6mth DD not sleeping any more - any advice?

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From 7wks to 16wks she used to go right through, 8 or 9 hours a night, it was amazing. But since 16wks it's just stopped - her vacs upset her, then there was a really hot spell, then she started teething, she's just started solids and is really enjoying them but now wakes herself up with her own farts and is often difficult to resettle, plus she has a cold and is quite congested which also seems to wake her. I went back to work a fortnight ago and she's refusing to take milk from a bottle, so I wonder if she's also trying to make up the missing BF during the night. Or if her chi is just a bit off with the change, now that I'm not around all the time.

Also I wonder if I'm just searching around for reasons when there aren't any, if this is just what's going to happen now. And even if the explanations I'm finding are correct, surely at some point this must just be habit forming?

I don't know what I expect anyone to say, really, advice, reassurance much appreciated. I'm finding being back at work very difficult anyway and being so tired all the time is definitely not helping!

My dd was similar. Slept beautifully early on then just before 6 months started waking up in the night but I wasn't back at work or any other upheavals of note. I think it took until about 9 months until she slept through again, and I'm afraid I've got no magical solutions or clever ideas, I just went with it and got up and fed her in the night.

Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone!

It could be the changes happening and she'll just settle back down again. DD2 was unsettled for about 10 days after we got home from a long holiday in Australia. Waking at night and generally not herself - and that was at 10 months old, having slept through from 6 months.

Otherwise; persevere with the bottles. Try latex teats,such as the ones you can get for the NUK First Choice bottles. They feel more like skin to a breastfed baby. You may find if she's fed up in the day time that she settles better at night and it could help to rule out "hunger" as a reason for waking.

When you say she's difficult to resettle - do you go in/ to her every time she wakes up? You probably don't need to. Babies wake up all the time during the night. Mine does even at a year old, but they need to learn to settle themselves back to sleep, even if it means mooching around or moaning for 10 or 15 minutes. Going to them every time they wake makes a waking habit. It would be like your DH/ DP wanting to have a chat to you every time you had one of those slight wakings in the night when you glance at the clock and fall straight back to sleep again.

Is she still in your room? You may be disturbing her and certainly, if she's in your room, then she is disturbing you when she doesn't need you. Own room, no monitor = less disturbance for everyone and more sleep too. You'd have to live in a mansion (or be quite pissed going to bed) to not hear a baby crying at night when they actually need you. You don't need to hear every snuffle at this age.

i have exactly the same problem, but my dd doesn't sleep during the day for more than 20 mins (in total!!), she slept through or with only 1 waking until 2 weeks ago, and now wakes 5 - 6 times, but she cries and cries and works herself into a frenzy if we dont go to her, she has been diagnosed with lactose intolerance, and i wonder if her tummy hurts, docs say that she is thriving and otherwise healthy. i too have looked for reasons, have i done anything different, eaten something that may have upset her, i am trying to stick to our routine, but getting frustrated and very tired, i am so pleased to see its not just me!!

is it teething? in some babies they start hurting way before they show up.

have you tried some calpol or neurophen in the night?

She is still in our room, I know we're probably disturbing her but was trying to graduate the changes - so we're planning to move her into her own room once the school summer holiday begins as I'll be home again then until September.

Maybe I am a bit too quick to go to her as well; I think she's waking up uncomfortable and then getting upset quite quickly but maybe you're right and it's actually my intervention that's exacerbating it. I'll think about it more and try to be a bit more aware of my own behaviour (not always easy in my sleep addled state!). Otherwise it's good to hear that I'm not alone, and also that there's hope that she'll get past this again. It's ridiculous that when she was sleeping really well people would congratulate us and I would always dismiss it as just luck, but now that the opposite is happening I'm convinced it must be my fault somehow.

I think teething is part of it. Plus this cold she's got at the moment, her first cold, she's finding it tricky to breathe I think and that also wakes her up. I feel anxious about turning to Calpol unless she's definitely in pain, though - I've been using Dentinox gel which seems to help and although sometimes during the day it's clear that her teeth are hurting it usually passes pretty quickly.

romysmum - if she's not sleeping in the day then she's probably overtired at night. That causes peaks and troughs in adrenaline and disturbed night sleep. If you can sort out one or two decent naps of more than 45 minutes every day, I expect she'll sleep better at night.

Been trying to get her to have daytime naps, any tips? spent 2 weeks putting her in her cot after late morning feed when she looks sleepy, but no luck, although i did get 20 mins after 1.5 hours of trying on 2 days. She seems to fight sleep all the time, i agree that she is prob over tired, but she wont sleep in the car or pram either, and hasnt done for weeks.

I agree with 12yrgap.

How old is she? Babies from about 4-5 months old to around 13 -18 months old (it's very loose) usually need two naps a day. First one at around 9am (assuming they get up around 6.30 or 7) and the second one around 1pm. That's not based around feeding or anything, it's based around the usual circadian rhythms of babies. If you try to make them sleep at other times, they can't, because their bodies are telling them it's awake time.

A great book is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", by Dr Marc Weissbluth, who is a paediatrician who has studied sleep patterns in thousands of children. Really helped us a lot.

Also, DD2 "fought" sleep and I eventually realised that she finds it hard to switch off. I had to remove all stimulation from her cot and also leave her to have a fuss and sometimes a cry before she went to sleep. It was the only way she would wind down. My rocking and "soothing" her was actually stimulating her and keeping her awake. That was at about 3 months old. By 5 months old she quite enjoyed going for naps and going to bed at night and still does at 14 months.

dd is 4 months, we were at a friends house today and she gave all the tired signs, but refused to sleep as normal, then just gets really wingy and whiney, i came home and tried again, and she went to sleep in my arms with the help of a dummy. am i just creating another problem allowing her to sleep in my arms? she wakes up even before i can put her down!!, or is any sleep better than none? i will try your suggestion of removing all stimulation, as even when she is laid in my arms, she is trying to look behind her or at something, anything to distract herself!!,but she wont look at me!! think I may also find the book you suggest. On the days when she even has a little sleep, she is much less whingey, and a lot happier. People just say at least she sleeps at night (well they used to, she doesnt do this as well anymore either!!)but if I try and leave her to just relax in her basket or in the garden, she just cries/screams for ages.... I try not to over stimulate her too much, but on the other hand, maybe i can tire her with activities!!!