6 MO night waking after sleeping 8-11 hours from 2 MO!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Is it possible that there is some reflux or something like that going on?

[babyshamble]

hmmm...don't think so - when we pick her up and take her out into the light and chat to her she perks up and is happy and fine.  What i noticed though is that we were not waiting for her to start crying properly before we rushed in - so now we wait until she is really crying and then go in to pat her on the back rather than quickly picking her up.  it's starting to work but sometimes it's so much that i really do have to put her in bed screaming and take a break.  i hope that's ok, it's mainly my DH that is handling the crying now because i find it so harrowing but then when i go in all worried about her she is eventually fine happy and wanting to just be awake with us!  it's really tough.  my DH wants to do controlled crying as PU/PD hasn't been working for the last two weeks

[Colin Macs Mom]

Good for you - it's hard to recognize sometimes when you're rushing in, which is unfortunate because it's so important to not do it! It's ok to take a break if you need to, I did the same way back when. It's better than losing your cool.

If PU/PD is not working when it did before, that usually means that something else is happening, like LO is hungry or in pain. Does that seem possible? I hope that you don't truly consider controlled crying. 

[babyshamble]

no - my dh tried it but i didn't cope well to say the least.  now he has sort of given up i think she has worn us out...  i have cut naps down to 1 hr and will sit next to her while she cries tonight sushing and patting and see how it goes.  i think it might be hunger, now that you mentioned that she shouldn't react so badly unless it's pain or hunger.  it's not pain, because we tried teething meds to no avail and no real response from her.  so, if she wakes up before the df tonight i will offer her some food and hope for the best.  thanks for the continued advice.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Ok let me know what happens when you offer a feed.

[babyshamble]

Well today Eden was dribbling everywhere, scratching her ears and grumbling, and she had 4 soiled nappies - so I'm pretty sure she has started teething.  So, I have gotten used to the fact that I may need to give her some baby panadol if she is upset tonight and I am willing to give her unlimited feeds. 

She had one nap at 9.30-10.30am and one at 1.45-3pm and then started rubbing her eyes at 6.15pm so I gave her her last feed and she fell FAST asleep wouldn't even wake up when I put her in her sleeping bag.  It is 7.15pm now and she is still sleeping, so maybe she needs earlier bedtimes...  Last night was pretty bad again, she wouldn't take a feed, bonjella didn't help and she was just grumbling in the cot (rather than screaming out loud) for about 3 hours. 

She eventually slept at 11pm after taking only half her dream feed bottle, and then woke up at 4am wanting a feed and wouldn't go back into her cot, kept crying.  so then she was in our bed and had another feed at 6.30 and then one when we woke up at 7.30am.

I am hoping to take her to the Dr. tomorrow as I am a bit concerned that this has been going on for a month now - i want to rule out an ear infection or other illness.  It's just strange that previously she was going to bed very settled and happy and suddenly it's this huge change.  i know that she is changing developmentally but i guess i haven't come across any other babies her age that are having such a difficult time.  i feel sorry for the poor thing.

Last night I was sitting next to the cot sushing and patting and she would fall asleep seemingly exhausted and then suddenly wake up being whingy...  Anyway, we will see how tonight goes - wish me luck! 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Sounds like teething to me - but as you said some of the signs can also indicate ear infection so good to rule that out. 

[babyshamble]

Well we didn't make it to the Dr today - I am so tired that I am forgetting things (i don't cope well with not much sleep).  She came down with a cold on Saturday so last night she was up a lot and ended up in our bed!  She is only having two naps in the day for about 1.5 hours but at night she seems wide awake - is this normal?  She is just wanting to play and be with us and she seems to get quite annoyed when we try to exert some authority in putting her to sleep.  any tips?

[Colin Macs Mom]

What's her routine on two naps? That's ok, my DS dropped the catnap himself at 5.5 mo    He wasn't really ready to, but there was no way around it. The key is try and avoid overtiredness which can be pretty hard in times of transition.

[babyshamble]

yes - it's the overtiredness that i sense is the problem. 

E7.30am wake and BF
E8.00am rice cereal and apple
A8-9.30am
S9.30-11/11.30am - goes down very easily, today i just put her in bed and placed a hand on her until she nodded off

E11.30am BF
E12pm yoghurt and fruit
A12-2
S2-3.30pm

E3.30pm BF
E4pm mashed vegies
A4-6 bath, massage, reading books (although she loves books and this seems to hyper her up a bit), dimmed lighting
6-7pm BF and try to settle in bed (sometimes falls asleep at this feed)

7-10pm struggling, cries when placed in bed, or alternatively rolls around and crawls until she bumps her head on the cot and then starts crying.  also giggles and smiles as if it's a game on ocassion.  Last night was a combo of all of the above.  I tried to sush and pat which only stopped her crying but not crawling and wriggling.  then i tried pu/pd but she didn't stop crying and it made the screaming worse.

i took her to my bed where she happily played and giggled and climbed all over us until 10pm when she had her bottle and went to bed. 

1am - wakes up crying won't settle, too tired for pu/pd so in bed
3am - wakes up crying until i cuddle her in bed
5am - wants a feed and drains a full side

[Colin Macs Mom]

I think that last A time is probably too long. I'd shoot for pushing the first nap back a bit to say 10:00am, and then adjust the rest of the day accordingly.

[babyshamble]

so the first nap from 10-12 and then feed at 12, next nap at 3pm and then feed at 4.30pm?  and the next feed at 7.30pm and bed?

Yesterday was better - Eden had her usual 4 hour EASY and then had a bath, feed and bed at 8pm.  I held her for about 1 minute and as she was falling asleep i put her into bed.  Only thing was i put her into an actual bed as we were at my mum's house...  She slept until 10pm DF where she had 240ml of formula.  Then she woke up at 3am and then went back to the cot until 6.30am.  SO, she wasn't in out bed (phew), she actually went to bed at 8am instead of 11pm, and she only had one night wake. 

She had a full feed at 3am which makes me wonder if i should offer more formula at night?  i'm bf'ing except for the df where i was having a dip in supply.

the other thing i noticed was that shush/pat was hyping her up and upsetting her (too bad i realised this two months late!) so now i cup her face with my hand and talk softly which she seems to like, i think it makes her feel cuddled.  i hope that it gets better tonight - that would be great!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Yes, although you will probably need to inch towards that by 5 min at a time or something like that.

That's great that yesterday was so much better!! 

[babyshamble]

Ok, so today the 4 hour EASY will be:

E7.30am BF
E8am solids
S9.40-11.40am S

E11.40am BF
E12.15pm solids
S1.40pm-3.40pm

I think that I might give her a 1.5hr nap at the 1.40pm time and maybe give a 15min nap at 4.30pm to tide her over until her 7.30pm bedtime. 

Last night i tried to keep her up from 3pm until 6.30pm and it was a nightmare - she wanted to sleep so bad!  so the poor thing went to bed at 6.30pm and even fell asleep feeding (bad i know) and then was up 3 hours later wide awake like it was a nap.  then wouldn't go to sleep until 11pm and even then was so grizzly that she was in bed with us from the start.  so, naughty mummy last night.

I know that i'm not being very consistent - but is it ok to switch bedtimes to try and get a good fit? So far our best sleeps have been going to bed between 7.30 and 8pm and that is usually when we are at my parent's house and she's had a little nap in the car on the way there at about 4'ish... 

I tried to tank her up last night but it didn't work - she only wanted one side BF at 6pm and then before bed took a 90ml bottle.  then at 10pm only took 100ml of her bottle.  she was up at 4.30am completely thirsty and bf so quickly.

[Colin Macs Mom]

I know that i'm not being very consistent - but is it ok to switch bedtimes to try and get a good fit? So far our best sleeps have been going to bed between 7.30 and 8pm and that is usually when we are at my parent's house and she's had a little nap in the car on the way there at about 4'ish... 

Sure, as long as you give each try a few days to either work or not. One day will not be an indicator. Bedtime between 7:30 and 8 is a good goal, that commonly works best actually.