Help! My baby keeps waking at night :S

[MoroccoBorocco]

Hi all,

Hoping someone will be able to give me some useful advice.

My DD is coming up to 7 months. She is pretty much EBF and is eating maybe 4 mini meals a day (recommended by the health visitor to help her sleep better). She is on a pretty day good routine - wakes between 6ish and 7ish, BF and then an hour / hour and half later she's given her 1st solid of the day. An hour after she's asleep for an average of 45 mins - 1 hour. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Feeds at 11:30am (little fruit pot) with some water. Breast fed later and then given yogurt. Then put down between 2pm and 2:30pm for another nap. Down for usually 30 mins - 1 hour. Wakes up, has another BF and then dinner at 5pm. Plays, then bathed and a book read by dad, another bottle and then down at 7:30pm for her night sleep. This is where the problem starts!!!

Sometimes she'll go down without a fight. We will put her in her cot, play some bedtime music from her projector and voila, asleep in 10 mins. Most of the time it's constant crying and it is really stressful. The Health Visitor has advised us to let her CIO. I've tried it but yesterday it went on for an hour and half before she fell asleep, and even then it was me tapping her gently to get her to sleep. I can see she's tired, but we don't want to pick her up and rock her as clearly it's become a habit we are trying to curb.

The other problem is sometimes she wakes up a good 6 times in the night - not because she's hungry as she doesn't feed, more to be close to me. Even if my husband picks her up, she cries and cries until I take her close to me. As soon as she;s back to sleep, I gently put her in her cot and within 5 minutes the crying starts again. I am at my wits end - I love my baby so much but I am physically and emotionally shattered through lack of sleep. Some days I can't even eat because I feel so sick from the tiredness.

She's a healthy and happy baby, I'm just not sure what is triggering this night routine. She's fine during the day, plays lots and eats & drinks well. I'm not a fan of the CIO - has anyone tried no cry solution and if so, what are the basic points? When she sleeps, we do not rock her (even during the day, when I see she's rubbing her eyes, I will put her down and within 10 minutes she will sleep by herself). I'm going back to work soon and I just don;'t know whether I'll be able to handle it - I'll probabnly have to not work at all if it continues because I just feel so sick!

Please - any help would be massively appreciated.

[madaboutmadmen]

Sending sympathy - I have a six month old and a 3 yr old who don't sleep through. Saying that my 6 month old is a little more settled at night than your DD. She goes down within half an hour, usually sooner, will wake maybe twice for about 10 mins and then wakes at about 6 or 7 like yours. She has a very similar daytime routine to yours also, the main difference being she has a bath at 6 and is ready for bed by 6.30, sleeping by 7 (i often have to pop back up for a top up feed which takes 5/10 mins). Other than an earlier bedtime, the only thing I could suggest is a comfort blanket or soft toy for sleep times, both mine have taken a lot of comfort from one.

Hope this helps, as you know every baby is different so what works for us may not be right for you but I hope it might help.

[Flisspaps]

I'm going to be honest - she sounds like a perfectly normal baby to me! I'd not be too fussed about habits, rods for backs or the like just now, I'd concentrate on doing what gets you the most sleep so you can function properly.

Is co-sleeping an option? Even as a short-term measure?

[girliefriend]

Could she be teething?

Has the G.P checked her out to rule out anything physical?

Could she be too hot/cold?

Are her nappies very wet? Would this bother her?

Is she in her own room?

If this was me, I would allow 10 mins of crying when she wakes in the night, then I would offer water, change nappy if it felt sodden, check not too hot or cold and then leave her to settle herself but then I am very no nonsense in the middle of the night and sleep deprivation makes me very ill

A dream feed might help esp if she is going through a growth spurt.

[Gintonic]

You have my sympathy, we are just coming out of a really bad patch of sleep deprivation.

Why do you think she is waking - are you sure it isn't pain from teething? Have you tried giving calpol to see if that helps?

If you have ruled out pain there are other ways of sleep training apart from cry it out.

I have used pick up put down with mine - pick him up when he cries, comfort, then as soon as he stops put him back down. If he cries again, repeat. Count how many times you do it - took me about 10 times before my baby settled. I know some babies don't respond to this, but mine did.

Also make sure everything is as boring as possible when your baby wakes up - no lights, no talking, just do the minimum to resettle. The theory being that if there is nothing interesting to wake up for they will just stay asleep.

[Noggie]

So sorry you are having such a hard time. I have two DDs - first one was a really unsettled baby at night and the other woke up during night but wasn't upset so think babies are just different and you aren't doing anything ' wrong'. Really hoping your little one settles soon- can you put the cot up against your bed so you can try to soothe her without getting out of bed?

[MoroccoBorocco]

Hi all - thanks for your responses

So far, I've been up 3 times tonight. I've given in to bringing her into bed with me in the hope she will settle. I don't really like co-sleeping as I don't really sleep when she's next to me, besides her cot is right beside me! She is wide awake making gurgling noises now so think I'm in for a long night

We thought it could be teething & have rubbed bonjela in her gums for the last few weeks every night. No tooth has come through yet!

I took DD to the doc a few weeks ago who thought it could be acid reflux - gave me some baby gaviscon which didn't work. Just gave her horrendous constipation. He checked her ears too to rule out an infection. Everything was fine! He advised me to book a follow up appointment which is luckily later, so I will be back at the GP for another check up to dismiss anything physical that may be upsetting her at night. She's perfectly happy & has lots of attention during the day, I'm thinking she just wants that at night too now so will try make it really boring for her now! Although she's happily playing away beside me making noises and flapping her tiny arms!!!

Sounds like a lot of others go through this, maybe it's kind of normal!