I really need help

[redcat]

I'm sitting here 
I just can't believe my almost 6 month old was awake again from 3.40 am until about 5 am...
We have been on the 4 hour  EASY for the last couple of months. I have introduced solids at 5 months and she likes it and no problems there.
She is otherwise excl. breastfed and has never slept through the night - no problem really as I wouldn't mind getting up to feed her once or twice. She had been waking every three hours  at night and then sometimes every two. I always used to nurse her but then realized she'd only snack...  She is a quick nurser and rarely is nursing longer then 6 minutes on one side and often refuses the other - she is too busy looking around...she has been like that for a long time and she is gaining fine.
Sometimes we don't get to wait the full 4 hours and then I feed her earlier and adjust accordingly.  She used to be a great napper.  I would see the signs of tiredness( usually after being awake for 2 hours) and would bring her to her crib and say It's time for your nap - she'd smile turn to the side pit her thumb in and go to sleep - that easy really!!
About 2 weeks ago I tried to fix the nights by not feeding her every time she woke up ( she has a nice routine before bedtime (massage, chat, nurse, sing the same two songs and then put in crib totally awake around 6.30 - 7 pm) and used to fall asleep within 5 minutes.  We did the pu/pd.  It would work after about 20 pu/pd - so not bad and she managed to go without food for 7 hours! I'd feed her around 3 and she'd go without waking until 6.30 - 7am.
So after doing this for about a week - she still wakes all the time at night and I spend all night doing pu/pd. She woke at 8,10, 11 ( I fed her 8 min.) and then 3  -( I fed her 5 min.) and then wouldn't go back to sleep until about 5 am..Up for the day at 6.45 am - the last to nights.  I'm exhausted from doing pu/pd - my back is killing me - it was so much easier to just pop her on the boob and 5 minutes later we'dd all go back to sleep - I don't know what to do - why is this not working???
Why is she waking even more now.
And now her daytime nights are only 45 minutes in the am and 45 minutes in the pm and the a 2o mi catnap here or there - it's nightmare  - she is fussy and overtired and I don't know how to fix it...
Everything is falling apart
any ideas? 
I know they have a growth spurt around this time!?  But how can I handle this without falling apart???

How old is your child? 6 months
What’s his/her daily routine? 4 hour EASY ideally
What’s nap routine? quick - "It's nap time " and off to the crib
How long are naps? used to be 1.5 hours - now barely 45 minutes
What's bedtime routine? Time? around 6.30 pm,7 - sometimes even 6 when she had an awful nap time
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breastfed
How much? or how long? 6 min.one side 2 min. other
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)
How many wakes per night? right now wakes about 4 - 5
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? If I nurse her usually just 10 min. If I do pu/pd - can be anywhere from 10 - 2 hours
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  fussing - turning into screaming and crying
What have you tried to settle?? shhh and pu/pd
What do you do for A time and how long is it? foor time, jumperoo, walking in the park, singing, gym, reading
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? has been rolling over for a month now - no teeth - I don't think she's teething
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) started at 5months - at the 11 am feed - now has 4 tbs oatmeal at 11 am and 2 cubes of veggie at 4
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? no prop
Do they have a lovie? yes - but I don't think she sees it as her security blankie yet..

[momofclaire]

It looks like your lo is very tired.  At 6 mo she needs a lot more sleep during the day.  Ideally she would take 2, 1.5 hour naps and a 30-45 min cat nap.  Do you try to extend naps?  How does it go?

I also think she is beginning to snack more than have proper meals.  If she doesn't make it to the 4 hour mark and then only eats a short time she may not be eating enough.  I would really try to encourage her to eat longer at each meal.  Sometimes a 5-10 min break between sides is enough to let the milk settle and encourage her to eat a bit more.

Can you post your current routine.  It is helpful to be able to take a look at how the day goes.

[redcat]

Thank you so much for your reply.
This is how our ideal day looks like - and we managed to do it before everything seemed to fall apart a couple of days ago.
wake up and eat  7am
A kicking on her playmay, jumperoo
S 8.30 or 9.00 depending on her cues  - usually asleep for an hour 15 min...sometimes only 45 minutes
   but wakes up happy usually from that nap.
E 10.00 - 10.30 Nurse - she can't to hold off longer not even with distracting her...
A
E 11.00 - a bit of solids
S around 12.00 - ideally for 2 hours - but usually only manages 1h15 - lately only 30 min.
E 2 nurse
A
S catnap - 45 min - usually happens after she had been up for 2 hours
E upon waking
A
E
S for the night between 6 and 7 - depending on her naps that day. It has been more 6 these days.
Dreamfeed never worked - she used to wake up before it..so I dropped it and wait for her to wake up which happens anywhere between11 pm and 12 pm. Ideally that would be the last time for me to nurse her....

