My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

6 month old waking hourly - help!!!!

15 replies

ButterflyOfFreedom · 10/04/2015 06:04

DD has never been a great sleeper - think the longest stint she has ever done is 5 hours, once. However, we did have a period were she would sleep in 3 hour blocks in her Moses Basket, wake just for a quick feed then straight back to sleep. It gradually got to waking every 2 hours which was painful but do-able. But now she is waking every hour and really struggling to get back to sleep and we're all finding it really difficult.

Some info which might (or might not be) relevant:
She is (meant to be) sleeping in her cot in her own room.
She was EBF up until 5.5 months when we started weaning.
Breast milk is still her main source of food but she does have some purees / porridge now during the day.
She hasn't got any teeth yet but I think she must be teething as she is dribbling & chewing lots.
She can sit and roll from front to back (but not back to front).
Her day time naps are a little sporadic but generally she'll have a 30 mins nap in the morning, a longer nap around lunch time, and another 30 mins nap late afternoon.
She has a bedtime routine of bath, book, boob - and is usually ready to sleep from about 7.30 / 8 pm.
We have a DS who is 2 and has been waking as he can hear DD crying which is something we really want to avoid (obviously).
When DD wakes we have tried feeding her, rocking, cuddling, letting her suck my finger (to save my nipple!), co sleeping, sshing, putting my hand on her chest... but nothing consistently works.

I went to bed at 9pm last night but don't feel like I've slept at all - I've been awake every hour and eventually brought DD downstairs at 5pm when she fell asleep feeding on me.

I'm exhausted - and DS will be waking any time too!!

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

OP posts:
Report
ButterflyOfFreedom · 10/04/2015 06:08
  • 5am

    I should say I think what she needs to do is learn to self settle as she doesn't do this (generally feeds / sucks my finger!! to sleep).

    Is (controversially) controlled crying the way to go??

    Or maybe PUPD? (did try this a little bit - maybe not long enough? - but it didn't seem to be working. She just continued crying even when picked up...)
OP posts:
Report
FATEdestiny · 10/04/2015 14:28

I'd give her a dummy and bring the cot back into my bedroom if it was me.

The idea of padding along the landing into another room at every wake up would be more horrendous to me than anything else. Even if it meant removing every other bit of furniture from my room in order to fit the cot in, I would do this so that settling was easier on me.

Babies/children cannot naturally self settle as an adult would (ie tired, close eyes, sleep) until school age, they don't have the emotional brain development to do so. Until ready they need something to get them to sleep and sucking usually does it (hence the dummy recommendation).

That said, children can me made to learn to self settle without any props or intervention. Basically they just have to learn that the comfort they seek will not be offered and so give in.

I find sleep props much less stressful and upsetting all around.

IMO sleep training methods that involve distressing the child are not right until past 12 months old, when you can be better sure that the reason for the upset isn't a need to feed.

Report
ButterflyOfFreedom · 19/04/2015 08:48

Thanks for your response.

I think we'd see moving her back into our room as a step backwards. She is literally just across the landing so it's no real hardship to get to her room. Besides, even when we have 'given in' and brought her into our room / bed, she is still very unsettled so I don't think her being in her own room is the problem.

Anyway I'm 'bumping' this as last night was pretty horrendous - waking every 20 mins at times! The longest stretch she did was 3 hours in our bed.
We tried everything - even feeding her back to sleep doesn't work now!!

Any other advice / suggestions greatly appreciated, thank you!

OP posts:
Report
flipflopsonfifthavenue · 19/04/2015 18:52

Not something I know anything about (I clicked on thread as my almost 5.5mo waking almost hourly too) but I've seen people suggest it on here - as you e started weaning, could she have an upset tummy/mild food intolerance?
Otherwise I've also heard there's a sleep regression/big developmental leap around 6mo which could be contributing?
I'd say never mind stepping backwards, getting more sleep for whole family is more important. if she was sleeping ok in your room in her cot then try it again.

Report
FlorenceMattell · 19/04/2015 19:01

Im a Night Nanny / Maternity Nurse.
Is she hungry ? I would guess she is. I might have misunderstood but is she fed Expressed Breast Milk only plus some purée and porridge?
Does she feed direct at the breast now?
If she doesn't feed directly at the breast that might be your problem as breast milk calorie content varies each feed depending on baby's sucking.
Expressed milk might and I emphasis might (difficult to judge on a chat site) not have enough calories.
As you are weaning now I would give a formula feed at 6 pm.
Must be very tiring for you and you have my sympathy.

