Help!!! My baby wakes up every two hours at night!!! :(

i know this was a few weeks ago buuuuuuuuuuuuut.. my god! after saying my baby sleeps all night guess what?! she has started waking about 3-4.30 hungry. she will take a whole bottle. ive upped her solids intake and she is teething. is there anything else i could be doing other that waiting for this phase to pass?? she is 6 months old. Very tired and grumpy (me not her!)

HelloAgainKitty - he does seem to be dribbling and pulling at his ears, I ruled out ear infections as I just got him checked last week and he seems very happy and content when he is up. I have an amber teething ring around his chest as it is meant to have anti-inflammatory properties which are meant to help with teething but not totally eliminate the pain. It could actually be that. At this stage, I am just giving him what he wants at night, I just don't want to fall into the feeding to sleep trap. I am trying to structure his day a bit but at night, I just assume if he's up, he wants to feed and then straight back to bed. I guess if he gets really grizzly, I could try Calpol. Just a silly question, is Calpol paracetamol for babies? I am guessing it is. We don't have Calpol back home but might be called something different. I had this problem when my DS was 3months...it was allergies...for a month this went on...then between 5 and 7 months he slept through most nights or wakes once maybe for a short period of time...BUT then the u know what hit the fan and on the day he turned 7 months he started waking up every 20min to an hour and when he slept he was tossing and turning..i went crazy....a week later i felt a tooth...then he started having diareah........anyhoo long story short this went on until a week ago...so in total 1 month 3 weeks......so i know how u feel! It usually is something if he wakes up so often, I believe, it might be that winds are bothering your baby again, for some reason while teething my DS had much more winds...maybe all the drool they swallow..all i know is i used these meds and they all helped , they didnt fix the prob but they all helped: teething gell, Nurofen for babies and Calpol (i switched as i didnt want him to get use to one) and then buscopan when he was pulling up his legs or crying at night and i could see it is his digestive system...U know, I must tell you this, i made peace with the fact that I m gonna have a long stretch of sleepless nights, and once I got to terms with it, although still hard, i handled it better...i stopped fighting against it as it made it worse...THE GOOD NEWS is that it will get better eventuallly, but maybe get your DH to alternate evenings, so one eve you do the getting up and one eve him...My DH actually bought us one of those wonderful big lazy boy chairs or also called recliner chairs and PAN Emirates next to MOE when myt son was born because he had reflux and I sat up with him for an hour after each and every single feed for months.....night times included...maybe get urself one of those...if you know he is gonna wake up so often, let him sleep on you while you sit in the chair, i GUARENTEE you you will get more sleep in...only until he settles again...lots of moms m ight say its creating more problems later with him sleeping on you but it didnt for me, my DS sleeps just fine in his cot also, and last night actually had a full eve's sleep!!! Was heaven. I believe u should do what helps now not later, as now is when u r going nuts and now is when u need to get sleep in to just feel normal again...... good luck and know that i totally know how u feel......it is hard and no one could understand that has not experience this before....good luck!

Hi, my little girl is 4 months and she has been sleeping through the night since last 5 weeks. However for a while she would be extremely agitated in her sleep for some reason and I could not figure it out for weeks. She would wake up everynight .. then brought her to doc in dubai but no one could tell me ..I then went home and saw a pediatrician - the issue was that she was drinking too much in one go and therefore started having her lining inflammed as it was still immature. So i ccut the milk to two thirds but feed more often and she has now settled donw. I also found out that if i take her from her cot and sleeps with me - she sleeps like a rock - so i guess sometimes they are cold :)

Is it a new thing? Mine slept beautifully until just after 5 months when he could (and did) roll over in the night. He followed a similar pattern to yours for around 6 weeks and it was torture, but he grew out of it without intervention. Re; waking screaming, mine would do this sometimes if the room was too hot, it was like he was having little night terrors. If the boob calms him down I wouldn't neccesarily bother with panadol/pamol/calpol but if he wakes half and hour later or won't settle back to sleep even with feeding it makes pain/discomfort more likely and it might be worth a shot. As said below, certainly in our case, even large volumes of solids did not make him sleep more, its unlikely that 2 hourly waking is due to hunger anyway tbh unless your LO is not feeding during the day.

