11 month old waking up 4-6 times every night

[Baby Makes 4]

I am exhausted.

Lily goes down to sleep easily at 6:45. I can put her down awake and walk away and she just goes to sleep. She does this for naps as well.

She doesn't stay asleep and wants to be nursed back to sleep every time she wakes up. On a GOOD night she will wake up at 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 and 6:30. We get up after the 6:30 nursing.

On a bad night she wants to stay latched onto the breast from 11:00 or so until it's time to get up. If I pop her off she freaks out.

Her crib is in our bedroom but DH and I have taken to sleeping at least part of the night in the living room on the couch because if I am in the room she wants to be in bed with me. Squirming. Nursing. Playing.

There is no possibility of her having her own room and I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm burnt out and I have 2 other children so I can't sleep when she naps during the day.

DH travels for work and is only home to help me 2 nights a week. Last night Lily cried in his arms off and on for 4 hours while I slept in the living room. I desperately needed sleep and I know she was just mad, not actually hungry.

Baby Whisperer (which worked a charm for my middle son) didn't help at all despite a month of effort.

Any thoughts?:yawning

[Kailey's mom]

My dd did this! I thought it would never end, but it of course did LOL. Lot's of new developmetal milestones going on, it's a phase

[Anastasiya]

My ds - 9.5 months - is doing this now.

Wish I knew how to help. In the meantime, many hugs.

[babybirkel]

my son will be a year old on 1/18 and this is exactly him. exactly.

he will go to sleep easily and on his own at 7pm on the dot and for naps.

but he wakes up every 2 hours. all night. i don't even think he is hungry...i will nurse him but he just comfort nurses. he also eats loads of solids during the day (we do BLW)...

i was just about to get on here and talk about how i am losing my freaking mind over here but it is somewhat comforting to know that i'm not the only one.

hugs to you. i'm right there with you.

[penstamon]

: We should almost start the Sleep-Deprived tribe.

I wish I knew something to tell you, but your good nights sound like mine. Its just so hard. If it seems to help to use a paci, you may consider it. I know some people are against it, but if one helped my DS sleep I would do it. I hope that your DD grows out of this soon.

[nisafiin]

Originally Posted by babybirkel

my son will be a year old on 1/18 and this is exactly him. exactly.

he will go to sleep easily and on his own at 7pm on the dot and for naps.

but he wakes up every 2 hours. all night. i don't even think he is hungry...i will nurse him but he just comfort nurses. he also eats loads of solids during the day (we do BLW)...

i was just about to get on here and talk about how i am losing my freaking mind over here but it is somewhat comforting to know that i'm not the only one.

hugs to you. i'm right there with you.

this is our situation almost exactly...DS (almost 9 mos) goes down pretty easily for naps and bed- we do story, nurse, rock and then I lay next to him in bed until he gets himself to sleep (usually 10 minutes or so). Then he's awake every hour or two. While DH and I are still up. And after we've joined him in bed. Everyone around us is pushing CIO, moving him to another room, etc. But honestly if he won't sleep long periods while he's alone in the big bed (like before DH and I come to bed) why would he do it in a different room?? And I just can't get my head around letting him CIO. It seems to me if he's crying for me, he needs me and I can't see letting him deal on his own and crying and crying and then possibly shutting it down after he figures I'm just not coming for him...
what the heck IS the answer??? ger.

[Roxswood]

Time is the answer. My second dd was just like yours at 9 months. My first was much worse (a good night was her only taking an hour of nursing to fall asleep in the first place and then waking every 45 minutes until we got up for the day, PLUS she only napped in my arms and only for 30 mins once a day). Its harder with subsequent children I understand because I struggle with dd2 as well but having been through such a bad sleeper I know it will sort itself out. dd1 is 5.5 years and she's been sleeping through the night since she was about 3.5years. I know dd2 will improve slowly and I can wait. In the meantime I take turns with dh on his days off to go back to sleep in the daytime if at all possible.

[engineer_mom]

So similar to us!
Except my DD doesn't fall asleep easily and we aren't nursing anymore so she likes her paci. For the first wakings we just put the paci back in her mouth and she goes back to sleep. She's been coming into bed with us around 3:30/4am only to whine and roll around.

My first was like this, but we nursed and once he came to bed with us for a feeding he wouldn't detach. ugh. pantley pulloff didn't work most of the time.

We've been struggling with sleeping for about a month now (she'll be 1 yr in a week). We had a nice month or two where she was great during the night.
I just wish I knew when this would end. For me, I remember 17/18 months being really tough for my first.

[Baby Makes 4]

Well, I'm sorry you're all in the same boat as us but kind of glad I'm not floating out here all alone. I suppose time will fix this eventually. My two boys were good sleepers so this is all new to me.

[Queen of my Castle]

I'm in a similar situation- my ds is 10.5 months. He's always nursed through the night; naps well and goes down fine, just been wakeful at night. I have his crib side-carred to the bed.

I'm considering trying to move him to a playpen in another area of our loft bedroom. Sometimes I feel he's dependant on me to fall back asleep (although after nursing he falls alseep very easily) and I'd like to try having him spend part of the night farther away from me. I'm wondering if it's 'time' for us to make a change. I'm tired. Some nights are better, I feel better the next day, but some days and nights are brutal and I get angry. It's winter here- dark and cold and I'm home alone a lot with 3 kids.

I think back to my firstborn who slept great from 2 months on, and I remember being so happy; I was so in love with him and I just felt on a high all the time- motherhood was amazing. I'm committed to meeting my youngest son's needs, but I wonder if the tradeoff of cranky, tired, depleted mama is worth waking many times per night to feed out of habit.

I might make some gentle changes to see what happens.


Sorry my post was about me!
I guess here's my suggestion- I'm considering moving him temporarily and partly through the night to his own sleeping space- a pack and play in our ensuite bathroom. If he sleeps for even 1 longer stretch and joins us in our bed later, I'll consider it working. Could you do the same? Don't you feel even 4 or 5 hours would be heaven?
And from there; to the other kids bedroom? My older two sleep very well together!

[Baby Makes 4]

Well, we found a solution. We moved out.

DH and I took some money out of savings and bought a really good futon for the living room. Lily goes to sleep in the crib in our bedroom and we sleep on the futon. She is sleeping much, much better now.

On a bad night she will go down around 7, want to be nursed at 11:30pm and 4:30am and get up at 6.
On a good night she goes down to sleep at 6:45, cuddles in bed (in the bedroom) with me from 4:30-5 and then I pop her back in her crib, go back to the living room and she sleeps until 6:30 or 7.

It's great. Our bad nights now are better than our best nights were a month ago. I miss my super awesome bed in the bedroom but I am getting so much more sleep and Lily is getting more sleep too which has made her even more fun to be around.