Help!! 5.5 mo Waking every 2-3 hrs

[stheo]

My LO is 5.5 months and for the last 2-3 nights has gotten up every 2-3 hrs and I am exhausted.... Funny thing is last week she would sleep 7-7 straight thru so I dont know what is happening... I put her to bed at 7 and then she wakes up every 45 mins for the 1st couple of hours and then it is every 2-3 hrs after that.. At first it seems like she cant get comfortable and is thrashing all over the place.... i go in and she is all the way at the top of the crib turned in the opposite direction that I put her in.... i can pat her back to sleep and then she wakes up 2-3 hrs later... I thought maybe growth spurt but she doesn't seem any hungrier during the day and she alreay eats 7-8 oz every 4 hrs... She is refusing solids for the last 2 weeks due to teething.. and she doesnt seem to be waking up in pain..... She has 45min -1 hr naps but she has always been like that and sleep fine during the night with only 1 wakeup at 5 to eat.... Please help I am so tired and I have to work this weekend at night and would really like  good nights sleep... our routine looks something like this..


E 7-730 8 oz formula
A
S- 9-950

E 1100 7-8 oz
A
S1200-100  ( sometimes can stretch this to 1.30)

E 300 7-8 oz
A
S 330- 415/30

bath, massage, cuddle and bottle, bed by 700..   I know naps look weird but I put her down for nap after 2hr or 2.15hr  A time from the last time she got up so times might be a little different... Anyone know what is going on?

[Bella's Mom]

Have you thought about teething???  Mine is only 4.5 mths and she is already teething, which is causing her to wake at nights.  If you think that is the problem I would suggest teething tablets before you put her to bed. Also, have you started solids yet?? Sometimes that can cause gas if given too close to bedtime.  Hope that helps.

[stheo]

she has been teething for at least a month and I already give the teething tablets.....She doesn't wake up like she is in pain... sometimes I walk in and she smiles at me thinking its play time..... Also she has been on solids for about 2 months and she has been refusing them for 2 weeks ... on the solid board they say that one can stop eating solids if they are teeting.... but does teething cause them to wake up every 2 hrs  thrashing about the bed like she cant get comfortable.

[Jodi and her boys]

Usually waking up 45 mins into nighttime sleep is a result of being overtired.  Have you tried putting her down any earlier? 

She is still really young to be "serious" about solids.  I wouldn't worry too much about that.  2 hrs is a typical sleep pattern, which tells me she may be a bit overtired and having a hard time putting herself back to sleep.  Does she wake crying?  If not, wait and don't go in.  Sometimes at this age los tend to wake in the night, babble & play and then go back to sleep.

[stheo]

i havent tried putting to sleep earlier because I really dont want her getting up any earlier... some nights she wakes at 45 mins and some she doesnt... i guess i need to look close on those days to see what shes doing. but her naps are mostly 45 mins...i watch her cues and some I can extend and some times i cant.. sometimes she wakes crying others she just moves around and ends up at the top of the bed in the opposite direction and gets fussy and then starts crying. this morning she woke and played and then put herself back to sleep. its just during the night that is so different... She used to sleep until at least 5... eat and then back to sleep... but she has always woke 45 mins after being put down.

[Jodi and her boys]

Does she have a paci? 

[stheo]

no paci... she has never really taken to it so we hardly ever use one...

[Jodi and her boys]

Okay, then I would try wake to sleep for that 45 min mark.  Same with the 2 hr marks if they are that predictable.  Start with the 45 min mark, see if that makes a difference.

[stheo]

w2s wakes her up completely and has never worked and the night wakings are not consistent.. sometimes they are eveyry 2 hrs, 3 hrs or 4 hr, never the same time

[Jodi and her boys]

do you feed her when she wakes? If not, what do you do to get her back to sleep.  Sorry so  many questions, just trying to figure it out!
Thanks.

