So a few months back I posted a question about a 4 month old screamer. I was told that it was colic, however, I was skeptical. The screaming subsided somewhat. He is now 7 months old and still waking up several times in the middle of the night. His longest block of sleep is a 3 hour window between 10 and 1. He will eat and generally go back to sleep until it is about 4 a.m. then he most of the time will not go back to sleep. The problem is not over stuffing because he is 21 pounds at 7 months and we feed him to the full capacity every night so that he will sleep a good amount of time. We have been to the pediatrician and have been told not to feed in the night, do everything possible to not feed so that he will sleep. She said he will be fussy the first 3 days or so and then he will get better and sleep longer. NOT SO it has been weeks and he is still waking up. He will eat 4 ounces most of the time and then go back to sleep. However, after about 2 though he might drink an ounce and then fall back asleep.He is extremely strong willed. He will not cry himself to sleep, the pacifier only works for the moment. I don't know what else to do so we started feeding him again when he wakes up. This is my second child, first one was an angel slept through the night at 2 months. Can you please offer anything that might help.
Could it be that his milk isn"t agreeing with him? I BF and if I have any dairy, my baby will do the same thing. But if I stay away from dairy, he sleeps all night.
I think you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out a reason for this. It may just be how your child is. Some kids are good sleepers and some aren't. I believe you can do a lot to help your child sleep, but you can not force it. I think sometimes some kids are just not ready to sleep through the night.
I have twins. One slept through the night at about 3 months...the other didn't sleep through the night until he was almost 2. Yes, it was a long two years. We did everything under the sun...every method possible. He just wasn't ready to sleep through the night. It may have nothing to do with the food. I kept trying to feed my son more and he would just throw up.
My 3rd child wasn't much better. She didn't sleep through the night until she was about 15 months. She often woke every two to three hours. What worked for her was giving her a bottle. I know they say not too...but I was so tired and had to do what worked for us. I started watering down the bottle and eventually just gave her water in the bottle. It worked for us. And she is fine now...no teeth problems.
If you ask around, you may find that many babies the age of your son do not sleep through the night. There are some who do and I always envied them. But the good news is that it is temporary. He will sleep through the night. All three of mine do now!!
Good luck and do whatever works best for your family and for you to get some sleep!!
My daughter wouldn't stay asleep for long blocks of time because she had really bad acid reflux. When her sleep cycle entered a light stage the pain from her reflux would wake her up screaming. I would nurse her (which would dilute the stomach acids and soothe her) and she'd go back to sleep.
Once we treated her (we put her on Zantac, got a Tucker Sling which kept her safely inclined while sleeping, and I modified my diet to avoid foods that seemed to irritate her) she was able to stay asleep for longer and longer blocks.
We started treating her at about four months, and then stopped the incline sleeping at six months, and stopped the Zantac at around 8-9 months.
I also recommend putting a red light bulb in a lamp in your child's room, and once you start your bedtime routine only using this light until it's time to get up. We did that from day one for nighttime feedings and diaper changes and that combined with me only providing minimal interaction (no talking, no making googly eyes and smiling even when she was being ADORABLE) at night helped make it clear that even though she was awake it wasn't a time to get excited and jiggly, it was a time to be mellow and sleepy.
I also loved "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and can't recommend it enough.
I'm sorry, but I do believe you are over feeding your son. 21 pounds at 7 months! That's quite a bit. I say listen to your doctor and don't feed at night. It doesn't sound like he's eating much so he's probably not really hungry, but just in the habit of waking up and being fed. Unfortunately, it will take more than 3 days to break this habit, but I fully believe that's what it is, a habit.
I recommend checking out: Healthy Sleep habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weisbluth (spelling?). You did not mention when you start the whole bed time routine but earlier is better (like 7pmish).
could be waking due to bad dreams or out of habit
...just a couple of questions have you tried not going in there at all?
and does he fall asleep to music at the beginning of the night?
I know that a lot of moms will say that it is wrong, but I would try a little rice in his night time bottle. What is he eating during the day? Does he eat solids? How much formula does he get during the day and how often. My daughter is 10 months old and she gets 4-6 ounces of formula 3 times a day, fruit and rice in the morning, veggie and rice for lunch, and then meat and yogurt for dinner. She also gets a night time bottle of about 8 ounces. She had a couple of nights of not sleeping through the night, so I put about a tablespoon of rice in with her formula and she slept like a charm. You can talk to your doctor about it, but I know that some of them frown on this as well. I listened to my mom about the rice thing. Good luck and I hope he sleeps for you soon!!
C.
have you tried to feed your child rice cereal before bed??? That usually helps a child sleep through the night for most people I feed my child rice cereal and give him a nice bath right before bed!
I would feed him when he wakes up. I know it's hard.
I would also keep the room dark. Use a dim light.
Change his diaper (he could be waking from a cold, wet diaper too) ever so gently, quickly, quietly,
And feed him.
Keeping the room dark, movements quiet and quick. Lights low.
If he's teething, give him some infant tylenol for regular teeth or infant Motrin for molars a half hour before bedtime.
All this should help. I know you're tired but this stage will pass soon. Make him comfortable. Btw, the peds always seem to say don't feed/pick them up. I feel sorry for their kids. :(
