6 month old suddenly waking hourly at night?

[GeminiWarrior]

Hi all.

My DD is 6 months old. Until about 2 weeks ago she was sleeping well in her cot in her room. She would have a bottle at 7, go into her cot sleepy but awake, and 95% of the time have nodded off in 10 mins. She then had a dream feed at 10, and would sleep through til 6, when she would have another bottle and we would co-sleep for a further 1-2 hours (she wouldn’t resettle in cot after this 6am feed).

For the last 2 weeks she’s started waking more and more- last night was hourly waking screaming. We tried co-sleeping, putting her in her cot independently, nothing worked. She had her 6am feed as normal and still screamed (hence don’t think it’s hunger). I’ve started trying calpol/neurofen but don’t think it’s making a huge difference.

She is feeding well (approx 900-1000 mos formula/day). I’ve started solids in the last few weeks, and she’s started actually consuming some (rather than it all going on the floor ). She’s showing all the signs of teething (drooling, chewing, red cheeks, low level fever). Possibly also related I have changed her naps 2-3 weeks ago- previously she only napped on me but now I have been able to get her to nap in her pram. She has 3-4 30 mins naps a day.

So there’s a few things I think could be culprit

• teething
• solids (I’ve heard they can cause sleep disruption due to tummy pains)
• new naps (due to no longer letting her nap on me she’s having approx 1 hour less nap/day)
• growth spurt??

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of similar situations, any thoughts on what’s going on, and any suggestions. Thanks! From a very tired mumma.

Anyone? 🙏🏻

I think there is a sleep regression at 6 months...we have had a week of horrendous nights until last night ds slept better. Hang in there...it will get better.

Teething, getting fewer calories due to weaning, 6 month growth spurt, separation anxiety.

Major expectation adjustment required. Baby sleep isn’t linear. (Start reading about the 8 month regression now!).

Thanks. So 4 times tonight we’ve had hysterical wake ups- she seems in so much pain. I’ve fed her twice already (would normally only feed once around now) and she’s had 2 full bottles and they have definitely helped calmed her back to sleep.

Should I be feeding her during the night though if she didn’t need it before? I don’t want to make bad habits but she’s so upset and it’s all that helps

(Also, although she’s weaning she hasn’t dropped the amount of milk she’s having yet. So I don’t see why she would suddenly be hungrier).

Ear infection? Ear pain when lying down? Food intolerance?

I think there is a growth spurt so definitely feed if it calms her - she may need the extra calories. Is she crawling / more mobile? May need extra calories for that too. If she is teething have you tried giving calpol if she wakes up crying? That can help too. It should all improve soon!

I don’t want to make bad habits

Nothing with babies is linear. Sleep changes, feeding patterns change, there are often periods of 2 steps back and 1 forward. You can’t make bad habits at this age.

What are you doing about the pain?

Also, although she’s weaning she hasn’t dropped the amount of milk she’s having yet. So I don’t see why she would suddenly be hungrier

Weaning kick starts the gut. There are suddenly new nutrients to deal with. That takes more energy. There’s also a growth spurt around this time. Follow your baby’s lead.

So a few things stand out... most likely it's teething pain if she is showing all signs, so keep up the calpol/nurofen. Also weaning can cause tummy discomfort as thy get used to digesting food. Are her nappies normal? Any hard poos? Any grunting or arching in sleep? Is she drinking any water? Might be worth taking her to the doctors to get her ears and mouth checked just to rule out ear ache and sore throats. Otherwise I think maybe you need to look at the nap routine. It sounds like 6am is her wake up time. I think you should try feeding and then getting up at this time instead of encouraging her to sleep for 2 more hours. Her next nap should then be sometime between 8 and 9am. This should give her time to play and tire herself out, and will prob be around 40 mins. Then her next sleep will be after lunch, sometime between 11and 12. Ideally this would be a longer sleep of a couple of hours, but my baby always struggled with this one! Then her final nap should be 30/40 mins sometime between 3 and 4pm. It will take a bit of adjustment to your current routine but I think this could really help.