What puzzles me is that she has no trouble going to sleep without a prop or anything but seems to sleep lightly and then wake up and have trouble going back to sleep...
Last night she was fussing for over an hour - never crying but gettin increasingly frustrated.  She sleeps in her crib in our room since we only have a one bedroom...
Thanks so much for any suggestions...

[momofclaire]

I think your routine could use a bit of tweaking. Could you do something like this:
E-7:00 wake and eat
A-until 8:30 then windown for nap
S-9:00 nap (1.5 hours-2 hours)
E-11:00 wake and eat
A-until 12:45 then windown for nap
S-1:00 nap (1.5-2 hours)
E- 3:00 wake and eat
A-until 4:45 then windown for cat nap
S-5:00 catnap for 30-45 min
E- eat
A-betime routine starting at 6:30
S-sleep by 7:00

What have you done to extend her naps?  I think she might be restless at night because of being overtired. 
I think she might take a better morning nap if you give her a little more A time.  What do you think?

[redcat]

Thanks again for taking your time to reply to me.
This was our schedule yesterday:
Wake and nurse: 6.45
sleep 8.15 - 8.35
Eat cereal: 9.45
nurse: 11.00
Sleep: 11.45-12.30 - I tried pu/pd to extend - she'd be quiet for 5 minutes then fuss for 10, then rolling and tossing around, crying, pu/d , quiet again for a couple of minutes - then repeat ....we did this until 1.45 - I don't think she ever fell back asleep...
Eat solids: 2.00
Nurse:2.45
S: 3.10 - 4.30 - was supposed to be her catnap - but I didn't have the heart to wake her:-(
Nurse: 5
Nurse:6.30 ( didn't properly nurse because of the 5 pm nursing session - it was so hot here and she was acting so thirsty at 5)
S:6.45
wake: 10 pm - I nursed her properly!
wake : 2.00 am and stayed awake until 3.30 am - the cry didn't ever escalate it was just an on and off fussing a angry frustrated screaming.  My feeling is she wakes and tries to put herself back to sleep and doesn't succeed:-(
Pu/pd - makes her really cry - so after more then an hour I just resorted to hold her until calm,  I put her in her crib - she mantra cried and went off to sleep until 7 am!
This is the 4th night that she is up for an hour and a half - I don't understand what it is...
Keeping her up longer in the morning hasn't worked - we used to have a 2 hour morning Activity - I tried 1.5 hours and she actually slept a better morning nap...

[redcat]

So I went to the pediatrician today and she said the nightwakings sound like teething and then I put my pinky on her lower gum and yes - there is something sharp  she had a tooth break through.  My poor little thing was miserable for a reason...
just wanted to update

[momofclaire]

I think she is really tired.  Half hour naps do not get her as rested as she needs to be to finish the next A time.  I would really work on getting her to take good naps.  You might want to play with her A time a bit, watch for cues from her as to how much she can handle.  She should be able to do 2 hours but being overtired may make them shorter.

[tiny]

Hi!
Just wanted to say we are having really similar problems to you guys at the mo. My bubs used to have a great am nap for 1.5 - 2 hrs, that has now shrunk to 45 mins to an hour and she fusses her way through it! The pm naps are never more than 45 mins and i just can't extend them, she seems really ready to wake up but then gets tired again so quicky afterwards! She is also good at going down to sleep but stryggles to do it in the middle of the night-i really think she just doesn't ever sleep that deeply. Sometimes i'm sure the sound of my feet on the carpet wakes her up!
Anyway, just wanted to say that you're not alone!

[momofclaire]

Tiny, do you think the transitions through sleep cycles cause her to wake?

[tiny]

Yes, I definitely think so coz some nights it can be every hour on the dot! She is making some progress but this week she is suffering with a really bad cold so we've gone a few steps back. I also think it has a lot to do with baby's temperament, my babe is just so alert and seems to find it hard to wind down. Some babies seem to sleep through the night regardless of how they're put down to sleep or whether they have a dummy, or hoe long they nap in the day etc x