[stheo]

i dont usually feed her until at least 5 in the morning ....i wait and see if something else will work.... usually i just pat/shh her back to sleep or rock her until she drowsy then put her in crib and finish with pat/shh... like last night... she woke at 100... i pat/shh her back to sleep and then she woke at 200.. took 8oz bottle and went back to sleep until 700 this morning.... i try something else first and if she wakes after that then i feed her

[Jodi and her boys]

It actually sounds like a growth spurt.   I didn't realize until I read at the top that she has only been doing this the last few nights.  She could be hitting her 6 month growth spurt, which is a big one.  This could last for up to a week.  I say, keep doing what your doing, by trying to get her back to sleep. If she wakes soon after, feed her (like you did last night).  If she is taking 8 oz, I am pretty sure that is it.  Give it a week.  I can't believe I didn't notice that earlier!

I hope that helps 

[stheo]

last night she did good. i was pleased with just 1 night waking, ive been trying to get more in her during the day since she already drinks 7-8 oz bottles during the day... ive been giving her teething tablets also which has helped .... hopefully it is just a growth spurt and will be back to normal soon

[Jodi and her boys]

that's great.  keep me posted!

[stheo]

last night she woke up at 1100... patted back down and then again at 1230 so i fed her then and she slept until 600.... i try to get more into her during the day so that she wont wake up for the middle of the night and she wont eat anymore during the day.... if it were a growth spurt wouldn't she want to eat all the time..

[lin7604]

my ds has done the night wakes since i can remember.  He was finally getting good with only one night wake or none the last 2 weeks.  I though FINALLY, i can get some sleep, well i jinked it!  Last night he slept well his first 2 hrs after that i couldn't get him down at all.  I finally picked him up and rocked him in my arms for 30 sec and he was out, but it was once i tried to put him down he would wake again.  I did this for 45 min and finally had enough so i brought him to bed with me, which i never do  as he usually thinks it's play time.  well i guess he was tired as he slept but if i tried to move him away from my chest he would wake!  Well who can sleep like that,i was getting SOOO tired at this point, it was almost 12pm.  Finally he slept till 2am and was up at 2:30 to eat, he ate 7oz and  iput him back in his crib.  he slept another 2 hrs but woke just before 5 soaked and on his belly screaming!  Well after i changed him and all i put him back in his crib and he was crying again, so i picked him up and again 30 sec and he was out.  Then it was the trciky thing to get him down again, well it was a vicious cycle and i wasn't going to play it again, so i just put him down adn let him cry.  I hated to do it, i think he is stilltoo young but i was sooo desprate for some sleep that i just couldn't deal with it.  He cried for 1 hr and then slept 1.5 hrs after till wake up time.  what is going on with him?  could it be growing pains?  he has never been a great sleeper but not this bad!

[Jodi and her boys]

not neccessarily.  I breastfed, so I could never tell how much my lo was taking in, but for growth spurts, he still woke at night.  I don't think their tummies can hold so much milk at one feeding, so they space them out.  what makes me think that she's hungry, is that she will wake an hour or two after you put her back to sleep, as if saying, "Mom, I'm really hungry"!  Then she sleeps until morning.  When she takes her first bottle in the morning, does she act starving?

[stheo]

thats why i feed her if she wakes an hour after i put her down..... this happened at another growth spurt and a fellow BW friend told me to add oz to bottle during the day and that worked. but know she is on 4 hr EASY and takes 7-8 oz ( sometimes 9) at a feed and I cant get her to take any more during the day... but yes if she wakes up and then wakes up soon after i put her back down i feed her thinking that she really is hungry.... She woke at 600 this morning and at 7-8 oz, she doesn't act like she's starving but she sucks it down in no time and is ready to go back to sleep. Maybe it is the 6 month growth spurt and it is just a long one...

Lin- how old is your LO and what is ur usual routine.... so you usually put him to sleep awake or is he already asleep when you try to put him down in crib?

[ericaantesberger]

Have you thought about teething???  Mine is only 4.5 mths and she is already teething, which is causing her to wake at nights.  If you think that is the problem I would suggest teething tablets before you put her to bed. Also, have you started solids yet?? Sometimes that can cause gas if given too close to bedtime.  Hope that helps.

