9 month old wakes every hour---suggestions?

[Urchin]

Please forgive me, this may be long.

My DD's sleep has been making me tired, cranky and not my usual easy-going self. I desperately need something to change.

My DD was a pretty great sleeper in the beginning. She would wake every 2 hours to feed, then go right back to sleep in her crib. By 2 months she was sleeping 5-8 hours straight. Then at 4 months, things changed. She stopped sleeping, progressivley stopped napping as well and things got worse and worse. She wouldn't go to sleep for anything and would be up until we went to bed.I've been stuggling for 5 months to figure out a "solution."

I tried bringing her into our bed and that improved our situation for about 2 weeks. At first she slept really well...then progressively  got worse and worse. Now she will not sleep in bed with us. She is on and off my breasts constantly. She whines, kicks, screams, cries, rolls, hits and rarely sleeps in bed with us now.  I probably get less sleep with her in bed with us.

About a month ago I finally had enough and began getting her into a bed time routine. It was a bit of a fight at first, but she now pretty easily goes to bed by 6:30-7:00.

So that is a bit of a relief. Now I get a couple of hours to myself in the evenings. This is the best time she sleeps. She usually will sleep from 7- 10 and then wakes up (this is usually shortly after I go to bed :( ).

At first she was doing great with the new sleep schedule. She'd only wake 2-3 times per night and I could deal with that.  But again, things started to progressively get worse again. Every night, she sleeps less and less. Last night, this was her sleep schedule:

6:45- in her crib, asleep.

7:15 - awake. Needed to nurse her to sleep.

8:00 - awake again. Nursed her to sleep.

10:45 - awake again. Nursed her to sleep.

12:00 awake - nursed.

1:45 - awake. nursed.

2:15 - awake. nursed.

2:30 - awake. nursed.

2:45 - awake. nursed ...would NOT go back in her crib, so I brought her to bed with us.

I was awake until 3:45am in bed as she wouldn't sleep, nursed on and off. Whined, cried, fussed.

Then she was up at 6 am for the day.

I'm exhausted. I'm losing my temper with our dog and yelling at him (which I never do).

Even my DD is cranky, fussy and clingy all day.

I don't know what to do. I know she is nursing for comfort, but I don't know how to remedy this. She has a hard time "self soothing" as when she wakes up, she sits up or stands up in her crib and screams until I nurse her.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I can deal with a lot, but I'm having such a hard time with this.

[GoBecGo]

My DD1 was like this.  This is not an "AP" solution i suppose but for us she needed to go into her own room.  At the point when she couldn't hear me or see me, when i wasn't next to her or across the room rolling over and breathing, her little brain just stayed asleep.  If i was near her she woke to feed.  I think it took 4 days of her waking a few times before she began sleeping much better and i ALWAYS did a dream feed around 11pm, right before i went to bed, to set her on.  But she went right to sleeping 8-11pm then 11pm-5am within that first week.  DD2 is totally different and slept really well with us (and luckily sleeps really well in with her sister - DD1 is looking forward to getting her own room as she will sleep BETTER without HER sister!), so i do think it's not one-size fits all.

[Redmom]

Hugs.

My DS has always been a very frequent waker and from memory, 9 months was a horrific time.  It did get a little better at around 10 or 11 months.  Now he's 20 months and still wakes a few times a night but nowhere near as bad as the 8 or so times when he was that age.

A few things:

- Have you read The Wonder Weeks?  There is a well known sleep regression at 9 months, so sounds like bubs has hit this.

- Have you tried getting your partner to rock/cuddle etc bubs back to sleep, on some of the times she wakes? (Sorry I'm assuming you have a partner).  My DS and I found a routine where he rocks/cuddles DS back to sleep until around 2 or 3 am when my DS asked for "boo boo" then I come in and nurse him (or before he could speak, it was when no amound of rocking would soothe him).

- I personally got through this horrific period by my DH and I taking turns co-sleeping with bubs.  DH would sleep with him for the first part of the night while I would sleep alone in another room, then when DS woke and wanted nursing, we would switch.  At least this way each of us got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this.  I know how exhausting it is.  Go easy on yourself during the day.

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by Redmom 

Hugs.

My DS has always been a very frequent waker and from memory, 9 months was a horrific time.  It did get a little better at around 10 or 11 months.  Now he's 20 months and still wakes a few times a night but nowhere near as bad as the 8 or so times when he was that age.

A few things:

- Have you read The Wonder Weeks?  There is a well known sleep regression at 9 months, so sounds like bubs has hit this.

- Have you tried getting your partner to rock/cuddle etc bubs back to sleep, on some of the times she wakes? (Sorry I'm assuming you have a partner).  My DS and I found a routine where he rocks/cuddles DS back to sleep until around 2 or 3 am when my DS asked for "boo boo" then I come in and nurse him (or before he could speak, it was when no amound of rocking would soothe him).

- I personally got through this horrific period by my DH and I taking turns co-sleeping with bubs.  DH would sleep with him for the first part of the night while I would sleep alone in another room, then when DS woke and wanted nursing, we would switch.  At least this way each of us got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this.  I know how exhausting it is.  Go easy on yourself during the day.

Thanks for your response.

I haven't read The Wonder Weeks, but I do remember reading other places about the 9 month regression. For us though, it's like the 4 month regression never ended and just got worse. lol

I would get my DH to get up to help throughout the night, but it's VERY important that he gets his rest. He works with electricity every day and he really can't be tired and groggy at his job.

I've tried doing cuddle and rocks and back rubs but DD usually just freaks out more.

I really appreciate your suggestions.

Last night I pur her to bed a bit earlier, gave her some tylenol (which I never do, but I suspect she may be teething again) and let her go to bed after nursing but still a little awake so she could "sooth" herself a bit.

She slept better last night than she has in ages. Still awake about 4 times, but went back to bed after a little nursing.

Then when I brought her to bed with us at 4:30, she slept PERFECTLY in bed with us and didn't get up until 8:30!! I'm amazed.

It may be a fluke, but I feel better today than I have in forever!