6 MO waking every 3 hours

[TheresAHuppoInMyHouse]

My DD is 6 months (4 months adjusted age as she was premature and arrived at 30 weeks). She gradually started sleeping for longer and longer periods and I was feeling very pleased with myself! Then a month ago the night wakings began again, for no apparent reason. She would only have been 3 months (adjusted) so too early for a growth spurt I reckon? Anyway it's still going on and I'm starting to think there must be something I can do to get back to my nice long stretches of sleep!

She is awake for 1.5hr-2hrs at a time during the day, so she normally has 3 naps of an hour each at regular intervals. And a little catnap in the sling sometimes. Perhaps this is too much daytime sleep?

She is exclusively bf and has started to be more distracted suring daytime feeds (those maddeningly endearing pulls-off and smiles! are a killer!) but I'm spending more time feeding, so am trying to keep up the daytime calories.

She is generally happy to settle herself to sleep when drowsy - although always after a bf. For a nap, this only takes a few minutes so perhaps I've started an unhelpful sleep association? Sometimes she's obviously knackered so falls deeply asleep a-boobing, and stays asleep when she's transferred to her cot.

Every time she wakes at night, I feed her and she goes straight back to sleep. I'm a bit nervous of trying to settle her without a feed, and tbh I wouldn't know how to do so. Any tips?

She goes to bed at 7ish and wakes for the day at sometime between 6 and 7. Reading this, I feel like I've got nothing to complain about, but WHY won't the little bugger darling sleep for longer than two or three hours at a time, when she used to do so, apparently effortlessly?!

Hi all, hows it going for everyone?

DS has started really fighting bedtime. He's always refused to go to bed at 'baby bedtime', ie 7.30 or so, but we had started to bring the routine forward a few minutes each night and had a few nights were he was bathed, fed and in bed at 9.30 and then sleeping through to about 4/5 ish. But then that all changed...would go to sleep at 9.30 but wake 15/20 mins later, wouldn't settle without feeding, but was too full to feed properly so went into full melt down mode, cue dad walking him around for ages before feeding again and then down for the night.

Sometimes it just seems like you find a method/routine that works for you all and then something changes and that no longer works and its like you're swimming through treacle. Grrr.

Also thought we were getting day time naps sorted. Had a few days when he'd happily have a morning and afternoon nap. Now he fights the morning nap and then wants to crash out at lunchtime which is fine, until the cat nap in the evening. Oh what fun this parenting malarky is!

Thinking of y'all through bleary eyes at the 4ish feed :) Sending sleepy vibes for tonight. x

Hello everyone, the brief hiatus was caused by a little holiday so I have given myself a break from obsessing about sleep and I think it has done me the power of good! I'm glad this thread is still here :)

Some things have changed here:

• DD is now on three meals a day which means I have NO IDEA about how much milk she needs or when she should nap
• DP has shown willing to do some night time settling which has been a godsend
• DD is now on formula for daytime feeds, she just gets bf first thing, last thing and overnight (in preparation for nursey/going back to work)
• DD seems to be able to stay awake for longer daytime periods which is more knackering (for me but not for her, it seems)

Some things have not changed:

• she wakes at least twice a night (twice on a good night)
• wakings tend to be closer together after 4am
• she is still in that rocking cradle which helps to settle her and gives me panic attacks about the hell that will be unleashed when she goes into a cot
• I only feed her once a night (although the 'core night' varies, sometimes 12-6, sometimes 2-7, all depending when she first woke and was fed)
• there is no pattern AT ALL to her wakings! It is like chaos theory except less pretty ;)

I am struggling with a daytime napping/feeding routine, which used to be fabulous and gave me some sense of control. That has gone entirely out of the window and I'd love ot get it back. I'm sure it's for my sanity as much as for her wellbeing!

Hi all huppo hope you had a lovely holiday.

We're still here obsessing about sleep and getting more and more tired. We seem to do one good night (with only 2 feeds and several wakings but self-settlings) and one bad night with complete nightmares.

I'm focussing on day-time naps to try and ensure she's not over-tired and then I'm going to do CC next week. DS is going to my parents for 4 nights. Has anyone ever done it sucessfully without too much heart-break? Please don't all slate me at once.....

meggymoodle yes, we have. See my long post on the CC advice thread that's going at the moment. Totally worth it for us, but I do find myself justifying it every time I speak to someone about it cos I still hate the idea so much.

However, I am now officially a new woman, one who has had enough sleep. DP and DS also much happier.

Good luck, hope it does the trick for you - let us know how it goes?

Thanks Beela, I'll take a look. What did you do in the way of daytime sleep (i.e. when and how much)? Thanks

Before the CC he was a strictly 45 minute boy when it came to naps, and had three per day (at my insistence , always needed persuading even when yawning his head off), at approx 9 / 12 / 3.

Since the CC he has extended one, sometimes two of his naps to 1.5 hours so we can usually last until bedtime on only two, one at 9ish and one at 1ish - i.e. after breakfast and after lunch. TBH it is still sometimes a struggle to get him to go to sleep in the day - better than before though - and I wonder whether we've still not quite hit the right timings for him yet, so still experimenting a bit.

