12 week DS does not do a big chunk of sleep......barely 3 hours

[mppaw]

My DS is nearly 13 weeks old and still does not sleep for more than 3 hours at a time and the the last 2 nights gave been awful.
Bed at 7.15pm, cried til 7.45pm
woke at 10.10pm, has a bottle of EBM (3oz)
woke at 1.30am, had what I thought was a good feed from the boob.
woke at 3am, was not crying just having a moan, plus I thought surely he cant be hungry so I left him for 40 mins, but did not stop so fed him at 3.40am
woke at 5:15am fed him
woke at 6:30am we got up

This has only been the past 2 nights that it has been this bad, but even when we have a good night, he still barley goes 3 hours.

He is EBF and is gaining on average 6/7oz a week so have excluded that my milk is not fulfilling him.

Have no problem that he is not sleeping thru as I think he is a hungry baby (DD was the same)but even so, he should be able to sleep a bit longer in 1 stint.

Any ideas would be great. Thx (smile)

[cakewench]

I can't help, as I'm in the same situation at the moment (tho DS is 6 weeks.) I've been told that BF babies don't really sleep longer than 3 hours at a stretch, though they'll sometimes go 4 hours. We had one or two nights when he went for 4 hours, but a typical night has him sleeping in 3 hour increments (sometimes 2 1/2 hours.)

I'll be interested to see what the others have to say.

[Sheeta]

How long does he go between feeds during the day?

We had this with DS, I got told that it can be fairly normal for this age, but I may be wrong.

[Clayhead]

Sounds like my dd and ds were. Unfortunately, they are 5 and 7 now and I can't quite remember when it stopped...

It was hell at the time so you have my sympathy.

[aGalChangedHerName]

Think it's fairly normal for a lot of babies tbh.

I have 4 and they all did this. Co-sleeping saved my life. Only way i coped with the waking up during the night.

Sympathies

[Crazycatlady]

mppaw I feel your pain... can't really offer any constructive advice as I'm in the same situation with nearly 12 week old DD (see my other thread re major sleep/nap issues), but I can offer sympathy!

I think it's fairly normal, especially as they have a big grow around this age and so feed more and can be a little more unsettled. Just a thought - is your DS showing any signs of early teething? My daughter is definitely having some discomfort in her gums which is waking her at night and causing her to have short naps I think. Trying out some Ashton & Parsons teething powder and Dentinox gel now to see if that helps her at all and makes a difference to her sleep.

How much does your DS sleep during the day? My DD will typically only nap for 30 minutes a go morning and afternoon with a slightly longer lunchtime nap if I'm lucky (and we really work for the naps we do get). I just wonder whether they're getting overtired and so having trouble staying asleep at night due to all the cortisol buzzing round their systems.

[Trinityrhino]

I think your being optomistic to expect anything more tbh

at least you've not got a 25 month old gecko who still wakes every three hours

[charliegal]

with Trinity, might be helpful to adjust your expectations.

This is normal for a baby. Unfortunately my 2 and a half year old barely does 2 hours in a row.

[mppaw]

Thanks ladies..all really helpful.
Could well be a growth spurt as he has fed pretty much non stop yesterday and today.

With regards to his day time sleep/naps, I feel like I spend all day trying to get him to sleep, and the results are the odd 10, 15 minutes here and there, unless we are in the car and he goes off like a treat !!!

[smellen]

My two had between 11-13 feeds per day for the first 12 weeks, then it gradually got easier - so you might be about to turn a corner. By 16 weeks (if I remember correctly!) they had BFs at about 7am,10,1pm,3,5,7,10 and 3am. It is gruelling, but it will get easier.

You are probably right about growth spurts - life is one long growth spurt at that age, so hang on in there. If you could get someone else to give the bottle of EBM at 10pm, you could try to get your head down at 8pm, put ear plugs in, and sleep through till the 1.30am feed. Even if you do that every other night (so you have a couple of evenings a week where you can sit up and have dinner like a grown up!) then it might help.

To have your baby tucked up by 8pm at that age is pretty good going. Hope things ease up a bit of you soon.

[PuzzleRocks]

DD was like this until she was 18 months. Sorry but I think it sounds normal for a baby that age.
Co-sleeping helped me too. Can your partner take some shifts?

[mppaw]

Smellen, I have been going to bed about 9pm and leaving DP to do the 10/11pm feed. So I do get a 4 hour stint, but it is the next stage of the night which is really taking it's toll. The times you put are pretty similar to mine, apart from the enormous cluster feeding I do from 4pm onwards.
I am a strong believer in, a well rested baby sleeps better at night, so I think I am going to really concentrate on his day time naps over the next few days, see if that improves things at night.

[smellen]

My second was a bit like this - requiring more frequent nursing (and still having 3-4 feeds a day at 15mths!), but this really intense time will pass (and hopefully quite soon), and you will get a bit more sleep. Maybe try to find some coping strategies for yourself for the next couple of months (e.g. have shopping delivered, ignore housework, sleep when you can in the day etc.)

BFing is really hard graft, but v worthwhile and you are doing a brilliant job.

[kd73]

Ok some may flame me, but here goes. Will he accept a dummy? if so use this as the first line of defense. If he doesn't accept, then give him a feed, however you may find that he is looking for comfort and waking himself up as a result.

[mppaw]

NO flaming from me, he has a dummy. Well, I hold it in for him as it constantly falls out. He goes off a treat with it, stays a sleep even when it falls out, but after about 10 mins, he wakes up !! The dummy has kept me sane during the day to be honest.

Thanks for the kind words smellen.
This is actually DC2, but he is SOOOOOO different to DD. SHe was a text book child, calm etc. But DS has been really poorly, fretful etc. and to be honest feeding has been really easy. Have got a touch of PND and feeding DS has really helped me start to bond with DS as those feelings have been a long time coming. Just really want to sort his day and evening sleeps out.

[suwoo]

I'm with the others whose older kids can't do 3 hours either. DS just started sleeping for about 4 hours and he is 2 years 4 months.

Co sleeping helped us and he is only just out of our bed now as I am expecting no 3.