6 months and suddenly waking at night?

[beaus mom]

Hi there, if anyone has any advice or had a similar problem, I would really appreciate the help!  My lo is 6 months old (2days ago).  The problems started 4 nights ago when he started waking at night again.  In the last 4 nights he has woken 2 times or so per night.  He is usually awake for an hour at a time.  I can leave him and he will talk and soothe himself if it's before 5am on and off for an hour.  After 5am he won't settle until 7am when I feed him.  I'm so confused why he has started this now?
His routine is...
7am wake and feed
9:15-10:45 Nap
11:00 Feed
12:45 Solids
1:15-1:30 - 2:45-3:00 Nap
3:15 feed
4:45 solids
5:15-5:45 catnap
6:45 bath
7:00 feed
7:15-7:30 sleep
10:30 dreamfeed
I breastfeed and solids have been introduced for over a month now.  We ditched the paci 2 weeks ago with no trouble.  I have used p/u p/d for short naps and early wakings.  I have never had success with him falling asleep by himself from me doing this but I always stick it out until the next feed.  I know that he can soothe himself now because he will settle after stirring from his nap at 45 minutes and he will settle in the middle of the night.  I increased calories yesterday to see if was hunger related, but it made no difference last night. 

I don't know what else it could be which is why I'm here posting this   I'm hoping that someone has had this happen and may have some advice on how to manage it.  So far I'm sticking to p/u p/d but like I said he never falls back asleep from doing it.
thank-you in advance for helping,
Candus

[Kimberly®]

Sounds like a growth spurt. Have you tried feeding? maybe try that and increase the intake during the day to balence it back out. DD did this at 6 months aswell. It lasted a couple weeks, but by slowing increasing what she was taking during the day.

[beaus mom]

Thanks for the response!
Since I posted, I have been increasing calories during the day and he has been better.  Last night he was awake from 2:30-3:30am but managed to get himself back to sleep and stay asleep until 7:00am. 
I'm now wondering about phasing out the catnap.  How did you do it?  I'm not sure that I can stretch A times more than 2.5 hours.  Does he need to be at 3 hours of A time to lose the catnap?  I'm wondering about an earlier bedtime....but then I worry that he would be up earlier....so confusing.  Just when I felt like I had his schedule all figured out he needs it to change....I guess that's the fun of having a baby!
Any advice you have would be great,
thanks again,
Candus

[binxyboo]

We did a temporarily early bedtime

[beaus mom]

Did your lo wake earlier in the morning?

[binxyboo]

No, he didn't. From what I remember, he was overall more rested and naps in general started getting better. Let us know how you get on

[Lªuren]

beaus mom my initial thoughts were the catnap is causing a problem as well.


If I remember rightly, DS just refused it point blank one day. For 2 or 3 weeks he was give oer take with it, then suddendly stopped it all together.

[beaus mom]

Okay, so last night was the first night that we decided to skip the catnap.  He had a later nap yesterday because he fell asleep for 10 minutes in the car before lunch.  He usually naps at 1:15-1:30 and yesterday, he didn't fall asleep until 2:00pm and slept until 3:30pm.  I fed him at 6:30 and he was asleep by 7pm. 
He first woke at 12am-12:30 talking to himself, then again at 4:00-4:30am, and then he woke for the day at 6:30am.  He had gone poo so I changed him and fed him at 6:45am.  Usually I never feed before 7am, but once I take him out of his crib, he thinks that it is time to eat, and I couldn't leave him in a wet diaper.
I'm guessing that I should probably try and stick this out for a few days without the catnap to see if I can adjust his schedule.  I'm just concerned about too long of A times to get his naps a bit later in the day.
Should I be aiming for a 6:30pm bedtime?  It just seems so early.  If I put him down that early, should I be expecting him to feed earlier than 7am.  Should I be adjusting his wake/feed time too? 
Already I stretch his A time as long as I possibly can before both naps.  I end up carrying him around to keep him happy for 15-20 minutes before each nap.
Does anyone remember what their schedule looked like when you first started to skip the catnap?

Thanks,
Candus

[M and N's Mom]

Here was our schedule at around 6 months when we dropped the catnap:

7:30 - BF
9:55-11:45 Nap #1
11:45 BF
1:30 Solids
2:30-4:30 Nap #2
4:30 BF
7:00 BF
7:30 Asleep
(we still had at least 1 night feeding at that age as the DF never worked for us)

[beaus mom]

Did you just switch to this schedule as soon as you dropped the catnap? I will definately try putting him down for a later morning nap this weekend and see if that helps.....as this morning he only had a 40 minute nap and we thought that we had the 40 minute nap thing conquered!  I definately don't want to go backwards.
He was awake from 3-3:30am and then 5-5:30am this morning and then wake and feed at 7 as usual.  I tried putting him down at 9:30am this morning which is 15 minutes later than normal but it must not have been enough A time since he only slept 40 minutes.  Maybe I should try and get him as close to 10am as I can for his first nap and start there.
My other dilemma is that I have a 6 yr old stepdaughter to pick up from school at 3pm...which would be right in the middle of his nap time.  This is going to be one tricky schedule to figure out as I also have a 4 yr old step daughter to pick up at 11:30 from preschool too!  How in the heck do moms figure this stuff out?
Thanks for your input with the schedule, it does help
Candus

[M and N's Mom]

If I remember correctly it took a week or two of playing with his schedule to get him there.  I remember walking around, trying to extend his awake time without overstimulating him to see how long he could handle.  I don't know if you can get him to 10am for his first nap if you are starting at 7am (our day started at 7:30).  3 hours would be a really long A time for a 6 month old.  Try 5-10 minutes at a time for a day or two.

I can sympathize with your schedule dilemma with the older lo's.  I too had (and still have) problems with DS sleeping when I have to pick up DD from preschool.  Thankfully, my parents live close and help by picking her up lots of the time.

[beaus mom]

Thanks to everyone who replied....I just thought that I would give you an update.  We are great!!  It must have been the catnap.  He now naps at 9:30-11:00 and from 2:00-3:30 and bed by 7pm.  It is working out great.  He even was immunized 2 days ago and both nights went great even though he wasn't feeling great. 
He is happier and not waking at night anymore!
Must have been the 6 month thing...
thanks again,
Candus

[Kimberly®]

YAY!! I'm so happy to hear things are improveing for you. I hope they continue to do so