5.5 mo old still frequently waking, why???

[sunnysummer]

Can you help me? Here's the info...

How old is your child?
5.5 months

What’s his/her daily routine?
4 hour EASY from 7 am to 7 pm

What’s nap routine?
15 min. before nap time we have a wind down with the white noise, quiet music, and pacifier. At this point she squirms and is happy to be put in the crib. I tell her the "Time For Bed Poem" as she stares off into space, happily sucks away for about 5 min and falls asleep.

How long are naps?
Nap times still vary in start time and duration depending on her cues.
Generally she will take a 1 - 1.5 hour nap around 8:15 am and wakes well-rested.
Then she will take a 1.5 - 3 hour nap sometime around 12:00 noon that she needs help consolidating as she can wake up at the 45 min. mark very fussy.
She will take a 30-45 min nap around 4:30 pm.

What's bedtime routine? Time?
Bedtime routine starts around 5:45 - 6:15 and is 45 min - 1 hour in length. It's very predictible and works like a charm! Feeding, bath, quiet music, bedtime story, white noise, swaddle, pacifier, I tell her the "Time For Bed Poem" as she stares off into space, happily sucks away for about 5 min and falls asleep.

Do you bottle or breastfed??
Breastfeed.

How much? or how long?
Around 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 6 pm, 10 pm DF

If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)
She drains one breast then I give her the other to top up

How many wakes per night?
Varies from 2-6 wakings per night, anytime during 12:30 - 7 am. It's different every night. I'm guessing she is waking after a sleep cycle ends and cannot go back to sleep. (I don't think she's hungry. If I do feed her she's not hungry in the morning. It helps her sleep longer with a "full tank" but I hesitate to do that because I don't think she needs it. I don't think she teething because it's not a pain cry and Tylenol doesn't change anything. Could be developmental? She started rolling over a month ago but nothing new since.)

What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up?
She wakes up groggy and gives a tired cry. I use the paci immediately to help her consolidate her sleep cycles. She falls back asleep right away but she's starting to wake more frequently. I'm guessing the paci is turning into a prop.

When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?
If I give her time to get back to sleep usually the fussing turns into all-out crying.

What have you tried to settle??
Pacifier. Her cries seem to tell me that she is a poor sleeper and that she is so tired but doesn't know how to go back to sleep without my help. In the past I've tried the shush-pat and PUPD but they only seem to stimulate her and she wakes up fully wanting me to pick her up.

What do you do for A time and how long is it?
Tummy time, walks. No more than 3 hours. She usually fusses before then. LO gets her nap before she gets overtired.

Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?
I don't think so. She learned how to roll onto tummy over a month ago but can't roll back. I have her swaddled in a bolster to keep her from rolling. Without it she'll sleep on her tummy but the wakings still occur.

Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)
I did before but it was too early so I stopped 2 weeks ago.

Do they have a prop? If so what is it?
Pacifier, white noise.

Do they have a lovie?
Starting to get her used to one.
 

Up until now I have been "paci-ing" her up to try to keep her from waking up fully in order to get her to consolidate her sleep cycles. I thought it was working but now she seems to be waking up so much. Is she dependent on the paci now?

Ok, so what should I do?
1. Keep using the paci to consolidate nap times and nightime sleep? Will this work in the long run or am I just making the paci a prop?
2. Wean her off the pacifier and introduce a lovey? How long will this take and how should I start?

(I've tried weaning her off the paci but in the day, she can't get to sleep without it. In the night she wakes up fully and all hell breaks loose. I have such a hard time hearing her cry. How long do I let her cry it out while I try to soothe her?)

Thanks for reading this!

[Cohensmom]

Hi there,

About 2 months ago I was having trouble with my lo always waking for the paci.  I decided that he needed to learn to fall BACK to sleep without it.  I started with naps and they went well, but the first night was a little crazy.  He woke at midnight screaming for the paci cause it had fallen out, so I then just gave him his blanket and tried placing his hands near his mouth so he could learn to self soothe.  This did take about an hour or so of him screaming, but then he finally settled and fell asleep.  Since that night he's been sleeping through the night ever since.  For us it was the best thing I did for him.

I know BW is all about doing everything possible to not let them cry, such as pupd and shh/pat, but for us that just overstimulates him.  In order for him to learn to fall asleep without assistance from me I had to start placing him in his crib, giving him his blanket, and walking out of the room.  Yes at first he would screams lots, but then eventually he figured out that he had to learn it all on his own.  I was so tired of constantly running back and forth at naptime to plug that paci back in and doing all these methods that were working, so for us we had to let him cry.  It took a few days of him getting used to falling asleep on his own, but now he's just over 5 months old, he goes down for naps and bedtime without a fuss and knows how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes.

Just thought I'd share my personal experience....

Michelle 

[sunnysummer]

Thanks for your response. Last night went better. She didn't wake until 3:30. I resisted the urge to go in. I just stood by the door and she started a mantra cry. It escalated a bit, but was still the waa, waa type. After about 5 min. she stopped and talked to herself. She actually turned her white noise machine on, then off and giggled (scary since I'd never her do this before), then on again. I thought: great, she's going to soothe herself. But after 10 min of this she started crying again and it turned into an upset cry. So I went to her to soothe her. Immediately she put my fingers in her mouth and began to bite. She's never done that before. I figured out that she must be teething. So I gave her some Tylenol. (I then realized the bottle was almost empty. I probably didn't end up giving her a proper dose the night before and that's why she cried so much.) I gave in and gave her the paci. Instead of sucking, she chewed on it. After about a minute she sighed as if to say, "Ok, Mom. I can take it from here, " and stared off into space. She happily went back to sleep on her own. There was a brief wakeup at 5 am but she quickly went back to sleep (with the paci unfortunately since we had houseguests and I thought 1 crying spell was enough for the night). 2 wakeups sure beat 6! I'll start weaning her off her paci for naps.

Wish me luck!

[Colin Macs Mom]

I think that you are right about the paci becoming a prop. Time to decide if you want to deal with the constant replacing or weaning   

Good for you for not rushing in though and giving her a chance to resettle! That's so important, as annoying as it can be!