middle of night wide awake

[ghrkin]

hi there,

How old is your child?  7 months
What’s his/her daily routine?  wake between 7 and 7:30, eat, activity, nap within 2 hours, sleeps 30-60 minutes, then again... typically 3 naps per day
What’s nap routine?  wait for tired cues, go to nursery, snuggle 5 minutes, close door, close blinds, sing "you re my sunshine" put in crib, leave room
How long are naps?  30-90 minutes ish
What's bedtime routine? Time?  final breastfeed, veggies, cereal, bath, massage, pj's snuggle/song, bed.  starts around 6:30 in bed between 7"15 and 7:30
Do you bottle or breastfed??  breastfeed
How much? or how long?   umm... 10-15 minutes ish
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)  lately been usually one side...  sometimes middle of night do both
How many wakes per night?  typically twice right now
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up?  typically only 20-30 minutes per time... but that's why i'm posting
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  usually fussing.. hard for me to wait until "crying" middle of night
What have you tried to settle??  breastfeeding
What do you do for A time and how long is it?  middle of night A time ??  or day A time we do everything i can think of, indoor, outdoor, drop in centres, lots of hanging out on living floor
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?  possible teething (he just cut #8 last week.. maybe molars??)  and milestones recently would include sittig and lots of rolling, inchworming
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)  cereal twice a day... about 7:30 or 8 a.m. and 6:45 p.m
Do they have a prop? If so what is it?  was breastfeeding until 2.5 weeks ago... been working hard to remove it - dont use it through the day, still use it at night wakings
Do they have a lovie?  i've introduced one, he doesnt seem to be into it yet though

started BW 2.5 weeks ago, mostly been going very well - question is this- for example, last night he was asleep at 7:15, awake at 10:25, nursed 20 minutes, asleep before 11:00 slept until 4:15 (yay!) fed again, WIDE AWAKE, tried feeding second breast, no dice, put in crib wide awake, he hung out there for 25 minutes, happy.. a few noises, then started to fuss, then started to cry, went in, changed diaper, put back in crib, shhh/pat no dice, started to SCREAM.. started doing pu/pd at 5:45 this morning... not pleasant.  took about 25 minutes

so, what do i do middle of night when he is wide awake?  the nightlight is VERY dim, i dont talk, dont make eye contact am so non-stimulating... when nursing to sleep doesn't work, i dont know what else to try thanks

andrea

[brightside]

We have similar issues! When DS wakes like this though it usually because he is overtired from inappropriate naps. Looking at your answers I'm wondering whether it might be better to go to 2 naps instead of 3. I think the naps also need to be a little longer. I would extend A time by about 15 mins and see if you get a longer nap each time. Or at least a short one am and then at least 1.5 hours in the afternoon. Then go for an earlier bedtime eg 6.30 to prevent overtiredness. This is what we did when he transitioned to 2 naps and it worked well. I think you'll find if you can get the day sleep right then the night wake will stop. In the meantime, do PU/PD to get him back to sleep-it does get easier! Good luck!

[Colin Macs Mom]

ghrkin,

Sounds to me like your LO has developed a feed-to-sleep association and is well on his way to getting into the habit of doing most of his eating at night. I know it's hard and really annoying to listen to, but you really must leave him be when he's only fussing. If you go in you interfere with his ability to learn self-soothing and independent sleep skills.

He may still legitimately need one night feed, but the feeding every time he wakes is definitely not needed. Have you tried PU/PD?