Author Topic: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month  (Read 1156 times)

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Offline Fudge

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6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« on: November 30, 2006, 07:58:37 am »
I was posting in the EASY forum last week about LO having a very short activity time between waking up and 1st nap, usually only 1 hour.However, I'm now having more of a problem with early am night wakings.
 She is 6.5 months old and was sleeping right through from 7.30pm till 7.30am from about 2 months old until a month ago.She began not taking her catnap at 4ish, although I tried to get her down then for about a week, she wouldn't do it.Because of this, she had to go to bed an hour earlier, as she was desparately overtired.
 Shes been waking twice at different times each night (1.30am/4am/5am/5.30am & 6am) over the last week or so.The 1st wakening is usually babbling to (which she does lately in the day aswell), but then the 2nd wake is a cry which gets louder and more frantic until I go in to feed her.I've only fed her the last 2 days during the night as the other nights she managed to get back to sleep.I don't want it to turn into a need to be fed each night, but I just can't listen to the crying anymore.I was thinking about starting a dreamfeed to fill her up for the night, but it seems a bit late at this age.
 She been on solids for a month and has porridge for breakfast,chicken & veg plus fruit for lunch and sometimes a snack at 5pm, but if she eats at 5pm, she doesn't take her full bedtime bottle at 6.15pm.
 Should I try dropping the amount of formula to water ratio over a few weeks?I'm really feeling confused at the moment. :-\

How old is your child? 6.5 months
What’s his/her daily routine?wake 6-7am and alseep by 6.30pm
What’s nap routine?8am 1 hour,11.15am 45 mins,2pm 1 hour
How long are naps?as above
What's bedtime routine? Time?6pm bath,6.15 bottle in dim light quiet room,6.30pm bed awake with a few calming words from me: she falls asleep within 10 mins.
Do you bottle or breastfed??Bottle
How much? or how long?4-6 oz, 4 times a day
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)
How many wakes per night?2What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up?very loud babbling which turns into screams or mantra crying which gets louder and more frantic
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?sometimes all 3
What have you tried to settle??holding her hand, stroking her face and whispering calm words
What do you do for A time and how long is it?on playmat practising sitting and playing with toys/on door bouncer for 1/2 hour a day/visit to shops or walk once a day.Can only stay awake for 2 hours inbetween naps
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?No teeth, but could be pushing
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)
Do they have a prop? If so what is it?no
Do they have a lovie?yes
« Last Edit: November 30, 2006, 10:17:38 am by Fudge »


Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2006, 23:15:03 pm »
I think that you definitely need some tweaking to your routine... LO should definitely be on 4 hour EASY and it looks like she is on 3 hour still  :o  Am I correct in reading that right? If so then it's really time to extend her A time. What sort of advice did you get on the EASY thread you posted?

Quote (selected)
Should I try dropping the amount of formula to water ratio over a few weeks?I'm really feeling confused at the moment. :-\

I'm not sure why you would want to do that - are you thinking that one of her feeds is a problem?
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
Spirited + Reflux =  :o


Offline Kimberly®

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2006, 06:20:12 am »
I'd agree with the 4 hour EASY. Its time to transition. Do so 15 minutes at a time so its gradual.
I'd also like to know the advice you've already gotten.
Kimberly

Offline Fudge

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2006, 08:05:23 am »
Shes not on a 3 hour EASY,but she does only manage 2 hours of Activity, shes always been difficult to keep awake, although I am trying to add 10-15 mins at the moment.She has bottles at 4 hourly interval (except sometimes the bedtime one is a bit earlier)and solids at breakfast and lunch and sometimes teatime (not often).This was a normal day, unless shes woke in the early am, then it changes;

6am wakes and plays in cot
7am Bottle
7.15am A
8am S
9am Breakfast solids
8.30am A
11am Bottle
11.15am S
12 noon Lunch
2pm S
3pm Bottle
3.15 A
6m bath
6.15pm Bottle
6.30pm Bed

The advice from the other thread was to gradually extend her 1st Activity of the day,after her 7am bottle, by 15mins to get it to a least 2 hours+.This worked for a day or 2, but the early morning wakes have messed upi my routine.

Yesterday, she managed a catnap at 4pm and so we stretched out her bedtime to 7.25pm and she slept till 6 am.I fed her then and put her straight back to bed.She woke at 8am and I gave her her breakfast cereal.She then had Activity until a 10am bottle (4 hrs after her last 1)and was in bed at 10.20am.
I know its not a good schedule, but it changes each day.


Quote (selected)
Should I try dropping the amount of formula to water ratio over a few weeks?I'm really feeling confused at the moment. :-\

I'm not sure why you would want to do that - are you thinking that one of her feeds is a problem?


I found a thread on this board about someone who gradually stopped night feeding by giving the same amount of water, but less formula powder over a few weeks and it eventually stopped the baby waking at night hungry.It was a popular thread and lots of people used the technique successfully.It might not be suitable for me though.



