I have a 5 month old who in the last week has decided not to sleep at night anymore. Her day time routine has stayed the same and she only naps about 4 hours total during the day so she should be plenty tired. She will get up every 15 minutes usually starting at 11pm and continue until around 3am and then sleep great until 8 or 9am. I've tried letting her cry but she gets so upset that she starts throwing up. She is nursing but I only nurse her if it has been a while since her last feeding but even being fed doesn't help her sleep any better. I feel like I've tried all the standards - I even put her down awake and let her fall asleep on her own but that doesn't help her sleep any longer. She started solid food about a month ago and gets that about an hour before bedtime.
Has anyone ever experienced this? I think that she is going through contact withdrawl -where she subconsciencely realizes that I am no longer there and then wakes herself but I'm not sure what to do about it. Plus, she WILL sleep in my arms. She won't take a pacifier and has not yet figured out a way to soothe herself. Any advice appreciated!
I am wondering though if part of the problem is that she is hungry at 11pm when she gets up, even if you fed her at nine. Milk supply is lowest at the end of the day and I find that I am nursin gmre frequently at night, and some nights, Brooklyn is up at 11 to eat again. And she eats! LOL.
As far as the self-soothing, have you looked into the Ferber method? I know it has worked well for a few friends of mine that have had similar problems.
She may be starting to teeth. My six month old boy just went through something similar and then I noticed he is getting his first tooth. I gave him baby motrin for a couple of nights to help with pain and it also helped him sleep. Now that the tooth has broken through, he is back to his regular sleeping patterns.
Do you feed her a bottle at all? Maybe putting a little bit of cereal in a bottle before you lay her down for the night will help keep her asleep. I am breastfeeding my 4 month old too and everyone keeps telling me that it is 'on demand feeding' and to let her suckle for as long as she wants. Maybe just letting her do that, even if it hasn't been 4 hours, will soothe her enough to put her to sleep for the night. Do you think maybe she isn't getting enough and that's why she is waking up? I know I have had that problem in the past.
Or, I remember with my first child, she would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and I found out that she had an ear infection. She's 10 now though so I don't really remember how old she was when she got her first one.
Also, do you think maybe it could be gas? My little one gets that and is not a very happy camper at all. It seems like that just starting happening recently and mostly at night because she falls asleep nursing and I just put her down. We give her gas drops and that helps tremendously.
Good Luck!
Ugh! It's really frustrating I know. I would think she is either hungry or teething as others have said. My son did the same thing and he was on a bottle. He was already sleeping throught the night without eating, so I didn't think he was hungry. Well 1 month later when I began cereal, he immediately began sleeping through the night. It was so frustrating because my doctor told me it was night terrors. I didn't let him cry it out because of that and obviously he was just hungry. Milk supply is lowest at the end of the day so it's possible she is needing another feeding. Especially as she grows.
I once had a doctor who had raised 8 of his own kids who told me around 4-6 months babies who are sleeping through the night will stop. When that happens, it's time to start giving them food. It worked like a charm for our boys. It was nice to have such an easy solution. I think they both went to sleep all the night the first night. GL
Wow, I heard that if their not sleeping through the night it's because they don't know how to put themselves back to sleep. Most babies wake up through the night and it's the skill of going back to sleep. But for my son, he doesn't sleep through the night if he doesn't get enough sleep during the day so this is what worked for me: I would put him down for a nap 2 to 3 hours after waking up in the morning and would make sure he would sleep for at least 2 to 3 hours, sometimes I would sleep with him because that was the only way to get him to sleep that long. It took 3 days but then after sticking to the schedule (a key point) he then started to sleep. I would have to play with him through the day to get him to be sleepy and feed him too. Before bedtime I would give him a big glass of milk, I heard warm milk works to. But my son has to stay on a schedule because I work and go to school. If he wakes up during the night then try letting him cry and learn to put himself back to sleep. It's hard I know but well worth it in the end. Hope that works.
My daughter did the exact same thing with the throwing up. My other daughter is 9 months old and she went through the same sort of thing. The thing that worked for me was letting her cry for about an hour or so, going in and patting her on the back, but do not pick her up! If she is wet change her diaper in the crib but again DO NOT PICK HER UP. Then leave, and let her cry for another hour or so and do it again. It took my 9 month old about 3 nights and she quit crying. You might also cut her naps down to 2 or 3 hours. Once she gets alittle older like 1 and if she is still doing it I would just leave my older daughter in bed even if she threw up and she would eventually go to sleep. I think this happened a like 2 times and then she stopped because she did not want to be in the crib with her throw up. Hope this helps :) While she is little though try the patting without picking her up I promise it will work.
Hi Abbi
I am a mother of 2 who are now 11 and 9 yrs old. My first didn't sleep through the night until 18 months old - at which time I spent a week of nights going into her room and reassuring her I was there and everything was all right in response to her nonstop screams. The second time around I followed the book "How to become Babywise" by Dr Izzo. My second one slept thru the night at 12 weeks old. I swear by this book. I think maybe the solid food should be given alittle earlier - she may have a hard time digesting so late in the day. My thoughts and prayers are with you!
Blessings
Kirsten
My son did very much the same thing. He was my second child and I though I knew what I was doing. I nursed him and he would wake every hour during the night and scream for 1 hour then sleep in my arms, if I rocked him, for about 1 hour, then scream for another hour. I tried everything. I would nurse him. I would rock him. I would walk with him. I cried with him . . . everything I could think of. My son is now 28 and I can tell you what I think it was and hope that will help you.
I think my milk was not letting down like it needed to. I think I was starving my son. He obviously was getting something but wasn't getting enough. My advise would be to put him on formula, and see if he gets any better. I would only do it with my doctors advice. I would get a recommendation as to the formula.
During the day I would feed her every 2-4 hours and keep her awake for most of the day. Then fill her up with whatever solids your using before bedtime and sooth her to sleep. I know that this is trying . . . but it does pass.
first gut feeling: she may have an ear infection that hasn't shown the usual signs such as stuffy nose or cough.
my experience with my own children has been that when they stop sleeping at night it was because they weren't feeling well. heck, that is my own experience now that i think of it! when i am feeling poorly i wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall back asleep.
since this is something new to her (and she's done well in the past) that is what i suspect, although when a child has the same schedule 3 days in a row it pretty much becomes his/her new routine.
hope this helps~ :)
I would try Hyland's teething tablets to see if it is teething. Also, breastmilk can empty out of her stomach in as little as 20 minutes, so it can be hunger. If she needs you and needs to be close, why not co-sleep? It worked great for us! You'll all sleep good, and that is what matters! I would recommend reading The Sleep Book by Dr. Sears, and ELizabeth Pantly's No Cry Sleep Solution. Great sleep help can also be found at www.askdrsears.com
CIO doesn't "teach" them to sleep. Research shows the give up and don't call out because they believe no one is there for them. This has long-term effects that aren't pretty! Even babies who sleep through the night still wake up, they just don't call out for you. Crying is their only way of communicating. It's not a manipulation.
Sorry for the rant :). I hope you find what works best for you!
To the lady (Kendra) that let her baby sleep in her puke for two nights.. that makes me SICK!!!!
She may be teething. My now 6 mos old son did this same thing ALL last month... and about 1 1/2 weeks ago popped two bottom teeth. Since the teeth broke through the surface, he is now back to sleeping soundly through the night. Try giving her some Tylenol when she wakes up and see if that helps. There's also Baby Orajel, but that didn't seem to help at all with my son.
I have nursed three babies and all three had a sleep change around 5 months. Your baby will not sleep the same way at 2 months that she will at 5 or 8. I would suggest reading The No Cry Sleep Solution by Pantley for some suggestions and also make sure you are eating well so your breast milk is feeding her well.
And if it is teething, all that ever worked for us was more nursing. It was the only way ANYONE could get any sleep! Good luck!
since you just started introducing solids before bed, it makes me wonder if she is having tummy issues that is keeping her up. she might have acid reflux that is keeping her awake. the heat from your body will sooth her, and that is why she is able to sleep in your arms but not in bed. both my boys went through this and it was a nightmare until we got it figured out. good luck mama.
dawn
Hey, we started having the same problem at about five months and it continued through about 8. I was such a "NoCry" kind of mom but by 8 months I wasn't being a very good mom during the day because I was beyond exhausted and I was starting to feel a little bitter and resentful. So, we started letting him cry, and my husband would go and sit with him in the dark until he'd cried himself out, so we'd know if he did throw up or was stuck or something. If he seemed especially scared or worked up he'd sing to him or rub his back and whisper to him. Eventually, once he figured out we were still there but were not going to play the all night game anymore, the cry period became shorter and was more of an irritated cry than a scared cry so we were able to let him fuss a little without being in the room. It really took very little time before he was able to sooth himself to sleep. I felt so horrible at first but now that he's learned to sleep better he's a healthier happier baby and I'm able to spend more quality time playing and interacting with him during the day because I haven't been up all night walking up and down the hall with him. I had to think, "When he's older he might cry because he doesn't want to wear a seat belt but I will make him anyway because I know it's what will keep him safe and healthy." The pediatritian was very supportive of this, and said that he no longer has a physical need to breastfeed during the night. I see no negative impact on our "bond"...if anything it's better now that we're both less grumpy!
I don't let my baby cry herself to sleep because I think "how would I feel"? I nurse my baby to sleep. I wait until she is in "deep sleep" before I move her (slowly) to her crib. I hold her tight and make little stops (stand still) if she gets restless on the way to her crib. Signs of "deep sleep" are even breathing, unclenched fists, and limp arms and legs. Sometimes this can take an hour but it's worth the long sleep afterwards to just wait it out. Sometimes (because I was so tired and wanted a break) I was tempted to put her to bed in the "light sleep" stage only to have her wake up and have to nurse her to sleep all over again so I recommend just sticking it out until the deep sleep stage. I have read that the food thing won't make her sleep any longer or shorter so don't worry about that. Also, I have found that all of this changes every time you think you have a schedule but I still keep my day time schedule as much as I can. Good luck.