waking up every 2 - 3 hrs

[trixabell]

my dd is 6mths old and was sleeping perfectly up until 15 weeks old - when I say perfectly I mean it - asleep by 7/8 dream feed at 11 and up at 7am - then she started to wake up earlier and earlier and then through the night. Now it is 9pm and we have been in 3 times already to settle her back to sleep. On average she wakes up 7-9 times in 12hrs - starting of babbling and then crying and not able to go back to sleep. I thought the dummy was to blame but I have been putting her to sleep without it and after inital success she is now back to her old habits. She only seems to sleep in 2-3hr at a time - just wondering if anyone had any ideas - oh actually make that 4 times she is crying again !

[TracyK]

teeth??

[trixabell]

your guess is as good as mine - everything goes into her mouth ( except her spoon feeds) and I guess she does have signs of teething - but I can put her back over relatively easily - either stroking her head and talking or using the dummy - most of the time - would I be able to do that with teeth - it has been going on for ages - I can't remember the last time I had more than 3hrs in a row!!

[trixabell]

last night she was in asleep by 7pm - crying at 8pm,8.20,8.40,10.10.50 when I fed her - then 2am, 4am,5am - what is going on - she is relatively happy when I put her down to sleep - don't want to sleep train if it is teeth - but can't cope with the lack of sleep!! anyone

[mum2max]

My ds is also coming upto 6 months this week.

Try Anbesol, Cammomilla tablets crushed in milk, Nelsons Teetha Granules or Calgel. Ds woke up every half hour or so with all symptoms of teeth (but now no teeth to show for it!) Gave a remedy or two and now happy. Seems to like the taste of the gels and granules and it takes his mind of whatever it is that's making him cry. I have given him a sachet of granules to chew on before bed since (it's herbal!)

Could it be a brief growth spurt coinciding with teething pains? The cry should give it away. Ds hunger cry sounds like " unger, unger" ! I'm sure you know your own babies cry sorry

There isn't something like a creaky floorboard/ radiator/ pipe etc? Ds gets up at 7am, and for weeks he woke up at 6am (not that that's a prob really!) but it was the central heating. Now it's warmer and we don't have it on, he stays asleep til 7.

Has she got something snuggly to chew on/ cuddle etc? Ds has a blanket. Sometimes I go in his nursery to get him up and he's lying there asleep with his blanket in both hands.
Right I've waffled enough, hope it helps...

[trixabell]

thanks for your message mum2max

I don't think it is hunger - she has been doing this for ages - just worst in the last month. I feed her at 6.30 and she would be crying at 8pm - I feed her again at 11pm and she would be crying at 2pm.

• I do use calgel on her before she goes to sleep - then if she wakes up I give her some more - she loves the taste of it!! Last night I gave her calpol at 10pm but she still woke 1hr later.
  
  she puts everything into her mouth, she has started to have more dirty nappies and she sounds funny when she breathes in - like she has something in her throat - all signs of teething I suppose ?- But she has been doinbg this for ages - although we haven't had the dirty nappy thing - but then again I have changed from bf to bottle - could it be that ???
  
  I'll try giving her some granules etc and see if it makes any difference -
  
  I wish babies had a panel on them that told you what was wrong

[TracyK]

How does she feed during the night - does she seem frantically hungry and drink a lot - or more snacking?
Maybe cluster feed her before bedtime - really stock her up.
Is she warm enough - really nice and snuggly. Maybe raise the head of her cot if she is breathing funny. blocked nose?

[trixabell]

As I said - it isn't a hunger thing cause she wakes 1.5 / 2hrs after I feed her and if it is then she has been having a growth spurt for the last 3 months -it has got so bad now - last night was every 30min to 1hr with a brief 2hrs spell in the middle - tried the teething granules, gel and calpol -no difference - she has also developed this amazingly high pitched screech - which as far as I can see is just a new sound for her.

Am I just going to have to put up with this?

[Seona1973]

How does your lo get to sleep in the first place? Does she still use a dummy, are you holding her, feeding her, etc, etc as it sounds as if she cant self settle into a deep sleep? Whatever you do at bedtime, your lo will expect it when she wakes to go back to sleep. I recommend pick up/put down by the babywhisperer for helping to teach your lo how to go to sleep and get back to sleep in the night independently.

Also, how does your lo sleep during the day? cos it sounds as if overtiredness is a factor too. Good daytime sleep leads to good nightime sleep as it stops them from being too overtired to settle.

