excited about Daddy.
~Do I just leave the room again?
~I have down everything I can think of... his room is not too light/hot/cold, I change his diaper if he's at a point that it's not going to make him any more awake by doing so, he doesn't seem to be in pain from teething (he was a week ago but over it now), I gave him drops for gas, reswaddled


How old is your child? 5.5 months
What’s his/her daily routine? basically on a 4 hour EASY starting at 7, not too much action as I am home with him and we only have a few weekly outings
What’s nap routine? start wind down by walking around the apartment, then diaper change, wrap in blanket, sit in rocker, he's ok about naps, sometimes I do end up rocking him til he's really sleepy
How long are naps?naps tend to be shorter than ideal(first one is 1.5 hours, then 1 hr, then 45 min... have tried wake to sleep on this with about 50% success rate, but he's generally not crabby when up waking up),
What's bedtime routine? Time? no complaints here, bottle at 7, quiet time, long bath, massage (sometimes), read several books, and lay him down and he goes to sleep on his own by 8, I'd like to move that earlier, but no matter what, he's never fallen asleep earlier than 7:45 regardless of when we start the routine
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breastfeed although 7pm feed is formula/bottle
How much? or how long? 4 hr EASY (7,11,3,7, df at 10 or 11)
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) one side
How many wakes per night? now 2 or 3, no set time usually around midnight, 2 and 4 but that varies greatly
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? whining turns into crying after about 10-15 minutes
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? really crying
What have you tried to settle?? pat/shh/, pu/pd, ROCKING 
What do you do for A time and how long is it? play on floor, bumper jumper, 2 hrs
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? teething, started solids
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) yes, he was teething and didn't want to nurse as seemed to be in pain, started solids as a way to get some nutrition into him, also ped. advised starting whenever after his 4 mo. checkup as he is pretty big (26.5" and 17lbs)
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? uses a pacifier, but I don't think its a prop as he doesn't wake if it falls out, also, he can put it back in himself
Do they have a lovie? no

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi Christa

Are you feeding at the 4am waking?

[Katet]

With the paci, the fact he doesn't wake when it falls out isn't a sign of it being a prop, if you can get him back to sleep with it in less than 5mins is usually the sign it is a prop. I think the paci may be part of the problem as it seems to be his waking times do fall when there is lighter sleep times.

[Christa]

FrasersMum, yeah I do usually end up feeding him at the 4 am waking (or whenever the early early morning wake is... sometimes closer to 5)

Katet, I can't get him back to sleep with the paci... also, sometimes he cries while it's still in his mouth, so I don't think the nightwakings are related to that, but if you think it may be, I'm willing to try anything.

Last night was the WORST ever. I got him down at 7:30. He woke up around 9 like in a panic state. I just had to do a few shh/pats though and he was out again. Then got up at 11:45 and was up for 1/2 hour... did PU/PD (with a bit of rocking to calm him down). But then he got up at 1:45am and was up for TWO HOURS. The first hour I tried PU/PD but he got so upset and was screaming so loud, that my husband came in and actually took him away, said he couldn't stand the crying, and walked around with him. Then we ended up fighting...  At around 3:45  I took ds back to his room (who had been up and in great spirits, laughing and the whole bit), nursed him and he fell asleep and slept til 7:15.

My husband is away tonight, and I feel like it's my last chance to try and get something resolved with the sleeping, please help me, I need this to work so I can show him that BW methods work.

TIA!!!!!!!!!

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi Christa

Because you are having trouble settling DS I suspect the waking is hunger related.  It could be the 6 month growth spurt (coming a little early - it does happen).  The other thing it could be is developmental wakings - night wakings for some babies increase around the 6 month mark - because of the increased awareness and new developments occuring.

Personally I would spend a little time trying to settle DS but if he can't settle, I would assume hunger and feed him.  You can try and increase his daily intake at the same time which (if they are hunger wakings) might decrease the night calls.  If it is developmental wakings, those are ones that you might just have to ride out a bit.  Respond to DS when he calls to you, remind him that you are there and will come when he calls to you and help him back to sleep.

HTH
Jo

[Katet]

I also have to agree with FrasersMum if he is crying with it in his mouth then he is either hungry & sucking it doesn't provide food that he wants or it may be teeth that is the issue... my ds#1 would cry with it in his mouth when his gums were sore

[Mommy of 3]

My DS started going through a growth spurt somewhere about that time.  Try to add more ounces during the day.

If not, he could be teething.  Try rubbing his gums to see if it's swollen.

[Christa]

Thanks guys,

We had a good night last night finally! Yesterday I tried getting him to each as much as possible by giving him a bottle with formula after each bf... he would take about 2 ounces each time. Really seemed to help. He only woke once at 5:30, whined for 1/2 hour and then started to cry, so I fed him just for a minute layed him down again and he went right back to sleep til 7.

I'm just wondering what to do if we have another night though where we wakes up and seems to really want to get up, cause that happens too. He'll cry and I go in to check on him and if he knows I am there then he just gets all excited and won't sleep, but doesn't cry and I thought with PU/PD, you wait for them to cry before picking up. So, what do I do if he lying there not crying?

~Do I pick him up and try get him sleepy?
~Do I wait for him to cry? This takes forever as if he knows I am there then he doesn't cry so I end up standing there practically falling asleep on my feet. If my dh goes in instead of me, it worse as then ds gets really excited about Daddy.
~Do I just leave the room again?

TIA

[Katet]

If he is awake & not crying, I wouldn't even go into him... it is annoying, but normal for babies to wake up & chat in the middle of the night... leave him to it & if he gets upset then go to him, but you can't make him sleep & actually research shows that most babies have "awake times" up to an hour when they are in bed some just lie silently & their parents never know others chat away.
If he stops crying when you go in, just tell him it is still night time, re-settle him (in the dark is best) & leave... go back when he gets upset, but if he gets happy leave again & repeat.