HTH.

Oh, and I used the same CC technique as at nighttime for naps, although to start with I did the first nap in the buggy cos that was reliable and there was only so much CC I could take in one day and on my own!

It usually takes him 5-10 mins to go off to sleep in his cot for naps now (when it's all going to plan), which is usually 5 mins of tired crying, one visit from me, 30 seconds more crying and fast asleep. It's still hard to listen to him, but I know that if I stayed with him he would just cry for longer and not go to sleep.

Hi meggymoodle I'm wishing you luck and v interested to hear how it goes. I am also wondering what to do with the daytime naps at the moment, as there's no pattern to speak of. Today she slept for half an hour at midday in the sling, and then 1.5 hrs in the cot at 2.45pm. I'd love to get her back into a napping routine, if only so I can say to the nursery next week 'this is her routine, if you stick to it then everything will go smoothly'. If only!

And she doesn't self-settle at night, she always escalates unless I'm there with a shush, the dummy and a tummyrub. Last night it took 45 minutes between 3.15 and 4am but at least because of the dummy it was quiet. I am considering your comment, beela, that your DS settles more quickly when you're not in there with him. That makes sense. But have I got the nerve to do it?

Tonight - she is into the big cot. So far so good. She looks sweet in it, which is a start!

theresahuppo we missed you! I hope you had a lovely break - no abandoing the thread again Then again I hope we can all abandon the thread as it means we will have happy, sleeping babies!!

I second what beela says. Our DD settles better with us out of the room. Best of luck with the big cot.

I am now feeding to sleep for all daytime naps when we are at home. Just don't have the energy for stress during the day. She never goes longer than 1 hour and I am lucky if I get 2 x 40 mins out of her during the day. I am sure it's not good for her but I just can't make her go longer. It's a far cry from the recommended 3+ hours a day! I really envy my friends who get a guaranteed 2 hours every morning.

DD isn't in a great state. Teething really bad and she has exczema which is causing to her scratch all day long :( She is covered in red patches. Think I might need to turn on the tears at the doctors to get anything done as all they said last time was use the cream more!

I am also struggling to give her two, let alone 3 meals a day. I started giving desert and I am sure she has cottoned on and is now refusing most savoury stuff. She must have a sweet tooth like me and DP.

sigh

p.s. Calpol is now my best friend. How often do you guys use it as I am a bit worried! It really does help settle her though and we waited until she was 6 months to start using it!

pps apologies for my crap spelling of eczema!

Hello again greeneone! I am so with you on feeding to sleep. Whatever works is the way forward!

Your poor little one with eczema. (There is no way I could have spelt that if you hadn't done it for me!) Poor little soul. That must make everything more difficult, if she's sore and scratchy. It can be affected by certain foods, so perhaps that's why she's fussy with solids? My DP's older girl has it, and finds it's better if she avoids wheat and chocolate ...(the way to a great figure, which is a small consolation )

My DD much prefers the sweet stuff too. If she's refusing her savoury food, I just mix her pudding in with it. Disgusting, but fools her very effectively!

She had a really crap night last night. She wakes loads of times in the early evening, then DD fed her at 10, then I settled her at 1ish, 3ish, 4ish, 5ish, 6ish and finally she woke at 8. Gawd. Knackered. I miss the rocking cradle but I knew I was setting myself up for a fall by relying on it. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I haven't used Calpol since she had her jabs but it may be time to get it out. I've no idea how often is too often, will be interested to see if anyone else knows.

Welcome back theresa
Re calpol, I tend to only use it in the evening, as I feel I can entertain/cuddle DS during the day if he appears sore. As he is usually a good sleeper until 10ish after a bedtime of 7.30, if he wakes up before then and won't settle easily, or his crying is more piercing then I usually give him a dose of this or ibuprofen. I work on the basis of if in doubt give. He probably gets a dose once every 2-3 weeks, everything I have read says they are safe at this level and I would hate to think I am leaving him in pain if I resist.

As for current sleeping patterns. We are back on the 2 meals overnight. He can settle well after the 11pm feed but he is wide awake at 3am and won't settle after milk and just lies there awake when I am trying to settle him. Last night I tried to leave him and he had an absolute melt down. He eventually fell asleep with me rubbing his chest. Don't know if he has stomach pain then now that he is eating more, but I don't think I have the guts for more crying until my DP is around for support.

My HV definately thinks these night feeds are comfort only and he is just in the habit of waking at those times, but he had a week of no 3am feed before suddenly wanting it again. Surely a week was long enough to break the habit? Aaargh!

Hmm one dose every 2-3 weeks? I use it a tad more than that

Yep but I don't think my DS has started teething yet, then I think my usage will increase

I don't feel too bad using it as much as we do as it really does settle DD. If she is happy then I am happy but I was so set against giving her medicine to begin with.

Hello people. Huppo sorry the big cot was a bit of a nightmare. Any better after a few days?

