Why does DS wake up 4-5 hours after bedtime?

Mrs.K&C

Really, it's like clockwork. He's always been rather inconsistent with sleeping (was STTN by 4 months but the last month or so has been waking up quite a bit) but this is an every night thing. 11:30pm, wide awake. Sometimes upset, sometimes playing. Always takes a while to fall back to sleep.

We've been trying to sleep train using Feber's progressive waiting this week, and it's not looking too successful at this point. I can't figure out what is going on with this 11:30 thing.

mommy2jay

does he get fed when he wakes up at that time?  i know some babies get in a habit of waking at the same exact time every night if they know they get milk.

hope its just temporary and that he is back to STTN soon

m&m818

Is he asking for anything? What's his dinner/bed time routine like?

futrkingsley

He's 8 months old?  What happens when he wakes up?  Does he get milk/fed then?

I know that during that period, DS was a crap sleeper.  Ha, surprise, right?  LOL.  But the bad sleep parts are notoriously (and developmentally) 4, 6 and 9 months I think.  And I remember 9 sucking hard.  But 8?  I got nothing.

 

soon2Bkranz

I have the same feeding questions...also teething or any milestones happening?

Mrs.K&C

Nope, no feedings. He hasn't been fed at night since he was about 2.5 months old. Sometimes he wakes up and is just partying...making lots of noises and wanting to play. Other times he wakes up and cries (like last night). Even though Ferber says it's a no-no, I did give him his pacifier and he immediately went back to sleep. Woke up his usual 5am-ish.

His bedtime routine is just his bath, bottle and bed. We try to keep him up so he's awake when we put him down but he often falls asleep because he's a crappy napper. We are trying to get his nighttime sleep nice and solid so we can make some progress on his horrible, non-existent naps. The kid is pooped. 

My.ABC.Life

Mrs.K&C:

His bedtime routine is just his bath, bottle and bed. We try to keep him up so he's awake when we put him down but he often falls asleep because he's a crappy napper. We are trying to get his nighttime sleep nice and solid so we can make some progress on his horrible, non-existent naps. The kid is pooped. 

I have definately heard "fix the names, fix the STTN" theory.  Any chance of working it that way?

soon2Bkranz

Hmmmm no idea really but I know for Jonathan nap dictates nighttime. Could you work on naps first?

Also yea its a ferber no no but for both of my kids the more sleep means...the more sleep later and so on...So I would go in for awhile to do my best to get him "caught up" then deal with the sleeping through later on...

Mrs.K&C

He is just so, so bad at naps and not so bad at night (not great, but not as bad as naps). It feels like we have tried everything with naps with no success. DD was a text book Healthy Sleep Habits kind of girl - totally routine, very scheduled, all about the right timing. DS? I have no clue. Nothing seems to work for him. Any nap suggestions???

My.ABC.Life

How old is he?  What's his current napping (or non-napping) schedule?

m&m818

A couple of things that come to mind

- Is he getting enough "dinner"? Is he getting solids at dinner time? How many solids? He's 8 months? Right around that age is when we made dinner exciting and started some finger foods at dinner. That wore DD out and she'd be out for the night.

- Maybe try changing the time he's going down? I found when I tried 30 min before or 30-1hr after DD's normal bedtime... that she'd be back to STTN.

- Sometimes there would just be days when DD would wake in the middle of the night. If she wasn't sick or in pain... I would just let her work it out and not go in.

 - Did he start a new milestone recently?

At that age, we were moving on to an "extinction" method for any sleeping issues. It would be a painful 2-3 days but resulted in longer naps and STTN 12-14 hours again.

SarahCee

DS started having night terrors around 10 months. It was always around the same time every time. He was never really awake, but I could sneak his binky in and he'd go back down. Some nights were easier than others. It was definitely because he was overtired. We ended up adding the second nap again, most of the time it's just some quiet time, but it's really helped.

Mrs.K&C

My.ABC.Life:

How old is he?  What's his current napping (or non-napping) schedule?

Doh, didn't notice my tickers had expired. That's weird.

Anyway, he's almost 8 months old. Nap schedule? Ha ha ha. On the weekends we do try for the nap after being up 1.5 hours, so his early morning one is typically around 8. But he rarely sleeps more than 30-45 minutes and often doesn't fall asleep at all.

My.ABC.Life

Mrs.K&C:

My.ABC.Life:

How old is he?  What's his current napping (or non-napping) schedule?

Doh, didn't notice my tickers had expired. That's weird.

Anyway, he's almost 8 months old. Nap schedule? Ha ha ha. On the weekends we do try for the nap after being up 1.5 hours, so his early morning one is typically around 8. But he rarely sleeps more than 30-45 minutes and often doesn't fall asleep at all.

I think 1.5 hours is a good time line for that age.  Do you feel like you have a good idea of his sleep signs?  I'm guessing that if he's not taking naps at all... he's already over tired (that's what happens in our house).  I would probably start off by "forcing naps" - rocking, etc.  Good luck Katie.  Sleep is so hard.

jsugrin

The 4-5 hour time frame for nighttime sleep is a big transition time.  In the hours prior to that they are cycling between light and deep sleep really quickly, I believe it's every 30 min and then at that 4-5 hour mark they have a more significant "arousal" as Ferber calls it and it's pretty common for kiddos to wake up because they come closer to being awake naturally at that time frame.  I'll find the book after we eat dinner and get back to ya.