My ds waking up more and more at night - don't know if it's hunger/teething/reflux/growth spurt/habit or..

[peggotty]

all of them!! He's 6 months. But it's so difficult to judge, I don't know what to do. I suspect he's teething, I also suspect he's got silent reflux and although the gp agreed with me I got fobbed of with shitty gaviscon (does nowt but constipate) and an airy proclamation of 'he'll grow out of it'. All very well, but I have to drag my eye bags around in the meantime. Should I push for a referral? He is also an extremely bad teether, and is TOTALLY crap at feeding during the day (bf), just gets distracted so easily, so stands to reason he may need fed more at night, but surely not 4 times? All of these things could be affecting his sleep, but what I really want to know is, once they are all under control/resolved, will he just wake up out of habit!? Or is that what he's doing already? (tearing hair out emoticon). I don't know what to do. I attempted to start the no-cry sleep solution and he ended up being awake in the middle of the night for 2.5 hours which has never happened before because I was trying to stop him fall completely asleep with my nipple in his mouth. Bloody Pantley Pull Off!!!

Bump .. anyone got any ideas, please!

sorry hon, no advice but really know how you feel. my ds is just under 6 months and has been feeding loads at night for... ooo really quite a while now. and its bloody hard work.

i think the not feeding properly in the day thingy def makes it worse. recently he's been having slightly better feeds in the day (i gave up on having a life..!) and on the days he feeds better, and has some naps (another problem we struggle with ) he usually wakes up a bit less.

how sick are you of being asked 'does he sleep through yet???' makes me want to bite people.

but he is a sparky and incredibly curious little person and is obv going to be a genius who will somehow repay me for aging me by approx a thousand years in the past 6ish months.

so have a bloody great big hug and know you're not alone.

and one day our ds's will have their own homes!

in fact when they do lets call them at 3 and 5am on a regular basis, just for a laugh

xx

ps typing, grammar, syntax etc etc all crap but y'know why

I can also empathise . My 6 mo DS used to settle well in his cot at night, was given a dreamfeed at 10.30pm and would then sleep until 3am when he was bf and then slept again until 7am. During the last week he has woken within an hour of going to bed and then again every 15 minutes until I finally go to bed with his dreamfeed. The only way he will really settle is if he is lying cheek to cheek with me all night. He used to be soooo good at settling, don't know what's going wrong.

Oh you guys, hang on in there!

My DS has been the pits when it comes to sleep. He was a nightmare from 3 weeks old, and I was about insane with tiredness. Would you like to know my wisdom now he's nearly 1?

Do anything it takes to get through it. I read Gina, I read Tracy, I did Pantley, and I tried every suggestion anyone threw at me. The only thing which has worked in the slightest is time. I have ridden out each terrible patch by feeding to sleep, rocking to sleep, driving to sleep, cosleeping, whatever. And slowly but surely he has got better and better. Now, on nights when he's not bothered by teething, he is no problem.

For example, tonight he had a feed and then sat up and looked at his cot. I put him down, patted his back for a few seconds and covered him with his blanket. I sat by him for around 2 minutes then I left. That was 2 hours ago. Last night he only woke at 11 and 3. And what have I done to achieve this magnificent improvement? Absolutely nothing

Pantley is good (because she makes you feel like you're doing something when you're actually not doing much at all and it's at least not "confrontational"), but don't get hung up on not feeding to sleep or whatever. They do get better, honest. It's just fecking hard to see it when you're exhausted and miserable.

Much sympathy to you

sounds like teething. try some calpol and see if it makes any difference. also if their gums are sore they do not drink enough during the day so need it at night. you need to see if you can up the daytime intake. i found my ds fed well if i gave it to him just before nap time and on wake up.