7 month old breaking me

[Me624]

Yet again I am in tears from sleep deprivation as I sit up in the night with DS who has been awake for almost 2 hours.

He used to be an amazing sleeper. Dropped night feeds at 9 weeks old and started going 7pm-5.30am, with a couple of wake ups for his dummy. At four months he moved into his own room and started sleeping through more often than not.

He hit 6 months and started waking more frequently, perhaps 2-3 times a night, but it was usually quick to resettle him. It's steadily got worse and now at 7.5 months he's waking at somewhere between 2 and 4.30 and generally staying awake for between 1 and 2 hours. I am up and down like a yoyo, repeatedly resettling him. Sometimes he drops off but then jerks awake after 5 mins. Other times he won't go back to sleep at all. He never cries but just sort of moans/whinges.

I have tried:
Pick up put down
Controlled "crying" - as above he doesn't cry but controlled moaning as it were - he will still be going after an hour

At some point during this 2 hours of being awake I generally give in and give him a bottle which he always drinks in full but it doesn't seem to make any difference to how long it will take him to go back to sleep.

This awful pattern has been going on for over a month now and I am absolutely exhausted from being up for 1-2 hours every night. My DH doesn't help at all during the nights as he can't function at work on broken sleep. It wouldn't help anyway as I am such a light sleeper that I wake up even when he does try to help at the weekends and then we're just both awake. Someone please help me as it is ruining my enjoyment of DS at the moment, he is such a joy during the day but at night I feel like I hate him.

[Me624]

Forgot to add - he has no teeth, doesn't seem to be teething.
Generally naps well for an hour in the morning and then either 1 or 2 naps in the afternoon depending on length. Never naps past 4pm, goes to bed at 7 and bedtime is a dream, he has bottle and story and then goes down in his cot awake and puts himself to sleep within 5 minutes.

[Goldenvalley]

Sounds really hard. Have you tried feeding him as soon as he wakes up?

[user1476140278]

What is he eating during the day on average? How much food and how much milk? He could simply be hungry.

[Me624]

He has taken to solids really well and is on 3 meals a day plus four 7oz bottles. I suppose I should just try feeding him earlier, is it normal though for a baby to not need night feeds for months and then suddenly start needing them again?

[EsmesBees]

I would guess hunger too. Mine was still feeding twice during the night at 7 months.

[CoteDAzur]

"He never cries but just sort of moans/whinges... give him a bottle which he always drinks in full but it doesn't seem to make any difference to how long it will take him to go back to sleep."

Leave him to it. Put him to sleep far enough that you will hear if he cries but that the whinging won't wake you up.

[Gillian1980]

I feel your pain OP, my dd has gone through phases of this and it's so hard.

I've always assumed it's a growth spurt or developmental leap so ply her with milk as soon as she wakes. Sometimes it did the trick but other times she was just awake and nothing would get her to sleep for 3 hours!

If he is moaning rather than crying I'd try leaving him to it and she how long it takes him to go back to sleep. If dd wakes but doesn't cry I don't go in at all and she usually goes back to sleep. If she's crying for more than a minute or two then I go in.

The only way to keep sane is to accept that it's happening and constantly remind yourself that it's a phase. It may be a lengthy phase, but it's still a phase.

[Me624]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried leaving him to it but our house (new build) has paper thin walls and I just can't sleep through it - he's already in the room furthest from ours and I can still hear him with both doors shut!

Everything always seems brighter in the morning and I tell myself it is just a phase and it will pass. It's harder to be rational in the night though.

Spoken to DH this morning and we have decided we are going to try a dream feed at 11ish to see if that will top him up enough to go through if it is hunger that's waking him. He has been going through a lot of development, he started commando crawling at 6 months followed by proper crawling and now pulling himself up so there must be a lot going on in his littleness head.

[idontlikealdi]

I was going to suggest a feed around 10/11 pm. DTs took around half a bottle until about 11 months and it was enough to see them through until about 630.

[Me624]

Right dream feed just done! He took 5oz (he usually has 7 but I figured that was ok) and has gone back to sleep. Fingers crossed for a good night.

[user1476140278]

Sounds good OP! Hope it sees him through.