6 month old a horror at night :-(

funkyfifi

Hi guy I need some help!
My little man is 6 and a half months old, he was a good little sleeper up till two weeks ago, he now wakes at least 10 times a night moaning/whinging/crying very loudly in his sleep, his eye are still shut but tosses and kicks about for 20 mins, I have tried let him off but he just gets worse..
Last night he woke at two bawling and never went back to sleep till 4, im at my wits end because Im back to work and cant function coz im so tired!
He has cut his bottom two teeth already so I thought as first it was his top teeth but im putting calgel on an he still the same! Any advice would be very grateful :-)

Jjiipp79

Maybe it's wind, I say give colief a try. Just a few drops in each bottle, it's brilliant.

Jerrica

The "good" news is that this is entirely normal. So many parents find that around the six month mark their previously angelic sleeper turns into a night-time demon. There's so, so much going on in their little heads at that age, they're making some massive developmental leaps forward, and at night-time they don't have the sights and sounds of daytime to distract them so restlessness, crying, and frequent wakings are super common.

The less good news is that there's no one-fits-all way to fix it other than waiting it out, and it will get easier. At the six month stage my baby was still waking hourly throughout the night, I was nursing her so it was usually a case of putting her on the boob and letting her settle back to rest. There were many nights we kept her in bed, rocked her for hours, let her sleep on top of me - we just did whatever it took to let her - and us - get some sleep. It does pass

dori_dormer

Agree with Jerrica, could be wind or cramps. Have you started solids yet? Their digestive system takes some time to adapt or might not be ready yet

funkyfifi

Hey guys I started him on solids at 17 weeks and had no problem, I changed his formula to stage two 3 weeks ago
This is is feeding routine,
8am- 8oz bottle
10.30- ready brek
1pm dinner (blended veg with chicken
2-2.30pm 6oz bottle
5pm tea time Rusk with fruit puree or bed time cereal
8-8.30pm 9oz bottle
He also take a nap in the morning and afternoon and sleep no bother.
When he was younger he had reflux so I used put a gaviscon sachet into his bottle would it be possible this has come back?

John Mason

Perfectly normal. Babies are not designed to sleep through the night despite what social tells us.

There is a major developmental leap at 6 months. My babdook stopped sleeping at 6 months, we are not 14 month, still not sleeping not as bad but he is definitely not a fan of sleeping

spottybananas

Can someone explain to me in the most basic of terms, what does developmental leap actually mean in terms of what's happening the baby, and why it makes them so unsettled and stuff? I see it as a reason all the time but I've never actually seen it explained as to what's happening in their little bodies that makes them so upset and out of sorts. Sorry if this sounds stupid I'd just like to understand it a bit better.

dori_dormer

It's a stage in their development based roughly on their age where they make huge progress, either mental understanding, sequences, consequences of actions, walking, talking etc. it disrupts their sleep as we use sleep to absorb new things and they've a lot going on. Also makes them clingy-er. The wonder weeks app is great if your child fits the schedule.

It could well be the stage 2 formula, I know a few children who it didn't agree with. Try going back to stage one and see if he settles a bit?

John Mason

spottybananas wrote: »

Can someone explain to me in the most basic of terms, what does developmental leap actually mean in terms of what's happening the baby, and why it makes them so unsettled and stuff? I see it as a reason all the time but I've never actually seen it explained as to what's happening in their little bodies that makes them so upset and out of sorts. Sorry if this sounds stupid I'd just like to understand it a bit better.

Get yourself the The Wonder Years app or book.

At 6 months they are learning to crawl/walk/talk/starting solids so lots of new experiences.. They use sleep to process everything they have learnt through the day. so its like really vivid dreams/nightmares. they wake up scared or excited. so they either need comfort or want play and practice their new skills.

Its both a very scary and exciting time for them.


When my 14 month is going asleep at night he practises his new sounds/words - very cute

bp

Love wonder weeks app

spottybananas

I can't get the app and haven't been able to pick up the book yet (am away from home so can't order online for delivery while away). Thanks.

John Mason

spottybananas wrote: »

I can't get the app and haven't been able to pick up the book yet (am away from home so can't order online for delivery while away). Thanks.

There is a FB page as well

funkyfifi

Thanks guys must download the app an have a look! If I change him back to the hungry baby aptimal will he be missing out on any nutrients that are in the stage two?

John Mason

Stage 2 milk is a scam.

they cannot advertise newborn formula, so they came up with the Stage 2 shi.te.

you are better off sticking with stage 1

pwurple

It sounds like a growth spurt/developmental leap alright, which will pass, but you need some sleep too. At night time, I had something like this list of stuff to try, I even stuck it to the wall at one point because exhaustion meant I wasn't thinking straight at all.

