Help! Night waking for 3 hours...Wonder Weeks?

Isabelle has been waking for a feed at 11 for a few weeks now which is fine (goes to bed at 7) however the last few nights she has been wide awake and screaming if we put her down - for 3 hours!

DH and I take turns to nap while the other paces the house or rocks her in our arms until she falls asleep. Problem is she will be OUT and the minute we put her down, she wakes up screaming. We can tell she wants to play - shes just started blowing raspberries so does that while we rock her - we keep all lights off, we dont really talk other than to say shhhh and nighty night etc. but she still seems like she wants to play! Eventually I will feed her again, and she eventually drops off.

I dont have the wonder weeks book but I did check a site with a bit of info about it and it seems that around 6mths there is a WW. She has also been rolling from back to front deliberately in the last few days (whoo hoo!!!) so I wonder if it has to do with that major developmental step??

We do not CIO or CC, although my back is so bad right now that there are times I have to leave her crying in her cot while I just pat her tummy to give my back a break.

Any ideas/advice appreciated! (Please tell me it will pass quickly! I dont mind feeding her at this time but its the 3 hours of play that are starting to take their toll!)

There is a major milestone development at around 6 months which could be upsetting her usual bedtime routine. My advice is to go with the flow, but try to keep the routine in place as much as you can. Also, how often does she feed during the day? As she's 5.5 months, she could be starting to needing more, so maybe offer the breast more during the day?
I remember between 4-6 months was the hardest with Nina. She fed every 2 hours around the clock and wouldn't settle easily at bedtime. We just stuck with the bedtime routine that whole time, and when she turned 6 months she went back to sleeping at night again.
Good luck & I hope that helped a little.

Oh thanks Jodi - I didnt really think about her feeding more during the day - lots of people have been saying I should stretch her out longer than I am, but feeding more often makes more sense. She feeds 3 hourly during the day right now. Im trying to keep her routine up, I feed her as usual at 11 but shes just not settling- ah well, like you said I think we will just have to go with the flow - ( and be up for 3 hours a night :rolleyes:) until it passes!
Thanks for your help!

Hi, I have no experience with your age yet, but i have heard that some babies get restless like this do better once they get some solids, have you started yet or waiting till 6-12 months. Maybe talk to your MCHN??

In saying that though I hope you don't end up with a bub like my sis. My niece has never been a good sleeper at night.

Tan, my Izzy had been doing the same thing for a couple of weeks. I started doing what you say you're doing - lots of quiet cuddles with no lights and no stimulation. It didn't seem to be achieving anything except getting me very frustrated so I've just given in now if she seems to be wide awake and got her up for a couple of hours to play. She seems to be ready for bed a lot more quickly if I actually get her up and stimulate her, rather than try to keep her quiet when she really wants to be up (if that makes sense). We're still have a night or two a week where she will want a midnight play, but fortunately they seem to be easing.

Lulu - Im worried if I do that she will think its the norm - although as it is, we are up for 3 hours anyway so I may as well read her a quiet story or do something enjoyable rather than pushing the issue. LIke you said maybe a quiet game for half an hour will mean she goes back quicker than the 3 hours. Will let you know how we go!

Oh good luck Tan!!

Angus still gets up to feed during the night but usually goes straight back to sleep! Although this morning he had a feed at 4am and decide it was time to start the day!!! I didn't think it was at all funny, although he did, and talked and played with his toes and my face and my DH's back(he was trying to sleep haha) for about an hour!! I just ignored him, very hard to though cause I swear he said Mum!! Hopefully he sleeps better tonight! Sending sleep vibes to all these naughty babies!!!

*Good Luck*

Becca - I have started her on rice cereal just once a day and she really doesnt eat that much of it- maybe one or two teaspoons. I really didnt want to start her on anything else til she is 6mths. Its so weird - she has been waking between 1-3 times per night for the last 2 mths or so but she has always just gone straight back to sleep - so this is all very new and we are at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Hey Tan. Did you try to feed Izzy for reguarly today? Let us know if it helped at all. Fingers crossed our babies get out of this phase before we lose our minds.

Well not too bad last night! Up at 11 fed back to bed spent quite a while just patting her and bawling my eyes out - in the end I got her up and fed again (not sure how long later - maybe 20-30 mins?) and then fed again and she went back to sleep. So about an hour all up :crossfingers: it will stay at an hour or less again tonight. We have our first swimming lesson today so hopefully she will be exhausted!

