3 month old waking every 2 hours at night

[Nickname1980]

My DS won't sleep more than 2 or 2.5 hours each night without waking for a feed. He feeds for about 15 mins and then goes straight back to sleep again but I am exhausted.

I should add that this isn't a growth spurt, he's just had one.

He's breastfed and I'm not sure if it's because he isn't getting enough during the day? Or perhaps it's his size? He's in the 9th-25th percentile and, at 3 months, weighs 5kg.

Any advice? Should I try a routine? I'm very baby-led! I couldn't do a routine which would mean he'd cry and cry though!

[domoarigato]

I'm afraid this is quite normal. A 3 month old's stomach is too small to take on much, so they need to feel little and often.

[Roxie85]

My little one is now 19 weeks and was born in 9th percentile and moved up to 25th.
She still wants to feed every 2-3hrs in the day for about 20mins and at night its every 3hrs but she can do one long stretch of 5-7hrs if we have a good night (not having any atm)
We do a bath, story then feed before bed and i found that after a few weeks she started feeding longer after her bath (about 40mins) as if she had started to recognise that it was bedtime. This was when she started sleeping from 8pm until about 3am.

[Roxie85]

Oh and we exclusively breastfeed too.

[Nickname1980]

Thanks Roxie85 - I don't have bathtime as part of his bedtime routine yet (we bath whenever at the moment!) but I think I will start and hopefully he'll take a big long feed after and then follow that with a longer sleep!

I have often wondered whether his size is why he's feeding more often than other babies I know who are his age!

[deepinthewoods]

Quite normal.

[crestfall]

My 6 month old is still doing this I'm afraid. I'm assuming at some point she will stop and one day she may have to sleep in her own cot. Right now I cannot tackle that!

[Geraldthegiraffe]

Normal. Try to rest as much as you can im the day. You may find they start off with a 4hr sleep (mine did 8-12 roughly) abd going to bed early at least meant I got a bit more!

[puntasticusername]

Does he always feed to sleep? If so, I'd recommend trying to keep him awake a little longer at each night feed to make sure he's full to the brim before he drops off again. It sounds harsh but it's for his own good! Strip him down to his vest so he's not too warm and cosy; blow in his face; tickle his feet; the Strategic Nappy Change; even put him down on the floor for a minute or two.

(One thing though, and sorry if this sounds contradictory - be careful not to stimulate him too much. Don't talk a lot or play games etc. You really don't want to teach him that night time is play time!)

Once you're happy that he's nearly full, dress him again and get him off to sleep. Hopefully he will then sleep a little longer between feeds. As to when you know he's full - it's always an inexact science with bf babies, but I ensure that DS (4 months) has emptied one boob and had a reasonable crack at the other. Usually he naturally wakes up a little anyway when he starts on the second boob and gets faster-flowing milk.

[TheScience]

DS2 is 9 weeks and is similar - last night was 8pm, 11pm, 1.30am, 4.30am, 5am and 6.30am! He has a bedtime routine, isn't fed to sleep at bedtime and weighs 5kg too.

[Littlef00t]

My LO 9wks is also waking frequently but I'm not convinced she's always hungry and not just accepting the feed as it's offered, and it's making her sleepy enough to go back to sleep. I don't want to be reinforcing food all the time as she happily goes three hours in the day so should be able to do at least that at night. Watching with interest.

[Geraldthegiraffe]

I fed to sleep until we stopped bf about 16 months. Its lovely. I'm glad I didn't stop early! 2 year old goes to sleep quite happily without it since we've stopped, and would go with husband fine too.