Sleep Gone Bad

DS has always been a pretty good sleeper. For the last few months, he has been great- going to bed at 7:00ish, waking up about 5:30 for a feed, then back to sleep until about 7:30am. Very nice indeed.

But since Tuesday night, things have gone awry. He is up about 3 times a night and he wakes up just yelling! Its not like he's waking up whingy and needs a pat or his dummy, he is waking up really crying until we feed him, and then he has a huge feed and goes back to sleep. Its getting quite tiring.

Does anyone have any theories why? My best theory is growth spurt (a theory I like since it means it will END)- he is really, really trying to work out how to get on his hands and knees and get around and I've heard when they are learning to crawl a lot of processing happens at night and it disrupts their sleep....true? He may also have some top teeth starting to move, and maybe he needs some more solids closer to bedtime?

I don't know! Can anyone tell me it will go back to his nice previous sleep pattern?!!

Anyone? I'm not looking forward to tonight....

Hi Amberj,
Sounds exactly like my DS a couple of months ago, He was in a bedtime routine(as was I), the times you mentioned were similar and then it ALL changed, I put it down to a growth spurt too. DS had his dinner about 5-5.30ish and then about 1/2 and hour before his bedtime BF I'd offer another snack eg yoghurt or custard and 9 times out of 10 he would eat that as well. I also added some pasta to his meat and veges so it was more filling. Have you checked his gums? Are there also any little teethies appearing? My DS also around the time he got his first teeth/started crawling where he would wake have a little play regardless of the time and then not be able to settle himself and the only way he would go back to sleep was with a BF, this went on for a few weeks and then gradually he wasn't waking up as much. Sorry it doesn't really solve you prob but I thought I'd just let you know how things were for us. Big hugs to you and heres to hoping you get a better night tonight.....sleep is soooo over rated anyway LOL!!

I feel your pain.

My son is 8 months old & has been having disrupted sleep for the past two weeks. So far I haven't been able to work out what it is. He slept through the night from 12 weeks so it's come as a huge shock to me to suddenly have to wake up at either 2 or 4am to give him a feed. He also wakes at other times & usually I have to chuck the dummy back in.

I read a post elsewhere that was directed to a woman having issues with an 8 month old that sometimes they get very unsettled before they start to crawl or walk. In my son's case I'm thinking walking may be around the corner cos he's been crawling for a couple of months. We do have teeth coming through as well though so it's all a bit hard to work out.

I have been giving him solids at around 6.30 & then a bottle just before bed but it's not stopping him waking in the night.

I hope someone comes along soon who can advise us what we can do to get them out of these bad habits they have suddenly taken up.

um, sorry, no solutions here either, only to say that the same thing is happening here only much much worse. DS got his 5th tooth this morning, and is already cruising around the furniture and crawling. Lately he's been waking up yelling and screaming inconsolably at 10.30-11 and again at 2, and staying awake and screaming for up to 2 hours. He will only resettle with a big feed.
We have a similar routine, however this was disrupted a little while back by a holiday and two top teeth, but we were getting back on track. Somebody please tell me they grow out of it, because DP and I are exhausted!

Just thought I'd let you know I actually got a full night's sleep last night.

What did I do differently?

Fed him less milk during the day. I don't know if it's a coincidence of course, I will keep you updated as to if its still working or not.

My MCHN had told me I needed to cut the milk feeds down as he was having 5 or 6 bottles in 24 hours (usually only 5 but 6 when he woke in the middle of the night). She said he should be having 3 solid meals a day & 3 bottles a day. I was told this on Monday & had been trying to get him into the routine but yesterday was the first day it actually happed.

Morning bottle, afternoon bottle & night bottle, 3 meals & bed at 7pm & he didn't wake until 6.30am, not even for his dummy to be stuck back in. Maybe, just maybe I was over feeding him.

Nice Satya. We didn't do badly at all last night- up at 2:30 for a bottle and I didn't want to get up again so I fed him a big bottle and he slept until 7am. Yay.

I still feed Peter 5-6 bottles a day....how much each bottle does your LO eat? Peter doesn't actually have big bottles- usually about 150ml, so I don't think he's overeating milk.

Jessica, I don't know if this would help, but have you tried to dream feed him before you go to bed? Might be enough to tie him over. Just a thought.

I'd say growing spurt for sure.

Thanks Georgi, but we've tried the dream feed and it resulted in some very bad nights. Grr.

We just noticed today there is another little tooth coming up down the bottom so we're hoping that's the cause of the problems....

Amberj, this might not be of any practical help but might at least reassure you it wont last forever... I firmly believe, from my experience, that just before a major developmental spurt, babies get really irritable. Whenever my kids' sleep has gone to hell or they've started tantruming or whatever, it usually precedes something major, like learning to walk or stand, or talk, or read, or *something*. And it happens right through their lives. Even my teenagers do it - they get ratty and don't sleep well when they are about to make some big maturity breakthrough.

I reckon their brains get disrupted and irritated by the massive amount of sheer work going on in their skulls, and unfortunately, you have to deal with the fallout!

I am now much more relaxed about their sleep going to blazes when they are between eight to ten months, because that's when my kids have all got up on their legs and started to stand and walk. And I know once they are running around, they'll be so tired they'll be sleeping well again :)

Good luck - sleep deprivation sucks.

Sounds like the 8mo 'horrors' to me. I think it must be a really complex developmental stage for many children. I think it's different for each child, but it doesn't last.
Natty's unsettled sleep lasted for a couple of months, though some nights she'd give me a break and have a decent sleep. It really didn't seem to make a difference what I did, TBH...
But it is worth trying some different things - more food, exploring how warm or cool the room is, etc. Just so you know you've given it a go ;)
I hope he gives you a lovely sleepy break soon :hug: