Singapore Expats

My girl is turning 8 months old tomorrow. She used to wake up 1-2 times a night for feeding or rocking, but for the last 2 weeks, she is waking up 5-6 times a night. Initially I thought she might be hungry, so I increased feeding, but then I found it only made the situation worse! Now I am cutting back on the feeding at night time, but still no improvement. I am going nuts!!!!!!! Anything else I should try?
BTW, I thought about let-her-cry-out option, but this is Singapore, we live in apartment, I can not leave her crying and waking up the neighbours

Have you checked her gumline as she might be teething? I've found that any changes in routine should be kept minimal or if you do decide to implement the cry out method, for example, consistency and persistence are key.

I am aware she is teething, and she already has two bunny teeth popped out! I also used Dentinox teething gel to help ease the pain. Anything else I can do to keep her sleep longer? I don't quite know if it was really the teething pain that's keep her waking up. She had the worst teething pain right before the teeth popped out which accompanied by slight fever. But when she wake up now, she does not seem to be in pain or discomfort. She wants to be rocked, and sometimes she is even in playful mood.
I usually feed her last solid around 7 pm, and warm bath, and followed by nursing and rocking to sleep, by 8:00 to 8:30 she sleeps, and then wakes up at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 0:00, 2:00, 5:00, 7:00..... She can never stay asleep for more than 3 hours! and she doesn't nap much either during the day, and yet she is happy and energetic all the time!
Any tips?

That is several times a night. Sorry to hear that and if it makes you feel any better, I know too many moms here who go through the same thing at random stages of baby's growth. If it is teething, it seems the night wakings, grouchiness / irritability or even slight fevers do go away in a matter of a few days; it's concentrated for the first week, I'd say. I think if the night wakings have been ongoing for more than a month, I'd suggest going in later and later to pick her up for soothing and soothing only. It's tempting to play with them in the middle of the night especially if that makes them happy but that just prolongs the wake period. If you want to opt for the more drastic approach, then letting baby cry it out during one or two times, then three or four times in the night (not going in at all) seems to be most effective. According to the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," try not to let baby cry for more than 45 minutes at a time. I know - even 1 minute seems like an eternity sometimes.

I had a similar problem with my little boy, but he was a bit younger maybe up to 5/6 months. I did not want to let him "cry it out" and found "The No-Cry Sleep Solutuion" book to be very helpful. We got it whilst in the UK so not sure if available in Singapore, but I believe the author is American.

Thanks for the tips.

Can you please describe in brief what this "no-cry sleep solution" is about? I have tried many things, including bedtime routine, feed more, feed less, delay bedime....seemingly nothing is working for me. For the past few nights, I had to let her cry for a while instead of picking her up and rocking her every single time. She is perfectly happy during the day, but night time is an "unhappy time for all".

I have PM'd you with a link to the author's website. If the link does not work you can find the website by searching for No Cry Sleep Solution on the web. Author is Elizabeth Pantley. This will provide you with best info. rather than me trying to explain in a posting / PM.

Thank you Riversmeet! I will definitely read through it. Hope to report good news soon...

My two little guys have been through the same thing while teething, or growing. The book 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child' is amazing, the author is a wonderful doc who really knows children and sleep. I call the book my baby sleep go to guide... It's the only reason I was able to get a very colicy baby to sleep 12 hours a night -

Best of luck - we use white noise machines (Homedics makes several models). They work wonders for us all - best of luck. Keep in mind, everything they go through is a 'phase' and it won't last for eternity!

Hi,
I remember having the same problem with my baby before but that was only for a few weeks. My child was also waking up many times during the night. I was just not sure if it was due to teething. But what I did was that I kept my child active during the day then I turned off the lights throughout the night. Another solution that my husband did was to put my baby to sleep on his chest.

I have two children, both past the no sleep age. The best advice I got (which I hated at the time, granted) was to be patient. They will sleep through the night sooner or later.

Different things work for different kids. For us, letting them cry for 5 -10 minutes, then comforting them for a bit, then letting them cry again for another 5-10, and so on, seemed to work. It took a few nights of dedication but after that they figured out that mommy was not getting up 20x a night anymore. And, truth be told I also brought them to bed with me many nights when I was desperate. And now they both sleep through the night no problem.

It will get easier, and sleep will return. So my advice is to do whatever you need to do get more sleep now, and then start working towards where you want them to be - which is probably going to bed on their own without any fuss.