« Last Edit: December 01, 2006, 12:33:08 pm by Fudge »


Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2006, 17:36:01 pm »
Looking at your full routine, I definitely see that you need to make some changes. There's only about 3 hours between sleeps and that's too short. Even if bottles are 4 hours apart, she needs longer A time. It's very important to be consistent as well - I know you say that the early wakes are an issue as well, and that's understandable, but if you always adjust the routine to compensate for that you give her control. She'll do whatever she wants whenever because she knows that she can and you'll allow it. My advice to you is to keep her on the routine as closely as possible for a while and she will get the picture. It might mean a rough few days, but she needs to learn what happens when. If you're routine is changing each day as you say then that definitely tells me that it's time to get her truly into a routine.

When my DS was her age we were doing this:

8:00am wake and bottle
9:00 breakfast solids
10/10:30 nap
12:00 wake and bottle
1:00 lunch solids
3:00 bottle, wait a few minutes and nap
4:30/5:00 wake
5:30 dinner solids
7:00 bath, bottle, story, bed by 8pm

Quote from: Fudge
[quote ]
Quote (selected)
Should I try dropping the amount of formula to water ratio over a few weeks?I'm really feeling confused at the moment. :-\

I'm not sure why you would want to do that - are you thinking that one of her feeds is a problem?
I found a thread on this board about someone who gradually stopped night feeding by giving the same amount of water, but less formula powder over a few weeks and it eventually stopped the baby waking at night hungry.It was a popular thread and lots of people used the technique successfully.It might not be suitable for me though.
[/quote]

I'm sorry, I didn't understand that you were back to talking about a night feed  :-[  I would definitely not start a DF now, it would probably just make things worse actually.
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
Spirited + Reflux =  :o


Offline Fudge

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #5 on: December 01, 2006, 19:47:14 pm »
Thanks Colin Mac's Mom, I appreciate your reply and I understand all you moderaters are so busy.   :)

Just a few questions;

If she wakes at 5 or 6am, and I feed her and put her back to bed, should I give her another bottle when she wakes,even though this is less than 4 hours since the last bottle?(Today when she woke at 6am and was fed milk then back to sleep, I just gave her solids when she woke back up at 8am).

If she woke at 6am on a few occasions, should I just accept that as her wake up time, or try to get it to 7am?How would I do this?
 
If she wakes at 4am, for example, and is fussing, do I go straight in to her, or do I wait and see if she settles herself?If it escalates into crying, should I go in then and feed her?(Whenever I do, she always finishes her bottle and settles straight back to sleep.)

With regards to extending her activity time in the day;How much time should she be awake at 6.5 months?She gets very tired at the 2 hour mark, she fusses, rubs her eyes and pulls her ears, the only way to keep her going is to carry her around.If I was to take her out in the buggy or car, she would fall asleep there.I don't know how I can overcome this at the moment.

Sorry for all the questions & thanks for your help.


Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2006, 22:08:07 pm »
No worries, that's what we're all here for  ;)

If she wakes at 5 or 6am I would not feed her then. Just resettle her (or try) until it's time to start the day and then feed. It may take a while but she will get the idea. Have you tried PU/PD?

Quote from: Fudge
If she wakes at 4am, for example, and is fussing, do I go straight in to her, or do I wait and see if she settles herself?If it escalates into crying, should I go in then and feed her?(Whenever I do, she always finishes her bottle and settles straight back to sleep.)

NOOOOO, don't ever go straight in unless she's really crying. If she's fussing leave her be. It's important not to rush in because then they never learn to self-soothe and achieve true independent sleep. When she's truly crying, and not mantra-crying, then go in of course. But don't feed unless she's actually hungry, feeding should not be your answer unless the question is hungry so to speak.

As for extending the A time, my advice would be the same as what you got in the EASY forum. Extend it by 10 min or so every few days until you're on track. She will probably be pretty grouchy at first but she'll adjust and you'll all be much happier. There are sample EASY routines for each age range in the EASY forum, you might want to check that out to get an idea of what people have been doing.
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
Spirited + Reflux =  :o


Offline Fudge

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2006, 22:16:44 pm »
Thanks!
I'll give it all a go over the next week and let you know how I get on.Wish me luck!


Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2006, 22:30:16 pm »
definitely keep us posted!!
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
Spirited + Reflux =  :o


Offline Fudge

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2006, 20:13:34 pm »
Hi, I just wanted to give an update on the situation over the last 5 days.Basically, it looks like the early am wakenings have stopped! ;D
 I made a few changes to my LO's routine, I increased her activity times by a 15 mins, started giving her solids at 5pm and made her bedtime later (was 6.30pm, now 7.15pm).The 1st day I did this, she woke at 6am the next morning, then it was 6.15am the following am, 6.30am the next, 6.45am on the 4th day and this morning it was 7.15am!!! I can't belive it, I just lay there from 6am, waiting for her to wake and cry, but she doesn't.I now need to teach myself to sleep later in the mornings :).

Good luck to all of you, stick at it and it will all come right in the end.

Thankyou moderaters for your help. :)


Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: 6.5 month old early am wakenings over the last month
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2006, 20:53:23 pm »
That's GREAT!!!  ;D
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
Spirited + Reflux =  :o