6 month old.... whatever happened to sleep? (long)

May 1, 2000

I hope someone can give me some words of wisdom here.....

DD turned 6 months old this weekend - and something odd happened to her

sleep pattern. She has slept like a little angel since 3 months old :

predictable daytime naps, and overnight 7pm to 7am with an optional feed

at 11pm. It was great.... until Friday.

Since Friday evening, she has resisted going down for her usual daytime

naps, and in the evenings she has refused to go to sleep in her cot at

all... the screaming getting worse and worse until I relent and bring

her into the living room, where she stays up with us until finally

conking out from utter exhaustion (after anything up to 9 hours awake).

And she has started waking in the night... all 3 nights, she has woken

sometime between midnight and 2am, screaming. Initially hungry, but

hard to get back to sleep - she seems genuiunely distressed, needs lots

of cuddles and reassurance, even the light on so she can see us. Scared

of the dark, at 6 months??? And then more yelling at about 5 am....

It is even getting worse, night by night. Last night, we slept with a

nightlight on for the first time in months. I even took her into bed

beside me when she wouldn't settle - she fell asleep for about 5 mins,

then woke and screamed again until we put a real light on, and Daddy

picked her up and walked with her. Thank goodness, its a bank holiday -

we are all shattered. She has dark rings under her eyes too, but has

more energy than us! Apart from self induced sleep deprivation, she

is fine in herself - doesn't seem to be ill/teething/windy etc.

What has changed?

I can't think of anything different or special that happened on Friday.

I know there is a growth/developmental spurt at 6 months. Her appetite

is enormous right now - she has gone from 1 to 3 solid meals a day in

the last week or so. Can't shovel it into her fast enough... There

were no new foods introduced on Friday or thereabouts... she had

mango for the first time on Tuesday (made her poop lots!), and I

introduced baby porridge for breakfast on Sunday morning. She is also

breastfeeding MUCH more than usual, though it's hard to say if this is

all nuitritional - may be comfort feeding too.

We moved her from her outgrown carrycot into a big bedcot last week,

but she slept happily in it for the first few nights. She has slept

in a variety of other cots and travel cots before now without fuss.

I tried going back to her old carrycot; she still screamed.

She has got very attached to me recently - sometimes howls if I leave

the room even for a moment. Separation anxiety in the cot alone?

However, bringing her into bed with me didn't work last night.

Please, don't suggest letting her cry it out - I can ignore whinging,

but not this distressed screaming. Last night, when I gave up

trying to get her to sleep, and brought her into the living room,

she clung round my neck and 'kissed' me for about 20 mins...

Help! I'm not just being selfish about our sleep here - she is

genuinely distressed in the evenings, and looks very tired during

the day. She is resisting naps until she goes unconscious...

Liz

May 1, 2000

I'm probably banging an old drum here, but, in case you missed my previous posts

on this subject, try cranial osteopathy. This sounds very much like DS2 at

about 6-7 months, screaming for hours on end during the night and only settling

to sleep when held in an upright position (over shoulder) - fine for him, but

not for the person having to hold him. I took him to a GP who could suggest

nothing other than sedatives, so took him to the children's clinic at the

European School of Osteopathy. They diagnosed tight scalp syndrome, due to a

very quick second stage during labour. Essentially, the blood was being pumped

up to his head during the day, but, because of the tight scalp, not coming back

again and he must have been experiencing something like a severe migraine when

laid down to sleep at night. After the first treatment session, he was sleeping

better, and after 2-3 more sessions, sleeping through the night. We too had had

no problems with him beforehand so were extremely worried when his pattern

changed so dramatically.

It's worth a try. Contact either the Osteopathic Information Service on 0118

951 2051 or the Osteopathic Centre for Children on 020 7495 1231 to find your

nearest practitioner. Check whether they are used to dealing with babies and

small children as not all do.

Alison

Chair, Maidstone branch and PNDL trainee