7mth old questions

[FionaS]

Hi.  My 7mth old's night wakings have been getting worse over the last 2 months.  Last night she woke at 2.30am and talked to herself until 3.15 at which time she started to cry.  I fed her (bf) at 3.30am and she took at huge feed.  I'm very very full at night so she gets her biggest feed of the day.  She then woke at 6 am wanting to start the day.  I tried leaving her as our normal start time is 7am but she just cried and cried.  I don't like doing AEAS as it makes the day so messy but don't think she should E 2.5 hours from her biggest feed of the day when she is usually on a 4 hour EASY.  What should I do in this situation?

In case you need the info, our routine is as follows (though as she starts the day at such different times it keeps getting mucked up):
6.30am wakes, leave her in her bed
E 7am, solids 8am (takes about 3 tsp cereal)
A
S 9am approx for 1hour 20mins (sometimes 40mins)
E 11am, try solids at 12 but usually only takes 2 tsp chicken and veg.
A
S by 1pm for 1 hour 20mins, occassionally 2 hours
E 2.30
A
S 4pm (catnap)

We've had a really busy week and on 2 occasions she's ended up doing a 20min nap out in the middle of the day insteaed of her nap and then either napping again at 5pm OR not napping at all.  This is NOT the norm, I do try to be home at nap times, this week has just been a bad one.

We've had a really rough ride with our little one as she was very unsettled until 6.5 months and is only just coming right.  I was doing ok when she was sleeping through until 5am and then to 7 but now that she is waking earlier, and sometimes wanting to feed twice a night I'm just so fatigued and am too tired to do my normal activities + have to take pain killers quite frequently for headaches. Would it be cruel form me to try some of the gentle night weaning methods? 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Most LOs are ready to drop the catnap around 6.5 or 7mo, so it might be worth considering a routine change. She's probably ready to handle a bit longer A times, what do you think?

[FionaS]

Hi Colin Mac's Mom.  Not sure about that.  My lo seems to have shorter A times as the day goes on.  For her 3rd A time she is pretty unbearable after 1.5 hours hence why she still has the cat nap.  She can magage 2 to 2.5 hours for her other A times.  For example, she may do 2 hours in the morning, 2 + next A time, then 1.5 and then be ready (i.e. rubbing eyes and grizzling and yawning) only 1 hour later. 

Are you thinking that the catnap may be CAUSING earlier / extra night wakings??

[Colin Macs Mom]

Are you thinking that the catnap may be CAUSING earlier / extra night wakings??

Yes - I wonder if she's getting too much daytime sleep. 7 mo can be sort of a screwy age for sleep because it's usually nap transition time. I was thinking that if you moved both of the other naps forward a bit, even just 30 min, it might do the trick. Some LOs need more time to be able to adjust to the longer A time though.

[FionaS]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.  However, yesterday we didn't change anything, just stuck closely to 4 hour EASY + only let her sleep 20mins for her catnap and she slept 7pm to 6.45am!   I'm trying not to "expect" her to do it again tonight but I am secretly hoping she will.  I didn't sleep through...woke 3 times expecting her to wake 

[Colin Macs Mom]

So maybe the key is a very short catnap?!

[FionaS]

Could be!  We'll try it again today.  No catnap seems to make her too overtired and hence she doesn't feed well and then doesn't sleep well but maybe, as you say, a shorter catnap is the key for now.  She ate very well too so the 4 hour EASY seems to be a good thing.  At first I didn't think 4 hourly feeds would be a good thing but they are!  She wasn't ready for the 4 hour routine until more recently though.  Yesterday she fed 4 hourly, had 3 very small meals of solids + took a 200mL top up of formula before bed.   Really hope she sleeps through again tonight!  Sleep is a wonderful thing.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Let me know how it goes!

[FionaS]

Well yesterday we replicated the schedule but she didn't do quite as well.  She woke at 4.55am, resettled herself then woke at 5.30am and cried.  I fed her for 3mins (she usually feeds for 10 or 12mins at night) then took her off.  She wasn't impressed but stopped crying within a minute or so.  She then went back to bed and back to sleep.  I didn't set my alarm as she usually wakes up between 6.30 and 7.15 without fail but she slept until 7.45! That means our schedule for the day is out and we won't be able to do 4 hour EASY unless we push her bedtime back an hour.  Should we aim for her normal bedtime or push it back?  Is it normal for a baby to do 4 hour EASY during the day but then have a shorter gap, say 3 hours between the last 2 feeds of the day?  Or would that mean they don't take enough to sleep through?

Is it correct to assume that if she will take 3mins of feed then sleep for another 2 hours that she can probably manage to wait until 6.45am for the feed?  I'm wondering if I should stop feeding her in the night and start using pick up / put down?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Should we aim for her normal bedtime or push it back?  Is it normal for a baby to do 4 hour EASY during the day but then have a shorter gap, say 3 hours between the last 2 feeds of the day?  Or would that mean they don't take enough to sleep through?

Aim for normal bedtime, definitely. Consistent bedtime is very, very important. I wouldn't worry so much about the shorter gap late in the day - that's how things always were with my DS. Some LOs go the other way with a shorter gap in the morning. It's normal either way

Is it correct to assume that if she will take 3mins of feed then sleep for another 2 hours that she can probably manage to wait until 6.45am for the feed?  I'm wondering if I should stop feeding her in the night and start using pick up / put down?

I'm not a BF expert but I don't think 3 min is enough to constitute a necessary feed. Rather than stopping cold turkey I would offer 1 min less each night for a few days at a time, and then PU/PD after that if necessary.

[FionaS]

Thanks for all your help.  Hopefully we'll continue to have good night's sleeps (until the next milestone!  )

[Colin Macs Mom]

LOL, it's always something!!

[FionaS]

Sigh.  Despite 4.5 good feeds, 200mLs of additional formula + 2 meals of solids, our lo woke at 2.20am   As we knew she can do much better than that, we decided not to feed.  I did pu/pd for an hour and she resettled and slept until 6.40.  Now that we've started to night wean, I guess it is fairest for everyone to continue...?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Yep. It will take some time, but if you are consistent and stick with the plan you'll all be sleeping like crazy before you know it.

[FionaS]

It generally takes 3 to 14 days to change a sleep habit...is that correct? 

If I was to offer her a small drink of half strength formula (e.g. 20mLs) would that slow the weaning process or just help make it a little more gentle?  I know that she will resettle faster after a small drink.