7.5 month old waking every 30-60 mins!

[SazCat]

Hi I am after some advice to try and improve my baby's sleep, as I am so exhausted!

She has never been a good sleeper, wouldn't be put down as a newborn. After a month or so we got to the stage where she would sleep for short periods in a sleepyhead in next to me crib. By 5 months she would do a few hours at a time and go through til the early hours without a BF (what I'd do for that now!...)

But since 6.5 months, she now wakes up every 30 - 60 minutes. I can soothe her back to sleep by stroking and talking to her, but obviously it means my sleep is broken all night long and I get no good stretch.

She's always suffered with bad wind and I do think she wakes up needing to fart a lot of the time. I think this has got worse since starting solids. I do massage her to get them out but this hasn't seemed to help her sleep.

I was previously BF'ing to sleep but this has stopped working so well and was taking 1.5+ hours. So I've started putting her in her cot awake now, she does moan but manages to fall asleep in under an hour. She'll also fall back asleep herself in the night as long as I'm there next to her. I haven't tried not going to her as this seems like CIO which I don't fancy.

Any advice for how to help her sleep for longer stretches?

[crazycatlady5]

7 months was utterly dreadful for us. But baby sleep doesn’t just steadily improve, it goes up and down like a rollercoaster for the first year. We rode it out and my 10 month old slept through the other night it hasn’t happened since but hey we’re getting there

[SazCat]

Good to know it's the norm! I honestly can't even imagine her ever sleeping through, I'll be in shock when it ever happens!

I did think we just need to ride it out, just gotta hope it's better by April when I go back to work...

[Cuppaqueen]

Is she in your room? If all she needs is for you to be there, maybe having her cot back by your bed is all that's needed. I read that separation anxiety can kick in about this age, maybe she's scared when she wakes and you aren't there.

If she can fall asleep by herself at the start of the night, can you use the same methods when she wakes ie hands-off soothing? So there's no 'reward' of mum's attention for waking.

Only other thought is, how is weaning going? My son was waking every other hour at 6/7 months, I was exhausted 😩 so I feel your pain! Two things helped: getting him to fall asleep in the cot, not in my arms (sounds like you're already there with that) and lots more food. At 7.5 months he has three solid meals a day; protein, carbs, dairy & fruit every evening plus BF. Now he's back to sleeping a 5-6 hour stretch after the dreamfeed (which he still guzzles). Bliss.

[SazCat]

She was in our room up til last week, was doing the same though even in the next to me crib! I moved her as I thought it may help (anything's worth a try eh).

Interesting about the weaning, she's not having much food as yet as I was trying to take it slow due to her farting issues! Only a bit of yoghurt/fruit purée or porridge in the morning, then lunch is a meat and veg thick purée plus some finger food (which is just getting played with at the moment).

I'll try adding a third meal see if that help!

[SazCat]

I've also never done a dream feed - but I have tried feeding her when she wakes around 11pm ish but she'll still wake shortly after she goes back down.

I am wondering actually if her dummy is causing a problem. She has it to go to sleep with but then it always falls out once she's properly asleep. Maybe she's waking up wanting it back? Ooh the thought of getting rid of the dummy is a bit scary

[crazycatlady5]

I wouldn’t get rid of the dummy. Have you got the wonder weeks book or app? It’s really helpful and explains about baby fussy periods and growth spurts.

[Cuppaqueen]

Hmmm - tricky! I would definitely persevere with the food, as breast milk gets digested so quickly and if that's all she's having after 1pm ish, she is going to need a lot of it. We started weaning my son at 5.5 months because he was back to almost hourly BF (he was almost 20lb by then though, a big baby).

Never used a dummy so can't comment on whether to stop. Is she old enough to leave spare dummies around her or attached safely to clothing so she can learn to reinsert it herself?

[FATEdestiny]

I'd say this is a hunger issue.

Maintain milk intake at the level it was before weaning. Maybe even more than pre-weanjng. Food should be in addition to milk, not instead of.

Then significantly increase portion sizes, including all food groups and high calorie options (like banana, avocado fur example) over 3 or 4 meals.

[SazCat]

Thanks everyone

I guess as she is so content during the day I hadn't really considered that she might need more milk/food.

I do leave dummies in the cot but she just messes around with them and bites the edge rather than putting it back in!

[SazCat]

Well I don't know if it was the extra feeds yesterday, or the fact that I started leaving her a bit longer to cry when she awoke...
But she just slept from 11.30 to 4.30

Have actually got a headache, don't think my body's used to that long a stretch.

I gave her an evening meal, she didn't eat much dinner but had banana for dessert so maybe that filled her up?

Thanks for the advice everyone, hoping we've turned a corner now

[sunnytrees]

Have just posted on another thread - am going through similar myself - baby is 7 months and wakes every 20 - 1.5 hours throughout the night. Haven't yet managed to get her to sleep on her own in the cot, she still falls asleep feeding - I know this is what I have to break but not sure how to. CIO is not for me and when I put her down she just fusses and babbles and then it escalates until I pick her up. Am exhausted. I will try increasing her solid intake.

