6 month old waking up every hour. Please help

[lilikoi]

My DD used to sleep 5-6 hr stretches until she turned 4 months old and all went to hell. I read a lot about sleep regressions and developmental changes that happen during that time, so I wasn't worried. Yeah, the lack of sleep was horrible, but I thought I could just wait it out (at that time she was waking up every 2 hrs). At five months she learned how to roll around and since then she wakes up every hour. I thought she would start sleeping longer again because she mastered rolling. Now, she doesn't roll anymore at night (wakes up on the same position). I nurse her back to sleep in about 15 minutes at the time. I can't nurse her laying down bc she has a high palate, so I have to be awake waiting for her to fall asleep.

Is this normal? DH and I are so so tired. I keep telling him it will pass, but he thinks it is something that she learned and needs to change. My MIL even suggested CIO which I told her we are not doing. Off course DH feels pressured to do something about it because it has been impacting the way we function. Please tell me it will get better! Is there anything I can do?

Thanks :)

[northwoods]

Somewhere around 6 months, we went through a stretch where DD was waking up all the time. It was killing me, and lasted maybe a month. And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I didn't change a thing.

I wish I had advice, but all I can say is that I feel for you! And it will pass. Eventually!

[lkvosu]

I think we do ourselves a disservice when we think of babies' sleep as progressive or linear. It's more cyclical, I think. Ds is nearly 9 months and we've gone through quite a few sleep phases already. They last a few weeks and then something new starts. Each phase is different, but not necessarily better than the last. In fact, he slept best during his first few months!

Babyhood doesn't last forever, even though it sure feels like it. It will get better eventually.

[lilikoi]

Originally Posted by lkvosu 

I think we do ourselves a disservice when we think of babies' sleep as progressive or linear. It's more cyclical, I think. Ds is nearly 9 months and we've gone through quite a few sleep phases already. They last a few weeks and then something new starts. Each phase is different, but not necessarily better than the last. In fact, he slept best during his first few months!

Babyhood doesn't last forever, even though it sure feels like it. It will get better eventually.

I don't think of sleep as linear. I was prepared for sleep regressions and rough nights, but two months with very little sleep is taking a toll on me. I can't focus and work has become very difficult. I was hoping there was something I could do to help DD wake up less. Just listening to other people telling me that it will get better helps a lot. I see a light in the end of this tunnel. 

Originally Posted by northwoods 

Somewhere around 6 months, we went through a stretch where DD was waking up all the time. It was killing me, and lasted maybe a month. And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I didn't change a thing.

I wish I had advice, but all I can say is that I feel for you! And it will pass. Eventually!

Thanks for the reply! I thought that by waiting it out things would resolve and she would be up to her next phase, but the lack of sleep got to me and I started wondering if I could do something about it. :)

[Virginia884]

Have you tried side lying recently? DD has a high palate that caused nursing issues as a newborn, but now that she's bigger we do much better.

Does your DC take a bottle? Could you and DH switch off shifts of sleeping and baby caring?

Good luck!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[newmamalizzy]

Maybe you need to change up your sleeping situation.  DD's 4 month issues calmed a lot when we started putting her in the crib.  At about 6 months, she started having lots of little health problems that affected her sleep, so she started sleeping in bed with me again and THAT really helped.  Moving to a much earlier bedtime (5:30 - 6) helped, too.  I guess what I'm saying is that when DD's sleep undergoes a major change, it often requires a major change in order to fix it.  It never hurts to think beyond the solutions you have in mind...

[abbymelody]

Wow, your situation sounds exactly like mine. Its week 6 of my now 6 month old waking up every hour. At first I thought it may have been teething (she is showing all the symptoms) but now I'm not so sure. Should teething last this long? Then I thought it may be gas. I went a few days without giving her solids and she was still the same at night. My little one did give me 5 straight hours of sleep last week. I was thinking great, she is back to her old self. I tried to do everything the same the next day and night but to no avail! LOL...Now I'm going with the flow. I am exhausted but have faith she will find her way. Its comforting to know I am not alone. How is your LO doing now?

