DD 6 months old - please help before I lose my mind

[fallingandlaughing]

My DD is 6 months old. or the past 2 months she has woken every 90 minutes through the night. Once a week she may sleep for up to 3 hours. I feel like I am losing my mind.

When she wakes she seems to wnat to feed properly. I have been trying to get her to feed more during the day, but she often refuses. She hasn't taken much milk since 10am today, for example. She is BF and we started weaning her a week ago. She seems hungry. When she feeds at night I try l to delatch her before she is fully asleep. This seems to be central to the no cry sleep solution but makes zero difference to us.

DD has exczema and often when she wakes she is rubbing her face. I don't know if the itching is waking her.

She seems to be teething but no teeth actually through yet. Calpol does not help with her sleep.

she sleeps about a foot away from me in a cot. Cosleeping not really an option as I have epilepsy. We have done it a couple of times (eg last night). She wakes up nearly as much, though settles more quickly.

What I can I do, before I lose it through lack of sleep? Why isn't she sleeping? What changed? Help!

ps her Daddy is going to get more invovle din settling her to see if that would help, but she won't take a bottle so I am not optimistic.

Poor you! I think she may have 3 things affecting her. If she has eczema has she been tested for milk intolerance? Just wondering as I have 2 friends whose LOs had this, along with the eczema and they were both hideous sleepers so it might be worth asking for a test.

The other thing I think has happened is the 4 month sleep regression which can take some babies a while to get over. She may be some reverse cycling going on too.

Dr Sears has some info too that may help, although they are quite pro co-sleeping there is some good information in there, here and here. They also do a book called Fussy Baby which I haven't read but have a friend whose DD sounds very much like yours and she swears by this book.

Hope you find something soon that helps.

My DD has eczema and was night waking due to being itchy. What I found made the difference was regular emolient creaming (even if itchy at night) and dust mite eradication as the faeces can irritate and they live in bedding/mattress. See here for info.

Often my DD's eczema would flare up when teething too due to changes in immune system. Teeth push more at night so I used to give Calpol around 11pm if teething bad and that would give her some respite from the pain at night = less waking.

We have had great sucess with our 11month old who was waking for bottles several times in the night until recently.
Get the food and milk into her during the day-i made sure she hadnt had milk for at least 2 hours before offering solids.
Two shortish naps a day,none after 5.If she doesnt nap she wakes more.
A bedtime routine.
Once i knew she was having plenty of calories in the day i got tougher at night.Dh did it actually as i have zero stamina or patience.
He went to her at night and soothed her by patting her back and saying shushhhhhh. When she was calm he left the room but went back after few mins if she was crying and repeated it.He picked her up to calm her if she was very upset but then put her back down when calm.
He did it for about 20-30 mins 3 imes the first night then it decreased over the following nights untill night 5 when she went thru and now does most nights.
Get the eczema sorted first though to rule out her feeling itchy.

thanks everyone.. quick reply as am juggling baby here.

She hasn't had cow's milk yet - could milk in my diet affect her? How can I get her to feed during the day? She goes crazy, arching her back when I try.

thanks for other ideas, will look into

In haste, sorry - that sounds awful, you must be on the floor. My DS had an AWFUL flare up of exczema around 5 months - looked like we'd poured a kettle over him. I think it was down to sleeping in an overheated room for a few nights. Anyway, DS scratced himself awake night after night. It was awful. Eventually a mix of cortisone cream, piriton (you can get it under a year if your GP prescribes it), Stellaria cream from Neal's Yard etc and probably him just growing out of it saw it off, and he's fine now.

Two - I hate message board diagnoses, but are you sure your LO doesn't have reflux? DS did - I just remember the back arching being part of it.

falling yes, if it is milk intolerance the milk in your diet would affect LO. If you think it may be this though, do get a test first as its such a pain going milk free you don't want to do it unless you have to. It sounds as if its worth reading up on milk intolerance and reflux and silent reflux as fruity says.

Did you manage to read the links on reverse cycling? There are some tips in there to help you to get LO to take more calories in the day. Making sure Lo gets some daylight each day often helps as well.

ledr glad that you've had some success, falling's baby is only 6 months though and the current advice is to give milk 1 hour before offering solids to ensure that they get enough milk.

thanks again

I will speak to GP or HV about milk allergy testing. I did wonder in the past of she had reflux but when she started sleeping well I kind of forgot it. She was prescribed Gaviscon so I will see if I can get some into her tonight.

The stuff on reverse cycling was really useful, I think this may be an issue too.

On a positive note, DD slept from just after 2 am to 6 am overnight. Small steps.. I got her up earlier in the morning so that might have helped.

That's a big improvement, hope you feel a little better today.

As for the milk intolerance, HVs don't always have uptodate information on bfing so it might be worth going straight to the GP and asking for a test if you think she has an intolerance.

Lurking in solidarity.