January 2016 Moms

Baby waking up shortly after bedtime

My LO is 9.5 weeks and in the last two weeks has started waking up anywhere between 20 and 40 min after being put down for the night. Varying the time he goes to bed, how much time he's napped, and how soon before sleep he eats a full meal (BF) seem to have no effect. I normally nurse him back to sleep for 20 min or so, but don't love this pattern. Last night I let him cry for a while (he just got more and more worked up until I couldn't take it) and tonight I tried sitting near him and helping him keep a pacifier in his mouth. He took it and sucked for 15 min or so but did not fall asleep. Eventually he had had enough of that and started screaming. Once he falls asleep the second time he is out for several hours. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to help get past it? Google has failed me. 

Re: Baby waking up shortly after bedtime

  • My LO was doing this regularly for a while, still does it occasionally. I find if I hold her and rock her a little longer she will usually wake up a bit and feed a few more minutes then fall asleep for the night. For us, she just wasn't in a deep enough sleep yet (even though she seemed very asleep and moving her to the bed didn't wake her).
  • denaeb said:
    My LO was doing this regularly for a while, still does it occasionally. I find if I hold her and rock her a little longer she will usually wake up a bit and feed a few more minutes then fall asleep for the night. For us, she just wasn't in a deep enough sleep yet (even though she seemed very asleep and moving her to the bed didn't wake her).
    I think that may be going on here too. I was folding laundry in his room after I put him down last night and his sleep did not seem deep before he woke up, even though he had seemed totally out. I'll try giving him 10 more minutes before transferring and see if that helps. Thanks!
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  • This is my life. I keep seeing and hearing "put her down drowsy, not asleep."  if my daughter isn't in a really deep sleep she wakes right up every single time. She needa rocked and snuggled for a minimum of 30 minutes before i can even think of putting her down
  • This is what happens with my LO too. For about the first 30 minutes to an hour at the most; she's up and down. I used to leave the room and get all exasperated by it (because I'm so tired) but now I just plan on it being the way it is for now. I know every night I will have to resettle her a couple times. I usually hang out in the room and play on my phone on TB or FB until it's done. The way I see it is it's just a phase soon it will be something else. Seems like with all my kids the one thing I can depend on is that as soon as I think things are settling into a pattern, they change ;-)
  • SBH041815 said:
    This is what happens with my LO too. For about the first 30 minutes to an hour at the most; she's up and down. I used to leave the room and get all exasperated by it (because I'm so tired) but now I just plan on it being the way it is for now. I know every night I will have to resettle her a couple times. I usually hang out in the room and play on my phone on TB or FB until it's done. The way I see it is it's just a phase soon it will be something else. Seems like with all my kids the one thing I can depend on is that as soon as I think things are settling into a pattern, they change.

    I don't know why I can't type out of this text box, but I know just what you mean. When I go in expecting him to wake up it's much less frustrating! I now know not to sit down to dinner the minute I put him to bed :) Attitude makes a world of difference. 
  • @mamadcb I know what you mean! When I have my attitude right it helps me immensely! It's those times when I have expectations that are let down that I feel the worst. I guess I need to constantly remind myself to expect the unexpected :smile: 
  • This sounds evil but I started some sleep training with keeping my little one up near bedtime with lights on bright. then when I am ready I lower the lights, massage and feed him. it usually helps to keep him down for a least 3 and a half hours.
  • Well tonight I held him for 5-10 minutes longer than usual and thought that had done the trick because at one hour he was still sound asleep. ... but then he woke up 15 minutes later screaming bloody murder which is very out of character. After I picked him he spit up a fair amount, though, so I'm left to wonder if he would have stayed asleep had he not needed to spit up. Two other things were different tonight too: he went to bed later, and his daytime naps were longer. So who knows. We'll mess with the variables again tomorrow. 
  • We have a white noise function on our mobile that has been a godsend. It's on a 30 minute cycle, and goes from babbling brook, to heartbeat, and then to soft windchimes. I can put LO down sleepy, and by the time the heartbeat function hits, she's settled. She does squirm, and look at the light on the mobile prior to that, but she's calmed enough by the sounds that she doesn't freak out.
    The other thing we have to do, is put a blanket over her legs. She hates being swaddled, but is a kicker, and will kick herself awake if those legs aren't weighted down a bit. (My SO and I are both like that, too.) Luckily, she's in the room with us, so I can monitor that while she's asleep.
  • This happens with us too. She will stir and wake 30-45mins after going down but then will sleep for five hours. It makes sense, because by the time I feed and change and rock her, it is about two hours since her last feed. A lot of sleep schedules recommend that last dream feed so I grab her right away and nurse and she goes back down easily. Like many others, expecting it and having the right attitude has led me to not get frustrated with this new routine.

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