How long do you let him be grizzly for? I know I created a monster with DD when she was that age - she'd wake up and the first peep I was there boob at the ready. Eventually it became a habit, rather than letting her self soothe and roll over and go back to sleep I'd feed her and she'd expect it. After a while I let her moan (not cry) until she went back to sleep. Only when she really needed me I'd go to her. BUT she woke up x 2 a night until 14m. Just want to add that there is no correlation between solids and STTN despite what people say.

gosh - reading what you guys are posting doesn't half take me back... and look, I'm still here and still sane (just about)! At the end of the day, we/ you just need to do what you need to do to get yourselves through the day and through the period of not-so-wonderful behaviour. Coping strategies, lateral thinking, gosh, let it all come out! Marmarina, the waking up screaming thing is bugging me a little bit though... my DD will still wake up badly from a nap when she still has one, but for a little'un to do so consistently is a bit strange imo. Try giving him a dose of paracetamol before he goes down for a nap and see if he sleeps for longer and/or wakes up better. I'm always shocking when it comes to working my way through the "what is wrong with you list" and nearly always forget that paracetamol is often a very good last resort! When I was a zombie shadow of my usual self, it did get to a stage where DH had to step in - he would take charge of both children for the couple of hours between when they woke and when he had to leave for work, giving me an extra 2 hours of snooze time, which wasn't strictly speaking enough, but allowed me to at least get up and put the kettle on for coffee. Despite my experience, I don't think dreamfeeds and/or formula make a jot of difference to night waking. DS was eating huge quantities of solid throughout the day (more than his big sister, like main course, yoghurt and then 2 bananas for dinner), would sleep from 19h until the dreaded 1h/2h slot and then wake. I actually put it down to thirst and the breakthrough was when I started putting a sippy cup of water in with him in his cot - I would hear (and see) him wake, drink sleepily and then lie down again... so actually, maybe the sleeping through bit was simply that I no longer woke when he did and he just got on with it on his own! lol! Zzzzzzzzzzz! As for daytime routines... my trusty and very sensible health visitor in the UK once told me not to worry about daytime naps, because young children will move and drop them and by the time they're 3, they won't usually have a regular daytime nap at all... however, they will still have to go to bed, so crack the bedtime routine, set the foundations of good sleep habits (babies feeding in the night is normal and not a Bad Habit) and the rest will fall into place.

Hi Marmarina, I also have a 5 and a bit month old and just cant get her to nap through the day. Its my fault not getting her into a daytime routine but have a sucessful nighttime routine. Just started solids and she also just got her 1st tooth. our typical day (now ive got my butt into gear with a daytime routine): 6/7 wake up 5 oz milk 7.30 porridge 8 put to bed but will fight sleep for around half an hour 9.30 wakes up 9.30 - 12.30 we generally go out somewhere (awake the whole time 7 oz milk around 10.30) 1pm mashed banana (or similar) 4-6 oz milk put to bed at about 1.30ish but will fight sleep for half an hour again 2-4 sleeping 4-7 play (5oz milk) 7.30 bath, 7oz milk 8pm BED! Its working for us so far (apart from today when she rolled onto her belly in her cot in the afternoon nap and cried inconsolably when she couldnt roll back). She, like your boy, is a hungry baby. Looking at it written down im thinking she probably gets too much milk (formula) but as HAK said its maybe more of a thirst thing than a hunger now we have introduced solids.

marmarina, Goodness, you do sound like you are in the same position as me. I have been back in the UK for 2 months so there seemed little point in busting a gut trying to get her into a routine if things were constantly changing. Also, I am doing everything I said I would never do: she has been sleeping the bed with me, I feed her to sleep most times, no routine. I am amazed at how different a parent I am with the second child. Lack of sleep has a lot to answer for! Like HAK said, I do feel (hope) like it will at some point end (it did eventually with my DS) so I am not too bothered - it just gets to me sometimes and I am really crabby first thing in the morning (poor DH is really getting it in the neck at the mo). I have suggested to DH that he takes both children in the morning so I can catch up on some sleep on the weekend in the hope it will make some difference now that DD doesn't seem to need feeding every couple of hours. Hopefully you will get to that point to as your DS gets a little older. It is only now at 7.5 months that she can do this.

