night waking- not sure why or what to do

[lizajane]

our super sleeper has begun a night waking habit. he was sleeping 12 hours, 7-7, for a few months. then his first two teeth hit. we had about 2 weeks of night waking with the teeth. they came through and all was well again. then we tried solids again. we had cause/effect night waking. if he ate solids, he woke up. so we stopped that, and he slept again. then we went on to tooth number 3, and number 4 is still lingering.

so he has been waking up now for about 6 weeks. it was twice a night, and now seems to be once/night more often than twice. usually between 3:30 and 4:30am. tooth three has come through, about 2 weeks ago? 3 weeks ago? but tooth 4 remains a swollen bump in his gums.

he has not been exhibiting teething behavior, so i don't think the night waking is the tooth. we JUST started solids again, so i don't think it is the food this time.

i think he might actually be hungry, in which case i want to feed him and satisfy his hunger. but i fed him 2 ice cubes of pears last night about 2 hours before bed. then i bfed him before bed. then i "woke" him up at 11pm to "dream feed" him. so i just can't see how he was hungry at 3:30am this morning after ALL that food. i wasn't under the impression that he had a tummy ache. especially because he woke up on cue, and not a few hours after he went to bed (which is what happens when he has solids related gas pain).

SO. should i give him mylicon in case it is gas and see what happens? should i give him motrin in case it is teeth and see what happens? should i have dh feed him a bottle of ebm and see what happens? should i offer him a few ounces of water and see what happens? should i comfort him and then try CIO (not opposed to some CIO if he is not in pain/hungry).

the ONLY thing that gets him to stop crying right now is nursing. not necessarily a feeding, but nursing. dh is NO help. ZERO. he just screams and looks at the door, waiting for me to come in. i am tired and i want dh to take a turn!! i want the waking to end if it is not hunger!!

thanks for any tips.

[cchavez]

I feel for you and I wish I had some answers. I bet you must feel so frustrated. You have worked so hard to get him to sleep thru the nite and were successful w/ it for sooo long. Diego is doing ok at nite but naps are horrible and I think what makes me feel worse is that I have tried so hard to help him sleep....never running around during naptime, keeping the intervals of wakefulness short, etc and it seems as if my efforts have all been for nothing.

I feed Diego when he wakes up at nite (if it is only once...which it typically is) but you might want to try cio if you know it is not related to pain/hunger???

Keep us posted! GL!

[nitaghei]

It really sounds like teething pain, if he's comfort nursing, and DH can't console him. If it's teething related, definitely try the Motrin. If the Motrin doesn't work, I would try the Mylicon.

We're dealing with teething and the ear infection from h*ll (third round of antibiotics starts today), and Neel's waking up a minimum of 6 times a night, and nursing is the only thing that comforts him.

Hopefully, this too shall pass!!

(I'll be dancing with joy if Neel drops back to 2 night wakings!)

Nita
mom to Neel 01/05/03
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[lizajane]

thanks for the support!! i think i will try motrin tonight and see how it goes. he was acting crazy today so i think tooth 4 may be getting really close. PLEASE let it come through so i can rule out teething!!!

[McQ]

Hey Liza ~ how'd it go last night?

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[lizajane]

last night was pretty good! he woke up at 11:15. i really don't think he was hungry, so i gave him some motrin. i rocked him for a while, and he just stared at me with big open eyes, sucking his thumb. so i let him nurse for a few minutes, and bonk, he passed out. i have a vague recollection of hearing some crying later in the night, but if i fell asleep- it must have stopped right away! then he didn't wake up again until almost 7am! i am tempted to wake him a little at 10pm and give him some motrin to see if that will take him all the way to 7am. the tooth is really swollen. i hope it comes out!!! i think it may be the culprit.

thanks for asking!!

[nitaghei]

Liza,

Sounds like the Motrin worked! :) Teething is SOOOO hard. Hope this ones comes out soon.

Nita
mom to Neel 01/05/03
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Liza, Tristan's sleeping pattern changed about the same time. He still is in bed with us so I just roll over in my sleep and feed him and he's back to bed while feeding, but he is waking up way more than before. I have no advice and look forward to seeing what others write but wanted to let you know T is doing the same thing, age about the same, teeth issues similiar...and started on solids...
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties