Difficulty settling wee one

[Merida]

My little one is coming up to 8 months now. When he was little we followed his bedtime routine, put him in his crib and he settled himself, only woke up for feeds/ changes and never got upset through the night. He napped no problem through the day, as long as you were in the same room, although was often upset when he woke up.

The last couple of months, Fynn's been getting upset before sleep at night or day and seems to find going to sleep quite distressing. He only sleeps in my arms or in his buggy now during the day as wakes up if we put him anywhere. We have followed the same bedtime routine since he was born (bath, massage, pj's, feed, book, settle in crib), although often don't do story anymore as finds this quite stimulating and wakens him up. He cries almost every night, and can take over an hour to start his nap even though he's exhausted.

He also now wakes up through the night, even though he doesn't want fed or changed and seeks a lot of reassurance and physical comfort, we've had to move him back to our room as he was waking through the night and crying every time I left the room even though he looked asleep.

Was just hoping someone else might have experienced something similar and have some advice/ tips? We're not sure if there's something we've missed that could be unsettling him.

Thanks x

[Hidden]

My son is 21 weeks and for the last few weeks has been going through very similar. He used to sleep through the night from 5 weeks but lately has woken every couple of hours in the night very upset, seeking cuddles but nothing else. It seems to be slowly but surely getting back to normal but it is not back quite yet. I don't have any tips as I decided all I can do is ride it out and respond to his needs. Midwife reckons it may be linked to developmental stages, all the things they are learning being practised and running through their mind all night disturbing their sleep. It also seems to be coinciding with teething symptoms. It seems to be easing now, hope it will do for you soon too x

[Hidden]

Hi

Babies can be very tricky Lil things & as every child / baby in this case is different there's no final answer I could give you.

A lot of the time babies just tend to want to be held & cuddled by us ( mothers) & most likely need nothing else, my opinion is the more they grow & begin to socialise with other children & adults I.E a nursery or etc.... They slowly start to grow out & come to terms with self settling.

xx

[CarolineDarz]

My 6 month old is similar- all u can do is make sure you have his basic needs covered. I read up on it a little, first baby's sleep cycles are bout 50mins and they struggle transitioning between them, which can wake them. Also as they gro they are so much more aware of what is happening around them and simply don't want to miss 'anything. It is hard and frustrating though x

[Merida]

Thanks, was worried was something we were doing but maybe just part of development, he likes his cuddles! He's just coming out of a cold and had been sleeping in our bed for part of the night cause of that, so think will need to just keep putting him back in his crib when he's calmed down and see it through! Did you manage to settle your wee ones in their own room when they were wanting their mummy n daddy? not sure when to put him back in his own room, but will outgrow his crib soon n then no choice! Cheers for replies, nice to hear not just us hope they're settled x

[juju10]

Hi, glad it's not just my lil girl!! She is just over 6 mths old and she still wakes during the night. We've tried the same routine since she was born but lately she wakes more, even when she's not hungry. It's several times during the night. She has had a little virus recently and is teething, although no teeth in sight yet. It is exhausting but i guess it's because of not feeling too well etc. Also she is alot more aware now and doesn't sleep for as long. I guess its a case of riding it out!!!! Hard as it is.

Hope your lil one gets back to their routine soon!!