Evening waking - why do you think she wakes after an hour?

[annatee]

Hi there, my daughter (4 months) has always been quite unsettled in the evenings; previously was fairly colicky and wouldn't settle until later (about 10.30), but now drifts off fine after a feed, only to wake up almost like clockwork about an hour later. Was just wondering if anyone else had had this experience, and whether anyone has any advice?
I'm not sure if she is in pain when she wakes, as usually she is fine if taken out of her room to watch TV with us (!) That means she is harder to settle later however, and I would like to get into a bedtime routine if I can, that doesn't involve her watching us eat every night! Also she is far more tired in the days on the days she drops off late. Any wise words much appreciated!

People have said to me that this is a sleep cycle - just less than an hour, but basically this sort of time. She's just coming 'to' and some babies can settle themselves and some (like my ds!) need someone with them to settle them.

What I would suggest is to rock her or sit with her, rather than taking her out of the room. Keep it bed-timey for her so that she learns you want her to be in her room evenings/nights rather than these being a continuation of the day.

basically I think it's sleep cycles, and it's a case of helping them get back off.

Hi annatee - my DS used to do this too. We tried all sorts of things, but nothing made any difference. He just stopped doing it once he got to about 6 months old. Hang in there - their sleep does settle down as they get older.

i have this too. i give her a bit more milk or pop her dummy back in. they grow out of it, but i think it's important to keep her in her room so she gets used to going back to sleep. it's hard work for a few days but they soon get the hang of it.

My first thought is, is it wind? Our DD2 always wakes 45mins to an hour later if she has fallen asleep after a feed.

If you want to get her down again I wouldn't take her out of her room, just lift and pat her till she burps and then back into bed with lots of shushing and patting - keeping the lights low. Also if they fall asleep in one place (eg on your lap) and then wake up somewhere else I think they get a bit confused and can't then settle themselves and want you (understandably).

The routine in the evening (which used to work - we are having some isshhhoos again at the moment[hmmn]) is bath, feed, bed. Tracey Hogg (baby whisperer) is keen on not associating feed with sleep so recommends feed, bath, bed, then another feed at about 10:30. Pulling back the bedtime to 6/6.30 also helped us (colicky behaviour turned out to be hungry, tired and grumpy - just like mum!).

But yours is very little, so she may just want/need you, a cuddle and feed; I would avoid telly and anything interesting, be really boring and quiet + no eye contact if you can manage it!

BTW here is a Sleep board on MN where you may get more responses if you post there.

Here is a brief summary of DD:

DD was a 45min baby. Literally all naps and through the night. 90mins was bliss!

And people ask why we have not started TTC no 2 yet !!!

I was at breaking point by 6m so did some sleep training, it helped her settle first thing at night and how to re-settle herself. However as she was BF she would sometimes still be hungry and I learnt to tell the difference after a while. So basically I would leave her to shout for a minute or two before going up. Mostly she would drop back off, occasionally I would go in, feed her and put her back down. I tried to put her down awake as much as poss but tbh she would scream the house down most of the time so I tended to BF to sleep.

1 year was the turning point and with walking at 16m she started going through the night.

She is a great sleeper now, she is 2.4 and falls asleep for either of us with a few stories, does 13 hours at night, no naps but hey you can't have it all

Oh yes - definately wind with my DD too. Especially pre 6m. I think that set her up to be hard to settle.

Great thanks for your responses, very helpful. Sometimes she has some burps but isn't keen on going back down after she gets them up! I have read Tracy Hogg, and tried putting her to bed straight after bath in the EASY way (ha ha!) but she wasn't having a bit of it. Glad to hear that your LOs grew out of the waking up as well! I'm hoping once she gets started on solids her sleep might be heavier so perhaps won't wake as predictably this time every evening. Oh well, guess I am grateful that it is about 8pm instead of 3am! Although is a long one tonight... still squawking away Thanks agin!

p.s. where is the sleep board please? Can't find it!

Go into topics and scroll down. There is an annoying ad that pushes them all off the bottom of your screen so scroll right down until you find links.

well, often sleep gets worse when they start solids for a bit, but then it does settle down.

i was given a good tip: when they're about 8 months and they're not sleeping well in the evening, just before you do the whole bedtime routine, give them a small bowl of warm porridge / ready brek. it takes a while to digest and gives them that warm, full feeling for longer. i personally wouldn't do it before 8 months though.

Have tried gripe water in last few days and is working a treat. Not used it before; either the last few nights of calm have been a post-Christmas fluke or that odd smelling stuff is a well-kept (from me anyway!) secret... Thanks for messages.

On balance... a fluke!

We had this too, I had some success after sneaking back into his room at about 40 mins after he first went off, so I was there ready and waiting for him when he started to stir and could start the shushing, patting etc before he really woke up. That seemed to help him settle back down by himself rather than waking up completely.

I did the same as Ladybee with DD1, she'd wake about 50 minutes after dropping off, so quick in with the bouncing hammock before she knew what was happening.

DD2, also woke after about an hour. She was always good about settling herself, but had to be careful that no one was in the room at that time, or that DD1 was safely asleep by then (shared room), or she'd wake up completely.