[lilikoi]

I also thought it was gas, then I thought it was teething, but nothing has changed. She still wakes up every hour (sometimes every 30 minutes). It has been horrible. I am so sleep deprived. I read the No Cry Sleep Solution again and I am trying to make some changes, but my gut feeling tells me there is no much I can do. The worse thing about the whole situation is family pressure. Everyone has their own opinion on how we should be dealing withe the situation. Hope things improve for both of us soon!

[OkiMom]

Developmental milestone maybe? Has he started to crawl or babble more? Whenever one of mine went through a developmental leap we had issues with sleep for several weeks to month. Then it got back to normal.

[KateDavies45]

Originally Posted by newmamalizzy 

Maybe you need to change up your sleeping situation.  DD's 4 month issues calmed a lot when we started putting her in the crib.  At about 6 months, she started having lots of little health problems that affected her sleep, so she started sleeping in bed with me again and THAT really helped.  Moving to a much earlier bedtime (5:30 - 6) helped, too.  I guess what I'm saying is that when DD's sleep undergoes a major change, it often requires a major change in order to fix it.  It never hurts to think beyond the solutions you have in mind...

same here, when my dd hit that 4 mo sleep regression we went about three weeks with no sleep with her thrashing in bed with us, once we moved her to a crib she was fine. I guess she was just telling us that she needed her own sleep space.

[BabySmurf]

how is your DD nursing at night?  is she eating a full meal EVERY time? Is she snacking? nursing just until let down, then pulling off? if you can figure out a pattern to her wake ups, you may be able to change your approach at certain times.  (i.e. try to get more calories in her during the day, nursing her ONLY when she's hungry at night, and trying a NCSS technique for the other wake ups)

have you started solids? DS was kind of weirded out by how his belly felt once he actually started to ingest a little food (and it actually took a lot less food than i would thought to make a difference). maybe she is allergic to something? gas? DS will toss and turn and wake up a lot for HOURS before he is able to get his poop out sometimes. we've been dealing with a food allergy, and when his belly feels okay he will go two 5-6 hour shifts, otherwise he still wakes up every couple of hours from teething, or a mental leap, or a learning a new physical skill.  there is always SOMETHING that is disrupting him it seems. i actually think there is a mental leap every couple of months according to the wonder weeks book.  so she could have gone from the four month to learning to roll over to the 6 month or something like that. 

if you've ruled out all of the external reasons why she may not be sleeping, then all you can really do is wait it out....and try to cherish this time even though it's REALLY hard.  Six months was the point where i started to realize just how fast time is passing. 

i hope things improve for you soon!

[lilikoi]

She started waking up all the time at 4 months. I was traveling with her and I could hear her rolling inside the portable crib right before she woke up. I think it started because she was learning how to roll. The thing is, it hasn't stop since. I don't hear her rolling over anymore. She wakes up crying already. I stopped eating dairy and soy thinking it could be a food allergy. When she wakes up, she will nurse for about 10-15 minutes. She won't let me put her down until she swallow quiet a bit. I know she is not falling asleep on the boob. When she is done nursing in the middle of the night, I put her down and she falls asleep. Is it possible she is really hungry every time she wakes up? She nurses every hour and a half during the day and has been doing that since she was born. Had a lot of issues with nursing in the past that seen to be solved now. She is gaining well and doing great overall. The only issue with this hypothesis is that even when she wasn't gaining weight (at times between birth and 4 months), she was sleeping 5 hours straight. I don't know 

[BabySmurf]

maybe she just has a lot of catching up to do?

i'm not sure!

i've heard that babies can get into the "habit" of waking up often, but i'm not really sure that's always true - i woke up every two hours until i was two (according to my mom), and continued to wake up a lot at night, even now.  the doc at the time recommended giving me benadryl to make me sleep through sleep cycles and keep upping the dose until it worked. at quadruple the dose my parents gave up...and i still woke up.  i just needed security, i guess.  if you are able to put your DD down awake and she falls asleep on her own, she probably really does need the nourishment at this point - otherwise she would probably just be able to put herself back to sleep during the night.  it sounds like you are doing everything you can!

