7.5 month old waking constantly through the night

confusedmummy

My little one has always been a bad sleeper but it has just got to the point where we are really sleep deprived and it is really affecting me and his papa and his brother.

I have read numerous books and tried to put into practice some of the recommendations and advice (Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution being the main one).

He goes to bed at around 6.30pm but will normally wake between 12.00am and 2.30am for a feed (bottle fed medicated formula) and then will be up every 2 hours or so and is up for the day by around 5.30am. He is very grumpy and grizzly during the day. He is teething (we can feel his first tooth coming through). During the day he sometimes naps well (1 hour in the morning), then possibly another hour in the afternoon but he really doesn't sleep enough in 24 hours.

He is on medicated milk as he has a milk allergy. He is a very sensitive and fussy baby and not easy going at all.

He is on solids, crawling and very active during the day.

He has never been a calm baby and seems to be permanently miserable and even when he is awake and crawling around he fusses and cries very very easily and quickly.

Any advice on how to get him to sleep through? This is really really taking it's toll and I don't know what to do .

Jesswithwings

Oh btdt! I might not be the best person to reply as my youngest only started sleeping through the night at 20 months :eek: but the first thing I thought when I read your post is that he could do with his body clock being shifted forward at least an hour, so bed at 7.30 so that he doesnt wake until 6.30 I also doubt whether at 7.5 months the hour or 2 he gets during the day is enough for him. At that age my kids were having at least an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. The trouble is if he is waking on his own then I'm not sure how you can persuade him to go back to sleep... DS2 is now 2 years 3 months and he still has 2+ hours in the afternoon. My HV once said to me that to get a good nights sleep they need to have good naps too.

Also, you'll probably get a lot of "just let him cry it out" responses but I don't recommend CIO at ALL and I think the Elizabeth Pantley method is widely respected, certainly by a lot of the people I mix with.

I'll think some more...

kingfisherblue

Could you consider a later bedtime for your son? My children were not good sleepers, and even now, my eleven year old cannot settle down early. He just doesn't need as much sleep as I think he should. his older brother, who is disabled, is often asleep upto two hours earlier than him.

Also, it could be that he is hungry if he is going to bed so early. A later bedtime could mean some food and/or a bottle at a later time, eliminating the need for a midnight feed. Once awake, some babies don't settle very well afterwards.

jcr16

maybe he's hungary and the milk isn't enough. how about instead of just a bottle at midnight a small amount of porriage/wheatabix (depending on what he can have) something to line the tummy a bit more and keep him going.

i think maybe i would change his routine slightly. perhaps a bath at 6 , then before his bed time bottle a slice of toast then his milk, then settle him down for bed at 7 ish.

it is hard lack of sleep, all mine have had brill routines and slept but if they have a night when they are poorly or up in the night the next day i feel like i'm steam rollered, i just don't function. so i can't even begin to imagine how your feeling.

i know it easy to say but perhaps when your little one has his mornign and afternoon nap you have a little snooze aswell. a power nap sometimes for us mums works wonder's.

confusedmummy

I would try putting him to bed later but by 6.30pm he is rubbing his eyes and on the verge of falling asleep and normally goes to sleep pretty quickly (he is obviously exhausted). I follow the Pantley suggestion that as soon as you see a sleep clue (rubbing eyes) you put the baby down for a nap/sleep.

I try to get him to nap longer in the day but he is very stubborn and once he is up again, he won't settle, even if he is still tired.

I couldn't let him cry it out even if I wanted to as we live in a very thinly walled flat and our neighbours would be banging on our door in no time.

Jesswithwings

Its so hard isnt it?! I have a very baby-led approach to parenting - hence my son didnt sleep through for ages! Have you tried co-sleeping? it might just be a case that its dark and he's looking for reassurance that you're still there.

Sus1e

I had the same problem with my 6.5 month old. The HV said that as he was getting enough solids and milk during the day, just to stop feeding him at night.

For 3 nights my husband went in and settled him back to sleep without feeding him. Now he sleeps from 6.30 - 10 when I wake him for a bottle, and then through to 6.15am. It was hard for the 3 nights but well worth it.

The HV recommended that my DH went to settle him rather than me as the baby would be able to smell my milk and it would make it harder to settle him.

Talk to your HV about it and go with their recommendations.

Hope this helps you.

Amanda65

It's been a long time since mine were little (I'm now sleep deprived due to not being able to sleep properly until they are safely home from clubs / nights out ) but they were all good sleepers and although it may have just been good luck, I found that routine was the key.

From 8 weeks onwards they had a soothing and calm bedtime routine. At 7 and a half months they would have had 'tea' about half past 5 and then at half 6 quarter to 7 I would have started the bedtime routine that meant going up for a warm bath (dimmed lighting in bathroom), lots of cuddles, singing etc. and then into bedroom for a final feed and a story (again dimmed lighting) then down to sleep. If they woke during the evening, I let them moan for a little bit to see if they would settle and if not go up, check they were OK (not cold, wet etc.) and leave - no speaking, no lights - and would do that as many times as necessary although in reality unless they were unwell, it didn't really happen.

