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MarilynW
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 8:23am | IP Logged
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I am feeling guilty writing this - because I have this wonderful 8 month baby who is a dream baby and angelic during the day - but is Mr. Jekyll at night. He is waking up 6 or 7 times a night screaming - even in our bed - and I am nursing constantly. It is not a hunger thing as he is eating mush 3 times a day, and he only nurses for a few minutes and then goes to sleep. He slept better in the early months. The pediatrician has told us to let him "cry it out" - but I have never had to do this with the other and I am not sure it is the best thing. The sleep in our bed thing is not working, the cosleeper thing is not working and he screams if i try and put him in a crib. I am so sleep deprived - I have even wondered about putting him on the bottle (forget all my Montessori ideals of never even using a sippy cup - I am desperate!!) The odd thing - this is a baby who NEVER cries in the day - the most contented child I have ever seen - so what is it with the night thing. Any advice/prayers would be so appreciated.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 8:33am | IP Logged
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If he's so content during the day and perhaps distracted and not comfort nursing, he may be getting his comfort nursing in at night.
Also, if he's about to start crawling or some other developmental thing, that can make them very restless at night as well. He may need extra soothing to stay calm enough to sleep while his body is changing so fast. My boys always got more restless around these times.
And, he really could be hungry if he's growing, its just that he's not awake enough to fill his belly in a single session and falls back asleep before he's gotten his fill. I think 8 months is still pretty young to expect a baby to never be hungry at night.
My first did and still does wake up thirsty at night--especially in winter. He is almost four, and we still keep a sippy of water with him in bed. My second wets more at night and nurses a lot out of discomfort to sooth himself back to sleep. Oftentimes, if I change his diaper, he settles back down with fewer early morning interruptions.
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Lisbet
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 8:45am | IP Logged
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Marilyn,
I'm so sorry mama. I know what you are dealing with though. MB is 7 months old now, and up unitl about a month ago he was the best sleeper I have ever had. He'd wake to nurse once, get a good fill, and I'd put him back in his cosleeper and we'd be set till morning.
Now he will only sleep latched on to me. If I even try to move him a tad he will wake screaming. I think there is something to what Lindsay is saying about hitting physical milestones because MB is getting more and more mobile each day. He is often to distracted throughout the day to get alot of nursing time in.
I find myself getting up more at night to rock/walk him. I'm fine with nighttime nursing, I actually really enjoy a feed good nighttime feedings, but it's the all night restless latching off and on that I can't handle. I've found that if I walk/rock/sway for a few minutes, he will settle down for longer periods in bed, as long as I keep physical contact with him.
I don't know if any of that was helpful to you, but at least know that I can commiserate, and I will pray for you tonight when I am up with my little guy.
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jdostalik
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 9:42am | IP Logged
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Marilyn,
I've been nighttime nursing in bed for over 12 years and there are definitely stages to feeding patterns...I will pray for you to try and get some sleep and for your little one to settle down and nurse and SLEEP! I know it sounds obvious, but I would definitely try and make sure the last nursing session before he goes down for the night is a calm, quiet and long one...Maybe lie down in bed with him when you know he's ready for nighttime and really tank him up well? If it's any consolation, my just turned 14 month old is waking every hour or so to nurse-- I just yearn to be able to roll over and sleep unattached! 
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kathleenmom
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 10:25pm | IP Logged
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Marilyn,
This is obvious, but sometimes whilst down in the trenches, the obvious totally eludes me.....sometimes an illness like thrush, teething, or an earache is more irksome at night and causes the restless on again off again nursing. My just turned 1 year old busy girl and I just fought off the absolute WORST case of thrush I have ever experienced. I can't believe how sore I was and her mouth must have been excruciating. I was cracked and bleeding and didn't "clue in" until I noticed large blood stains on my shirt front (duh!!) and then probed to find out why and saw the large yucky white spots in her mouth. Nursing hurt. She was a trooper during the day, but tired and worn out at night, she was fretful.
Praying for some sleep for you soon.
God bless,
Kathleen
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 24 2008 at 11:11pm | IP Logged
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along with the one good nursing at night.. you might want to try before he's really ready for sleep. That's about the time mine littles shift from nursing to sleep to nursing and then being cuddled to sleep.
Also several nursing those last couple hours before sleep.. the "tanking up".. with mine it wasn't just a single nursing.. but rather nursing at 7 and then again at 8 and then nursing to sleep at 9 type of thing.
You might need to remove him from the activity to get him to pay attention to nursing. Actually you might do that through out the day and see if you can't get him nursing more during the day rather than making up at night. My first was the most obvious about this.. but her nursing "meals" were nighttime when she was about that age.. she was just too busy during the day for more than a quick reconnect.
One other thought I had.. could the dark be bothering him? he's about the age that my littles do NOT do well in the car at night.. it gets dark before they're ready to sleep and they don't like sitting in the dark and will fuss and fuss and fuss.. we're doing less traveling at night these days so I haven't had to do this for a while.. but when I had long distances to go after dark.. I'd get one of those glo-worm or other doll that the face lights up when the tummy is squeezed and tie a bandana tightly around the middle so that it would be constantly on. Very low light.. not a problem in the car but was enough that the baby stopped fussing... perhaps a low light night light so that baby can see a bit when he wake up would make him less fussy?
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MarilynW
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| Posted: March 25 2008 at 7:57am | IP Logged
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Thanks everyone for the very helpful ideas. I think there is something possible in everyone's ideas - I did give him a lot more to drink with his meals yesterday (yes - diluted pear juice in a sippy cup  ) as he may be thirsty. Also - I carried him around in the evening in the Moby - as he might be needing mom time. Also we went back to a more regular schedule yesterday - he had his morning and afternoon naps. He is suddenly very mobile (out come all the stair gates!) - and this could be a new development stage. Last night he did better - only up 3 times and no screaming. When the weather gets warmer I will walk around with him more - just too cold for me right now to get out of bed!!
Thank you again - I so appreciate the support.
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Pamin OZ
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| Posted: March 25 2008 at 10:18pm | IP Logged
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Marilyn,
you did what I always do- try more than one "remedy" at a time!
My 6m baby is a bit Jekyll and Hyde-ish as well. She's been a terrific sleeper up til now but voom! It's gone! She has also started waking one hour after bedtime every night where before she slept for hours. And she wakes and is restless through the night. I guess I should be grateful I don't usually have to get up.
If I rub Tylenol on her gums in the night, she often settles beautifully which suggests teeth might have at least something to do with it.
One encouraging thing is that her two year old sister has just morphed back into a great sleeper after... oh, maybe that's not so encouraging after all...
Pam
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MarilynW
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| Posted: April 08 2008 at 6:21pm | IP Logged
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Ok - tonight is Night 2 of trying Ferber style solution - pick him up rather than feed every hour - try to break the cycle of hourly feeding. He did well on Night 1 - nursed at midnight and 4 am - the first time I got 2 hours in a row that I can remember. Mama is now desperate to get some sleep. Please pray that tonight goes well too - I am not one to be able to do a "cry out".
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: April 08 2008 at 7:03pm | IP Logged
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Marilyn,
Good luck tonight! Your post reminded me of something I did with my first. To break him of the constant nursing at night, my mom (I was a single mother) slept in my room where the crib was and she responded to his cries. After two nights of being tended to, but not nursed, he started sleeping pretty much through the night.
I am thinking he was about 6 months old. Maybe not real AP, but I think we were both better off with a good night's sleep. He still nursed on demand all day.
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Lauri B
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| Posted: April 08 2008 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
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Could it be reflux? I guess he's a little old for it to be suddenly appearing, though. My Gracie had terrible reflux (only at night!) and I wish I had given her some nice, thick formula before bed to help her tummy. But I didn't. I did cut out milk and all the foods that might cause breastmilk to bother her. It did go away when she was toddling around 10 months or so and was upright all day. Poor you! :( :( :( Lots of empathy and prayers your way!!!
OH - I just thought of it - could it be an earache from seasonal allergies? All five of us are suffering from allergies. Just a thought!
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MarilynW
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| Posted: April 19 2008 at 7:28am | IP Logged
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Thank you all for prayers and advice.
MJ has just had his second night of sleeping from 9 to 8. He has been improving constantly - since we had our "toughen up week". I have been interceding with Saint Michael and saying my bedtime memorare. The main change was to try and stop the constant night nursing - once this habit was broken (he was eating every hour through the night) and we moved him out of our bed to his own bed at the foot of our bed. We only had one really tough night - he cried a lot. And he still takes his morning and afternoon naps - I am making more of an effort to put him down awake so he learns to fall asleep.
It is amazing how different one feels with 5 hours of sleep!
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Baby sleeping problems- happy update