[Greenlea]

My son woke up ever hour at 6mths and it lasted for a while too, and he was eating alot at night too.  And he wouldn't let me feed him lying down.  I actually had to sit up and feed him, it was exhausting.  Then it just stopped.  I sumed it up to maybe a growth spurt.  Now, at 9 mths, although he still gets up to eat at night, he will eat lying down again so its not so rough on me.

It may just be that your DC has not learned to soothe herself back to sleep.  So my DS wakes up at night still quite a bit, but about 1/2 the time he will get back to sleep on his own.  I am doing some parts from the No Cry Sleep Solution, and it does work.  But you need to be consistant and it can take some time.  Good luck!

[farrell]

hi just been reading your thread. i see it was a few months ago...what happened? i'm going through exactly the same now and am so tired. having a terrible time and just don't know what to do 

[jksmith]

I've been going through the same thing for 5 months now... since he was 5 1/2 months old. The No-Cry Sleep Solution arrived today from amazon so hopefully it will have some answers for me!

[lilikoi]

Hi, OP here. My DD is 10 months now. She still wakes up a lot. Most nights she is up every hour, on good nights every 2 hrs. But now she is able to nurse side lying and I am more used to it. It is amazing what you get used to. I am still very tired, but not as bad as when it started. Everyone told me it would stop happening, but it hasn't. I hope things change for you. I tried the tips on the NCSS, but nothing really helped and it ended up being a lot more work for me trying to implement things in the middle of the night, so I am just going with the flow and hoping things will change eventually. 

[tracyamber]

okay, i was reading the thread because we are going throught he same thing. in fact, our little guy has always waken  every hour...sometimes every half hour. sleep deprived until i could side breastfeed. now i am still tired but no as bad. oh, he is 7 1/2 months. i keep thinking it will get better but it's always been this way. first i thought it was acid reflux but when we got that under control he still woke up. then i thought"okay,teething" nope still wakes up. the only thing that keeps me going is ,will he be doing this still at 10 years? probably not. okay 5 years? possibly but he'd have his own bed by then and own room ...hummm 2 years? maybe..okay then i have only 1 year and a half to go. not so bad. he does take great naps though.

[jksmith]

Originally Posted by tracyamber 

okay, i was reading the thread because we are going throught he same thing. in fact, our little guy has always waken  every hour...sometimes every half hour. sleep deprived until i could side breastfeed. now i am still tired but no as bad. oh, he is 7 1/2 months. i keep thinking it will get better but it's always been this way. first i thought it was acid reflux but when we got that under control he still woke up. then i thought"okay,teething" nope still wakes up. the only thing that keeps me going is ,will he be doing this still at 10 years? probably not. okay 5 years? possibly but he'd have his own bed by then and own room ...hummm 2 years? maybe..okay then i have only 1 year and a half to go. not so bad. he does take great naps though.

I agree. I would totally just tough it out if I could continue to be a SAHM. But I have to go back to school in January and he will have to be able to fall asleep for people who can't breastfeed him : )

I have been working with the No Cry Sleep Solution for a bit now, and the ideas seem to be working. So you might want to give it a shot if you'd like a bit more rest.

[newmamalizzy]

Originally Posted by jksmith 

I agree. I would totally just tough it out if I could continue to be a SAHM. But I have to go back to school in January and he will have to be able to fall asleep for people who can't breastfeed him : )

I have been working with the No Cry Sleep Solution for a bit now, and the ideas seem to be working. So you might want to give it a shot if you'd like a bit more rest.

You know, I've seen a lot of people on this board mention that their LO actually falls asleep and sleeps better for people who CAN'T breastfeed them, and that their babies are more receptive to alternate methods of falling asleep for other people, even though they still insist on BFing with mom.  (Sorry, run-on sentence).  So, you may not need to worry too much.