7.5 month old and night wakings

[SNorth]

Hi

My son has been on EASY since birth and I've found it invaluable.  However, I'm looking for some advice/ideas as to what to help with his night wakings and early morning starts.  It all seems to be going pearshaped at the moment!!

He goes to bed with no problem at all - we've dropped the dream feed, but he's waking irregularly between 12.00-1.30 am so we have been feeding him (which he takes 5-6oz).  He then wakes up screaming about 2.30ish, 4.30ish (we turn him back onto his back and shush him and generally he settles again, although sometimes it doesn't work so we've tried water).  He will then wake at between 5.15-5.45 and won't settle again so by 8.30 he's absolutely shattered and needs his first nap.  He won't wake and play in his cot, he just screams.

His average routine is as follows:

E 06.00 Milk & breakfast
A
S 8.30/9.00ish nap time (usually 1hr or sometimes 45mins but always wakes happy)
E 10.30 Milk
A
E 12.00 Lunch
A
S 12.30/13.00 Nap time (usually 1.5 hours)
A
E 2.30 milk
A
E 4.30 Tea
A

Bedtime routine starts between 6.00-6.30 depending on how tired he's getting.  Bath, bottle & bed by 7.00 at the latest.

He has recently got 2 teeth through, he's started crawling and he goes to our childminder's 3 days a week.

Any ideas/opinions would be much apprecited - I've never actually posted before but always read this website.

Thank you in advance
Suzanne

[teezee]

i think maybe your lo is telling you it is time to revamp the routine. you could probably stand to stretch out the A times a bit ie start with 15 min in the morning, 15-1/2 hr before the pm nap. this will also help lo not be overtired before bedtime (from the last nap to bedtime seems a little long esp since lo isn't really staying up any longer than 2-2.5hrs. other times). lo being overtired is probably the cause for the middle of the night wakings and the early wake ups is probably due to not enough wake time/too much naps - you might want to limit the naps to 2.5hrs instead of them being longer - if lo gets too much sleep during the day lo won't be tired enough to stay asleep til the reg morning wake up time. the shortest nap 'shoudl' be in the morning - also the shortest A time progressively getting longer thorughout the day. morning nap should be seen as an extension of night time sleep and therefore b/c lo is still rested from the long night's sleep shouldn't need a long nap to reenergize kwim? if lo is getting extra sleep in the am that could be a reason for the early wake up as lo is getting the extra sleep through that morning nap.

hth! if you need any other clarification/questions just let me know!!

[SNorth]

Thank you for your advice - I shall give it a go - it certainly makes sense anyway so fingers crossed!

Much appreciated...

Suzanne

[teezee]

keep me posted on your results...and i will be here to support you if you need! good luck hun!!

[KellyC]

Hi

Just wanted to add that if your LO was born in September/October you should come and join us on the Sep/Oct birth club thread!  It's under the Activity board and we're all muddling through together 

Kelly

[SNorth]

Hi again

I just wanted to thank you for your advice as there seems to have been a big improvement already (phew)!  We have now moved his afternoon nap back to 13.30 which seems to have helped with the wake ups in the night and the early mornings.  He will now settle himself back to sleep when he wakes at 5.00 am so this has helped us to put the morning nap back too.  Fingers crossed it lasts!

Thanks again

[Anthead]

Hi there

My LO is 7.5 months old.  She slept thru every night from about 2 months old.  When she reached 6 months, all of sudden she started waking up at night.  This is still going on.  When she wakes up, she insists on being breastfed (she has formula during the day).  She wakes up between 2 - 4 times per night, and ends up lying in the bed with me because otherwise she constantly wakes up.  It's like she needs to be near me to be settled, but even when she's in the bed, she still wakes up about twice for some "boobie".  Any ideas as to what I can do to remedy this problem?  I have heard there is a "baby whisperer" method for establishing good sleeping habits.  Does anyone know where I can find out more about this.  I am NOT prepared to let baby CIO, that is not an option for me.  I couldn't bear to do that to her.  I just want to do something that works for both of us, and I would like her to go back to her good sleeping habits.  Any advice would be appreciated.

[teezee]

glad things are improving for you!!

anthead - do you have any of the bw books? does she wakes at the same time every night? could she be demanding the breast b/c that's what she expects? how is her first feeding of the day in comparisson to the other day feedings? could you also post your routine so i could take a look?

[Anthead]

Hi there Teezee....  No, she doesn't always wake at exactly the same time, but generally times are more or less the same... around
10pm, then 1.30pm, then again at about 4 or 5.  I can get her back to sleep at the 10pm wake time without breastfeeding her, but not the others.  For the past two nights now she has been waking up at around 8 and only goes back to sleep when she's in my arms, as soon as I try to put her in the cot, she wakes up crying and won't settle back down.  She also doesn't take a dummy, so I can't even use this to help her self-calm.  Have tried a security object, but she also resists this.  Her routine is as follows:
5/6am - Breastfeed
8am -    Breasfast (cereal)  she NEVER eats her breakfast well and is not at all enthusiastic about it like she is with lunch and supper
10am -  Juice/tea/water
12.30 - Lunch (she has chicken/lamb/beef with veggies) - eats well
2pm  - Bottle (150mls - doesn't drink more than this)
5.30pm - Supper (she has veg followed by some dessert either fruit or purity desserts) - eats well
7pm - Bottle (150ml)

I don't have any of the bw books, no.
Hope to hear from you again soon
Anthea

[teezee]

anthead - i def think you have slowly start training lo to sleep her own/get back to sleep on her own. when lo falls asleep in your arms it's only reinforcing that she needs you to go to sleep/back to sleep. try shh pat or just shhing or patting or just putting a hand on lo's back or tummy to show her you are there (least stimulating for lo if that may be the problem). at all costs - do whatever you can to settle lo in the crib - if you need to try pu/pd for some time that may be an option too.

when do naps fall into your lo's routine? and how many bf's a day does your lo get?

it may be beneficial for you to borrow a copy (library, virtual library here) and look through it.

[Anthead]

Hi again Teezee.  She has few naps during the day
Usually 1 after breakfast, around 9
Then again around, 11/11.30
Then again around 2/2.30
Sometimes at 5 again, but very rarely.
She does not sleep for long at all during the day.  Naps for about 20 - 25 mins at a time... IF i'm really lucky - 40 minutes. 
Where can i access virtual library?

[teezee]

if you go almost all the way to the bottom of the page (home page) you will see bw virtual library

at 7.5 months your lo 'should' be having two naps a day - one shorter and the other longer prob about a total of 2.5-3hrs total naps a day (if i am remembering correctly) but only two.  have you tried wake to sleep or pu/pd for the naps to lengthen them?

lo may not be tired enough to stay asleep past the short times if she isn't tired enough to stay asleep.  i would like to direct you to the naps board as or the easy board as they will be able to have a better idea of what Activity lengths would be best for a lo that age. also, if your lo is overtired than she will also not be able tosleep past those short times as she will jolt or not get into a deep enough sleep to get past those sleep cycles.

i do think that once your lo has a better daytime routine (more for a lo her age) that her nighttime sleep will improve greatly also!