D Desperate Need for Sleep!!!!

Updated on February 11, 2012
M.T. asks from Eatontown, NJ
4 answers

My 7 month old daughter used to be a GREAT sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old and even sleep trained herself to take naps at the same time everyday. If she is tired and ready for a nap all I have to do is lay her in her crib, put on some music and within mins she is asleep. For the past week and a half she has been waking up multiple times in the middle of the night. THere are a couple things I should tell you about my situation so I can ask my question. Her crib is in our bedroom and has been since she was born. We didn't want her to be in the same room as our 2 1/2 year old until she was about one because I was afraid of this very thing that she would wake up in the middle of the night and wake up our other daughter. We only have a two bedroom condo so there is no other option. She never had a problem sleeping in our room before so I don't know if she is waking up because we come in the room or if it is something else. Also I want to mention that she has a serious case of acid reflux and is on a lot of medication for it.
I took her back to the gastro. this week hoping for some answers but she just told me that some babies just wake up in the middle of the night to eat....sorry not buying. WHy would she all of a sudden start doing it. I also will mention that she is teething and thought that that might be the reason but I give er infant Advil before she goes to bed and rub orejel on her gums. She has been teething since she was 3 months old and she never woke up this much. The only way I can get her to go back to sleep is if i make her a bottle. So yes my first reation was she is going through a growth spurt so I started feeding her more durring the day hoping that would help but because of her acid reflux she just started spitting up like crazy. The Dr. told me not to feed her any more than 5oz at a time of any food. SHe already gets rice cereal in every bottle and I started increasing the amount of cereal in every bottle but that didn't help. i will try ANYTHING at this point. WHat do I do? I need sleep, she is waking up more than a newborn and I have no idea what I can do diferant to get her back to sleeping through the night. PLEASE HELP!!!

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So What Happened?

I used the ferbe method with my older daughter when she woke up in the middle of the night but in this case my husband works VERY long hours and has to be up very early in the morning. He also has a dangerous job and drives in NY city so I can't have him sleep deprived so that is why I am quick to pick her up and try to quiet her so she doesn't wake him up. I can do that on the weekends when he doesn't have to work but durring the week I would be risking a lot. I think I might try an extra feeding and maybe a bigger bottle before bed. She doesn't spit up when she is sleeping. I also tried to calm her down without feeding her but she would not go back to sleep. I would be up for hours every night if I did that. Thanks for the insight. I hope I can figure this out soon. mama needs her sleep.

More Answers

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L.A.

answers from New York on

the advil and orajel you give her before she went to bed probably has worn off by the time she wakes up.
I can't speak to the reflux, but if you feed her in the middle of the night, you reinforce her desire to wake up in the middle of the night.
I would recommend a top up feed before she goes to sleep, then do nothing but soothe her in her crib at increasing intervals until she goes back to sleep. (Dr. Ferber). You will have an angry little girl for 2-4 nights, but you will have your sleeping angel all over again when its through.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

2 moms found this helpful
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C.M.

answers from Detroit on

Little ones change their sleep habits frequently and no two are the same. They go through "grows" at all ages and do need to eat more, even at night. It is not unusual for a 7 month old to wake up hungry. Maybe she just wants her mom. Teething can cause all kinds of things...pain, tummy issues, fever, general crabiness. You might ask the doc if her reflux meds could cause restlessness. Sometimes the side effects of medications are worse than the problem they are taken for.
One more thing, you might try using a white noise machine if you think it might be the noise of you going in the bedroom.

Y.C.

answers from Orlando on

At 7 months you can give her at night other foods with more protein and fiber that keep her tummy full without the need of much milk, like puree (soup) of broccoli and potato?

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C.D.

answers from New York on

hang in there my dau woke up every night till she was 5 yrs old

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