7 month old waking every 30mins!

[Lexidreamer]

My DD is just coming up for 7 month old, past two weeks now she has been waking every 2 hours during the night, and past few days it’s been every 30mins! I’m shattered!
She has the odd nap in the day I would say an hour at 10am and an hour at 2pm if I’m lucky. She goes to bed about 8pm she has a bath etc before bed this has always been her routine.
Since weaning her she has been fussy with her milk, I’m trying to persevere and hoping it’s just a stage and I always offer milk before actual food, but now she is pretty much refusing milk during the day she might have 5 oz between 8am and 8pm, she then wakes 10pm, 12am, 2am, 4am and 6am and I usually give in around 7-8am and get up. When she wakes she will either have 4-5oz of bottle or her dummy. I try and bulk her meals out with formula and offer yogurts and fruit purée so she is getting some liquid as she won’t have water and I’ve even tried diluted juice to get her to drink something in the day but she refuses all of them. I did mention to my gp but she just said babies know what they need and she is getting fluid from her meals?? To watch for nappies and if no more than 3 wet nappies in 24hrs to get her seen for dehydration, but surely she still needs to drink? I’m thinking this may be causing the waking at night?
But also I think she’s going through this separation anxiety people talk about, if I leave the room, to make a bottle, meal anything she screams and gets so upset. My other 1/2 works 6 days 12hrs a day so it’s usually me and DD on our own most days. I’m wondering if it’s the same when she’s asleep and she wakes and just wants to know I’m there? This morning we’ve got up at 7:30 it’s 9am now and she’s asleep in her chair, but she was shouting and screaming this morning until I got up with her. when we get up and I look over at her in her crib she laughs and smiles, I just didn’t think she could get seperation anxiety being in her crib? She still sleeps in our room next to me but in her own crib. She’s great at going to bed I just put her in her grobag lie her down and put her dummy in and she will go to sleep, I do offer bottle at this time but it’s usually refused. I do wait until she’s asleep to leave the room and just lie on the bed while she goes to sleep, maybe I need to leave the room before she nods off...
She also may be teething, no teeth yet but lots of biting, chewing, and dribbling, seems to fuss over nothing sometimes, and just got over a cold,
sorry for my ramblings but not sure what else to do... TIA xx

Oh no! This sounds really hard...is she too hot or cold perhaps? If she is teething, maybe try some Calpol before bed? Have you thought about safe bedsharing - might help with separation anxiety...not sure about the milk during the day thing either. I'd probably just keep a close eye on nappies for dehydration, get as much sleep as possible (can someone look after her during day so you can nap? Can you afford a babysitter for a couple of hours? Try to let housework go for a while), and ride it out, as she might get better in a couple of weeks. Otherwise look out for symptoms as she might be unwell somehow and uncomfortable for that reason. Good luck anyway, sorry I can't help much more! Xxx

Hi Hun,
It’s a nightmare at the moment and it could be multiple things 😩
I haven’t tried the calpol but may try that tonight and see if there is a difference, I read somewhere that giving calpol too often can lead to childhood asthma so I’m super strict (probably too strict 🙈) with calpol and try to limit giving it but worth a try.
I’ve not looked into bed sharing it’s something that’s always terrified me due to risk of her getting smothered or falling out but I do believe it’s something that can be achieved safety, and we go have a superking size bed so we have enough room, something I will look into 😊
No one to take her I’m afraid my partner goes to work at 10am and gets home at 12am so we are on our own most of the time, I don’t really want a babysitter, I’m due back to work soon and I’ve always been precious about anyone else taking her, which I’ll also have to get used to as she has to go to nursery once I go back to work and I am dreading it,
I will look into the cosleeping though just as an option, she does plenty wet and dirty nappies at the minute 😂 but I agree will keep a close eye on it, thanks for your reply xxx

What's her food and milk routine during the day? What time is she having it and what is she having? At that stage neither of my dc drank a lot of water but just kept offering it with meals and they do get there eventually. At that age most of her fluid and nutrition should still come from her milk.

Baby sleep cycles are 30-45mins, she has to learn how to stay asleep through the cycles.what happens if you leave her for 5 mins to see if she can go back to sleep?

