hi all,
DD, 9.5mo, on a good night sleeps 7pm to 5am then after a quick feed back to sleep til 6.30 or so. However, she goes through extensive periods of dodgy sleep where at some point in the night, currently between 4.15 and 5, will moan and whinge for 5 mins, then go quiet for between 5 and 10 mins, then moan again etc. This can go on for hours. A couple of months back it was between 2.00 and 2.45 regular as clockwork for 4 weeks. Back then she'd eventually go back to sleep as it was near enough the middle of the night, but this one is too close to morning. We are knackered - still going to bed at 9.30 but the months of cumulative sleep deprivation means that 6 hours or so is just not enough sleep!
We were trying to drop remaining 'night' feed at 5am and initially thought she was struggling with this, but I don't think that's the full story. We have tried all sorts: leave her alone (until we can't take any more, usually an hour), go and sit with her repeating sleep mantra (does no good and often makes her more cross), putting hand on her back (definitely makes her more cross), lying on her floor to keep her company (makes no difference), feeding her immediately she wakes up (goes back to sleep but still wakes 10-20 mins later), bringing her into bed (sometimes gets us 30 mins). Last night I fed her and brought her into bed and she woke every 10 mins for a while til we got 30mins with her lying on my chest til I had to move...
We are not sure of the best strategy but i am sure we should try to be consistent for longer period (have stuck with each strategy for a few days so far). We were thinking of trying to definitely eliminate the 5am feed (which is not much milk anyway) by me staying at mum's for a couple of nights to catch up on sleep, then dh can go to mum's to do same!
Has anyone had similar patterns and successfully helped LO get over it, or can anyone suggest what's waking her - I am sure it's not too hot or cold and she's not ill.