Slowly losing my mind....

Annie_the_nanny

Hello fellow bumpees,

I know it's a constant discussion on the board but I am at my wits end.

My 10 month old hasn't been sleeping at night time for god knows how long and it's starting to driving me up the wall. I wouldn't have a problem with it but I will be returning to work soon and I'm panicking because I don't think I can function on that little sleep.
He goes to bed between 8-830 (I've tried earlier but it does not work for him at all) and has his bottle right before bed and falls asleep on his own really well. He sleeps really well between 8-1130 and then usually wakes up screaming. I usually go in and check on him (although I can see him on the monitor), then he goes back to sleep and he wakes up again around 330am. I have made the mistake of feeding him at 330am just so he goes back to sleep (he's formula fed). I was told they can go without feedings at that age at night time, which I know he can he used to do it lol, but he's like me on the lower end of the scale and I don't want the doctor giving me grief for him being so little again when we go back.
Anybody have any suggestions??

TIA

dovetail223

He might actually be hungry. Not all babies can go 12 hours with no food. If he's eating more than 4oz in that MOTN feeding, I would just feed him and go back to bed.

Is he eating solids?

Annie_the_nanny

Yes he's been eating solids for quite some time now and loves it. Well, I usually prepare an 8 ounce bottle for the night and by the time he gets out of bed to have actual breakfast it's gone. I'm usually on auto pilot and have never really checked how much he drinks at that 330am feeding but it's at least half the bottle, so 4 oz.
I do wonder why he's so hungry though, he eats like a maniac but he also has good naps during the day which sometimes pushes his lunch to the afternoon.

dovetail223

Could be a growth spurt or teething. How long has it been going on?

clnelson8

I was having the same issue with one if my twin girls, I found that when I increased her bottle to 250ml at night time she started sleeping through the night again. I'm using goats milk and supplements in place of formula as my BM wasn't sustaining my girls. Similar to your little one they go to bed around 8:30pm and I give them a bath with toys!!! and while they drink their bottles my husband reads to them. Then they often don't wake till 7am. I do notice that when they are teething or are getting ready sprout again that is when we wake in the middle of the night.

PrimRoseMama

Feed him.

Wait it out.

I know you are tired, but there are adults that don't sleep through the night. :-??

Feed him & cuddle him back down.

cagoldi

It sucks, but getting up just twice a night for a brief feeding is really NBD. I would not consider dropping that bottle, especially if his pedi is concerned about weight gain.

Can you and your SO switch nights? DH and I both work and we've always split night duty since I went back after my leave.

ginandbrian

You need to buy the Sleep Lady Goodnight Sleep tight book. My baby now 10 months used to sleep through the night, was getting pretty good naps during the day, going to bed at 8:30, then all of a sudden around 6.5 months was now waking at 12, 2, 3:30, 5:30 and then 7am every night. We were flipping out and dealing with this every night for close to 3 months until I got the book and started sleep training her. Crying it out never worked, she would just keep crying and crying and it never ended. I couldn't accept that this was they way she was. Babies need good restful sleep and we have to coach them to learn how to be good sleepers. You aren't just a good or bad sleeper. You have to be taught how to be a good sleeper. Or at least this is what the book says and it seems to be working for us. 

How do you put him to sleep? Is he falling asleep on his own? I stopped feeding her a bottle right before bed. I got control of her naps. And then I did the method in the book which is get them drowsy then put them in the crib and wait near them until they fall asleep on their own (meaning no rubbing her back, no rocking, just waiting and shhhing and positive reinforcement). It wasn't easy but she is now sleeping through the night from 8pm-7 am and not waking once. I am no longer losing my mind and sleeping! Good luck you can fix the sleep situation, it just requires some consistent sleep training. 

jennd523

With my little girl her sleep didn't have to do with food too much, as long as she had dinner and a full belly at bedtime it wasn't her hunger that would wake her up. We live in a warm climate but when I'd put her to bed in her onesie she'd wake up constantly. It took bundling her up in a head to toe outfit to keep her to sleep. Started doing that at four months and she'd generally sleep for 9-10 hours. Then around nine months she started waking up again in the middle of the night because of her wet diaper. Getting up and changing it in the middle of the night was a nightmare and just woke her up more. Ended up switching to pull up night time diapers with higher absorbency and she's back to sleeping through the night again. Also we keep her room pitch black and wave music playing through the night which is completely necessary for her to sleep.

Tallulahsmom

I thought that bottles were only good for an 1.5-2 hours after being made. You should be making a fresh bottle each time he wakes. Maybe I am just over protective and it isn't a big deal. Also, keeping a bottle in the crib may give you headaches later.