Cold affecting night-time sleep

[Gnomi]

My DS is 12 weeks old. He had been doing really well at night - sleeping in 4 hour blocks from birth, then moving to 7pm-7am with one feed around 3am by the time he was 9 weeks.

Then he caught a cold, and his sleep has become really disturbed - last night he was up every 2 hours. The only thing that settles him is feeding, and he will go back to sleep once he has been fed. I'm assuming he's thirsty rather than hungry, as he only takes small feeds at night, but long feed during the day.

I'm sure I'm doing the right thing by feeding him each time, but how long will this go on for?! He's had this cold for 2 weeks now, so how can I get him back to sleeping in 4 hour stretches? It makes me really sympathetic to those whose newborns wake every 2 hours!

[barbie1]

Have you tried elevating him as he sleeps? Try putting books under the end of the cot or a pillow under the top end of the mattress. The mucous wont move if they lay flat, hence the constant waking.

[Gnomi]

Yes, I've tried that and it doesn't seem to help. He seemed to twist himself round in his cot as well.

He does seem to be sleeping more in the day - I'm letting him sleep, should I?

[barbie1]

Yes sleep is good, rest as well if you can. What about karvol drops? Put three on a piece of fabric away from the baby. Best check on which age it's suitable for first, it always seems to work for us

[barbie1]

Also have you tried just comforting him rather than feeding? After two weeks he might just be happy to wake for a comfort feed rather than needing one iyswim?

[Seriouslysleepdeprived]

There is a massive growth spurt at 12 weeks that makes them feed more & sleep less. The Wonder Weeks has some good info.

DS has just recovered a cold & I've had barely any sleep at all. Have you tried the saline spray to decongest?

[Gnomi]

Thanks for the Wonder Weeks info, I've wondered if we're going into the 12 week growth spurt. We've got saline drops, which do seem to help.

I'm going to try to cluster feed him more than usual tonight and see if that makes a difference.

[ShushBaby]

When dd was a baby it came as a huge shock to me that her sleep wasn't 'linear'- ie what she did at 8 weeks (slept through) didn't then establish the status quo. There are so many developmental leaps and quirks that there's no need to despair if/when sleep seems to go backwards- in fact it's your baby going forwards and developing as they should. The other thing to remember is that whether it's a cold, a growth spurt, whatever- it will pass.

[MillionPramMiles]

This is fresh in my mind as my dd has a cold at the moment....have you tried snuffle babe balm? Rub it on baby's chest before bedtime (it's menthol). We've also put baby olbas oil drops on a muslin and hung it on her cot. Also we have a plug in heater that can be set on timer to come on periodically during the night to keep the room warm (we noticed dd had v cold hands and face overnight).
One or all of the three has helped as last 3 nights she's slept much better.