Baby sleep, desperate

[Pinkstuffs]

My DS 6 months has slept through since he was 5 weeks old, but has started waking up almost every ten minutes. I put him down as usual at 6pm and he woke up at 6.30, he is screaming inconsolably not just whinging. I’ve given him calpol as he has got a bit of a runny nose. It’s really difficult to soothe him at all and if I can calm him down he’ll start again when I put him in his cot.

He did this last night too and I haven’t had any sleep.

Is there a regression at this time? Anything else it could be? He’s not just whimpering he is screaming which to be honest he barely ever does.

Has he been OK in the day? Does he have a temperature? Could it be something like a earache that is worse when he's lying down? Just with you saying he is unusually upset.

I did find with my 2nd from 6 months they refused the cot and I had to sleep sitting up with them on my chest. It was horrendous because as I fell asleep they slipped down and woke up and screamed. My 1st wasn't quite as bad but did just randomly stop sleeping through the night at 6 months. We didn't notice any regression at 4 months, just 6.

@Wrongsideofpennines i took him to the doctor earlier and he’s fine, no problems with ears or throat!

It might be obvious but is he cold? Mine did this when he was very small, took me 3 awful nights to realise he needed another blanket 🥲

I was going to say earache but you’ve ruled that out… could it be teething, I think that can hurt more when they lie down? Could it be his tummy, if he’s started solids recently and finding digestion harder? In terms of how to manage - how do you feel about co-sleeping? When my 8 month old was poorly with a cold I let her sleep on/next to me and it helped - she still woke a lot but we got more sleep than if I’d tried with the cot!

I really don’t want to start cosleeping given we’ve spent 6 months of him being an amazing sleeper, it feels like a huge step backwards! Plus I don’t think me being in bed with him will soothe him, he doesn’t even want to be rocked. It could be teething although no sign of a tooth yet.

There is a sleep regression around this age. Both of my dc kept me awake for hours each night for weeks at this age. It was really hard. Try to remember that it is a phase and it will pass.

Maybe wrap him up in another layer to see if being warmer will help, but otherwise it might just be developmental.

This sounds so hard!
Ive heard good things about sleep waves which may be worth considering?
https://sleepwavesconsultancy.com.au/

@underhedges did your babies scream inconsolably? I can cope if he’s just whinging but the screaming is awful. If we respond to him like bringing him downstairs he’s playful so I don’t think there’s anything wrong.

We've just been through this and I'm afraid to say it lasted for about 5weeks. It was definitely separation anxiety related / 6month sleep regression for us. For a few weeks, we did shifts of 3hrs each - one holding DD2 whilst the other slept. Then eventually she got better at doing longer stretches again. I found it so hard after she slept through from very early on - although we do a later bedtime than you as she still has 3naps and then a bottle around 8.30pm, and goes to bed afterwards. We were planning on moving her into her own room but have kept her in a cot in our room for now and will move her into her own room once she's consistently sleeping through again. Solidarity, OP. It's so tough.

@Noodlesnotstrudels he won’t even be held so I’m not sure what to do. We’ve just driven round for an hour to get some peace, he did fall asleep but then got a dirty nappy of all things so I had to change it and it woke him up. I literally have no idea what to do, he’s screaming inconsolably right now.

Occasionally my first dc did scream even when I cuddled her, though that was a later sleep regression. I ebf both of mine so I would just feed them back to sleep. It was multiple times a night though. Sometimes I was so tired I'd accidentally fall asleep with them in the chair for an hour or two before waking and putting them down. Sometimes I brought them into bed with me, usually when they'd woken me up for the fourth or fifth time. They'd then sleep soundly and I could sleep too. Having them sleep with me didn't become a habit and they've both slept in their own cots and beds from newborn but in the sleep regressions it's the only way I got a chunk of sleep. With my second one I didn't mind him coming into bed with me as I quite enjoyed the cuddle and I knew it was a phase as my older dc is a great sleeper and has been for quite a while now.

Do you bf? Or use a dummy? Maybe try white noise? How many naps is he having now? That could be affecting his evening sleep. Hang in there, it really will get better.

@underhedges he has a dummy, he is bottle fed and we have always used white noise. Nothing has changed in his routine except he’s waking up earlier from naps. He has 3 naps a day and I’m pretty rigid about wake windows as it was working so well for us! Would go in his cot awake and be asleep within 5 - 10 mins, a dream really. I ended up in the spare room last night but DH said he screamed another hour before he fell asleep.

Maybe try and drop that last nap of the day? Sometimes night sleep getting disruptive suggests the nap routine is ready to change.

I've found so hard to not take personally. I tried once to put my first dc down for a nap for two hours. I stayed in her darkened room that whole time. I said I'd never do that again as I just got so frustrated and I haven't. With my second if he didn't accept the nap I just let him stay tired and went out. My first arrived in the covid lockdowns and all I could do was focus on her not napping. I was in frequent tears. With my second I was distracted by a toddler and being able to go out for a walk to the park or to get some chocolate really helped. I find on the days that my dc refuses his nap he goes to bed very quickly so that's the positive. It will get better.

Sorry to say, but the idea that just because you've had, by your own admission, an amazing sleeper, doesn't mean you're always going to have an amazing sleeper, so I wouldn't ever rule anything out by considering it a 'backwards step'. Sleep is not linear and gets shit, then better, then shit again. You just need to do whatever your child needs in that moment. That might not be cosleeping, but it's the mindset of thinking there's a backwards step that I think might set you up to fail.

You mention that your LO is 6 months old, so presumably you've recently introduced solids? Both my kids screamed at night at that age after I had given them potatoes and bananas - they're notoriously difficult to digest. So I quickly took them both off of the menu until they were about 9 months old when they seemed to tolerate them better. I would see if there's a food connection first, especially given his age