Help! 7month old keeps waking up multiple times every night

[autumn202123]

Hello!

looking for some advice or peoples own experiences!

My 7 month old baby has been waking up every couple of hours for the past 4 weeks at least. In fact, if I recall his nighttime sleep has been pretty rubbish since around 5.5 months!

He goes down okay and will sleep well for the first few hours but from 12/1am he will then wake up every 2 hours and needs comforting back to sleep.

our average routine is -

6am - wake up and bottle
7.30 - solid breakfast
8.30 - morning nap which is normally 1/1.5 hrs
10am - bottle and play
12.30pm - afternoon nap for around 1hour
1.30pm - bottle and play
4pm - tired so I give a quick 10-15 minute cat nap in my arms to tie him over
4.30pm - bottle and some solids
6pm - bath and sleepsuit on
6.30pm - put down for nighttime sleep
9.30/10pm - we dream feed baby and then put straight back down

and then begins the rubbish night sleep. Is there anything wrong in this schedule for a now 7 month old? I know over tiredness and under tiredness can cause fragmented sleep but I feel his wake windows and sleep is appropriate currently for his age?

is this just a regression that’s lasting too long? Or a sleep association?

He is still in his next to me crib (can’t risk moving him while his sleep is so bad) and when he wakes I will try and ignore and leave him but this normally escalates into crying and I can’t let my 4yo get woken up by this so I will either, pat and shush, stroke his face, let him hold my hand or worst case pick him up and cuddle him back to sleep and then put him back down.

I am getting drained by this, my firstborn slept through pretty well with maybe one small wake for his dummy back in the night so this has shocked me.

Thanks 🥴

7 month olds are meant to wake during the night. Support your child back to sleep if they need it.

it can be hard, but babies need closeness.

I agree, the overtired thing is just what ‘sleep consultants’ claim is always the issue. Most baby sleep schedules are built for very high sleep needs babies.

Give them a bottle at 12? Probably thirsty and might stretch the wakeups. All normal though, might grow out of it by 3

The only thing wrong I would say is bathing every day, might give them skin conditions in later life as strips away good bacteria. Otherwise you were just lucky with your first, cosleeping helps

Yeah I’ve seen a lot of articles on this and it does make more sense! It’s so difficult to work out overtiredness vs undertiredness as they look super similar, but the fact that when his waking his normally whining and unhappy makes me lean towards over tiredness ( maybe teething thrown in the mix too)

what ages did your baby drop the 3rd nap do you recall?

To be fair, I’ve been ridiculously tired the last few days but when I lay down to sleep when baby is napping my mind just can’t shut off and sleep, don’t know if this is similar to babies/children too…

We are the same just lately after our little one had been going 7-7. He has been ill - but this is since he moved into his own room (also got some teeth and did try the calpol trick)! However, recently I’ve been more strict with the wake windows - 2:45/3 - leaving more time between milk - 3:45/4hrs & 7/8oz - and 3 small meal. He’s not a great napper so I aim for 2-2.5 hours a day. Just two naps too! One morning and one afternoon! We’re seeing little improvements so far so trying to be consistent. Last night he slept 7-5 which was way better as some nights it had been hourly. But just want to let you know you’re not on your own and it’s tough! Hopefully just a phase! Wishing you so much luck and lots of sleep.

You are aiming for over 14 hours of sleep a day which is the highest end of average sleep needs for this age. Most babies don't do 12 hours overnight - 10/11 is standard. You need to build sleep pressure to tire them out, so reducing/capping naps or pushing back bedtime. But, even so, it's biologically normal for babies to be wakeful at this age.

My daughter had 3 as at that age and went to bed between 8/9.

But it’s really normal for babies to wake during the night. My daughter is now 3 1/2 and sometimes still wakes from a drink. She only really started “sleeping through” from about 3.

Was also thinking this. If my DD napped after 3pm that was it… ruined the night… also if I put her down before 8pm she would then sleep till about 11 then wake and be wide awake for at least 2 hours!

Also at 7 months should baby not be on solids? I think I would give baby porridge, ready brek or weetabix mashed up before bed and see if that helps, baby might simply be hungry and th milk is digested too quickly?! I remember having to give my DD baby rice a week before the minimum age they’re supposed to have it because she was so hungry, I breast fed and she was just constantly on me and it was hard work going out… so I introduced baby rice and she was so happier. She was a big baby though weighing in 9lb 2 at birth… and was always in clothes for at least one size up due to her length! (Still tall now)
failing that call your midwife for advice as they’re up with all the new advice. But I do think in your shoes I’d try solid food (baby porridge etc) for the last meal of the night and maybe tweak nap times and put down half an hour later.
On occasions I’ve gone back to bed during the day after not sleeping well and that night, although I’ve slept I’ve woken every couple of hours, so definitely drop some of those naps and work on maybe having just one nap from midday ish. Might have a grumpy baby for a couple of days while adjusting the routine