HelloAgainKitty - he does seem to be dribbling and pulling at his ears, I ruled out ear infections as I just got him checked last week and he seems very happy and content when he is up. I have an amber teething ring around his chest as it is meant to have anti-inflammatory properties which are meant to help with teething but not totally eliminate the pain. It could actually be that. At this stage, I am just giving him what he wants at night, I just don't want to fall into the feeding to sleep trap. I am trying to structure his day a bit but at night, I just assume if he's up, he wants to feed and then straight back to bed. I guess if he gets really grizzly, I could try Calpol. Just a silly question, is Calpol paracetamol for babies? I am guessing it is. We don't have Calpol back home but might be called something different. calpol is baby paracetamol :)

yeah... DS used to wake every 2 hours from 1h in the morning... until he was 11 months old. Gosh, I was really a zombie then! I also had a 2/3 year old not in nursery! There are so many things that you could try... or not. I just rolled with it, knowing that I had all the right things in place (he could get to sleep on his own just fine, had great naps, ate like a trouper, was putting on weight well) and that he would change eventually, which he did. Went from waking 3 times at night to sleeping from 19h until 7h... overnight. It could also be that he's teething. He may not seem ill, but teeth seem to rummage around a lot before appearing, so if he's dribbling, pulling at his ears or anything else, then that could be a sign. Have you tried just giving him some Calpol? I also tend to take the stance that if they're waking, it's probably for milk, because it's also a drink... not just food. As for the daytime naps... it could well be that he just has short naps... which is fine.

Hi shjbelle, I am giving some formula in the day now. She was refusing it until very recently. I have been too lazy to do formula at night but I will try to give that a go now. I keep wondering about doing a formula dream feed at 10.30/11 (when I say me, I of course mean my DH!). I'll give it try. Thanks that's what time i give DD her dreamfeed.. just b4 i sleep at 11 pm.. :)

Hi shjbelle, I am giving some formula in the day now. She was refusing it until very recently. I have been too lazy to do formula at night but I will try to give that a go now. I keep wondering about doing a formula dream feed at 10.30/11 (when I say me, I of course mean my DH!). I'll give it try. Thanks

Pancake, i know you would prolly like to exclusively bf ur LO which is fab!! but I started DD on formula only at night around that age, so that she's fuller. :)

what is your routine for bedtime? DD is nearly 1 yr and her routine has been the same as before. a lil dinner, bath, and oiled down. do you swaddled your LO? DD was swaddled til she was 7 mnths, to prevent her sudden jerks which will wake her up. I know some mums will say oh my lil one is strong and her hands will come out blah blah blah.. DD was the same. so when i give her night feed, i re swaddle it back. I also give her the dummy and my used pyjamas so that she can 'smell' me.

Hi, I am in much the same situation. My DD is 7.5 months and wakes at least 3 times a night, usually 4 to feed (bf). She is on 3 solid meals a day but it hasn't made any difference. Unlike my DS, she has no routine other than bedtime and now meal times (although they can vary depending on what we are doing that day). I cannot seem to get her into a napping routine although recently she will usually go for a nap about 2.5 hrs after waking in the morning but other than that, nothing else you could call a routine. Like you, I am absolutely exhausted. I have spent too much time today getting cross with my 3 yr old DS because I am so tired. Poor boy. The only glimmer of hope I have is that a friend told me recently that her DS did much the same thing until he got to 11 months and then suddenly slept through the night so I am holding on to that for dear life. I live in hope Sorry I can't offer you any advise but I hope it helps just knowing you are certainly not alone!:)

i take it when you say 5, u mean 5 months?