9 month old (7month corrected) won’t settle through night but settles for naps and sleep! Help please?

[Bumpandus]

Hi

My baby is 9 month but was born 9 weeks early so this could apply to any babys aged from 7 month.

My little one goes down in her next to me crib and falls asleep within five minutes for all her daytime naps and also when put to bed. The problem begin in the night she wakes up and I feed her (we are breastfeeding) then she cries as soon as I put her into her crib and won’t settle this can go on all night and she is absolutely shattered.

Any ideas experiences of how to get her to self settle in the night? Should we night wean? I am exhausted some nights I only get an hour or two sleep.

Is she getting enough milk during the day? What's her daytime routine like nap wise? What time do you put her to bed in the evening? Could it be silent reflux (uncomfortable lying flat - acid production peaks at 3/4am)?

I night weaned mine at 7 months and it was the best thing I did for both of us really. He started eating better and was happier after a solid night sleep

You'll get loads of people saying babies should be waking during the night etc but it's whatever works best for you overall. Surviving on 1-2 hours for both of you is no fun

@hospitalbagfrenzy

She does have reflux and takes ranitidine for that.
Her normal routine is:

7 wake up (properly) and feed
8 breakfast
9-10 nap
11 feed
12.30 lunch
1 nap - 1.45
3 feed
4 nap - 4.30
5 dinner
6 bath
6.30 feed
6.45-7 bed (settles fine)

Sleeps til about 10 for a feed then won’t settle so then up and down until morning.

How did you night wean? What was your routine at 7-8 month?

Very similar to yours except we had a 2hour nap from 1-3pm and the morning nap was shorter (maybe around 40-45 mins) and it was this shorter morning nap that probably lengthened the lunchtime one.

What does she do when awake after 10pm feed? Is she unsettled or just awake? What times roughly are you feeding her at night? Is there back arching, grunting, whinging type of behaviour? Does she sleep on an incline? Definitely invest in the wedgehog if not.

In my experience (and my 2yo still has severe silent reflux), he has only been unsettled when the reflux has been flaring. There have been times I've thought it's settled and I've contacted a sleep consultant (he also has allergies) and she's suggested reflux flare up and only after taking her advice I've realised how much it can affect him.

Ranitidine didn't work for us (are you increasing it as her weight increases?) so we were on omeprazole from about 12 weeks. During flare ups we've added in one dose of Gaviscon at the bedtime feed and that's helped. 7-8 months is also prime teething time and reflux definitely flares then. Have you noticed any teething times?

Has she always done this or is it a more recent thing?

Reflux is bloody horrible. It's a much bigger issue than one would think

We night weaned with the sleep consultant and I think we did something like - no feed before midnight. Feed after that. And edged that time forward. You can offer water or just comfort. They quickly adapt and will eat drink even better during the day. I think it took a few nights only!

I would keep the 10pm feed and work on getting her more settled between 10-6/7am. Then tackle the 10pm feed last.

What milk is she on?

I'm sorry I've only just realised you are bf. The same advice applies re reflux but I've no experience in bf a 7 month old and from what I hear it's quite common for them to want to night feed as their tummy's are emptying faster.

If the issue is that she is just feeding a lot and resettling then perhaps you could try co sleeping. But if she's unsettled and feeding on and off and unsettled then I would suspect reflux. A strong symptom of reflux is over feeding as it's soothing whilst they drink but then they get too full and it perpetuates the reflux cycle (stomach produces even more acid!)

@hospitalbagfrenzy it’s got to be the reflux then. She’s always been like this. She has 0.6ml of ranitidine 3 times a day. Even when we cosleep she doesn’t settle that’s why I don’t bother I just use the cot and like I say she can settle herself it’s just through the night. She’s feeding every hour but I think it’s for comfort so I believe night weaning will help now I’ve read your posts. I think I’ll feed her at 10pm then try not to feed her for at least 3 hours and see how we get on. Thanks for your replies.

How much does she weigh? DD is nearly 4 months and weighs 6kg and is on 0.6 ml of ranitidine 3 times daily. The GP told us to get her weighed regularly and increase the dose so it's equivalent to 0.1ml per kg of weight.

@emwithme she has just been weighed 14lb 9oz (6.5kg?) she’s only small she was 9 weeks premature.

I would go back to GP as well then OP and try something else for the reflux. Poor thing. Feeding every hour does sound like she is feeding for comfort / to help soothe the acid

All the best. It's been a horrible journey and I've learnt so much so try to help where I can!

Have a read of this www.thesleeplady.co.uk/silent-reflux-tips/

This is the sleep consultant I use - she is bloody fantastic, so much knowledge about reflux and allergies. She said 80% of her cases aren't sleep issues at all but more to do with reflux and allergies.

@hospitalbagfrenzy thank you!

Let us know how you get on

@hospitalbagfrenzy what did you do to settle when you weren’t giving milk?

Water and cuddles/Reassurance I think..

Update

Last night DD slept 6.45-10.30 fed then slept til 3.40am fed took an hour to settle then woke at 7am I probably had to settle her about 5 times throughout the night.

I feel like I’m on to a winner. Tonight so far she went to sleep at 7 and fed again just now (about 10.20) only settled her once between this not gonna feed her again until after 3.30am and then not til morning and stick at this until she is sleeping between the times then drop the feeds.

Fab