Waking 4-5 times in night!!! helpppppppp

[bubbaloo]

My dd has been a fairly good sleeper at night. She normally wakes once or twice a night which i can deal with

But for the last few weeks she has been waking 4-5 times a night normally i put her to bed at 8.30pm-9pmish and she will sleep until at least when i go to bed (sometimes i will dream feed her when i go to bed) but last night she woke at 10.40pm after going down at 9.00pm and fed then went back to sleep but woke another 3 times after that.

The only way she will go back to sleep is to feed or suck on me! Most of the times she wakes up she is feeding and sometimes for quite a while! Although last night she woke 4 times but only drank a little bit then refused the breast!

Please tell me this is happening because it is so hot or a growth spurt or something as i don't want her to get into a routine like this

I thought it could be her reflux waking her up but she doesn't seem upset as such although all this feeding laying down at night is prob not good for the reflux

Anyone else found anything like this happening and what should i do?

[Kimberly®]

I have a few questions for you so I can help you out. I know this is hard but we're here to help you.

1) what is her routine? I need full details here including start of day, nap times, feed times, activity times and what you do, nap and bedtime routine.
2) Does she need to feed to sleep for naps as well?
3) where does she sleep?
4) How old is your DD?
5) Is she exclusively BF?

My first inclination is to say bedtime is to late. Your LO is overtired and this is whats leading to the frequent waking. I also suspect that you are becoming a prop for your DD. Answer the above questions and I will get a much clearer picture and I can help you out more from there. But in the meantime move bedtime to 7pm, and try to get your LO down in a drowsy but not sleeping state.

[bubbaloo]

I have to admit our routine is rubbish and i'm sure i do all the wrong things out of desperation in the early months with her being too ill and me finding it very hard to cope.

Her routine is normally >

Wake at 6.30am-7.00am
Naps normally 9.30amish for 30-40mins
12.30-1.00pm used to be for 1 1/2 hours (but last few days has been 40mins then wakes)
then sometimes a nap at 5.00pm for 1 hour or 40mins (normally this nap doesn't happen!!)
Bed at 8.00pm-9pm after a bath everyday

She sleeps in her cot
She is 4.5 months old
Exclusively breastfed normally every 3 hours but more if its hot as she won't drink water.

I know that she doesn't sleep enough so when she is awake its all activity time!! It's so hard to get her to sleep and yes i used to nurse her to sleep but she doesn't do that anymore as she suffers from stomach cramps and won't nurse laying down.
Instead i have to walk round with her until she falls asleep otherwise she won't sleep at all.
In fact i can't remember the last time she just fell asleep on her own.

It's been so hard to cope with her reflux in the past as she would scream all day and never slept as she was in pain. She started to get better and was sleeping well after starting Gaviscon but then the screaming got worse so she is now on Ranitidine and since then things have gone downhill on the sleeping front.

Normally i could rock her for 10mins then she would be asleep and go down fine but now it has all gone wrong and i can spend hours trying to get her to fall asleep and then when she does she wakes up straight away or soon after.

I have tried to put her down when she is drowsy but she won't sleep  should i leave her to cry?

Sorry i should have read the sticky first but i'm in such a state

[Kimberly®]

Take a deep breath, your doing a great job. Its very hard when our LO's have reflux. I well remember going through the same thing. No don't leave her cry. CIO is not recomended and honestly I think it would only make things worse for you. You have a few issues here, nothing that can't be worked through, but its going to take time and consistency, thins wont be easy, but it'll be well worth the work.

First thing we need to get your DD (love her name btw) onto a good routine. Start with a 4 hour EASY to start. If she feeds at 4 hour intervals she'll get all the water and calories she needs, if your worried ask at the breastfeeding forum, but I don't believe she needs any extra water ofr feeds due to heat. Breastmilk provids all of that.  Get her down for her naps 10-15 minutes sooner then you do now, and keep doing it sooner untill you find the right time for your DD. Start using Pat/Shh to calm your LO before naps, she's old enough now that you can also try PU/PD. Stick with pat/shh to start, then when she is calm lay her down, when she cries pick her up and repeat. This is a slow process, I wont lie, there is a lot of crying. Your DD will be thinking "no mum this is not how we go to sleep" your aim is to guide her and to teach her a new way to fall asleep. To show her she is safe to sleep. Avoid rocking to sleep. You'll want to have 2 naps of 1.5 hours, and one 45 minute cat nap. 

Bedtime needs to be changed. Earlier is better for LO's. Contrary to what many think, keeping your LO up later doesn't make them sleep longer, it only makes them overtired and tends to make them wake more. Move bedtime to 7pm and make sure your last nap is at least an hour earlier. The last nap before bed is usually the cat nap.

For the reflux do you have the crib matress at an angle? if not that may be your problem, many LO's with reflux can't lay flat. Try elivating the matress or somthing if you can. Ask at the reflux and colic bored for more advice on making your LO more comfortable. I know the matress thing worked for us though.

Also remember there is a difference between a mantra cry and a real cry. Listen to your LO very carefully, its different for each LO, but if you listen you can spot the difference. My DD's is very flat, doesn't get lowder and starts and stops for example when its a mantra cry. If you believe its a mantra cry then by all means give her a chance to settle, if its a real cry then go to her. It takes time but you'll figure it out. Its just really hard to explain.

[jbepko]

YOu should read my saga....I'll find the link. I went through a horrible patch with night awakenings and early awakenings and it was all due to him being TOO TIRED. It took some work- but he is a different baby- so happy, laughing, no crying, babbling- he's a joy. He is quite a bit older, but the bad sleep habits had been in place for quite a while.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=60088.0

[NrsT]

Hi
No, can't help but am going through the exact same thing!  Last night we were up 6 times.  Two weeks ago we had 5 nights straight of one feed per night - 10pm, 3am, 6am.... Are you eyeballs hanging out like mine?
My DS is 13 weeks.  Seems to be farts waking him up, but only feed will settle him. Also is taking gaviscon for reflux.

[LyndaManus]

I had a similar if not the same issue last week.  DS seemed so hungry each time that he woke, I gave in and fed him.  Last weekend, DH said no more giving in.  He offered to get up at any other time than his scheduled time to wake up (we are doing a 4 hour easy all the way through the night right now.  E at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm df, 2am).

I think that all of my feedings made him gassy and he was waking up in pain from all of the gas   After realizing this, I felt horrible!  After two nights of DH and I trading off and keeping his routine consistent, he is only waking up twice a night now.  I think once b/c of hunger (b/w 2:00 and 3:00) and then another b/c of gas (b/w 4:30 and 5:00).  We help him pass it and then use PU/PD to get him back to sleep.  Tonight I am going to go back to using gas drops at all feedings and see if that eliminates the extra waking.

I saw that you were feeding  LO extra so I thought you might be going through the same thing.  Good Luck!