please help me diagnose what's causing DS to wake all the time.

[Cosmo89]

We're having a nightmare when it comes to DS (7mo) sleep

He's sooo tired. Desperate to sleep, but just keeps waking up. Sometimes it seems like wind (he is a wind-y baby, and generally harbours burp wind that he's obviously finding uncomfortable, as he relaxes once he's released it), other times silent reflux and he'll sound like he's swallowing sick down (he's starting meds for that now), other times some unidentifiable malady that is bothering him.

last night he woke:

1. 735, 8.15, 850, 9, 925 (awake until 1015), 1050, 1120 - then finally crashed.
   

This has been going on for over a month now. Granted, occasionally we have a night where he wakes on the first couple of sleep cycles (but is then easy to settle), but it's now becoming the norm that he's waking all the time.

On really bad nights we try pain killers - and assume it's teething - but neither neurofen (or a combo of that and calpol) seem to make any difference.

And please don't tell me that he needs more sleep. I cant force him to nap during the day more than he does - which is 2 hours on a good day, 1 hour most days.

I thought that weaning was bothering him, so I make sure I don't give him that much and we get it all out of the way before 12...but on the days when I haven't given him anything it can be as bad as others.

ARGH! I'm so sick of this. It's driving me nuts. I just want some down time. And it just seems so daft when he's obviously so tired and needs to sleep.

[Cosmo89]

ph and I should say that he's woken
725, 8, 830 and is now proving impossible to put down.

[RandomMess]

For my dd it was silent reflux, when she was teething it was hell with each and every tooth!

[MortifiedAdams]

hungry?

What is his nap routine in the daytime like (times, places, how he falls to sleep)?

[Whatevertheweather]

How is he going to sleep? Is he awake when put down or cuddled/fed to sleep? If the latter it may be that he is stirring and unable to self settle. We are having the same trouble with 6mo dd3 atm. Am patiently waiting a copy of The No Cry Sleep Solution to arrive

[iremembertypewriters]

My DS was the same in the frequency of wakings, he's just a rubbish sleeper though! He's now 15m and is going through a terrible time waking up every 30mins-1hr because of teeth. We're knackered! It'll pass, i'm sure

[Cosmo89]

well, he naps twice - once in the morning, about 2 hours after he wakes up. Generally he'll only do 45 minutes. then 2 hours after that, he'll go down for c. 45 minutes too. Sometimes these are longer, mostly not. I try to resettle - doesn't work - I've tried leaving him, doesn't work. He has to be 'shush patted' to sleep, can't fall asleep by himself.
He's on ritadiline (started today) for silent reflux, but we've had him on gaviscon for c. 2 weeks, which I thought was improving things but obviously not.
He's fed just before going to bed - a big 8oz bottle, which has been the case for a few months now. So I can't think it is hunger.

[Cosmo89]

Whatevertheweather - I don't think it's a sleep issue - it seems so physical, like pain or discomfort...something that is physically stopping him from going to sleep and causing him to wake.

[MortifiedAdams]

A great tip I found for extending their daytime sleeps is the Wake To Sleep method. I would put dd down in her stroller in a dark room. If left, she would sleep 45mins. What I used to do is go.in after 35mins and push the buggy back and forth a little bit (less than 5mins of it) and creep back out. She would rouse from.one sleep cycle and drift into another 45min one.

A few werks of that and she was napping longer without the rocking.

[DoubleYew]

I don't know if this will help or just depress you.

But ds was very similar at this age. He is growing out of it. I gave up trying to fix it and at least I wasn't wasting any extra energy. Around 7mo was the worst it got.

He is 2.5yo and often doesnt wake til after 1am. After that I co-sleep so I don#t know how much he wakes but not very much I expect. He is stil breastfeeding and that can mean they still wake for longer. It is very much more bearable now.

Accept any help and get a break.

[Cosmo89]

Haaaa! (hysterical laughter)
Yes - that's just seriously depressed me.
DS isn't breastfed anymore - hasnt been ebf since 4mo, but only just stopped completely - and at his instigation really. Sad. I miss it. Though it drove me properly nuts at times.
Anyway, I digress.
I feel that there's something I'm missing, but maybe Doubleyew is right - maybe I'm just wasting energy on searching for a solution that just isn't there.
And he's doing it because he is just doing it.
Please. No.