Help! Yet another sleep problem.

[Maki]

My 7 month old daughter in the past 2 weeks has been waking up on average every 20 mins from when we put her to bed (7.30pm) until she wakes (anytime from 6am to 9am). It takes sometimes 40 mins to get her back to sleep again.

Really I have just been waiting for this phase to pass, but now it's really getting to me!

She previously was sleeping through the night. We went on holiday (where she slept in a different place each night followed by camping) and since she's been home screams whenever we put her in her cot. We have tried changing the cot around, putting her favourite toys in the cot, changing the smell of the room, feeding her more, putting her to bed earlier and later etc etc and nothing works.

At the worst point she was waking every 5-20 mins for the whole night and this lasted 4 nights.

Does anyone have any sugesstions as to what it could be, or things we could try??

She is a a very very happy, easy going baby during the day and there is no sign of teething. She doesn't eat too much so I think it could be that she is hungry although I'm still breastfeeding about 6 times a day. We have tried giving her formula before bed for the last 2 nights in the vague hope that it might fill her up more but this also doesn't seem to have much effect.

Help!!!

[Yorkie]

Am posting more in sympathy than anything else really... Am writing this with my one month old daughter asleep on my chest having just got her to sleep after she fed every 40-60 minutes from 7pm to 1.30am She also screamed the minute I put her into her Moses basket so in the hope that she might actually stay asleep when I transfer her this time I'm trying to keep her asleep on me for as long as possible. She's previously had feeding frenzies like this but never screamed like this before. I'm a first time mum and whilst I knew sleep deprivation and trying to get your baby to sleep were part of the job description I hadn't quite appreciated how much or for how long! Here's hoping it passes/someone else has more practical advice for you.

[standswithfist]

hi I had a similar problem with my daughter. Go to http://www.babysleepanswers.co.uk/ they are fantastic. they give very good advice. I bought the book (?9.99) which gives you full access to their forums. Then you just post up the problem and they help you sort it out. I have about 6 mum friends that have now used this site and the book and we all now have babies sleeping well. Good luck!

[chantelle]

i would definitely be thinking teething and would try some calpol. i'd also be thinking i'd want to see if she could self settle at all if you didn't rush to her, because clearly no one is getting good sleep on that kind of schedule. i do recall my son going through a particularly difficult sleep phase around 7-8 months. it's when i reached breaking point and put an end to night feeds and within a week or so he was sleeping through without waking at all (for the first time). I really think he'd gotten in the habit of waking a few times in the night, though what you describe sounds rather more than that. good luck and keep in mind it will get better.

[alieh]

Hi Maki! Sorry to hear you're having a rough time. We're back in London in less than 2 weeks so we can comiserate in person, but just to say that we went through very similar in the first few weeks we were away in July. I did the same as chantelle (i.e. stopped night feeds) and it worked well. He was eating solids very well during the day and still breastfeeding 4 times and seems to now have no problem going without eating between 7 pm and 6 am. It was like, all of a sudden, feeding him back to sleep in the middle of the night just stopped working and we had to help him figure out how to settle back to sleep on his own. This may not be the answer for you, but it worked a treat for us.

Hopefully it doesn't all go belly up when we get back from this extended holiday!!

[crystal7]

Hi Maki (& Alieh!)

No advice just to let you know you're not alone. My little one (6 months) has started waking every couple of hours in the night. It's torture! I am feeding her back to sleep each time which I know is a habit I need to stop (as MIL reminds me at every available opportunity). I'm not totally convinced baby E can go without milk all night though. She isn't a big eater and weaning looks like it will be a slow process. Not sure if she's feeding for comfort or because she's actually hungry...Also as you know I'm a wimp and can't bear the tears involved with ending night feeding...sigh...Hopefully catch up this week to brainstorm!

[Maki]

Just to say thankyou everyone for your support and suggestions! I have bought the Baby Sleep System book and although I'm hesitant about following the advice (and going against my baby led instincts!), something has to change!!

Alieh - I'm So pleased he is sleeping through for you now. Looking forward to seeing you, and seeing how much he has changed!

Crystal - I'll text you in the morning to see if you're up for meeting for a coffee or something.

[helena handbasket]

One thing to think of when stopping the night feed is to replace it in the day, otherwise you are just making baby very hungry. When my son was about 8 mos and up every couple of hours at night, I sat down and counted his food intake (he was on bottles by that point ) and I realized that he was getting almost half of his total daily calories between 11 pm and 7 am.! Duh! So, obviously I couldn't just stop night feeds altogether, that would be cruel and horrible. The advice I got was to start with the middle night feed (probably around 3 or 4 am) and decrease it by an ounce or two every few nights, but to make sure you replace those ounces in the day. Seems obvious to me now, but I was so exhausted it never occurred to me and no one ever mentioned it!

Night waking is a whole other story altogether.... it's all connected. It's incredibly hard and frustrating, I remember it well, but once you crack it everything gets better. Good luck!