Desperate-Please help

[rayray]

MY dd is 7 months. She slept great until 3 months. Now she wakes about 4 times a night and gets up for the day at 5am.

This is her day:
Wake up 5am

Breastfeed 7am

Nap 8am-9.30am

Breastfeed 11am

Nap 12pm-1.30pm

Breastfeed 3pm

Nap 3pm-3.30pm

Breastfeed 7pm

Bed 7pm.

Usually wakes once before midnight, I do not feed her and she goes back to sleep in about 15 mins

Wakes about 1am for a feed, back to sleep in an hour.

Wakes about 3am for a half hour

Get up at 5am

I also work 2.5days a week

She started solids at 6 months but has decided she hates them and will not eat any. So I know someof her waking is from hunger.

She is not teething, she has 3 teeth. She is not too hot or cold. The room is dark and I have ruled out all reasons for her waking. I can handle getting up to her a few times a night, but the 5am wake up is just too much.

Thanks

I know her tired cues and act quickly. The least amount she naps a day is 3hours and the most is 4hours.

[yaya]

how is she going to sleep? anythign developmental going on?

[rayray]

she is able to settle herself to sleep, she has no sleep aid (no pacifier etc), she goes down easily and likes her cot. she is able to roll both ways and sit unaided

[yaya]

maybe she's ready to move to 2 naps? She may need a longer stretch of day sleep and 2 naps would work that out. Maybe have a am nap and a pm nap and try to get 1.5 hrs and 2hrs of out of her.
what is she like at the wakeings and what do u need to do to settle her?

[rayray]

if she wakes before midnight, i just pat her and shush and she goes back asleep quite easily. after that she wants to play  , she kicks her legs and laughs and it is very hard to get her back to sleep. i sometimes end up with her int he bed, i just go asleep and ignore her..that's when i am desperate.

she has had some days where she gets two long naps. today she had 2 hours in the am and 2 hours in the pm. she has been in bed since 7pm and went down well after a good feed...so fingers crossed and i'll log her night tommorrow.

it will be handy to have it all down for reference as well.

thanks

[yaya]

hmmm, i'm thinking if shes playing and happy, even if its nighttime...just leave her? it 's tough I know but she may just be going through a developmental stage of cognitive development (have a lot fo thinking to do LOL)
how quickly do u go in at the before midnight wakes? I found i was rushing to my ds too soon, he got better when I learnt o leave him (if it's just whining, not with real upset crying!)

[rayray]

yeah it is just whinging. it develops in to full on crying after 15mins or so. i have left her, but so far she has never settled back to sleep, she just starts screaming

[yaya]

hmmm a toughie! do u settle in crib? maybe try soothing with ur voice and not patting so she starts being more independent with settling herself at these times. For the other wakings I would feed if hungry (1 feed a night is not unheard of) and leave for the others if shes happy, if not use pu/pd to settle

[Layla]

Hey there.

I think her day needs to be shifted a little so that the morning nap is taken around 9am, afternoon about 1 and catnap about 5 & bedtime 7. The last stretch before bedtime is quiet long (3.5hrs) and usually the last A time is shorter than other A times (as well as the morning A time). Do you notice that she might be ready for bed earlier than 7pm? I would do an earlier bedtime (6-6.30pm). Even if she wakes at 5am, she has had a longer night and should be better rested in the morning and better to stretch in the morning. Hopefully the earlier bedtime will help her with some of the nightwakings as well. Then in the morning, start adding to her A time (depends on how much you think she can handle) but maybe try adding 15mins to her morning nap (and subsequently the afternoon and catnap).

If she's quiet/fussing/moaning at night, leave her (and it sounds like she might be trying to settle herself) but if she starts crying (and I mean really cryiing for your help) then go in and shh/pat her or use pu/pd.

Usually wakes once before midnight, I do not feed her and she goes back to sleep in about 15 mins
Wakes about 1am for a feed, back to sleep in an hour.

