started night waking at 5 months

[SylvieA]

Hi
My Ds started waking at night last weekend. It's never at the same time except for an early morning wake. He wakes twice at night between 11pm and 3am and once at 6am(which he falls asleep again until 8am). I thought at first it could of been hunger because of a 2nd waking, I nursed him but only had a few gulps and fell asleep. So I assume he wasn't hungry. Last night at his 2nd wake he could not settle at all, even after swaddling him again. I descided to nurse and had a full feed, and didn't fall asleep until I put him in bed again. I've noticed a little fussiness in the day, and hard to settle for naps, especially in the afternoon. So I can't really tell what the problem might be other that he's been showing teething signs for a while now.
He also did night waking last month for a few days but settled as soon as I swaddled again. It looks a bit different this time. His routine is also a bit off because he wakes so late in the morning, but I figure he needs it as he's so unsettled at night. He's a 4hr easy( he could last longer if I'd let it). He is combo fed( breast and bottle) so it makes it hard to knew if he has enough to eat. he has on average 16-20oz in bottle(bmilk or formula) He's small at 15lbs 8oz, because of his size I assume he doesn't need as much. He's put to bed at 7:30 or 8pm. Normally would wake at 7 or 7:15am. He has 3 naps/day, 2@45min 1@1.5hr. Sorry this is so long but I didn't want to miss anything. Any idea what those night wakes are. TIA

[teezee]

could you post lo's entire day routine for me to take a look at pls?

[SylvieA]

Hi
here's his normal routine without nightwakes give or take 15-30 min
7  wake and feed bf
8  2 TB of cereal w/fruit
9  sleep(45 min)(maybe I should try wake to sleep on this one)
11  feed 6 oz
12  sleep(1.5 hrs)(wake to sleep)
3  feed 6oz and/or bf
330 or 4  sleep(30-45 min)
630  bath
7  feed 6-8oz
730  sleep or 8 at the latest
activity between feeds and sleep.

In the past few days he's been waking at 6am, falls asleep until 8 or 830. It throws everything off. I don't want to wake him as he seems to need it as he wakes twice at night. He's been having phantom cries too at night or it could be something else. He also has reflux(not severe enough to be medicated) but hasn't been as bad in the past month. I tried feeding him more in the day but won't take more milk even without solids. He's also a bad napper. I would like him to have 2 @ 1.5 hr naps. and a catnap before his initial bedtime.

[threefold_cord]

Yes I can sympathize with you mom . My son started this exact pattern of behavior at 5 mo. He is an angel/textbook baby and is usually very content. It seemed like all of a sudden he became fussy, grumpy and refused to go down for naps (he was crying for an hour while I was trying all the BW techniques that I knew! ). Then he also started waking up one, two and three times at night. I got the hint though. When I stopped to listen to his cries when he would not go down for a nap i realized that they were hunger cries rather than tired cries. I began nursing him only to realize that by following his cues of hunger he was eating every 1-2 hours  instead of the 4hr EASY that he had been on for a while. That's when I introduced solids and the first night he ate a whole bowl of sweet potatoes and then had an 8oz bottle . That night he slept better and from then on I have been giving my lo solids. He is back on the 4hr EASY while eating 3 times a day and is sleeping well. He has also once again become the contented, angel/tesxtbook baby that I know. Now he is almost 6 mo. Just something for you to think about:) Hope this helps!
Joanne

[SylvieA]

Hi
Thanks for your replies. Last night my DS woke every 2 hrs. Even after having a full feed at 7pm before bed. I put him to the breast at 10pm as he wouldn't settle, but he just suckled and only had a few gulps then fell asleep. I don't think it's a hunger issue. I really don't know what to think anymore.

[teezee]

could it be lo is waking b/c of pain or discomfort? when did you start cereal? has the waking escalated/started since starting? could it be gas or cramping?? i know my lo woke often like this as i started cereal early and she had major problems with it and i would have never guessed until i stopped giving it to her (actually the gas/cramping didn't start until a couple weeks after i started her on it).  i would suggest maybe stopping for a week or two and seeing if this improves the situation at all...