Hey thanks for your response!
so his definitely not hungry as drinks around 30oz of formula give or take in 24 hours. When he wakes his just whining or wanting to be held back to sleep. So it’s comfort he wants or help self settling or maybe even separation anxiety.

started weaning at 6 months, it’s been slow as he has been suffering badly with constipation, things like weatbix really mess up his digestion. I’m mostly doing 1 meal (breakfast) which is normally puréed fruit and/or veg and some finger food in the afternoon like cucumber, avocado etc… he does love the food but just really suffering with a lot of different foods at the moment.

as of today I am now dropping to 2 naps, one morning for 1.5hrs and afternoon for 1-1.5hrs and his wake window before bed will be 3.5 hours as I don’t want him to get too overtired.

im also going to drop his dream feed at 10pm as I’ve noticed that’s when his in a deep sleep and I don’t know if me rousing him to feed is affecting the rest of the cycles…

im going to up his ounces and give him a little bit of dinner, hopefully this means he won’t miss the dream feed. fingers crossed!!!

This definitely makes me feel less alone!

when did your move your LO to their own room? Did you notice any improvement with the frequency in night wakings after doing this?

I read that moving to their own room could help as I could potentially be waking him up without even know whilst me and husband are both sleeping!

I haven’t bit the bullet yet as worried it’ll make everything worse as I do sense he has a bit of separation anxiety.

Drop the 4pm nap. I don’t agree with PP’s advice of dropping morning nap, the early evening nap should go first!

My routine is very loose, I do the 2,3,4 method.

So 2 hours after waking up is the first nap. 1-1.5 hours. 3 hours after waking up is 2nd nap. 1-2 hours. Then 4 hours after waking up from the 2nd nap is bedtime. And drop the dream feed if DC isn’t waking up for it.

i know people hate ChatGPT on here but I found it very useful. I plugged in what the baby was doing every day and it helped me with their schedule.

Good luck OP!

Absolute solidarity - my DD is 7 months and her sleep started going downhill at 5.5 months too.
Ive tried everything!! Nap changes- 3 to 2, even moved her through to her own room. Nothing has helped. And the room change has made it so much harder and exhausting! If I were you I’d keep your little one in your room until things settle down. I would not recommend having to go back and forth to their room! I might be in the minority but everyone on the internet said their little ones slept better in their own room… not for us!
Hope you get some sleep soon and if you come across some secret sleep sauce let me know!!

Oh gosh I could have written this myself! Also have a 7 month old in the next to me crib (like yours she’s low centiles) and a 4 year old who we fear waking. I’ve spent most of my evenings for the last 2 weeks settling and resettling the baby - last night she didn’t go down properly until 4am. We’re following the wake windows suggested by huckleberry and they seem to match what she needs in the daytime - I think the overnights at the moment are teething and some digestion issues due to having started weaning. If you find anything that helps, please update this thread! Sending solidarity :)

It’s so tricky during those nights when you just need sleep as much as they do!

But yes - his sleep regressed when we moved him into his own room which was such a shock as he had slept so well. I was full on going to move him back into our room but he’s in the 99th centile for height and weight so he just didn’t fit. But maybe in your case your little one would like the space! You could try and move back if needed?

But the much more structured approach with wake windows and feeds have helped. He’s gone 3 nights through now.

My DD was in her own room from bery young, mainly because there was no room next to me for a full cot, and she was big, so when she outgrew her crib she had to go next door.. but I had to spend a lot of time either laid on floor next to her or bringing her in with me.
in nature a baby would never sleep alone, our lives have chanhed and our lifestyles mean this is not always the best/safest option but our babies instincts are still primal and it’s natural that babies want to be on their mothers 24/7. So what I’m saying is don’t feel bad, it’s natural for a baby to want their mother. You look at where we came from and think mammals are with their babies, protecting them…
we teach our babies to go against their instinct and self soothe etc…
and remember you’re absolutely rocking this! Be kind to yourself and good luck. I hope baby sleep through soon. Trust your instincts, a mothers instincts shouldn’t be ignored… ever

Wow, so we are in the exact same situation practically! It’s so hard, I feel like I’m back in the newborn phase dreading the nights again😩

last night I didn’t dream feed and although he woke maybe 3/4 times they were short lived and he fell back asleep within 5 minutes of me just shushing and stroking him and I didn’t need to get up and rock him, so I’ll take that!

like you, i definitely think my baby has teething and digestive issues right now.

Ill be sure to update this thread the second there is an improvement!

I hope you get some decent sleep soon 🤞🏻