If she wakes before midnight, have you tried feeding her & seeing how long she will last. Cause her waking an hour later after she's been settles might be an indication that she is truly hungry at the 1st awakening... might be something worth doing. But if she wakes any earlier than 11pm, I wouldn't feed. You could consider this feed as a "dreamfeed" but you are not intentionally waking her. Then the next feed should be somewhere early in the morning (between 3-5am). THe 5am wakening could be from hunger... have you ever tried feeding her this early and back to bed?

She started solids at 6 months but has decided she hates them and will not eat any. So I know someof her waking is from hunger.

Are you still trying to give her something? Jasmine was terrible at accepting solids at 6 months as well. I wouldn't give up though. Milk might not be enough for her at 7 months (although it is still the main source of nutrition). Maybe if you get a chance have a look at the "feeding solids" forum for some ideas on starting solids, etc.... https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=14.0


Let me know what you think
Layla

[rayray]

Thanks layla! I used to do the dresmfeed but it never made a difference, she'd still wake. Funny thing is, at 3 months she was doing a 7 hour strech and since 4 months it's all gone pear shaped.

Last night she woke at 10pm, 12.30am, 3am and 5.30am. I fed at 12.30am and 3am and 5.30am and she went back to sleep 5.30am-6.30am. Today she has refused all solid food except 1/4 teaspoon of baby rice  .

She seems to have developed a phobia of food, she is gagging and screaming at the sight of a spoon. I am at my wit's end. I am a single mum and I also work. I am so so tired and fed up. I really need some sleep

[yaya]

Aww sweetie...hugs... so sorry you're having a tough time. HAve u tried pain relief before bed? often they r in discomfort long before we see swollen gums etc?

[rayray]

well she has 3 teeth already, but getting them doesn't really bother her.

how do i get her to take her morning bap ay 9am, if she has been up since 5am???

[yaya]

i would try the pain med anyway, just to see if it helps.
If she wakes at 5.30 is there anyway u can resettle to sleep till a bit longer? then she can make it to 9am.
can ut hink what might have triggered the bad sleep as u said when she hit 3months?
i know this may sounds strange but what is ur instinct abotu why she is waking at ngiht? i know i have always had a thought even when i have no idea why he wakes....

[Layla]

If teething doesn't seem to bother (or hasn't in the past), personally I wouldn't give meds. Some babies handle pain better than others and I've never really had to give Isabella anything for teething & whereas with Jasmine, with every tooth she had fever & I gave her baby panadol.

I think her nightwakings are more from the sch. To get to 9am when she is waking at 5.30am is a very long stretch & really depends on the type of baby you have. I would firstly put her to bed for the night a little earlier (6.30 the latest to be asleep by) so that when she wakes she is better rested and you are able to stretch her. I have been able to do it in 1 go - HARD hard work though. I had to basically take her out of the house, provide her lots of stimulation and then come close to 8.30, I would start the windown. For about 20-30 mins I was in her room (dark), holding her and rubbing her back and then in the cot at 9am. She would go down in 1-2 mins (she was exhausted by then) and she would sleep well.

But if you aren't comfortable stretching her so much in one go, I would do it in increments. So at the moment her nap is at 8am, I would add 10-15 mins to her morning A time every 3 days until you get to 9am. At the same time, push the pm nap and catnap.

Don't give up on the solids. What type of solids have you tried so far? Start with bland & soft foods like bananas or maybe avacado.... if she's not taking it from the spoon, try feeding her with your finger. That sounds yuk! but I've done it. I used to also give Jasmine a spoon to play with and feed her with another. Please have a look at the solids forum I posted a link to before. If you want to start a new post and I am sure you'll get plenty of advise on what to do....

I can't imagine how hard it is to be a single working mum & having all these nightwakings to deal with as well. We'll get through this.... hang in there.

 

[rayray]

thank you so so much, the support here is fantastic.
we had quite a good night last night, despite the day being a total mess!

she went to bed at 6.30pm and woke at 10.30pm. I knew she was hungry as she hadn't eaten well during the day. I gave her 7oz of EBM and she slept through till 5.30am, where I fed her again and she slept till 6.30am...improvement??