We seem to have had a bit of breakthrough in the last few days (although I suspect I am jinxing it now). We've just left her, and she hasn't really cried, just chatted for a while. Thursday and Friday night I dream fed at 1030 ish and she then woke once or twice but put herself back to sleep and I fed again at 7. I don't feel particularly refreshed because I can hear her but hopefully it will get less. Bit of a backward step last night as at my parents and I didn't want her waking everyone so fed her at 3 but she kicked right off once I went in the room to feed her so she is like beela's and greenone's LOs and settles better without us.

We took DS to parents so that the CC wouldn't disturb him and now I'm not even sure we're going to have to do it and I am feeling HORRIBLE about sending him as he cried when we left (and then was fine) and cried again at bedtime, and I forgot to pack his soft toys. I feel so crap. I hate the thought of him being unhappy. So now I'm stressing about him rather than about DD not sleeping!

Anyway, will stop ranting in a minute - DD has been sleeping a lot better since a. she found her thumb (v. late at 6 months) and b. she has been able to flip herself over - withouth fail she flips onto her side or tummy to sleep now, even when she's in a bag.

Here's hoping we all have a good night tonight.

Hi Meggymoodle, it will be great if you don't need to do CC after all! Sounds like very reasonable nights to me, and if she's settling herself overnight then it should get less noisy as she gets the hang of it?

Your DS will enjoy being with his grandparents so don't worry too much. I think it's good for them to have the opportunity to be looked after by other people for a while. And I'm learning that feeling crap/guilty/etc is just par for the course with this motherhood lark .... which is just another thing no-one warns you about beforehand ...

The big cot transition is improving (please don't let this be a jinx!) - last night she slept from 7.30 till 4am! So I fed her, then she needed settling at 5.30, and woke at 7.45. What a good girl. So I share greeneone's dilemma from a few nights ago - did I need to feed her at 4am or should I get tough and see if I can stretch her for a whole 12 hours without milk? Hm. It is tempting to think it's worth a try.

Right now she is settling into her first morning at nursey. It is hard to think of how to spend this precious baby-free time - and true to form I am resisting the urge to do chores, but not managing to resist the urge to MN .... !

Not sure how tonight is going to go... So far self settled twice at 10 and 10.45 once I turned his lullabies on (am I just creating more sleep crutches...?) he woke again at 11.45 with more distressed crying and wouldn't settle by self so I went in. He didn't really appear to want feeding and his cries were very unsettled so I gave him bongela and ibuprofen. It still took 45mins of rubbing his tummy to get him to stay asleep. Stomach ache, time for ibuprofen to work? All I know now is scared to fall asleep in case he wakes up soon and I will feel more wretched waking up than if I am still up

Well theresa last night DD woke at 3am but I decided I was going to be strong and she went back to sleep until 6am so she went 12 hours with no feed! Night before I fed her at 4am as she wouldn't settle. So hard to know but know that she CAN go 12 hours gives me more confidence in refusing a feed. Ended up in tears at the doctors this am as DD was so uncomfortable all yesterday and last night scratching her wrists and rubbing them against me when I picked her up :( So horrible. DP says he is going to bed at 7pm tonight!!

Oh and we have also been prescribed piriton which has a drowsy side effect so am fully expecting an un-broken 12 hours! Yeah right!!

baileyslover how was the rest of your night? I hope you got a few hours sleep, and the LO settled better after his dose. I agree, it makes me feel rubbish when I hear the wailing start once I've dozed off. I always think it'll be harder to fall asleep the second time.

greeneone I hope the piriton does the trick. And the 7pm bedtime! It's great to know she can go for 12 hours with no feed, you've done night weaning, that deserves a celebration!

We had an OK night, she was a bit restless and woke but settled with the dummy immediately a few times, then I fed her at midnight and she slept till 5.30. Then it took AGES to settle her again but she fell asleep again after about 40 minutes of laying-on-of-hands-on-tummy and woke at 7ish. Ho hum.

Well DS woke at 12.30 so gave in and fed, then he settled well until 5am when I fed again, then slept til 9am! He feeds so well at night I am sure he is hungry, especially as I feel he is feeding shorter times during the day. I was hoping that as he took in more solids during the day he would cut out the night feeds but guess that was in vain. Suspect we will have to go cold turkey on the night feeds which I am dreading :(

Baileys have you tried to do all day feed somewhere quiet or is that not an option? I have spent the last few days at home and DD has fed so well. I almost dread feeding out now as it's such a stress!

greenone I do try to do them quietly at home but sometimes he really doesn't seem interested, especially the 11 am and 2pm feeds as only a little while after solids. Tonight is a prime example of I haven't a clue what is going on! It is now midnight, DS went down byself at 7.30 and I haven't heard a peep! First time in weeks. Only difference is no solids for dinner as he has a bit of an upset stomach so decided to cut back on solids for a bit. Is weaning causing his sleep to worsen, or is tonight a fluke....who knows!!

Oh and why am I still awake????? Must sleep now!