long wakenings-any ideas?

[brightside]

On 2 nights this week (Mon + Thurs) DS has woken up in the night and been awake for about 2 hours!  During that time he isn't really full blown crying, just a lot of fussing and whinging. We try to settle him with the dummy in the cot and he seems to be drifting off but then suddenly comes wide awake again. After a while  (half hour) we have picked him up and tried to settle in our arms-same thing. This is very unlike him. He usually settles very quickly with the dummy after about 5-20 mins and we never usually pick him up. On both occasions however, (when we've picked him up) we have noticed that he has had a really smelly nappy and so we have changed him. Coincidence? He hadn't had a poo all day. He usually has a dirty nappy in the morning but it doesn't usually bother him and I've never changed him in the night because I haven't noticed anything. Could this poo have been what woke him up? Kept him awake? Could it also be teething? Or would he be properly crying if it was his teeth? Last night when he did it I actually fed him (after being awake for 1.5 hours) even though I didn't think he was hungry. He took 5oz (usually has 8 at a feeding) but then in the morning he only took 5oz again instead of the usual 8 so I don't think it was hunger. The first time this happened I put it down to being overtired at bedtime because he had only had 2 short naps in the afternoon (15 mins + 40 mins) but yesterday he slept well and actually had a 2 hour nap in the afternoon so I don't think he was overtired. When he's slept well in the afternoon before we usually have a really good night with him.  Any ideas? Experiences like this?

[aidenmc]

Yes, I've experienced this a number of times with my 9 month-old - boy is it frustrating! I definitely think the poops have something to do with it. When ever my lo has to go he is uncomfortable for a number of hours before hand (and has trouble feeding well - breast or bottle). Also, my lo finds it uncomfortable to have a messy diaper and sometimes changing him helps him settle (although I usually end up giving a feed to get him drowsy again - I know, big no-no!). Overtiredness also contributes as this tends to happen when my guy gets to bed too late or has an accumulated lack of sleep. You might want to try an extra early bedtime to see if that helps (I will put mine down as early as 5:45 when he's overtired, although this still may be catnap time for yours. Seeing as both times your lo had a dirty diaper I would definitely think that is the biggest culprit (actually these days I can usually be found with my nose up to his diaper when he wakes in the night, just to be sure it's not that. The fat that it takes so long toget to sleep is probably that because he had a poop and is now lying in it, he has woken fully. It usually takes that long for my lo to get back to sleep when he wakes up fully.

Now, if we could only control when they choose to have their bms!

[brightside]

Thanks for replying. When you do an earlier bedtime, what do you do about the last feed? Give it him earlier or do an extra dream feed? I've thought about doing this but am worried that he will just wake even earlier in the morning. I can't imagine that he could sleep for nearly 13 hours.

[aidenmc]

They don't usually wake earlier. In fact it can also help with early wakings if the baby is overtired. For me the feeding is a bit different becaus emy lo just takes 3 bfs in the day and solids and sometimes a feed in the night. For him it all just happens a little earlier. (e.g. dinner at 4 bf at 5:15 or so). He doesn't usually need an extra feed when I do this.

Oh yeah, I really think the poops are a big cause of long wakenings. Last night my lo (who was also overtired, teething and with a cold) woke at 1:20 for 1 hour 40 minutes. Aargh! Turns out this morning it was a poop. I kept trying to check without disturbing him (if I try to change or check his diaper at night he thinks it's play time so I avoid it at all costs), but he is only eating fruits and veg so you can't really tell without looking if its a bm. I am kicking myself for not just changing him anyway!