I think the four things that stand out for me about your post are:-

1) Your baby's allergy - is it worth checking that he is still receiving the correct medication? Maybe he is being irritated by another foodstuff or the medication he is on isn't working

2) His bedtime does seem very early and I agree with others that he is probably overtired if he is not sleeping enough in the day. Can you encourage daytime sleeps by taking him out for walks / car rides etc. so that he drops off and gets into the habit of sleeping.

3) If he is hungry in the middle of the night I would suggest that perhaps he is not getting enough food in the day. Could you consider upping his portions or giving a snack (and no, I don't mean an unhealthy one ) before bedtime?

4) I completely understand your reasons for not letting your LO cry, and accept that you want a more baby led approach but this obviously isn't working for your baby - maybe he hasn't read that chapter in the book about how it's supposed to work . Sleep is a 'habit' that we all need to get into and can just as easily get into bad habits. How often I wake at 6:45am at the weekend as that's the time my body is used to waking up in the week! I think your LO has got into the 'habit' of waking up and this is what you need to break.

I realise that for all the newer mummies my comments will probably be greeted with horror that I didn't let my babies dictate how they would sleep / be weaned etc. but just to reassure you my 'babies' are now 20, 18 and 15 and very well rounded, bright individuals. Oh and just to really shock you, due to HV advice at the time, they were all weaned from 12 weeks :eek::eek::eek::eek:.

Good luck though OP - I know it seems like you will never sleep through the night again, but this will pass, at least until your LO learns to drive

**confuzzled**

I have an almost 7.5month old(she's a laid back, happy baby), she was sleeping through(for about 8 weeks) but for the past month or so has been waking several times, we think its due to teething!:(

Do you have blackout curtains in his room?? the light could be waking him up early. When he wakes up in the night is it definitely hunger???? or is he waking coz he expects to be fed??
We stopped night feeds at approx 18 weeks as she went on to solids! DD currently has supper plus 7oz formula and this does her fine:)
When he wakes does he go straight into full on cry?? DD tends to grizzle/whinge for a bit and I leave her to see if she'll drop off(usually doesn't!) and only go into her when I can hear the cry change into the pre-kick-off cry:D

This is our bedtime routine, it might help give you new ideas ....
6pm - both get in from work & make a fuss of her and then quiet time, reading books etc to help relax her as she's an active devil!
6:20/30pm - Weetabix/banana, here normally start to see signs of tiredness eg rubbing eyes and grouchyness:)
6:45pm bath time(if its not bath night then we delay quiet time til now)
7:15pm - say night night to Daddy
7:20pm - formula & bed(usually falls asleep while having bottle but I try to make sure she has all of it, if she doesn't I'll pick her up before I go to bed and she'll have a dreamfeed to finish it)
Shes always asleep by 7:45pm latest!
The times can vary depending on whats been happening that day/evening but we've found so long as we do everything in the same order then that's her indication its night time.
The only rules we 100% stick by are the order, no talking once everyones said goodnight, no eye contact and she HAS to stay in her room until morning...seems to be doing the trick and we only get 1 wake up in the night(anywhere between 1-5:30pm) and she doesn't get picked up we gently rub her back and pop her dummy in if she's being a stubborn mare:)
We did put her down when she showed signs of tiredness and she dropped off BUT she was waking full of beans at around 5am:eek: Big no-no for me, so we try and eek the evening out a bit and keep her occupied(with quiet things;))

She gets up anywhere between 6-6:45am and only has 20-40min nap in the morning(around 9/10amish) and then upto an hour in the afternoon(3/4pmish), if we're lucky! She's very stubborn about sleeping in the day....nosy $od's frightened she'll miss something:p

**confuzzled**

Amanda65 wrote: »

I realise that for all the newer mummies my comments will probably be greeted with horror that I didn't let my babies dictate how they would sleep / be weaned etc. but just to reassure you my 'babies' are now 20, 18 and 15 and very well rounded, bright individuals. Oh and just to really shock you, due to HV advice at the time, they were all weaned from 12 weeks :eek::eek::eek::eek:.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Totally agree, doing the recommended approach was making me miserable(did it for 8weeks, was miserable as sin for 6 of them:o:eek:), I like to know what I should be doing and when(takes the guess work out for me) and DD has thrived on a routine, I understand demand feeding etc works brilliantly for some people but I aint one of them!

teasleym

confusedmummy, I know what you're feeling. My little one is 7.5 mths too and also has a milk allergy, and severe reflux too!
She too is a grumpy baby during the day, and is teething too.
She only sleeps a couple of hours during the day and often on me, as she won't go down in her cot for me (she will for daddy but not for me!)

I just wondered if your little one is hungry to be waking at night. My daughter has her last feed at 7pm, and its milk (neocate) and a savoury puree as well to fill her up. Also during the day, she no longer has any milk only feeds, she always has a biscuit mashed up with the milk or fruit puree or cereal as well.

We then have to keep her upright for at least half an hour, as with the severe reflux, she is very sick otherwise. So she is usually put to bed between 7.30 and 8pm (dependant on whether her older sister has settled yet!). She grumbles for a bit but then settles down to sleep. She sleeps through till 5 at the moment, only woken up by the birds outside (anyone got a cure for that!). If they are quiet then she sleeps till 7ish.

I hope you find some help in these replies, as I know how exhausted you feel. I am shattered today, but thats not from the baby, her older sister refused to sleep last night and grumbled in the night, so kept daddy and me up. Baby slept through though!