He was up ALL NIGHT last night!

[jadeborn]

My DS is 6 months old today.  He has not always been the best sleeper, but he was doing really well for both night sleep and his naps for awhile (except for early wakings).  He had just started sleeping through the night from about 7:00 to 6:15 or so and his naps were an hour and a half to two hours.  BUT then, he woke up really early on Tuesday morning (5:30 am) and again on Wednesday (5:00 am).  I fed him and then put him back in his crib and left him until he fell asleep for another half hour on both days and we then started the day around 7:00 am.  Then yesterday, he woke up after only one hour of his afternoon nap, obviously still tired.  It took me forty-five minutes to put him back to sleep for forty-five more. . .  Then, last night he was up at midnight, 3:00 am, 4:30 am, and 6:00 am (still tired).  Normally when he has a night waking, he cries out and just needs his paci and then goes right back to sleep.  But last night he didn't cry out, but he was up for quite awhile at each waking.  He was flailing around and slamming his feet onto the mattress.  He eventually put himself back to sleep at midnight without calling for me.  He called a little bit at the 3:00 am waking and I was up, so I gave him his paci.  He called insistently at 4:30 am for help.  And he woke crying at 6:00 am because he was so tired.  I gave him a bottle, then, and tried to get him back to sleep.  He was back up at 6:20!  I can't figure out why he would be doing this.  I know he is teething, but he doesn't seem to be in pain.  He isn't ready to crawl or anything, so I don't think it is a developmental milestone waking.  Does anyone have any other ideas.

Routine:

6:15 Wake up and bottle
7:00 Breakfast
9:00 Nap
11:30 Lunch
2:00 Nap
3:30 or 4:00 Bottle
5:00 Dinner
7:00 Bottle and Bed

Thanks for the help!

[momofclaire]

Looking at your routine I think the little guy might be a little overtired.  6 months is a tough age because there are so many milestones and a big growth spurt. 
I would try to put him to bed earlier and maybe offer a cat nap.
Could you do something like this?
6:15 wake and eat
8:30 nap 1.5 hours
10:15 eat
12:30 nap 1.5 hours
2:15 eat
4:00 cat nap 30-45 min
4:45 eat
5:45 bedtime routine with another feed
6:15-6:30 bed

How do you think that would go. I think at 6 months it is really important to give them 12 hours of night time.  You may be shocked at how well he does.

[jadeborn]

I also was thinking that he may be overtired, but that is where I'm stuck.  We switched from a three to a two nap routine around the time he turned five months because he was refusing the third nap.  It was taking me 45 mins to 1 hour to get him to go down for 30 mins, during which I had to hold him.  I figured it might be easier to just scrap that nap and move the other two a little later (our routine basically looked like the one you posted).  He does get a bit overtired during the course of the day trying to make it to nap time, but this seemed to really be working out well as he was napping well and sleeping well at night.  I have also considered moving the bedtime up.  I have had a bad experience doing this in the past (he woke up super, super early), but I think it might be worth revisiting.  Perhaps I will move the second nap up a bit and move bedtime up.  I have tried to give him 12 hours at night, but he consistently only takes 10.5.  He has been sleeping 10.5 hours per night ever since I have been keeping track of how much night sleep he is getting.  Sometimes we get 11, and sometimes we don't even get 10.5, but 10.5 seems to be the average. . .Is it possible that this is really all the sleep he needs since everything I change produces no change in this number?  And if so, why did he wake and have so much difficulty settling down last night??  AAAAHHHHH!

[momofclaire]

I think if don't want to add in the cat nap again you should certainly make bedtime earlier.
Each baby needs different amounts of sleep but I do think he is overtired.  I would try putting him to bed at 6:30 for a week and see what happens. 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Colin dropped his catnap at 5.5 mo. and he definitely was not ready, but there was no way around it either - he would have nothing to do with it. It was a couple of months before he was really ready for that long of A time at the end of the day, so we did earlier bedtime and it did the trick.

[jadeborn]

Okay.  Earlier bedtime seems to be the consensus.  I put him down at 6:30 yesterday and he still woke up at 3:00 (resettled quickly but didn't make it all the way asleep until I gave him the paci again at 3:20) and 4:00, at which point he was wide awake until about 5:15 when cried out for the paci again.  He then went to sleep until 6:30, but didn't sleep very well (He kept making noises).  If his overtiredness is the problem, should I see less night waking if I continue to put him to bed at 6:30 for the next few days? 

Also, he woke up from his second nap after 45 minutes yesterday and I rocked him back to sleep and held him for another thirty.  I had put him to sleep about 15 minutes earlier than usual and he didn't take the full nap, so he was still up the same amount of time that he is usually up before bedtime by 6:30.  Should I have put him to bed even sooner? 

Yet another issue, we are leaving on a six week trip on July 24.  We will be spending three days on the road and crossing into an earlier time zone!  How am I going to keep him from getting overtired?!?!  HELP!

[momofclaire]

I do think the earlier bedtime should help the overtiredness.
I am starting to wonder, based on your last post, if he doesn't know how to sleep independantly?    Using the paci, rocking him to sleep and holding during naps are all props.  When he wakes at night he probably expects one of those things. 
I would always attempt to have him in bed 12 hours after he wakes in the morning.  It's not about the exact time but more about watching his cues and keeping time between naps consistant so he doesn't get overtired.

With regard to the trip, I would try to keep things consistant and until then work on getting him out of the overtired cycle with earlier bedtime.  I might also think about starting a bit of sleep training as it seems he has a few props.

[jadeborn]

I know I've made it sound like he is prop dependent, but he really isn't.  Normally, when I put him to sleep I sit him on my lap and play some music.  He starts shutting his eyes, at which point I lay him in his crib drowsy, but still awake, and he takes it from there.  He likes his paci, but is not dependent on it for going to sleep.  It just speeds things along a little.  He used to be held for naps a long time ago, but has long since been broken of that habit.  I used rocking and holding only the one time yesterday because it was totally IMPERATIVE that I get him to sleep a little longer as his six month pics were later that afternoon.  I don't plan on doing that again if he wakes from his nap early today.  I will try to encourage more sleep without picking him up!

[mari]

Jadeborn, just wanted to drop by and send some support your way.  I hope that you hav a lovely trip.

[jadeborn]

Thanks Mari!  I'll let you know how it goes. . .

[Layla]

How are you doing?

[jadeborn]

Thanks for asking.  I haven't been consistent with the earlier bedtime as things have been a little hectic around here this last weekend getting ready for our trip.  BUT he has been sleeping through the night without waking for an hour at a time again.  We had a couple of early wakings, but I left him and he fell back asleep for a little while longer.  Last night I got him to bed at 7:00 and he didn't wake up until 6:20, so he had a really good night.  I'm hoping he keeps this up for the next week before we mess everything up on our trip.  At least he won't be overtired to begin with!

[Layla]

Good to hear. Have a great trip!

[momofclaire]

Just dropping in to check in.  I hope your trip goes well.
Keep us posted.
Myia