Sleep Regression?

[shellayas]

Hi,

I have posted on here before asking about my little boy who is 6 months who doesn't sleep, I'm talking waking every hour! and the last two nights its been every hour until 1am then every half hour till 7-8am. I am wondering if he has this sleep regression? Has anyone heard of this or has any suggestions as I am in tears most nights from exhaustion. I have tried controlled crying, and the whole putting him down awake and shush, pat, it doesn't work! He can cry a LONG time! To the point his whole body is shaking and choking from crying and to be honest I can't put him through that again. He will fall asleep just laying on me then I put him down in his cot, as the night progresses he is in with me purely because I need sleep.

If anyone can help me I would be very grateful! Thank you.

Have you tried feeding to the 'milk drunk' point?

Have you tried (and persevered with) a dummy?

Have you thought about co-sleeping to cope?

Is baby getting enough daytime sleep? Unsettled nights can be borne from over tired daytimes.

Actually I've managed to drop his feeds quite a bit over the last few weeks and last night he only had one bottle which he drank 5oz.

Oh yes he has a dummy, does tend to pull it out himself! Sometimes he keeps it in then falls out when he sleeps

Yes after he wakes 2 or 3 times he comes in with me.

He has overall naps of 2 and a half hours in the day.

Spoke to my friend yesterday she said to persevere with controlled crying techniques and let him cry all night if I have to and after a week it will work. Although last night he slept better and only woke 4 times and not so fidgety.

I could never let my baby cry all night, there is nothing wrong with being a responsive parent. It doesn't last forever and 6 months is still so little. Each to their own I guess..... It only 'works' because they learn nobody comes when they cry out. I don't want my kids to be trained not to call for me if they need me, even in the night. Parenting doesn't stop at 7pm. This come from a Mum of an 11mo who still wakes 3 - 6 times a night and every hour when teething, so I know what it's like!

Not something I can do either Needseetstosurvive to be honest, I feel the same. But I am not really sure what to do as I am going back to work in May full time and hoping he will sleep better by then.

They change a lot in a short space of time. My eldest who is now 6yo went from waking every couple of hours at 9mo to waking once/twice at 10mo then slept through at 11mo. I didn't change anything I was doing and still breastfed at night until he was a year. He would wake any time from once up to five times a night until 2yo, each night was different! I've been 'lucky' enough to experience two poor sleepers and sleep tends to get worse then better then bad again depending on what is happening with them at the time. My eldest slept 12 hours+ regularly from 4yo, before that he would sometimes sleep through, sometimes wake once. I guess what I'm saying is that it does get better and the first year at least is just about survival really! It will be tough going back to work so I suppose you really need to decide if you are going to sleep train or wait until it naturally improves if you can do that and work. I'm not tough enough to train and have got used to small amounts of broken sleep. Sorry I'm not much help. My 11mo DS was waking every hour at 6mo, it was down to teething but it nearly killed me. I stopped feeding him at night a month ago and last night he did one five hour stretch, one four hour stretch and a two hour stretch with just 5 mins of bum patting to settle when he did wake. Again, I haven't done anything to encourage this really, just letting him know I'm there if he needs me helps I think. That and it settles himself to sleep at bedtime but has never been left to cry on his own. Needless to say, he was up every 1 - 2 hours the previous night, but he is teething molars and learnt to walk the day before so I will let him off. Sorry about the essay!

Also, I never bring my LO into our bed, even on the waking every hour nights as I didn't want him to come to expect it. We very rarely pick him up at night also, only if he needs a dose of calpol, otherwise he thinks he might be in with a chance of a feed!

I don't mind my boy being in with me at night as I am a single parent and it doesn't bother me as I'll never get this time again with him and as he grows up he'll want his own space. And I do it for ease as at his worst he is up every half hour even with me. I Know he will improve, I feel under a lot of pressure to do this controlled crying, some of my friends are saying to do it as I will be very ill when I go back to work if he doesn't sleep. I can cope with 3-4 times in the night I am used to no sleep, I worry if he wakes every half hour. I have only a month and a bit left of maternity leave and I want to enjoy and cherish this time with him not worry about sleep. Thanks for your advice Needsweetstosurvive it has been helpful.

Don't feel pressure, sod what your friends think. This is your life and the only babyhood your boy will have. Do what you think is right and if you feel slightly uncomfortable with CC then don't do it. I never could. Sleep is over rated anyway....! You will get it back again. Worrying about it won't help, which I know is easy to say and honestly, I still have the days where I worry about it too. Have you considered food intolerances?

I have thought about food intolerances but how do you know if your baby has a food intolerance? I have in the last 2 weeks changed over to formula and still breastfeed in the morning as I'm still producing a little milk. But to be honest he was exactly the same on my milk. He does have various foods everyday and seems fine on them and eats well.

Sometimes night waking can be the only symptom, the only way to know for sure would be to cut a 'problem' food out. Dairy is the most common

"He has overall naps of 2 and a half hours in the day."

This could be your problem. You could almost double that in daytime sleep. How many naps is this?

At 6 months old I would be aiming for (depending on if baby likes 2 or 3 naps per day)

(a) 9am - 2 hours nap. 1pm - 2 hours nap. 5pm - 30 minutes nap. 7pm-7am nighttime

or

(b) 9am - 2 to 3 hours nap. 2pm - 2 to 3 hours nap

Two and a half hours through the daytime is not enough daytime sleep at this age. Over tiredness through the daytime can lead to unsettled nights.

I would also feed more often in the night if it results in baby settling more easily. For the sake of your sanity.

I would also never leave a baby of this age to cry. Ever. Before your child can talk, their cry is the only means he has to communicate with you. Don't remove that communication.

I have tried to get my LO to nap for longer in the day but he won't, he is very active during the day. Sometimes I can only get him to nap for half an hour at a time. The longest 1 hour and a half and that was only once. I do try every day to get him to nap longer.

The last 2 nights haven't been too bad, he's only woken up every 2-3 hours.

Thank you FATEdestiny

A long nap at or before 9am can cause early morning waking. So while I completely agree that more daytime sleep is needed, I would go for
9am - 45 min to 1 hour
12 noon - 2 hrs to 2 hrs 30
4.30pm - 30 min

Then bedtime at 7pm. So around 4 hrs of daytime sleep

Like I said my LO is a very active boy. I would love him to have a 2 hours nap but that has never happened. An hour later (sometimes less) he's up and I've tried getting him back off to sleep but he will not. It's like he doesn't want to miss anything.

Tak1ngchances you said 2 hours nap at 12? When does have his lunch? He needs to eat his 3 meals a day or he'll want more feeds in the night. Not that he will nap for 2 hours!

He does have an hour nap at 9am then another hour after his lunch at 12 then half hour around 3-4. Like I said I have tried to get him to sleep longer.

He may be active, but he is 6 months ld. He is a baby and needs his sleep.

He is not having enough daytime sleep and there is a good chance that this is directly causing your difficult night times.

Look at it this way - which is an easier battle to have? Dealing with night time wakings and the sleep deprivation that goes with that or battling to get daytime sleep when you are not so exhausted?

Those two hour long naps are good, I would just try to lengthen them a bit with some rapid dummy insertion or very long walks (or jiggling) in the pram.

When you put it like that FATEdestiny yeah I think I'd rather battle the daytime sleep than the night!! Ok, well I put him down at at 11:20am this morning and he's still asleep now so hopefully he will sleep a bit longer than usual today. Thanks for your help ??

That's great news!