Hourly or more waking.

[sk8boarder15]

My son wakes every hour, sometimes sooner. Doesn't matter if we're co-sleeping or if he's in his crib. Most nights its every hour exactly, with 1 or 2 slightly longer (about 2 hour) stretches in the early morning) this is killing me. If we are co-sleeping I just switch sides latch him on and go back to sleep, or at least I used to. Now when he nurses, he doesn't latch as well and its uncomfortable, and he pinches my breasts. Drives me crazy, so I have to get him back to sleep, unlatch him, then I can go back to sleep. 

If he's in the crib, I have to get him out, rock/nurse him, then try to lay him back down without him waking up. Nothing seems to work with this baby. He's almost 9 months old and has NEVER slept well. I'm going crazy and need help. 

[gemasita]

We are going through this right now too. I guess it's the 4-month sleep regression.  I have unresolved bf'ing pain so I, like you, can't fall asleep while nursing.  It sucks...I'm literally awake all night.  Wish I could sleep through the nursing.

[Strong Mama]

Whats his day sleep like? And food regime?

[sosurreal09]

I am sos sorry to say this but some kids are horrid sleepers! My DD NEVER slept well I tried so many different techniques! I tried the baby whisperer even! Not one thing ever worked EVER. Now at 20 m/o she STTN well half to 75% of the time BUT we always have at least a couple days a month that are horrible.

Last night from 2am-5:30am she was up every 30 mins!

Also it never mattered if she was in a crib or co-sleeping...so we co-slept and still do for convenience!

[expat-mama]

Just wanted to chime in with some support and hugs. It IS so hard and you are a great mom for trying your best to comfort your LO and deal with it!

My DS went through a LOOOONG phase of waking (more often than) every hour. He's just shy of 11 months and I think we are getting over this hump...FINALLY. He was always a crappy sleeper too. Just last night he had two four-hour stretches of sleep (then was up 3 times from 4-6am )- I think those are the longest stretches he has slept for since he was 8 weeks old! Seriously! He still has bad nights but it IS getting better.

I would look into all the old culprits - environment, teething, diet etc. But he is also at a rough age for sleep anyway so it's probably just that. 

The humidifer seemed to help my DS lately.

I think all we can do is believe and KNOW that it will get better. He won't be waking up every hour of the night until he goes off to college! It'll end sooner than later... this is what I'm counting on! I think we are almost there.

Hang in there mama, you can do it!

[D_McG]

I had to stop nursing at every waking to get us out of that rut.  It's easiest to tackle in the early night, when they are sleeping and you are not (for us, 7-10/11pm).  Either I responded and did everything BUT nurse or DH responded.

Actually, with my first I would go and sing and if he was getting more worked up I'd nurse him (after a certain amount of time).  If he was calming down even a tiny bit I would keep singing.  Gradually he started to calm down most of the time and then stopped waking.

With my second, I was sometimes working at night so she had to deal with DH.  

Anyway once I got them to realize that they actually could wake up and go back to sleep without nursing, they started to wake only when hungry.  That, I could deal with.  

With my first I didn't start until sometime after a year.  With my second I started at 6 months 

[sosurreal09]

I agree with PP that if they are waking every 30 mins you don't have to offer a boob every time. However I think NWs are less about the fact you are BFing and more about the child. I have some FF friends who's kids had the same sleep patterns as my EBF kid. My BFF's DD is 3 months older than mine and she is 2 y/o and still not STTN! She is up every few hours or every hour some nights...she was strictly FF and stopped getting formula at night at 6 m/o and stopped it all together at 1 y/o so she's not waking for milk just an array of other reasons...

[ellairiesmom]

I am ready to fall over right now...DD2 is 16 mos & hasn't slept since she was 5 mos.  We are losing it here.  I had posted in another thread & tried lots of different advice but she throws a crazy fit if I don't just let her latch on & stay there.  And I have never been able to sleep with them latched on.  She has started hitting me & will throw herself all over me if I try & comfort her any other way.  The past week or so she started to say Mommy & Mama & she will sit up in bed & just scream it until I give in.  It's a good thing she is really cute...

I try & keep it together & remember that DD1 wasn't that great of a sleeper either, wanted to nurse so much all night & then magically, a little past 2, we moved her into her own bed & room & she started sttn soon after.  She sleeps 12 hours most nights now.  I have hope...

[sk8boarder15]

Last night started out awful. Waking every 30-60 mins. Then at 3:30 he woke up and started screaming, DH tried to rock him to no avail, so I took him and he nursed for a few mins, but then started screaming again. Gave him tylonal just incase it was a tooth or something. But he screamed till 4:30 when we turned on his faveorite song (Baby, by Justin Beiber... For real) when he clamed right down. So we laid him in bed between us with the music playing and he passed out and then slept for several hours..... Crazy. 

[sosurreal09]

Kids relief has homeopathic teething stuff that works great if you are interested http://kidsrelief.com/ (we avoid tylenol all together)

My 20 m/o DD has teeth coming and going through some developmental stuff and has been waking at night randomly and nursing 2 HOURS straight every morning (like 4 am) for 2 weeks!!!!! I feel like I am going to drop dead.

LOL about Beiber

[carmen358]

I went from having a 5-6 hour stretch sleeper for the first 7 months to a 30-45 minute all night waker....DD is now 17 months and this past week (knock on wood) is finally starting to sleep 3 hour stretches again.

One thing you could look at is allergies. Is your DS eating many solids? We cut out soy/dairy/gluten (I have a gluten allergy) and saw some improvement. However, we slid back into poor sleep (not as bad as the 30 min. wake up times but still...). I stopped drinking caffeine a week ago and that has been followed by better sleeping every night. I have NO idea if the two events are connected but they might be. Anyway, my point is, you could look at your own and your DS's diet and play around to see if you see any change...?

[elisheva]

I know pps have suggested it but I'll echo: teething. It always takes me a few nights to recognize the pattern. IME, kids can have teething pain even without the bump on the gums/red gums/feeling of a tooth cutting, etc. We tried homeopathy for teething but it never worked for my kids. Infant advil works like a charm.

[JTA Mom]

Naps. Naps. Naps.

I find that getting the baby to nap well=better nightime sleep.

Right now is a hard time developmentally. Still, use whatever you have at your disposal to get your son to nap. I do car rides, stroller walking, back carry in the mei tai, etc. Even if it's going into a dark room and letting him play for an hour while you rest at the same time each day.

He will eventually start napping. The thing is at this age, they are mentally growing so fast. They are making connections faster, learning more complex physical actions. It's almost as if all that mental energy overstimulates them.

Also, good herbal ideas are things like giving him a bit of chamomile tea before bedtime. Not ounces and ounces of it, you don't even need a bottle. E hates bottles, but will willingly drink from a spoon. Chamomile is very mild and relaxing.

When you get up with him, do you talk, bounce, turn on lights?

I found that if I kept night time and naps as boring as possible (no lights, barely any talking, no bouncing/moving about), in a few days, both boys would wake up less frequently. If there's nothing going on, then they aren't really missing much, kwim?

And huge huge hugs! Sleep deprivation is tough! Shoot, it's used as a torture technique by the US Army. Be gentle with yourself.

Ami