Waking 40 mins after going to sleep

[CreamOfTomatoSoup]

DS (7.5 mths) usually wakes about 40mins after going to sleep and I can't work out why. It's really annoying me! He started doing it about a month ago and for other reasons I have stopped feeding him to sleep so I put him to bed and then he cries for 10mins and then usually falls asleep, only to wake up about 40mins later.
He goes to bed between 6 30 and 7pm having had solid food at 5ish, a breastfeed and about 3oz of formula at about 6 30. The formula is fed to him before and after his bath. We have pushed his bedtime back and that helped for a few days but he's started doing it again! Otherwise though he sleeps well and gets a dreamfeed at 10pm and then wakes to feed again between 4 and 7 am. in the day he has two naps of about 45mins each, one at about 11am and another at about 3pm.

What have I done wrong? Please help!

[Twattergy]

It's a phase,,ds did this too, from similar age until about 11 months old. Nothing to do but gently get them back to sleep when they wake. No set reason for it I think beyond a developmental phase.

[KatAndKit]

We have the same issue. It's something to do with sleep cycles. Does he settle himself to sleep at all? Mine doesn't and I think that is why he can't stay asleep once the first 45 minute sleep cycle is up.

[HearMyRoar]

My dd did this for a couple of months, it drove me loopy. She would wake exactly 45 mins after going to sleep every night without fail. I tried everything I could think of but to no avail. I finally just gave up and accepted it...and guess what? After a bit she stopped, just like that.

I have no idea why she did it and even less idea why she suddenly stopped, but there you go. Babies are weird.

[CreamOfTomatoSoup]

He settles himself for naps and the first time he goes to sleep. Then when he wakes up after 40mins he won't settle. I have to boob him to sleep again.

[KatAndKit]

If you boob him to sleep to start with does that work? It doesn't here - he wakes anyway. Sounds like it is a normal thing that babies do though.

[PoppyWearer]

The normal sleep cycle for babies is around 40 minutes.

My DS has just woken - he finally went to sleep at 8pm, so this is normal! He is 16mo.

DC1 was the same, not sure what age it stopped.

[teacher123]

DS (7 1/2 months) has had phases of doing this, and also phases of waking weirdly enough at exactly the same time for no apparent reason. After a tummy bug for 3 weeks he woke up every single night at 8.32 on the dot. It was so precise that when I was out I could text DH at 8.33 and sure enough he had just cried out. It then changed to 9.45, on the dot! As a PP said-babies are weird.

[CreamOfTomatoSoup]

Boobing him to start with has the same outcome, just with me more stressed and not having managed to eat my dinner!

Sigh, I will persevere then! Thanks everyone

[Onesliceortwo]

My daughter did this too - for ages - It did my head in! When I was at my wits end with it I did some research - it's something to do with sleep patterns and children being able to get themselves into the next 'phase' of sleep - I have no pearls of wisdom as to how to get over this one except it made me feel much better to know that it was normal and that there was something that was a problem for her - I guess that made me feel a bit less frustrated about the whole thing. If it's any consolation (and if you're anything like me, you won't believe this) it will pass - I promise! Good Luck x

[teacher123]

If you're sure he's not hungry (and it doesn't sound like he is) then cuddle and leave him to it maybe? With the 8.32 wake ups we had he wasn't hungry-he'd just got into a habit of waking at that time, so feeding didn't help. Eventually we just used to go and give him a cuddle and then leave him to settle back, which did work.

[omama]

Like pp's say 40mins is about a sleep cycle & it is him waking briefly as he transitions from one cycle to the next. My ds did it too, though with hindsight, for him it was usually a sign of overtiredness. I found he transitioned more peacefully if he was well rested. I notice your ds doesn't nap much, so this may be the cause for him too. What time does he wake in a morning? It may be 11am & 3pm is a little too late for his naps & he'd nap longer if you try getting him down between 2-3hrs after he first wakes so something like up 6-7am, nap 9-10 nap 1-3 bed 7pm. If u can establish a longer nap in the afternoon it should prevent ot by bt & he should sleep more soundly. Hth.x

[MumOfTheMoos]

Try reading no cry sleep solution or no. Cry nap solution - she has some good ideas of how to deal with the 40 min wake up

[tipp2chicago]

This thread has been really useful to me- explains the 40 min wake-up! Thank you all so much!