Will he ever sleep right thro the nite?

[bensmumuk]

My son is 6months.  he used to sleep right through the night but 7 weeks ago we moved into my mum's house because we sold our house before we bought another one.  Since then his sleep pattern is mad!!  I expected some upset to his routine but I thought it would be sorted by now.  He wakes up whenever he wants to, has a drink of milk then goes back to sleep again.  This can happen once or twice a night or every hour if he wants!!  I can't ignore him and let him get himself back to sleep cause he would wake the whole house up.  Should i keep giving him milk and cuddles until we get our own house and then start ignoring him or should i nip it in the bud now? HELP!!!!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Can you please post your routine? That might help identify a reason for the wakings, but the change in environment is surely affecting him although 7 weeks is quite a while for that to continue.

[alyssa1]

Just a question.  Did he start the night wakings the min. you got to your mom's house, and have you been giving him the milk for 7 weeks??  Maybe you thought this would just be short lived so you gave him the milk in the begining thinking he would just sleep through when he was comfortable but he may have turned this into a habit.  Now, when he slightly wakes he wants the milk instead of going back to sleep by himself.  I know the feeling of being in someone elses house and not wanting to wake people but I'm sure they would understand if you explained to them that you have to teach him again to sleep through without the milk.
When we go away my son will always wake in the night and I thought at first lets just get him back to sleep as quickly and quietly as possible but this just taught him to want the milk in the night and then it continued when we got home. 
If I were you, I would try to fix it asap and just explain to others in the house that there will be some noisy nights - maybe you could get them ear plugs.

[bensmumuk]

His routine is:

7am: wakes up takes an ounce of formula milk
8am: has breakfast and couple more ounces of milk
9am: naptime
10am: play time
12pm: naptime
1pm: lunch and 4 ounces of juice
1.30pm: play time
3pm: snacktime
3.30pm: play time
5pm: naptime
6pm: dinner
7pm: fruit
8pm: bath and chill out time
8.30pm: bed
8.45pm: soothes himself to sleep
8.45pm - 7am: no routine, he wakes up as often as he wants and can't self-soothe

Ben has 3x 7-ounce bottles of formula milk in 24 hours but he doesn't take a bottle at a time.  He has two bottles throughout the course of the day and one  bottle through the night.  I have tried to get him to take a full bottle before he goes to bed but he is not interested.  he takes about 4 ounces then clamps his mouth shut!!!

[bensmumuk]

He's only just started looking for the milk in the the last couple of weeks.  he started wakening up the minute we moved into my mum's but he went back to sleep with his soother or a wee stroke of his face.  This isn't enough for him now though!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

It looks to me like he is getting overtired. Three one hour naps might not be the best here - I would suggest transitioning him to two 1.5 hour naps and putting him to bed around 7:30.

Have you tried pat/shhh or PU/PD for the wakings yet?

[bensmumuk]

what do i do for that?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Pat/shhhh is a technique for younger babies. They remain in the crib, usually you will need to roll them on their side, and you pat them on the back between the shoulder blades while making a constant shhhhhh noise. Small babies cannot concentrate on more than two things at a time, so doing this turns their focus onto the patting and shhhing and they stop crying because they cannot focus on that as well. The constant, rhythmic patting and the noise also helps them relax and after some time, learn to relax on their own and fall asleep independently.    You can adapt the technique too if you need to. The patting just annoyed my DS so for us it was more of a hold/shhh, with one arm over his chest and the other across his knees.

PU/PD is for older babies, and this might be the best way for you to start. There is a separate board here for PU/PD under the sleep heading, so I would definitely check it out. Here is a link to some specifics of the technique: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57333.0

PU/PD never worked for us, so I can't be a lot of help in that department. I'll ask one of the PU/PD mods to take a look at your post here. Don't worry, this can be done!!

[bensmumuk]

Through the night he takes 7 ounces.  He takes about 3 the first time he wakes up (about 1am) and a couple through the night and 2 more when he wakes up properly (about 7).  I am going to give the pu/pd a try toinght. fingers crossed!!!!

[Lana]

Have you spoken to your parents about the fact that he is waking?  How would they feel about the crying.

He may drink more of his bottle at bedtime if you cut out the fruit at 7.  It seems like he really grazes all day which could be contributing to your night wakings.

When Ewan was that age we would give him some bottle when he first woke (cause he was really hungry) then he would have cereal and then we would offer the bottle again. 

His day looked like this:

8:00 wake and have cereal and bottle
play time
nap
12:00 fruit and bottle
playtime
nap
4:00 bottle
5:00 supper of veggies and cereal
play
catnap
7:00 bedtime routine bath, bottle bed

We didn't do the dream feed with Ewan but we do with Bram and it is a good way to get extra ounces into them.

HTH

[bensmumuk]

Developments since I last replied!! 

1) Ben now sleeps in his cotbed instead of his pram.
2) Ben goes to bed at 7.30pm
3) Ben is eating alot more solids throughout the day
4) Ben is alot happier through the day and is a fun baby now

Despite all this he still wakes through the nite. Night awakenings have developed to:

1) Occurring every 2 hours!!! 
2) Getting fed while lying in his bed, takes a few gulps and goes back to sleep no problem.

I think he is now unable to get himself back to sleep without drinking from his bottle!!!!

Any suggestions for a very very tired mummy?

zzzzzzz

[bensmumuk]

oh forgot to say that daytime naps have changed also!! He has one nap in the morning for about 40 mins and one in the afternoon for about 1 hour!!!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

I'm with Stacy, that feed in bed needs to stop for the prop reason and also safety. And if he's only taking a few gulps then he's either just thristy and needs a sip of water (eg) or he doesn't need it at all and it's a habit/prop. I would suggest posting on the props board since you will probably get the best answers there to solve that.

But it's great to hear that you have such success otherwise!! Good for both of you!!

[bensmumuk]

He has cereal and toast for breakfast about 7.30am
2 rusks about 10am
80g jar of savoury food for lunch about 12.30
jar of fruit or rice pudding about 3pm
dinner: whatever we're having about 80g at 6pm, then half a jar of pudding

Since he's been eating more solids he's changed for the better during the day (he's alot happier) so i hope this isn't the cause of the sleepless nights!!!!!  I've tried to not give him his bottle when he wakes up but I can't soothe him back to sleep. Should I try lifting him to soothe him back to sleep or will this make things worse?

[bensmumuk]

He's always only taken 3 7oz bottles a day and he is continuing to do that.  He has one through the night, one in the morning and one with his dinner/before bed.  My health visitor told me give him more solids because he won't take milk during the day (he likes water or juice) and I have noticed a mega difference in him since he started taking more solids.  He used to be really grumpy and I had forgotten what he laughed like. He cried constantly and I couldn't put him down to play with his toys. 

I do think this is getting more like a habit than a necessity.  I have posted my dilemma on the prop board and they have suggested a dreamfeed which i am going to try tonight.  he's 7 months now and I've noticed a big change in him recently if he slept at night he would be an angel!!!!!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

I would also suggest trying the dreamfeed. 

[bensmumuk]

Have now been told not to do the dream feed as tracy suggests you stop doing it at 7 months.  However last night ben was only up once at 0530, he took 6oz of milk and then slept til 7am!!!!!! Hooray 
Hopefully this is the start!!!!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

That's fantastic! Keep us posted!