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Sleep issues all of a sudden. Please Help!!

FinallyMrs.GFinallyMrs.G
in Babies: 6 - 9 Months

DD has always been a great sleeper, started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. At 6 months she started getting up once a night, no biggie at all considering how good of a sleeper she had always been in the past.

Well, the past few nights have been a nightmare! She gets up 3 times a night. Last night she was up for 3 hours straight. The first two hours was her screaming, I rocked her and put her back in her crib probably 15 times, (I've had success with the "pick up, put down" method) I did let her CIO a couple of times for 5-10 minutes as well and she got so pissed off she threw up. Finally once the third hour came around I got her up all together to play. She was the happiest baby around at that point. She actually played for an hour before going to sleep.

I know getting her up was probably not the best but I was at my wits end, seriously, I was almost to tears. She is learning lots of new things right now and I'm sure that has something to do with it but what gives?? I need some ideas!! TIA

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Re: Sleep issues all of a sudden. Please Help!!

  • SapphireKat18SapphireKat18
    Could be the milestones affecting her sleep. Is she teething? She could be waking because it's uncomfortable to be lying down. Maybe try Tylenol if so?
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  • cndmexbabycndmexbaby member
    At 6 months old my baby went from sleeping 7-8 hours straight then eating for 10 minutes and going back to sleep to waking up 3 times a night. Now it is 4 times a night with a 12 hour stretch. I have no idea why. BUT she does go straight back to sleep with my help. So it is probably a phase, hopefully shorter than the one my baby is going through. Nights are hard but I am thankful she goes back to sleep. Staying awake for hours in the middle of the night would be hard BUT I am sure it is temporary. She cannot do that for very long, she will be too tired. I would not let her nap longer or go to bed earlier - you might continue the cycle.
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  • TXBaby2TXBaby2

    There may be some ladies out there that don't agree with this, but have you tried putting rice cereal in LO's bottle?  I was originally opposed to the idea, but several friends told me it was the only way they could get their babies to sleep through the night.  Maybe your LO is going through a growth spurt and needs a few more calories to make it through the night?  Despite whether you're BF or FF, you could use a bottle for that last feeding...

    We had issues with DS - he slept like a CHAMP from about 6 weeks old, then all the sudden started waking up around 6 months old.  We started putting about 1-2 tablespoons of cereal in his nighttime bottle (you need to use a larger nipple), and his sleep issues disappeared. 

    It may be something else (teething, seperation anxiety, etc), but figured I'd offer up what worked for me.

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  • cndmexbabycndmexbaby member
    imageTXBaby2:

    There may be some ladies out there that don't agree with this, but have you tried putting rice cereal in LO's bottle?  I was originally opposed to the idea, but several friends told me it was the only way they could get their babies to sleep through the night.  Maybe your LO is going through a growth spurt and needs a few more calories to make it through the night?  Despite whether you're BF or FF, you could use a bottle for that last feeding...

    We had issues with DS - he slept like a CHAMP from about 6 weeks old, then all the sudden started waking up around 6 months old.  We started putting about 1-2 tablespoons of cereal in his nighttime bottle (you need to use a larger nipple), and his sleep issues disappeared. 

    It may be something else (teething, seperation anxiety, etc), but figured I'd offer up what worked for me.

    Studies have proven over and over again that solids and cereal in the bottle don't help babies STTN. It was just a coincidence. Also it is not recommended because it is a choking hazard. 

     https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html

    A little more about feeding baby cereal from a bottle...

    Doctors and other experts recommend that you never give baby cereal in a bottle unless recommended by baby's doctor for a specific medical condition. Here are some of their reasons:

    • It is a choking hazard.
    • The cereal takes away from the amount of milk in the bottle (adds carbohydrates and dilutes the nutrient density), and baby may not get adequate milk volume for proper growth and development.
    • Baby is being given a higher concentration of calories without being able to regulate her own intake. This can lead to weight problems in the future.

    If baby?s doctor suggests thickened feedings for reflux, consider asking about alternatives, as many doctors question this practice and it has the potential to cause more harm than good.

     

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  • themissizzthemissizz
    I feel like the queen of this advice - but have you been to the pedi lately to rule out an ear infection? The only thing I notice when my LO has an ear infection is that he wakes up several times throughout the night. Laying flat causes more painful pressure in their ears which will cause them to wake more frequently.
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  • dlstammdlstamm

    I don't have any advice because we are going through this too.  DD slept through the night from 6 weeks on, but when she hit 6 months stopped.  She wakes anywhere from 3-5:30 am.  I started giving her a bottle because I thought maybe it was a growth spurt.  She will take the bottle and go right back to sleep thankfully.  She will usually sleep until 8ish now instead of 6:30.  She is also teething and learning to crawl, so I'm wondering if that's contributing.  I never thought about an ear infection.  I used to get them all the time when I was little and teething.

    Good Luck!

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  • nursecramernursecramer member

    I disagree with PP who said don't put LO to bed any earlier. When is bed time for you now? We had a similar pattern with DS: always slept great, then started waking at night, more and more frequently. I read some advice that said try putting to bed earlier, aiming for around 6pm. I was hesitant, because when his bed time was 8 or 9pm and he was waking at 1, 3 and then up for good at 5-- I didn't want him up for the day at 3am! But within two days, DS was sleeping in until 7-- no night time waking.

    The theory is that they gradually fall more and more behind on sleep, and the cumulative sleep loss makes it difficult for them to stay asleep (their body goes into a high alert emergency type reaction to the sleep loss), so they start sleeping worse and since nothing has really changed, it seems very out of the blue.

     

     

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  • FinallyMrs.GFinallyMrs.G
    imagenursecramer:

    I disagree with PP who said don't put LO to bed any earlier. When is bed time for you now? We had a similar pattern with DS: always slept great, then started waking at night, more and more frequently. I read some advice that said try putting to bed earlier, aiming for around 6pm. I was hesitant, because when his bed time was 8 or 9pm and he was waking at 1, 3 and then up for good at 5-- I didn't want him up for the day at 3am! But within two days, DS was sleeping in until 7-- no night time waking.

    The theory is that they gradually fall more and more behind on sleep, and the cumulative sleep loss makes it difficult for them to stay asleep (their body goes into a high alert emergency type reaction to the sleep loss), so they start sleeping worse and since nothing has really changed, it seems very out of the blue.

    THis is interesting. Maybe we will try this tonight. She usually goes down at 8:00 and is up at 4:00 to eat but I dont want to feed her at night anymore either.

     

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