7 month old suddenly waking

[Liam's Mommy]

My son Liam just turned 7 months and we have been having night waking issues for the last month or so.  Before that Liam was sleeping great, usually about 8-10 hours without waking.  Here is how the situation looks now, I would love any suggestions you have!!!!

Age: 7 months

Naps: 2-3 naps/ total naps time per day = 3 hrs We have a nap routine of story, song, into crib awake, sleep

bedtime: at 7:00 pm, we have a routine of play for 30 minutes, bath, breastfeed, story, song, into crib awake, Liam usually falls asleep within 5 minutes of being put into crib

Feedings: we are still breastfeeding and have started solids (2 meals a day right now)

Night Wakings: he has started to wake up at 10:00 pm, 3:00 am and 6:00 am.  When he wakes he is usually crying, and crying hard right away.  He used to wake up talking, not crying.

What we do: When he wakes and is crying I go in and tuck him in, sing the song and put my hand on his tummy.  He stops crying right away and usually settles after about 5 minutes.  I leave his room and get back into bed.  Sometimes that is all  and we all go back to sleep, but other times he is crying again in 30 minutes and we repeat this process for up to 2 hours.  Eventually I feed him and try again.

New things:  Liam has started to do a few new things during his sleep and wakings.  He has started grunting sometimes when I put him down to sleep or when I go in to his room at a waking.  He will grunt and grunt for 5-10 minutes and either fall back to sleep or start crying.  He also does this grunting during the day when he is playing sometimes.  He doesn't seem gassy and doesn't cry in pain, so I'm not sure what this noise means.

He has also started moving a lot in his crib and gets himself rolled over onto his tummy.  He also kicks his crib a lot at night and I am wondering if this is what is waking him up.

So... I am not sure how to help him get back to sleep after a night waking, as he seems to settle and then is up again in 30 minutes and we keep going over and over this every night. 

Please help, if you have any ideas!!!!

Thanks!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Are you on EASY? What's your full routine?

Is he teething?

[Liam's Mommy]

Yes we are on EASY and have been since he was about 2 months old.  Our days usually look like this:

7:30 am - wake up & breastfeed & breakfast

8:30 am - activity time

9:30 - nap

11:30 - breastfeed

12:00 - activity time

1:30 - nap

3:30 - breastfeed & supper

4:30 - activity time

6:00 - bath

6:15 -breastfeed & story time

6:45 - song & into crib

7:00 - usually sleeping

The night time is then the tricky part lately.  Used to be that he woke for a feeding around 3:00-4:00 am and then back to sleep. Now it totally unpredictable.

As far as teething, I'm not sure.  He doesn't have any teeth yet and doesn't seem to be bothered by him mouth at all.  He doesn't have any raised areas on his gums or anything.  So, I'm not sure if that it's, although it could be, as I don't really know how he would act while teething, as he hasn't had any teeth yet.

Any ideas?

[Colin Macs Mom]

I think your routine could use some adjusting. He's probably also getting ready to drop a breastfeed - LOs often do around 7.5 months. At his age my suggestion would be -

7:30 wake, BF and breakfast
8:30 A time
10/10:30 nap
12:00 wake and BF
12:30 A time
2:30 nap
4:00/4:30 wake and BF, supper
 and so on with the evening routine.

[Liam's Mommy]

Thanks for the suggesitons!  I'll give it a shot.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Keep us posted!

[~Kiki]

So you know you're not alone...my 7 month old is doing the exact same thing. Wiggling, waking up, and possibly teething (symptoms for the past 3 months). It's the pits, but I'm sure just like every other stage it too will pass

[Liam's Mommy]

Thanx!  It's good to know that our baby isn't the only one!!!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

How're things now, any better?

[Liam's Mommy]

Things are starting to settle down a little.  Liam is now waking less at night, the last 3 nights he has gotten up twice.  Once for about 15 minutes and the second time for a feeding at 3:00 am.  He seems to be having a hard time settling himself to sleep right now, I think because he is moving around a lot more and can't really get himself comfortable. 

So, the waking at night is better, but he is harder to get to sleep for naps and after his night feeding.  I am sure that he will start to settle easier once he gets used to the amount of movement he now has in his crib.  but, if you have any suggestions on how to help him settle to sleep and relax his body, instead of rolling over and squirming around for 20-30 minutes, I would love to hear them!!!

Thanks!

[momofclaire]

Glad to hear the NW are better.  It was around this age that my little girl would squirm around all night it seemed. That new found mobility really gets them excited and unable to relax.  I would just give him a huge open floor to squirm about during the day. I found that if we were in the car and stroller or carrier for a good portion of the day the night time squirm worm would come out to play

[Colin Macs Mom]

Here too. That mobility is really a big deal. We started sort of burrito-ing DS in a light blanket around his waist and legs and that helped a lot. He still sleeps that way actually 

[Liam's Mommy]

We have been using a sleep sack with Liam for naps and night sleeping the last few days and it seems to help him.  He still moves around in his crib, but he doesn't get tangled up in any blankets or anything, so I think we are moving in the right direction with sleep and squirmy baby!!!!

Thanks for your help and suggestion, I really appreciate it!