[trixabell]

she goes to sleep now without the dummy in her own cot at 7pm after a bath at 5.30pm and bottle at 6pm - she used to have the dummy on and of - but I have made sure she doesn't have it when she drops of to sleep. She likes white noise - so I have some of that in the background. She used to always sleep up until 11pm or 12 soundly but now she is up every hour if not half hour and not really awake just crying - she sleeps reasonably well in the daytime either one 2hr nap in morn and 2 40min or 3-4 40min throughout the day - Today and yesterday she has been hard to settle to sleep - and has developed this ungodly screech which sends shivers down my spine. I have been keeping a log and the leght and no. of naps make no difference to the night sleep - she is always bad!

[trixabell]

I forgot to say - last night she started babling and crying when I went in I turned on the light and she had her thumb in her mouth chewing on - not sucking - when she started to drop of to sleep again and her arms relaxed - thumb came out and babbling started again with cry - but she rarely actually wakes up !

[AndiM]

This worked for my J (thanks to my excellent health visitor). Just go into baby's room and sit on the floor with your back to them. It's reassurance that you are there but no communication or picking-up so they learn to go off to sleep again by themselves. I found that J would scream for a while but then would stop a few seconds and start again. When i peaked at him I found out he was watching me the whole time, waiting for a reaction. The first night it took about 1-2hrs for him to settle, the secon 1-30mins and by the fourth night he was sleeping all night. If he wakes/vries out now I just stay in bed and say "It's alright, go back to sleep, mummy and daddy are just here" (our room is next to his and the walls are quite thin). But, if he's ill or teething, I do pick him up and cuddle - then it usually takes one night to get him back on track.

[Seona1973]

my dd only sleeps badly like this if she is in pain. Have you had your lo checked out for a possible ear infection which could be related to teething? I'd get your lo checked out just in case there is something physically wrong.

Or is your lo just a noisy sleeper and you go to her too quickly when she is just shifting gears between light sleep and deep sleep? We often hear our dd cry out in her sleep but if we leave her a couple of minutes she goes back to sleep (if she is crying properly we do go to her quickly cos she settles quicker that way)

Just a couple of thoughts anyway!

[trixabell]

I took her to the doctors a couple of weeks ago as I was going to do some sort of sleep training and I wanted to make sure she wasn't ill. She said she was the picture of health. My health visitor suggested changing her routine during the day and feed her more - willing to try it - see if it makes any difference!!

[Bexybear]

poor you trixabel you must be exhausted...

you dont say if you tried the sleep training.

Our DS now 8 months has started waking in the night (only once or twice but he often doesnt go back to sleep for 2 hours) and we have no idea why.... hunger? teeth? separation anxiety...? Not sure we will ever know but have realised that we will have to sleep train now as we have got into bad habits (inconsistant approaches as tired and desperate, and breast feeds) in our attempts to get him back down and get some sleep ourselves...

thing is dont now how. The books dont seem to give you enough info and we dont want to get it wrong and make things worse...May try AndiM's advice but let me know if you have any luck yourself

[mum2max]

also advocat of baby whisperer "pick up/ put down technique" worked a treat with ds since 4 mth old. Also responded quite well to 5 minute check when slightly younger.
If she is still using dummy at evening bed time, maybe put a few around the cot so she can find one if needed in the night. My ds always manages to throw them all on the floor though
Whichver technique you choose try not to mix and match them - sorry, preaching again . If you do need to pick her up, don't overhold her. Just long enough to stop the crying and then straight back in cot.

[highlander]

be very very very careful about starting to sleep train at this age. Babies start to go through so many developmental stages that can make them fretful and need extra cuddles. Teeth (even though it's not obvious), learning to sit up, handlng things, first bugs, being aware of strangers etc etc - it's a lot for their brains to deal with and sleep is invariably affected to a greater or lesser degree (depends on your baby's personality I guess).

DS is 8 months old and I've only just realised that he needs extra milk at night when teeth are emerging or if he is brewing a virus i.e. it's not immediately obvious that anything is wrong. PU/PD etc without milk results in constipation.

[highlander]

PS this is just my opinion for my sprog! My neighbour's DD never loses sleep even when she's ill (apparently).

[trixabell]

thanks for all the tips - I had started to wean her at 5 1/2 mths but she wasn't that interested - now I am feeding her more times during the day and she is taking the spoonfeeds more readily - From starting this she has been good (2or3 wake ups) 2 out 4 nights - which believe me is progress!!