Missing soother
Wants cuddles
Too hot
Too cold
Hungry/thirsty (offer a feed)
Nappy change
Pain (deploy calpol or similar)

I'd go through each of those trying to figure out what it was.


Also, get the child's daddy to get his arse out of bed and have a go. It's tough enough if you've just gone back to work. You'll need to hold it together!

ENMcD

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, but doesn't stage one do until 1year old? My phn said to stick with stage one as follow on milk etc was a scam and stage one has all the nutrients required? Maybe stage 2 is too heavy for your baby to digest and if he was ok with one would have there been any reason to change?

funkyfifi

Unfortunately my partner works nights So ain't around to help only on his nights off :-( I just thought you automatically change them at 6 months due to weaning but im going to change him back to his normal formula tomorrow, please god that helps because I dunno what else to do..

Cunning Stunt

John Mason wrote: »

Stage 2 milk is a scam.

they cannot advertise newborn formula, so they came up with the Stage 2 shi.te.

you are better off sticking with stage 1

Agreed. We tried stage two milk but our little lad didnt like it, and seemed hungrier on it. We swapped him back to stage one and didn't bother changing his milk again after that, until he was old enough to move to normal cows milk.

Jerrica

funkyfifi wrote: »

please god that helps because I dunno what else to do..

If it doesn't change anything it's not because you're doing anything wrong, it really isn't. It's just how they are at that age!

The Wonder Weeks explains developmental leaps really well, and they make an analogy that's always stuck with me. Imagine one night you go to bed and when you wake up everything you thought you knew was different - sounds were different, now you could smell things differently, when you opened your mouth a different sound came out, and you could move your body in ways you didn't know about before. SO exciting but always super scary. And that's what's happening in our babies' minds, and they wake up for comfort and to feel safe with the people they love more than anyone else - Mum and Dad

It's a bit of a sappy thing to say, but once I started to think of the night wakes as a positive thing (my baby loves me and needs me and trusts me to keep her safe) it made things a tiiiiiiny bit easier!

Diamond Doll

John Mason wrote: »

Stage 2 milk is a scam.

they cannot advertise newborn formula, so they came up with the Stage 2 shi.te.

you are better off sticking with stage 1

It's cheaper though.

Stage 1 milk is absolutely fine to use up to a year, but we changed to Stage 2 at six months to take advantage of the lower price and frequent special offers. Of course, if it hadn't suited him, we'd have switched right back to Stage 1. Thankfully it suited him just fine.

I personally think it's ridiculous that Stage 1 milk can't be sold on special offer. If cost was the only factor people considered when feeding their baby, of course everyone would choose breastfeeding as it'll always be cheaper than formula-feeding. However so many other factors come into play, and formula is expensive enough as it is.

If the formula companies use the Stage 2 milk as a way of getting around the ban on advertising and special offers, I don't see it as a scam and I have no problem whatsoever with them doing it.

John Mason

This little piggy wrote: »

It's cheaper though.

Stage 1 milk is absolutely fine to use up to a year, but we changed to Stage 2 at six months to take advantage of the lower price and frequent special offers. Of course, if it hadn't suited him, we'd have switched right back to Stage 1. Thankfully it suited him just fine.

I personally think it's ridiculous that Stage 1 milk can't be sold on special offer. If cost was the only factor people considered when feeding their baby, of course everyone would choose breastfeeding as it'll always be cheaper than formula-feeding. However so many other factors come into play, and formula is expensive enough as it is.

If the formula companies use the Stage 2 milk as a way of getting around the ban on advertising and special offers, I don't see it as a scam and I have no problem whatsoever with them doing it.

They are currently working on legislation to ban all advertising of baby formula and rightly so. I have no wish to drag to into a formula v breastfeeding debate.

Plek Trum

Just a side note on the formula issue - if you are changing from stage 1 to stage 2 then perhaps phase it in slowly. My mother works in a pharmacy, regularly has babies being presented with night time cramps, discomfort and or constipation. Apparently there is more iron in the stage 2 feeds and this can lead to issues with some babies if their systems aren't up to it. A complete switch from one to the other all in one go can be hard for them to digest / process (apparently).

We phased it in, substituting one bottle of first for one of the follow on formula each day for 3 or 4 days, gradually bringing in a second for 4 days, then the 3rd etc etc. Baby had no issues whatsoever and her system adjusted fine.

Carrie6OD

John Mason wrote: »

They are currently working on legislation to ban all advertising of baby formula and rightly so. I have no wish to drag to into a formula v breastfeeding debate.

Just wondering, why "rightly so"?

Cunning Stunt

Carrie6OD wrote: »

Just wondering, why "rightly so"?

am also wondering what is meant by this?