Need help with 6 month old baby waking hourly

[Erin Koalska]

Hello-

I have a 2.5 year old girl and a 6 month old baby boy. We are cosleeping with our little guy. I lie down with him in our bed and nurse him until he falls asleep. I then have a few hrs to catch up on laundry/emails/cleaning until I go to bed around 10 pm. He is then pretty much nursing hourly. I'm exhausted. I am working 2-3 days a week outside the home. I feel like I am falling apart and I don't know what to do. I am not comfortable letting him cry. This arrangement is not working so well for me though. During the day, I either lie down with him until he is asleep, or he naps in the ergo.  I don't know what other cosleeping parents do and don't know anyone in the area who cosleeps who I can talk to.  I feel so cranky and awful. I feel like a disaster all day long and feel like a danger on the roads.

He has not started solids yet, I was waiting until he could sit up on his own.  He is starting to crawl a bit this week and is drooling/likely teething.  Perhaps these things are contributing to his wakefulness but I am not sure. He has been nursing about 4 times per night since birth. (I nurse him on demand during the day too).

Thanks very much-
Erin

[Asiago]

Did you just begin working outside of the home? If so that may account for it.

If not then he may be working on a developmental milestone and in need of the extra nourishment and nurturing. It does sound like a temporary change though, given his normal night nursing pattern.

Hopefully he will return to his regular pattern soon. Hang in there.

[dot1]

exactly what my first dd did around that age.  Lasted until 10 months when she finally learned how to fall asleep without a boob in her mouth (or being carried in wrap, ergo, etc).  All babies awaken every 45-60 min or so....and some can fall asleep again more easily than others.  If it's not teething, etc, the consider it could be a very strong sleep association.  The No Cry Sleep Solution has some very useful info on understanding infant/toddler sleep.  Didn't work 100% for us but it did help quite a bit.

[Mama2ChicknLil]

It could be a growth spurt...six months is a pretty standard one. If it is, then this will all be temporary!!! If not, I'm interested in some ideas too, b/c I'm dealing with the same thing with DS. I've manged to get him to go to sleep around 9 (instead of 6, which he started doing once the time changed...grrr), but I still need to lie with him or dh has to bounce him. Durig the day I will transfer him to his swing with a paci (yep, I've had to give in on some things I was staunchly against before having a baby). At night though he will go down, and sleep a lon stretch (in which I too am doing stuff) and then want to nurse every 1 1/2 hours. I feel your pain mama.

Lets hope it's a temporary growth Spurt!!

[yell]

My dd did this at about 4 mos for maybe a week or 2, but while I was going through it, it felt like 3 months.  Then, as quickly as it started it stopped.  I also work outside of the home 3 days per week.  I never let her cry it out, but I didn't feed her every hour, I would put her back to bed other ways when she woke up.  My only advice is COFFEE and lots of it!  That is the only way I survived that time period.  It will end, just like every other baby phase.

[askins]

OP, my DS has done the exact same thing for about a month (he's 7.5 months).  I am coming to believe that it is going to be a situation like dot1 had where he does this until he stops.  I also work outside the home, and I'm EXHAUSTED.  I cherish the nights that he wakes every 2 hrs instead of every hour.  No advice, just total commiseration.  You are not alone.  We'll make it through somehow... and then someday, they won't do it anymore. 

[Erin Koalska]

Thank you so much for all the support. It honestly is a life saver to hear other women having this same experience.  Most people I talk to about this look like I have a 3rd head and ask why I haven't let him cry-it-out yet....  I have no friends in the area who are interested in attachment parenting so it does feel quite lonely.  Every morning I tell myself that this is best for him, but somehow I wonder about the rest of the family. :) Someday these babies are going to sleep through the night and we'll miss these times I am sure.  Thanks again for the support. Happy Holidays!

[root*children]

I am feeling for you and living in the constant exhaustion, too!  DD is 9 months and has been waking up hourly since birth.  Sometimes in the dead of the night (around 2-4), I'll get those 2 hours of sleep uninterupted :(  She's awesome during the day - SO happy!  And when she wakes up, she immediately falling back to sleep by nursing, so it's not like we're up all night with a screaming babe, but it's still very tiring!  This is not a growth spurt (I guess her whole life has been a growth spurt though :), there's been no routine changes, she hasn't grown any teeth at all yet.  It's just constant.  I'm so ready for sleep!  I thought it would resolve itself around 3 months, then around 6 months, now I'm hoping that maybe at a year it will change? ugh.