15 week old waking 6-10 times a night

[okinawama]

My 15 week old son goes to sleep in his crib drousy but awake with a paci. He takes decent naps, about 45min-1.5hr about 3 times per day. He goes to sleep for bedtime fairly easy, we feed him, he's EXTREMELY drousy and we don't hear a peep (this time without the pacifier). UP until about 2 weeks ago he had been sleeping from 8:30-4:30, up for a feeding and back down until 7am. In the past few weeks he has started waking every 30-45 minutes from 12am until 6:45. I have tried feeding him, and he'll take a full feeding, but it doesn't curb the wakings at all. I am interested in trying to Ferber method but am concerned that he too young. We are one week short of 16 weeks which is the youngest Ferber recommends starting, is there anyone out there who start Ferber right at 4mo (or possibly a week earlier)? I can do one or two wakings a night, but at this point I'm overtired and so is my son.

* I have tried Baby whisperer and many other "no cry" solutions, and things just aren't getting better.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It sounds like something like an emotional milestone (separation anxiety, for example) or physical, maybe teething (though it may be a bit early for that). Look for any possible physical discomforts such as light (sleeping in the dark, no night light, is ideal), PJs (is there a string wrapped around his toe? uncomfortable in another way?), temperature of the room... It could be that he is learning to roll- that really can mess with sleep till they nail that trick.

I wouldn't do any version of CIO prior to 6m, personally. At this age they just need something and it could be something as simple as food because he is having a growth spurt or the desire to be close to someone.

Beth

[okinawama]

I don't think he's uncomfortable in any way, but I'll look tonight. I thought that maybe it could be a milestone as well, but it's going on three weeks and getting worse.

I really feel I have tried everything, but things just really aren't getting better. Is there anyone out there that has done Controlled crying at around 15 weeks or am I totally crazy.

Also, is there anyone who has had a child wake this often at night that has a success story? I'd love to hear what you did or any ideas of what might be causing him to wake every 45 minutes.

THanks!

[b3cky]

Unfortunately I don't have a solution, but I can tell you my son just turned 16 weeks and started doing the exact same thing! I spoke to a nurse who said the same as a previous poster, that he may be going thru early teething or developmental milestones. Try not to pick him up and feed him unless you really think he is hungry....I also started waiting a few seconds to make sure he is really crying and won't calm down himself. Last night he still woke up every hour, but went right back to sleep as soon as I gave him the pacifier.

[arivecchi]

I tried modified CIO with DS1 around 4 months and with DS2 around 5 months. Worked both times. I know a lot of people here are opposed to it, but if you are comfortable with it and you have ruled out any other possible issues, you can try it and see how it goes. With both of my sons, it took 3 nights of modified CIO and they started sleeping a lot more. The one thing that puzzles me though is the change in your DC's behavior. That does seem to indicate that there may be something else going on here. Mine were never good sleepers to begin with and were still behaving like newborns (waking up every 2 hrs on the dot) and I could not endure the lack of sleep and go to work the next morning. Just my 2 cents.

[misshollygolightly]

DS went through a period like this. We basically just toughed it out for a while and went into new-parent survival mode again, trying to nap when we could during the day. It wasn't exactly fun, but it didn't last forever. DS would take a full feeding each time, so in retrospect, I think it's possible he was having a growth spurt. Some other things we tried that did help (to varying degrees): using a white noise machine in his room; establishing a bed-time routine (bath, pjs, nurse, sleep); occasionally having him sleep in his swing; and once in a blue moon co-sleeping a little (more like I'd drowse as he slept beside me). It also helped that DH would get out of bed and bring DS to me each time to nurse, and then I'd elbow DH when we were done and he'd put DS back in his crib. So even though neither of us got a ton of sleep, at least I never had to get out of bed and DH could doze while I was nursing. Have you figured out how to nurse lying down? That can at least make the whole thing a little more bearable! Hang in there!

ETA: I'm sure you've already tried it, but swaddling helped us a lot!

[srhs]

:hug:
BTDT, but unfortunately I don't have any success tips for you. At 4 mo, though, DS started waking every 50 mins, and it was awful. I will tell you that DH and I really regretted what we did do.....and that was start trying everything we read to comfort him. It seemed the more we did to comfort him, the more soothing he needed and the more often. Each new thing would work for a short time, and then we'd have to find something else.

I didn't try Ferber or any other CIO this early, so I don't know what would have happened.

I would definitely get Weissbluth's book and skip to the section about your DC's age "norm" and work off of that a bit to see what you can tweak in your day.

GL! And hang in there! Keep us posted!

[okinawama]

I just saw this post from a while ago and thought I'd update.....

My son is now 5mo and 3 weeks, and sleeps through the night 7-6ish. We did end up doing the crying it out, but it wasn't bad. The first night he cried for 10 minutes upon the first waking, and then didn't wake until about 3am to feed. Second night the same, and third night same. I can't remember exactly what night the wakings went away, but it was not bad. I think I was going to him too soon, waking him up and creating a bigger problem for myself:)

We now struggle with 38-40 minute naps, ugh! I've been trying and trying to fix it, but no success there!

[arivecchi]

I just saw this post from a while ago and thought I'd update.....

My son is now 5mo and 3 weeks, and sleeps through the night 7-6ish. We did end up doing the crying it out, but it wasn't bad. The first night he cried for 10 minutes upon the first waking, and then didn't wake until about 3am to feed. Second night the same, and third night same. I can't remember exactly what night the wakings went away, but it was not bad. I think I was going to him too soon, waking him up and creating a bigger problem for myself:)

We now struggle with 38-40 minute naps, ugh! I've been trying and trying to fix it, but no success there! :bighand: I'm glad CIO worked for you.