So Many Night Wakings...Help!!

[mellowyellow]

Hi there
I'm not sure if I should post this in the eating or the sleeping area...I'm at my wits end!!  My 6 mo DD has NEVER slept through the night.  For a few weeks she started doing one 5-6 hour stretch, but now its back to waking every 2-3 hours and she won't go back to sleep unless she's fed - do that and she conks out right away, but no other method of settling her works.  PLUS she STILL often demands food every 2-3 hours during the day, even though I've started her on solids 2x a day.  She is a big girl (17 lb) so I don't know if she really NEEDS the food.
We're not exactly on easy - or any really great schedule.  Usually it's eat, awake for 1- 1 1/2 hours, nap for an hour, then up again wanting to be fed.  I know the A times are short for this age but any longer and she gets really overtired and won't nap at all.
What am I doing wrong?  Is something the matter???

[Layla]

Hi there & welcome to the boards!!!

At 6 months, she *should* be able to stay awake for a little longer than 1-1.5hrs (more like 2.25-2.5hrs) & eat every 3hrs (at least). I would say your nightwakings are a combination of her schedule during the day as well as feed-to-sleep association. When you say you're not exactly on any EASY, is that something you want to work on and help with??? Could you give me an idea of what her day looks like? What time does she wake and beditme??? Does she have a paci? Needing a feed (or two) at 6 months in my opinion is ok and normal in some babies but she should be able to handle at least 5-6hrs before she needs one....


Layla

[mellowyellow]

Our days go from about 8am-8pm.  I guess we kind of are on EASY, but the times are all over the place - sometimes 2 hours, sometimes 3, sometimes if we're out and about and we both get distracted she might even make it to almost 4 hours (rare) - but our days are all over.  Usually if we're home its a cycle of eat 15-20 minutes, up for an hour until she gets cranky, nap 45 minutes to an hour, then awake and wanting food again.  I've tried distracting her and spreading out feeds, but she just gets upset and really irritable until she's fed.  She does have a paci, but at bedtime if she loses it she just sucks her fingers to get to sleep. 

[Layla]

Here's a link to sample EASY routines for a 6mo. https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10386.0

As I mentioned in the previous post, I really think you need to space out the feeds and naps. She's snacking and catnapping throughout the day and this would be affecting her nights as well.

Try to distract her. Take her out of the house in the morning before her nap, she needs to have at least 2hrs in the morning of A time and about 2-2.5hrs in the afternoon. Some are doing 2 long naps and some 3 naps (a catnap in the early evening). If you are out and about and you missed her "nap time", I would try and hold her off until the next nap time but bring it earlier and give her an earlier bedtime.

Try stretching her in 10min increments if you can until you get to at least 3hourly feeds. Its common for BF babies to be on 3 hourly feeds.