My son at 6 mon. wakes a lot, he eats cereal...could this be giving him gas if given to close to bedtime? what time should I give it if he goes to be at 7:00?

[lin7604]

my ds is 5.5 months ( will be 6 months on the24th) i do a mixture,somenights he is still awake after his bottle and others he's pretty grogg.  He will sually wake when i put him down and MOST times he will wiggle around a bit to get comfy and go back to sleep, or a he will let out a few cries and want his soother and fall right back to sleep.
Last night he ate at 1:20 am and he didn't want to eat when he wakes for a bit no matter how long it's been.  Usually he has to be up atleast 30 min before he will eat, today it was 1hr.  his usual routine is something like this:
up 7-7:30
eats 8am
sleeps 9am ish
eats 2 tbs cereal 10am
eats bottle before 11:00
naps somewhere 11 or 11:30
eats 2 tbs veggies or fruit 12or 12:30pm
eats bottle 2pm
naps 2:30 ish
eats bottle 5pm
naps 5:30 till 6
eats 2 tbs cereal 6pm
eats bedtime bottle 7:30
asleep by 8pm. 
This was his normal day for wquite sometime now in the last 2 weeks it is up in the air as he went from eating 6-7 oz bottles to 4oz every 2-2.5 hrs and his naps always vary.  Sometimes he will nap fpr 30 and has up to2 hr so everyday it is a guessing game as to how long he will sleep.  the only thing consistant is that he naps after2hrs awake time.  Also he has been fighting his last nap at 5 or 5:30, so then he has been in bed sleeping by 7pm.  He also always wakes a 7am no matter what unless he is in bed at 7 then he's up at 6.

[stheo]

sounds like he is snacking every 2 hrs instead of taking a  good feed.. the cereal at 600 could also be giving him gas causing night wakings. That looks like alot of solids for  baby his age..is he teething? if so you could try Hylands teething tablets, they helped my DD sleep straight thru when she was teething... or it could be milestones.... babies are learning all kinds of things at this age...

[lin7604]

well my ped told me i had to lower his formula intake to 35-40 max as he was eating 50oz a day sometimes more.  So i tried a little by little to get him down to 40oz and this is it, 2 tbs for breakfastand 3 for dinner and 2 tbs of fruit or veggies for lunch.  If he doesn't get it he is eating 50oz aain easily.  That also is healthy as it is hard on their kidneys to have so much formula.  He has had cereal at 6pm since he was 4 month and it has never effected him before, so i don't think it is that.  between teething, milestones and growth spurts one of them must b the culprit!
this snacking thing has only been in the last 2 weeks as before he was eating 6-7oz every 3-4 hrs which was really good, but i don't know  why he is only eating 3.5-4oz a sitting now?  I can't get more in him, today he drank 5oz and had a big spit up after, which he usually never does.

[stheo]

if he is only eating 3-4 oz at a sitting i would say that it is not a growth spurt... could be teething.... usually babies quit eating as much when they are teething.... is he drooling a lot more or chewing on everything.... when he wakes is he crying like he is in pain?  if so then try Hylands teething tablets,,,they work wonderfully.... when my dd was going thru a milestone, she would wake up and be all over the crib, trying to practice rolling over or crawling.. i would walk in and she would be at the top of the crib in the opposite direction that i put her in.

[lin7604]

i thought it might be teething but his gums are not red or swollen, he has had a small white spot but has had it for 2 months.  He has chewed everything and drooling for months too i also feel his gums but they feel smooth and i really don't know what i am feeling for?, his cheeks every other day are beat red but i never know when he is really teething as he is such a good baby and really doesn't whine or complain. The only thing is the night issues that i have with him.  How do you know for sure they are teething?

[stheo]

i dont know for sure about teething just symptoms.....my Dd is like that.... no tooth yet but drooling, chewing, face red, and cranky alot... she's been like that for months too.. Try the teething tablets, they are homeopathic so they dont cause any danger and see if they work... if not then we will try something else.

[lin7604]

i am going to get some this weekend!  thanks.