7 month old waking for numerous unneccesary nightfeeds

[screamingeels]

DS' sleep was okay for first six months when we hit a period of teething, bad colds etc and i went back to work. We started co-sleeping to deal with the crappy nights which would have been okay except he fed and faffed all night. So i've got him back out of our bed and into his cot; he goes to sleep okay - goes down awake after a story, chunters to himself for 5 mins or so and then goes off. But he then wakes every 1 -2 hours from 11pm and expects to be bf back to sleep.

Have tried cutting down time of feeds (none are longer than 5 mins anyway) and making sure he is awake when he goes back into cot. Last results in intense screaming for up to an hour - never gone longer than this as DH cracks at this point!

It now appears to be getting worse, his cot is in our room and he is indicating strongly that he wants out of cot and back in bed .. and he seems to be beginning to find it difficult to go down for a nap without being fed!

Any ideas or any encouragment that this might just go of its own accord?

Could he have wind? I say this to so many people but DS had a terrible wind problem which would manifest itself with hourly wakings after 11/12ish. Have a look at his diet - green veg, dairy, legumes are the usual suspects. Try and get him moving about and give him a couple of teaspoons of fennel tea to shift any wind before bedtime.

Other thing is there is a developmental leap around 6 months which messes with sleep too.

It does pass though - did with DS. His sleep got better/worse/better worse between 6 months and 12 months then settled down a bit more at 15 months but a bit mad again at 16 months!!

Don't think its wind - DD had terrible colic/ trapped wind for months and this doesn't seem like that, but not ruling anything out so I'll try the fennel tea. I'm reassured to hear it will pass. DD was a nightmare in her own way and didn't sleep through 'til 14 months but its the sheer frequency of his waking which is grinding me down!

Yes it is tough! The other thing to consider is whether he's overtired? Is he going to bed too late and does he get enough day sleep? I find that makes a difference if I make sure DS gets enough sleep over a week or so he's better.

Yes I think it is the overtiredness because he was up from 4am which has made everything lurch worse today so may need to get that back on track before trying anythign else.

Poor thing. At that age, I'd get DS to nap about 1-1.5 hours after being awake in the morning, then after being awake for two hours after that. He'd only take 45 min naps but it really helped.