[SylvieA]

I don't think it's gas, he doesn't show any sign of it. But gas may not be as obvious at this age either. I'll stop giving solids for a week and see if it helps.  I'm also wondering if teething affect baby's sleep. He's been chewing at his hands(they're more like fists) both at the same time and sometimes looks like he gets mad, and crinckles his nose at the same time.
thanks

[teezee]

how has lo been doing? gas isn't always so obvious...it could be a bit cramping too?! yes teething can def cause night wakings...my lo seemed to be teething from just after three months and didn't get her first tooth til 6 months..so it's a long process. usually teething comes in spurts of three days at a time.

[SylvieA]

Thank everyone and teezee. I've started cereal dailey for about a week. I did on and off to try things at 4 months old.(Dr said it was OK) And didn't get any problems then. I do think I'll stop solids for a few weeks and see if it helps though. It also seem to affect a lot of things like fussiness in the day, he is kind of clingy but could just be a faze he's going through. I also have a hard time putting him in bed at night. I never changed the routine, it is the same. It takes about an hour for him to settle at night and used to take 5 mins. I didn't know teething could take that long before a tooth poped out. And if it teething those are 3 long days And so those spurts are 3days on and off untill something comes out
I really miss those 12 hr stretches and want them back. At least half of that would be good. He hasn't woken up yet tonight and been asleep since 8pm. It's past 10:30pm now. Hope we have a good night.

[SylvieA]

Well, DS just woke up once last night    This morning he was tired though. During his morning feed he fell asleep. I tried to keep him awake but that didn't work. I put him in bed again, so once again his routine will be off today.
He sometimes wake at around 6 and babbles until he falls asleep again. I know I don't always here him as soon he wakes, so at 7 I sometime assume he just woke up but then falls asleep while feeding.  6 is way too early to start the day. And 8 may be too late. I wonder if it is OK to not always start the day at the same time. Lets say between 7 & 8am.

[teezee]

i don't know if it is right per se - but it works for us! if dd wakes anytime between 7 and 8 i just start the day as normal. if it's before 7 i will put her back to sleep..if it's later i wake her. tracy says that a half hr difference really isn't anything to worry or fret about, and i find that no matter what time (7 or that she wakes, the routine pretty much stays the same somehow.

[threefold_cord]

yea i wouldn't worry about the waking at 7/8. If my son is tired before the 8:00 feeding I'll just give him a bath and feed him early around 6:30/7:00 and that works for us. He'll still sleep through and we're both happy because he's not overtired and we don't have to hear any crying:) . My son has been teething off and on since four months. He is now six months and I think that I am beginning to see the beginnings of a tooth. What do I look for? It looks like the gum is shapped like the edge of a tooth and I see a little white. Is this it?
Joanne

[SylvieA]

Thanks ,
My DS seems to be doing a bit better. He only woke once in the past couple of days. His wakings must of been due to teething, then got his immun shots, which I'm sure it did not help his discomfort. I'm not sure what its supposed to look like when teeth are coming out but it sounds like it for your LO Joanne. I heard the first two are the worst and then gets better. I hope

[teezee]

it is supposed to be three days of teething followed by a 'break' but i really can't recall having a break some of those weeks i remember saying ok just one more day and then it will be three .

btw - what exactly did you do to get him to sleep through (well, almost )? just the cereal? or anything else? btw - big congrats to you! well done! what a big step!!!

anyway, just wanted to know sylvie, what exactly does lo do when he wakes that one time at night? how do you respond?

[SylvieA]

Well Teezee,
The first night with one wake he didn't have any cereal, then I tried w/cereal the next day, only woke once also. It doesn't look like its solids bothering him, but I could be wrong. I will try solids again in a week and see what happens. Last night he woke at 9pm crying, could not get settled at all. I'm not sure how he woke as I was in the shower and DH is the one that went in the room to him (DH is still working on his techniques  ) It always seem to me that our LO won't settle unless I'm there   When he wakes I usually wait a few minutes before going into the room unless he cries which is rare. He just seems unsettled. All I do is give paci then he goes back to sleep. The other night he had his paci in his hand and couldn't figure out how to put in his mouth and looked frustrated. He's also been more mobile lately so I figured it was time to get ride of miracle blanket, and I think it helped. I've notice other posts and it looks like there is somewhat of a pattern between 4-5 months old and waking. It could also be a faze. Another thing I'm wondering is because he's so close to 6 months I'm afraid I might miss his growth spurt signs. He normally doesn't cry out of hunger. This might sound cluless but what is 6 months, is it 24 weeks or do I go by date and month. As 24 weeks is less than 2 weeks away.
thanks