Hi all thanks for the replies 😊
Her milk/food routine..
She will wake about 7:30 and we get up, she will have porridge or rusks mixed with baby rice and formula and a fromage frais for breakfast, I offer milk before this but it is always refused, I then offer milk around 9:30 /10am she may take 3oz if I’m lucky although today she took 6oz. She then has dinner around 12pm and will have a mixture of fresh veggies/potatoes and fruit purée or mashed banana. Again milk offered before this is refused. She is then offered milk again around 2pm she will take 2-3oz if I’m lucky, it was refused today. Tea usually about 5pm again mixed veggies/potatoes (different to what she’s had for dinner) sometimes I will make her some baby pasta, then she will have another fromage frais and if still hungry will have fruit purée as well. Then bottle offered again before bed usually around 7-8pm usually 4-5oz will be taken. Last two days she is waking about every hour to two hours and will drink approx 10-14oz milk throughout the night. We are starting on introducing finger foods so sometimes I will offer her cooked veggies cut into fingers in between meals and she will have a go at it. She is a very good eater! It’s just the milk she seems to have come away from, water is also offered with each meal but again also refused. I have even tried a tommee tippee training sippee cup ( bottle teat is same materials as normal teat but sippee cup shape teat if that makes sense?) she will bite down on it but then spits it out.
Lazy puppy, I thought about this and at the moment i do sit by her while she goes to sleep so past two nights I have left the room when she is falling asleep but she sees me leave, she goes to sleep on her own but doesn’t seem to make a difference to waking in the night. I have tried leaving her to self settle back to sleep but she just gets more and more upset the longer I leave her until I go and see to her, she will then have a bottle or dummy and nod back off to sleep.
I am playing lots of peekaboo with her and when I leave the room in the day I am telling her I am going and what I’m doing and that I will be back in a moment, and in the past few days this seems to have improved with her crying when I leave the room. I just think if she would take more milk throughout the day she would be more satisfied at night, and sleep better, but I can’t force her to drink it?? I don’t mind for myself and my lack of sleep too much but it’s not good for her and she looks exhausted in a morning. She hardly sleeps in the day also she has one nap around 10am of about 20mins, sometimes she will have a nap between 2and 3pm of 20mins but this is very rare.

The only other thing I have considered is if I need to change her milk, maybe it isn’t keeping her full as much. But we had an awful time with the new aptamil when the formula changed she came out in hives and then I tried cow and gate, same outcome so now we are on hipp 1st stage. I know she could have follow on now but HV advises she doesnt need follow on and can stay on 1st stage? I don’t want to change her milk and her have a reaction or end up even worse than she is now 😩

I've found Sarah Ockwell-Smith's sleep book a good read with lots of tips in - maybe your library has a copy?

Could you get her to nap during the day in a sling or the pushchair? Xxx

Must be hard. Your GP is right though, babies know what they need in the way of food or drink (tho', like you, I'd try to give some fluid).

Mine always co slept and we all had a good night's sleep. It was lovely and cosy - and quite safe! Natural too.

Motherdemeter thank you I will see if I can get a copy, she will have a nap during the day usually maximum 20mins in the pushchair, as she is more bothered about watching what is happening around her (she is fascinated by trees) I have both the wrap around sling and the baby Bjorn cattier, she is just two wriggly, she likes to be able to kick and wriggle about so she’s never been keen on being swaddled or held. She won’t even take a bottle being held by me anymore only in her high chair.
Jessstan2 I will look into the co sleeping. It’s something I said I would never do as I’m terrified I will hurt her, but may be worth reading up on. Is it not a nightmare when they are getting older though? To get them to sleep in their own bed?? Thanks again xx

Your baby should be on stage 2 milk by 7 moths stage 2 is 6months + my baby is on sma never had any problems xx

Mine is 8 and a half months old
Breakfast 6oz bottle when wakes

9-10 am baby porridge if refused or still looks hungry I will offer a yogurt

1-3 pm baby dinner or fruit purée will be offerd with a drink of ither water or baby juice

Around 5pm another 6oz bottle

6pm Finger Food and a drink is offerd and usually just messed around with

Anywhere between 7-10 is bed time so another bottle may be offerd depending what time he drops off .

ANBESOL for teething is fantastic works a treat for my little one can be purchased from boots

I would put my money on teething if it has suddenly got a lot worse. My two were not great sleepers anyway, but teething had them up every half hour and they went off food and bottles for a week or so until the teeth cut the gum. Do what you need to, to get through this rough patch. I hope your DD settles again soon.

@youngmammy stage 2 formula is just a marketing ploy by formula companies as they can't advertise stage 1 formula. There's no reason to change baby's formula.

Op it sounds like she's not getting enough milk during the day which is making her hungry at night. As long as your offering milk before solids, hopefully things will settle down and she'll start taking more during the day. I really feel for you, the sleepless nights are so hard.

Why would it be a marketing ploy it Costs exactly the same as stage 1 ?

@youngmammy
Why would it be a marketing ploy it Costs exactly the same as stage 1 ?

Because they are allowed to advertise it. They aren't allowed to advertise Stage 1 milk. They can also do promotions and discounts on stage 2 which they can't on stage 1.
All this helps to increase the amount of parents who may buy the formula

Oh right I guess you learn something new every day on here xx