Hi Tanstar

My baby is much younger than yours (three months old) so this may not be relevant at all but I can certainly relate to a baby who wants to play in the middle of the night!

I guess my theory is that it's OK for her to be awake and want playtime as long as she's not crying or otherwise being too demanding. That sounds awful I know! What I mean is, if she is lying awake in her cot but quite happy gurgling away and talking to the shadows, then I'm quite happy to leave her be rather than trying to get her to sleep. The more I fuss and pick her up and rock her, the more agitated she gets.

For her day sleeps I now put her down a lot more awake than she was a few weeks ago. So rather than rocking/patting her into a light sleep I whisk her off the moment she looks sleepy. I think that's got her used to being in her bassinette/cradle when she's wide awake and she's happy to stroke teddy/suck her thumb until she goes to sleep. So then if she's awake during the night that's kind of normal rather than scary for her to play by herself for a bit.

Hope that makes sense!

An hour was a great improvement tan. Fingers crossed that it keeps improving each night and you are both getting a full nights sleep in no time. Sending you heaps of hugs for your tears last night. Wish I could give it to you in person :(
Have a blast at swimming today. I give Livvy a feed as soon as we get home and then it's straight into bed and she had the biggest sleep (usually 3 plus hours) as she is exhausted so it is always my sleep catch up arvo. I love thursday! Have a fantastic time and I hope you both love it. Let us know how you go.

Awww Tan, big *hugs*. For Izzy to only be up for an hour last night is a great improvement! Like Dan said, hopefully it will keep improving night by night so you will both be back to your old ways of getting a full nights sleep. I'll be around most of the day if you feel like a chat! Take care hun, you're doing a great job :hug:

Hi Tan :D

Pip was like this a little, and he started wanting to sleep on his tum. He'll now sleep OK on his back if I'm holding him, but putting him into his cot, tum's the only way to go. As he's able to roll, he moves onto his side etc.

Another thing is maybe put a toy in her cot? I have a big cube with handles and rings etc on it, it keeps him amused and he often falls asleep clutching it. Also when he wakes in the morning, he'll play for a little while by himself. That's in addition to wrestling with his bear :D

good luck!

Hi Tan. Oh, I know how you feel. I was up with Natalie last night from 3:30am til 5. She just cried and cried, poor pet.
Just wanted to send you a virtual hug and hopefully last night's shorter stint means things are improving. I'm afraid I don't have any more suggestions for you, as I just stand and pat too.
Hang in there. Things will get better!

Tan, I just realised that I have a book called 'Sleep Right, Sleep Tight' that was written with the help of Tweddle. I can loan it to you if you want?!? Not sure if it will help but it might be worth a shot?!? PM me if you would like it ;)

Thanks everyone for your advice. Seems that she wants to play with us - not on her own :doh: so even if we leave her awake she cries until we step in the room and then is fine. I really am going to work on keeping her night feeds very quiet and dark (which they have been) and Im going to move my feeding chair back into her room for feeds so I dont even come out into the lounge - just feed in her room and straight back to sleep.

Dan - I fed her after swimming just now but am worried about leaving her to sleep for too long in case it completely throws her out of whack.... She went down at 430 ( her normal nap time) and would normally sleep for 1 hour - Im gonna give her til 6 then and start banging around near her room :lol: Will see how we go!

Hope tonight is better for you all, Tan.

Well still up for over an hour each night over the last 3 nights. If she was just happy to play and lie there that would be fine, but I have to either hold her or like last night I set up camp next to her bed so I could snooze in between patting her. I tried to crawl out (you would have loved to be a fly on the wall - our floorboards are horribly creaky so I looked hilarious) but I got to our room and she started up again, knowing that I wasnt there. In the end I fed her for the second time (1 and 15 mins from the first feed) and she fell asleep again :rolleyes: Im not sure how long I can sustain this but also dont know what my options are really. In my sleep deprived state I was thinking about all the CC books I was going to google, which in the light of day is NOT what I will do - but thats where my mind was going :( Arrgghhh I know it could be a million times worse but for us who had an 11 hour a nighter and then a feed to sleeper - we feel like we have a newborn again!