nearly 6mths ... routine required?

**nox** · February 12th, 2008, 12:13 PM

my ds had organised his own routine. with some help from me we even got 3 good naps in.

he has suddenly changed. he's never been a 'good' sleeper at night, but now there's hardly any napping (i wear him a lot to help him nap but this really constricts me) nd he wakes ever hour for at least 4 hours a night!

i am wondering about a lot -- haha -- including about routines ... i would like to go out more etc but am scared about his not sleeping. is this stupid?
any ideas how to get him to sleep better? we have a bedtime ritual we've used since birth -- bath, story, feed, sleep. this starts around 615 or so and he's asleep by 7pm (then wakes...)

i hve thought maybe teething and have tried things -- no avail. i have also just (as in last night) started solids.

i b/feed on demand and he feeds around 3-4 hrs now...

thank! any help is good!!!

**Twin Sister** · February 13th, 2008, 11:59 AM

We're not there yet as DS is not quite 3 months and is still setting his own schedule. With him though I find the later I put him to bed the longer he sleeps. I know that's not much help when you are trying to establish a routine and a bedtime though.

My DS sleeps great during the day but is a nigt owl and loves to be awake in the evenings. At the moment he will not go down for the night any earlier than 9:00 and even that early is rare and he'll wake evey 3 hours to feed. If however I get him down between 10 and 11:30 he'll sleep for four hour stretches and if I wait until midnight he'll sleep 6-7 hours ! I'm hoping this will change as he gets older and we can get him to sleep earlier but for now I'm just so happy to get 7 hours of sleep in a row.

**nox** · February 13th, 2008, 05:38 PM

Yes that was the same with us. He would love to stay up late with us and we loved it too because we all went for wonderful summer walks. What I noticed around 4.5 mths or so was that he was getting sleepier earlier. When I made the bedtime earlier initially it didn't work at all. But gradually it was better. Then my MCHN suggested even earlier -- 7-730 sleeptime (after a routine). That's what I'm up to now ...

You may find it changes or not with yours. If you love it that way, don't worry -- go with the flow! But if you want an earlier bedtime there are some good books that have gentle ideas on that.

**KatieRabbit** · February 13th, 2008, 09:15 PM

I can't help much but I am with you on the:
"i would like to go out more etc but am scared about his not sleeping. is this stupid?"
It is not stupid at all. It is the main reason I don't go out becasue I don't know if DD will sleep. If she doesn't then it is very hard work when we get home.
I was told not to bother with the idea of 'routine' but more with the idea of 'pattern'. This is a kinder approach and not so strict but establish a pattern and a routine will follow. What do you do at night when baby wakes every hour? Do you pick him up, feed him, rock him back to sleep? Or is he crying?

**nox** · February 14th, 2008, 10:10 AM

well, i dont' feed every wake.
For eg if he sleeps at 7pm and I feel that he has actually eaten enough at that feed before bed, I will not feed again until the wake between 10-midnight which i consider to be like a rollover (I don't wake him I feed when he wakes and only the once). Then in the after midnight one, I will feed him around the 3am waking and 5am (which I know is naughty) then he wake for the day at 7.
Of course now he is not so much every hr but every 2 hrs before midnight and every 3 or so after.
Driving us all a bit batty!
Why oh why??
I have started some solids -- at noon after B/feed. He's not crazy about it but that could be because I give him solids only 20 mins after breast? But it can't be that keeping him awake, unless he is just not getting enough food b/c he's not really eating the solids much.
Also he is rolling, twisting adn doing a type of crawling ... this could also effect him I am sure.

**KatieRabbit** · February 15th, 2008, 10:57 AM

Is he waking and crying for a feed? If he is not crying, could you hold him (the before midnight wakings) or leave him in the cot awake for another half an hour or so to stretch the time out then after a few days he will start waking that bit later? Is he is in his own room or yours? He could just be in the habit of feeding frequently- more than he needs for food, but for comfort. There was a thread about this in the bfeeding section of bb. I will have a look to see if I can find it.

**Twin Sister** · February 16th, 2008, 06:35 AM

Nox I'm relieved to hear that the night owl syndrom does go away. I hope you little one gets into a better sleep pattern soon.

**sneakysparkle** · February 16th, 2008, 06:58 AM

Nox - a similar thing happened with my DD at 6mths! Apparently when they start becoming more active (rolling/crawling etc) they "practice" in their sleep and can wake themselves up, also they replay their activities in their minds alot so they may be more restless.
What I did - I stopped feeding her in the middle of the night - I would only feed if it had been 6-8hrs after last feed (overnight only, was feeding more in the day!) that helped us, and she gradually got into a new routine and she went back to being a good sleeper.
Do whatever works for you, but I think its a stage

HTH! All the best