3.20 am

[Andcake]

My 7 mo ds has never been the greatest sleeper but at the moment he is ok ish to settle to sleep at bedtime but every night he wakes at 3.20 sometimes for a feed sometimes just because.

i don't mind this one wake up but then is impossible to settle again. Feel like I've tried everything sleepy but awake, sneaking him down asleep, shh pat ( which we usually do at bedtime with a bit of gradual retreat) sitting with my Hand on him. We have instant crying- up to an hour of crying with shh ing one night when I was determined for him not to come in with us.

Other nights sleepy but awake leads to playtime. All that works is him lying next to me ( for usually an hour) until he is very asleep then sneaking him back to cot but I don't really like co sleeping I stay awake or panic when I do wake that he's stopped breathing.
He's not the greatest day time napper we try 234. But the later nap sometimes just never happens. We have a short bedtime routine.

Any tips or experiences welcome. Screaming at that time isn't helpful as it worries me and wakes everyone else.

[Cnix]

Same thing exactly happening with my almost 8 mo dd. she wakes around the same time every morning and I settle her with a feed ( which I know she doesn't need) she settles back into her cot but then will only sleep half an hour or an hour then I bring her in with me. I really want to stop the feeds and bringing her into my bed. I am trying to gradually wean her off night feeds in the hope she will stop waking for it. My plan is to try to settle her without feeding for 10 mins or so then gradually leave it longer and later every night before she gets boob. And try to keep down the length of time she feeds for. I hope it works.

[CreatureRetorts]

What's 234? The time between naps? My dd dropped down to two naps at around 7 months which worked better and we spaced them out a bit so first one about 2.5 hours from waking or so. Then a super early bedtime.

I coslept at that age for night wakings - I set the bed up so it felt safe and we got much more rest. I stopped at 9 months and no problems getting back in the cot of a night.

[minipie]

you could try 'wake to sleep' perhaps to try to break the habit? never tried it myself but it is supposed to be good if you have a one off habitual wake up.

[Andcake]

Thanks might try wake to sleep. Glad to know I'm not the only one. He's not the greatest self settler was v jealous of a friends baby who literally was covered in her pram and napped :-/

He seems to need the feed though and it's his biggest one in one go in 24 hrs. He then annoyingly does not want a feed until gone 9 however much I try and persuade him.,

234 - is a two nap schedule so a nap 2 hrs after he wakes, then another 3 hrs after he wakes from that nap then bedtime 4 hrs after that. The first time I did it I was amazed how he seemed to nap easily at those intervals and it seemed to work to get him napping whereas before he used to sometimes refuse naps all day.