Report
musicinspring1 · 19/04/2015 19:03

I'm bumping as you have described my baby too!! I'll be logging in tonight for inspiration!!

Report
FlorenceMattell · 19/04/2015 19:08

Sorry read again and your EBF which I read as express breast feed might mean exclusively BF?
I would still try extra formula feeds as could well be hunger. If she is not interested in formula then it is habit.
I don't believe in controlled crying ;I'm too soft :)
I would not get her out of the cot. I would sit with her, pat her back etc, say "sleep time baby ", keep a hand on her to begin with. Hopefully she will calm down, gradually with draw from the room. Eg hand off sitting next to cot, then back to cot, gradually moving away. No chatting only mantra " sleep time baby's name".

Report
sunshineandshowers · 19/04/2015 19:22

My baby did this...every hour at 5 to 6 months. She was in our room, our bed. We coincidentally moved hour when she was 7 months and 1 week and we put her straight into her own room (no room before that). Shut the door so it was very dark and put a fan on for white noise, directed away from her. She slept through literally first night, woke up once at 4am for a bottle. She then did this for the next year. I did not really mind one wake. I always thought it was combination of her taking on more food between 6 to 7 months and the type of baby who really needs the dark and quiet. If I remember rightly (!) I think when we didn't have fan on she woke.

Do u use a dummy?

I would as soon as I could get 3 meals into her. I would be feeding her not baby led weaning.

Try white noise. There are some apps.

Try v dark and quiet.

Try hungry baby formula. I can't remember if this is for over 6 months.

Sorry it's so shit xxx

Report
sunshineandshowers · 19/04/2015 19:25

Also I know this is bonkers but I speak to all my babies. Have you tried going into her room and just saying shhhhhhh sleepy time xxx put your hand on tummy and tell her to go back to sleep. Be confident. Even if you don't feel it!

Report
Pumpkinnose · 20/04/2015 03:45

Have you tried dropping the late afternoon nap? Most 6 month babies don't need so may be getting too much sleep in the day.

Report
byhec · 20/04/2015 03:56

Same with my 6mo too :-(
He's my third and hoping it's a phase!

Report
Cavort · 20/04/2015 05:26

You don't say how long this has been going on for but if it's a recent development I would do nothing initially and see if some teeth turn up.

Our DD woke hourly in the week before her first tooth came through and then went back to the way she was previously once it was through.

Report
Needsweetstosurvive · 20/04/2015 07:33

I second the teething, my little one always wakes hourly for a week before teeth come through.

Report
milkyway1304 · 20/04/2015 07:45

This happened with my DD at 6 months as well, and she was previously a really good sleeper. We persevered at getting her to fall asleep in her own cot, which made absolutely no difference. It lasted a few weeks and she suddenly dropped back to 1-2wake ups, and now at almost 12 months she sleeps through 50% of the time. I agree with others who have said it's probably a developmental stage. I would do whatever makes your life easiest at this stage. I read a lot about infant sleep at the time(!) and a suggestion that came up at lot was using a comforter. We tried to help our dd attach to one, we failed but I definitely think its worth a try.

Report
Cameronsmum14 · 24/04/2015 06:29

My 5.5 month old is the same. He's never been a good sleeper, I've always had to nurse him to sleep from being newborn. He's been waking every hour to hour and half from about 16 weeks. He has 3 naps in the day upto 45 mins if I put him in his cot (after he's fallen asleep) or up to 1-2 hours if held, I do put him down to encourage sleeping in his cot. We're weaning now & he loves his food but still waking just as frequently & having 2-3 good BF overnight. We've put him in his big cot for more space which helped get 2-3 hours initially for about a week now back to hourly. He has a dummy, a comforter & white noise but none of it has helped. I tried adjusting his bedtime thinking he was over tired but regardless of whether he goes to bed 6pm or 8pm he wakes just as frequently. When he wakes I pick him up until he settles back to sleep. I tried PUPD, was awful! We were both crying! I don't know what else to do now, I'm just hoping he'll grow out of it!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.