habitual waking- any suggestions?

[liv01]

My 4 mth old dd is a very light sleeper and cannot sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time during the day, however tired she is. At night she settles well at 7 after a feed, sleeps until 10.30 where she is fed again. She then wakes at 3.40 am wanting to start the day and cannot put herself back to sleep. She is not hungry (she can be up for hours the next morning without wanting a feed) but if left will start crying after about 45 minutes. It usually takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours to settle her back to sleep- I have to hold her arms in the swaddle and keep putting the dummy back in. She then sleeps for exactly 45 minutes and wakes again and by this time there is no real point in settling her back again! We have tried putting bedtime later but, as she doesn't sleep much during the day, she is exhausted by 7. Is there anything I can do about this or do I just have to accept being awake from 3.40 every morning....?

I sympathise liv01 because my DS doesn't sleep more than about 45 mins at a time during the day, and also wakes up about every 45 - 60 mins at night He's been doing this since Christmas and the only way that I can manage to function is to co-sleep (even though I really didn't want to at first). Is co-sleeping an option for you? I'm not sure from your post where your DD sleeps?

Hi there - read your message and just wondered whether you think the waking has anything to do with the dummy. I have absolutely nothing against dummies but my experience of them was that in the end they were't helpful and were part of the problem. My LO is now 13 month but at six months he started waking and crying a lot in the night having previously been a really good sleeper. I finally realised that it wasn't not having the dummy that woke him up - however, he had become reliant on having the dummy in in order to get himself back to sleep. I think they all wake, like all of us, during the night at intervals but it's about how they settle themselves again. I discovered that despite all the rocking and cuddling etc. and he could be crying for 15 mins, as soon as the dummy hit his lips he'd be out like a light. Great but i didn't want to be getting up in the night just to put the dummy in for the rest of my life. We went cold turkey with it and threw all the dummies away and had to do a bit of controlled crying which was horrible but worked after just one night. Just a thought anyway - hope it could help. Also, I think that putting to bed later isn't always the answer. When they're overtired i think they bizarrely have more difficulty sleeping. I read this in Gina Ford and when put it into practice realised there seemed to be some real sense to it. At any rate maybe at least she wouldn't wake any earlier if she goes to bed earlier (my experience anyway) and that would give you more time to have your dinner and get to bed early - even though that's not great for your social life you can catch up a bit with sleep and feel more sane. Hope this helps

Thanks for the good advice. yes I do worry that the dummy may be part of the problem and also the swaddling- she cannot get to sleep at all if her arms are out of the blankets and waving around- they are far too interesting! I know that we will probably have to go cold tirkey at some point but am dreading it!