5 month old NW - 2-3 times per night, needs soother to get back to sleep!

[torontomamma]

My 5 month old has been waking several times during the night since she learned to roll (1.5 mos ago) - up to 6 times per night.  She now knows how to roll both ways but still wakes several times - 2-3 times.  The first time she wakes around 12-1pm, and sometimes again around 2pm I give her a soother and she goes back to sleep, when she wakes again around 3:30 I usually feed her and then she sleeps til 6:30. When she wakes she has rolled from her stomach to her back, and seems to forget how to get back. She used to sleep through the night with a dream feed around 9pm.  I am wondering how to eliminate the night wakings, and also when should I try to eliminate the 3:30 feed?.

Any help is much appreciated. 

How old is your child? 5 mos
What’s his/her daily routine? E6:30,A, S 8:00, E10:00, A, S11:30, E 1:00, A, S2:30, E 4:00, A, S5:30(30min cause she just can't make it any longer)E6:00, A bath,massage,cuddle E7:00, S7:20, Dream feed 9:30 (sometimes she wakes before I can get to her), Wake 1pm - soother, Wake 2:30 - soother (sometimes she skips this one), Wake/Feed 3:30
What’s nap routine? pre nap cuddle and lullaby,
How long are naps?1.5-2
What's bedtime routine? Time? bath, massage, cuddle, 7pm ish - goes to bed awake in crib on her back, then rolls to her belly and falls asleep
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breastfeed - 7-8 times
How much? or how long? 5-10 min
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) - used to be single, but now when she fusses I switch
How many wakes per night?3
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? goes back to sleep within minutes if I give her a soother - in the beginning she would be up longer and more upset but has gotten better in last week or so
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? crying
What have you tried to settle?? patting
What do you do for A time and how long is it? play on mat, or in exersaucer, sit outside for fresh air, go for walks
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? rolling over - no signs of teething yet
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) yes,1-2 times per day, about 2 tbls prepared
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? SOOTHER
Do they have a lovie?

Many thanks!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi there -

It sounds to me like the soother has become a prop. You may want to consider getting rid of it - if so, check out the props board. There's some great info in there and methods to do that.

When are you feeding the cereal? I would suggest doing it at breakfast if you're not already. It can cause cramping and gas which can greatly affect sleeping. If you do it in the morning, it will give LO the day to work that out and have better night sleep.

The rolling milestone can be a major one for sleep disruptions. The best way to combat that is to make sure LO has as much time to practice during the day as she wants. That way she'll master it faster and hopefully get the urge out of her system.

I would also move the DF back to 10pm. 9:30 is rather early for that - Tracy suggested between 10 and 11 pm as to not interfere with sleep patterns.

As far as eliminating the 3:30am feed, I wouldn't worry about that for a while. Most LOs need a night feed for a while yet, some up to one year even. You will know when she doesn't need it anymore - she will take less and feed slower for example. My DS also took a feed at 3:30am until he was 6.5 months, when he clearly didn't need it anymore so we weaned then and it only took 4 days.

[torontomamma]

Thanks so much!  I now feel like I have a plan

So, I just put her down for her first nap in weeks WITHOUT her paci .  I did pat/shh and pu/pd (2x) and it worked!  After just a few short minutes she fell asleep quite happily.  I will continue this with the other naps today, and then try to get through the nite.  I will tell her dad to sleep on the couch (he is a sucker for tears and will encourage me to give her the paci if he is around!) and try my best.

Will update my results.

Thanks again!  I love this site!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Great to hear! I hope that things continue to improve, definitely keep me posted!!!

[Cohensmom]

Hi there,
My son Cohen was also waking in the night for his soother to fall back to sleep.  I thought, wow that was easy, but then it started getting frustrating that I had to get up in the middle of the night, so I decided to stop giving the soother.  The naps went well that day, but then that night he woke and I didn't give him the soother.  He cried off and on from midnight to 1am then finally fell asleep.  Ever since that night he no longer woke for the soother and started sleeping longer and longer.  I also cut out his dream feed and he now sleeps from 6:15pm to anywhere from 5-6am.  It's great.  It was a little tough at first to take it away, but I am so glad that I did.  Hang in there.

I hope you have the same success!

Michelle
Ontario Canada

[torontomamma]

So last night I caved... I tried for quite some time to comfort her without the soother but she didn't seem to be calming at all, and then her cries became cough like and I got scared and gave her the soother, I tried to take it away after she fell asleep and that worked but then she woke again 1 hr later.  I was so tired that I gave it to her again, and she still woke many times in the night.

So today, after getting about 4 hr of sleep (20-60 min here and there) I decided to try again.  No soother at all today so far, and she has had two good naps and a cat nap (switched to 4 hr EASY - working well)  She is currently playing, and I will be putting her to bed around 7:30... wish me luck and patience to see it through...

Another problem I am noticing is that for pat/shhh it's hard because she is strong and flips herself from her stomach/side onto her back so I have nothing to pat... any suggestions?  I have been stoking her head or placing my hand on her tummy, and then blocking her view with my other hand...

Thanks again, and thanks Cohen'smom for words of encouragement!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Don't worry, you can do this! Some people have posted success stories in the props forum if you don't believe it. 

I could never do a traditional shhh/pat because the patting just riled DS up and since he has reflux we couldn't get him to be in a position that worked for both of us and allowed patting. For us it was more like shhhh/hold. I would shhhh and put one arm across his knees and the other across his chest. Not pushing down really but just resting. Don't be afraid to modify techniques!

[torontomamma]

So last night went pretty well,  she woke 3 times and I did not cave!  I found she did not really like to be held or patted so I would gently stoke her hair and shhhh, and then I would move out of the way and send my shhhh from the end of the crib so she couldn't see me.  It took about 5 min each time but she went to sleep on her own.  I think she may be moving to more of a mantra cry, so I will now wait a minute or two and see how the cry progresses before I start shhhing.  I just put her down for her first nap (still the 4 hr EASY) and she went to sleep soon as I put her in her crib YAHHHH!!!!  I think it's working. 24 hrs- No soother!

Thanks again for all the help, and good luck to other mums with the same challenge - It seems to be a common one

 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Good for you!!!!

[torontomamma]

I slept last night for the first time in 2 mos!  Grace went to sleep at 6:30 (tired from swimming), and I did a DF at 9:30 (cause I was passing out on the couch) and then she didn't wake again until 4:00!!!!!  She then slept until 6:15. (so that means I got about 6hrs sleep!)

I hope this is not just a fluke, she has not had a soother in more than 2 days, and falls asleep in just a couple minutes with very little fussing.

Thanks again for all your encouragement!

[torontomamma]

test to see if my pic works

[torontomamma]

Grace swimming!

[torontomamma]

?

[TDR'smom]

CUTE!

Love the float!

[Colin Macs Mom]

AWESOME!! Love the picture!