[6monthsandcounting]

Hi all and @SazCat
reading with interest as my nearly 7 month is doing the same. Sleep has been hideous for 2 months bar the odd night. We started weaning 3 weeks ago and he also started to self wean off boob in the day around the same time (I had been working from home for months to continue BF, but I get refused now!)

Thinking I might introduce an evening meal based on your thread as diet is also currently baby rice and a bit of fruit purée for breakfast, veg purée for lunch (around 2pm), and just milk after (formula in day, breast evening and night).

When you gave banana, did you just mash it? And are you making the lunchtime meat purée yourself? I still feel woefully unknowledgeable on the weaning as with work it's hard to find time to read up...and I forget what I do read as I'm so shattered
Lots of change, so hard to keep track...

[FATEdestiny]

Banana can be given whole. As an entire peeled banana. If baby's pincer grip is good with smaller objects then sliced and scattered around the highchair tray. No need to mash banana, it's a soft fruit that will just squige in baby's mouth.

By 7 months old I had multi course meals involving both bought baby food puree and finger food. Bear in mind I was already doing child-friendly meals every day because just have other children. So our meals went along the lines of:

• Jar of 6m bought baby food, spoonfed. Always savoury and meat based. As finger food increased this was phased out.
  
• a selection of the family meal we were having, as finger food scattered around highchair tray.
  
• a yoghurt, spoon-fed
  
• a selection of fruit, as finger food.
  

This was repeated for all 3 meals (breakfast was porridge rather than savoury jar). It meant that courses 1 and 3 definitely went in, since they were spoonfed. As the proper food portion sizes increased (courses 2 and 4), the spoonfeeding was needed less. By 12 months baby was just eating family meals with us.

[6monthsandcounting]

Thanks @FATEdestiny, that's so helpful (as are all your posts around here!)

He's had pretty smooth puréed stuff so far and have been nervous about choking but will follow your method for banana today (after a veg purée) and see how we go. Will also stock up on some jars. As soon as I've had a fraction more sleep I'll get cooking for him and try some new things too- red lentils in with the veg, for instance.

I've read such confusing things about dairy, but it sounds like it's fine to introduce butter and yoghurt now based on your post. Can I give ones that we eat such as Skyr do you think? Guessing any unsweetened natural is fine?

[Cuppaqueen]

I'm a bit nervous of choking too so I'm still mashing his bananas! A little less thoroughly as time goes on

I don't have other kids and our adult meals are too spicy/ salty etc for him so I make batches of savoury baby purees. Typical meals for my boy in the evening might be:

Tuna pasta purée (tin of tuna, milk, tomato purée & cooked pasta shapes, blended), slender fingers of toast with cream cheese (which he sucks more than eats) followed by half a banana mashed with yoghurt

Chicken & pumpkin purée (steamed pumpkin blended with some chicken fillets pan fried in butter) thickened with baby rice, then a pot of yoghurt

Bolognese sauce with vermicelli noodles, then apple purée with cottage cheese

If I use pouches like Ella's, I add carbs in the form of baby rice, mashed potato or grain porridge to bulk them up.

I just keep offering food until he refuses. He's still having 5-6 BFs a day as well.

[FATEdestiny]

I've read such confusing things about dairy, but it sounds like it's fine to introduce butter and yoghurt now based on your post. Can I give ones that we eat such as Skyr do you think? Guessing any unsweetened natural is fine?

Unless baby has an already known milk allergy, I cannot think of any circumstances why dairy should be delayed. Are you confusing the advice not to introduce cows milk as a drink until 12 months? That does not include milk and dairy in foodstuff.

When talking about "early tastes" - that would last less than a month for me. Bhai u months I'd have baby on a full, balanced, varied diet including all hood groups. Then up until 12 months all that happens is portion sizes increase and purees reduce.

[6monthsandcounting]

Brilliant thank you cuppa and fate. Your view on a month of early tastes makes sense and reassures me I haven't got it totally wrong yet. We're on week 3 and I'm introducing something new every day now. First yoghurt happening tomorrow. Banana was a hit yesterday. Cuppa I shall try some of your recipes in the coming week. He's my only child too and I've barely got the hang of cooking my own meals again so it's great to see what others do! I also ordered some meaty pouch meals too on your advice Fate.
Will report back in a few days.
Much appreciated.

[SazCat]

I'm also still mashing banana... I need to get braver and trust that she can cope with the finger food!

I have batches of fruit purée and thick purée/mashed meals I prepare in bulk in the freezer, e.g. meat/fish based with veg, and I sometimes use pouches like Ella's Kitchen.

I introduced natural yoghurt this week which she's loved, I add a bit of fruit purée to sweeten.

Since starting the third meal she's definitely been better, the last three nights she's been unsettled and waking lots the first half of the night but then done a 5 hour stretch from 11-12pm ish til her 4-5am feed. This is a massive improvement on before!

[SazCat]

6months - I hadn't introduced much in the way of proteins like meat and fish or dairy til this week.

Thanks to Fates advice I've been trying to make meals more balanced with all food groups, and as well as sleeping a bit better my DD seems to be enjoying her food more too!

I suppose veg purée is a bit boring and hadn't really moved on fast enough maybe!