14 wo waking every 1 to 2 hours, why is his sleep getting worse not better?!

[Bumpylady]

14wo DS has never been a great sleeper but about a month ago had been going down about 10pm, doing almost a 4 hour stretch then maybe 2.5 hours then another 2 and then 1 til morning, which was fine. He then went through a week of waking hourly and since then has not slept longer than 2.5 hours at a time. He's a big baby (98th centile length and weight) and ebf. When he wakes he will not self settle - I always wait to se if the grunts subside but they always turn into full blown crying. The only thing that gets him to sleep again is a feed and he must be hungry because he eats for 20 mins.

Is this normal?! DH and I are getting increasingly frustrated and have no evenings together - I am inevitably in the dark trying to get DS down. We have a bedtime routine of bath lullabies feed starting about 8pm and have tried earlier and later but nothing seems to work. I can't see a point where he will ever sleep through the night, to be honest I'd settle for 4 hours at the moment, and it.'a really getting me down. He naps well in the day but to be honest whether he naps well or not has no impact on his nighttime sleeping.

Please help! I don't know what we're doing wrong!

[nappyrat]

totally knackered myself with poor sleeper too and off to bed now but wanted to pop by to say,

it does get better.â?¦it does!! but its really crap St the time

sure someone else will be along shortly...

[Gooseysgirl]

OP we are in similar situation and totally exhausted (we also have teething toddler waking twice at night). Our DS is 11 weeks and has silent reflux, on infant gaviscon which is having no impact whatsoever (will be returning to dr next week to insist on something stronger). Rarely does longer than 2-3 hrs and sleep is very broken as he's in pain. When DD was this age she was doing 5-6 hr stretches at night... now I'm starting to think we had it so easy with her... No advice here I'm afraid, but I feel your pain Some day we will have the opposite problem, they will be teenagers who will not want to get out of bed!!!

[Bumpylady]

Ugh, thank you, helps to know we're not alone but totally rubbish we're all in the same boat. DH beside me now snoring so I have no chance of getting any sleep at all!!

[Elletorro]

Hey guys. I think 14 weeks is around the time when sleep regression occurs. Babies forget how to sleep! Trying to encourage regular day time naps might help.

[Bumpylady]

Thanks Elletorro, he has good regular daytime naps so don't think that's it. Slightly worried that his sleep is so bad there is nothing to regress from and concerned at how bad it might get!

[BrianTheMole]

Yes it is normal. Mine had a big growth spurt at about 14 weeks and another one at about 19 weeks. Which meant they were permanently attached to me for a couple of weeks building up the milk supply. Drink plenty of water, and eat well. If you have the energy then pump as well as this will help you build up the supply. It is tough. I found the 19 week one was the hardest and the time you consider switching to formula and early weaning. If you have a good supply you won't need to. It helps to know this is going to happen and you will get through it. It may help (give you hope) to know that mine were rubbish sleepers, waking every hour through the night. But once we had got the weaning out the way and everything settled down, they started sleeping through properly at 11 month. By properly I mean 7pm until about 6am. These days they sleep in longer than that. In the meantime take any help you can get and sleep when the baby does. Do whatever you need to do to get through it. It will get a lot better.

[Bumpylady]

Thanks Brian, I know eventually he will sleep but it's so hard at the moment! I 'm really hopping weaning will fill him up and help him to sleep longer!

[Peppermintlover]

Hi, I have a 15 week old and am in exactly same position, she was doing 4 hour stretches until I moved her to her cot, from her moses basket. The last two nights, I have managed to get her to go 2 and a half hours between feeds. She still wakes every hour/90 mins, but I give her a dummy to help her go back off and turn on her cot musical projector. Within five mins she is asleep and I haven't lifted her out. this is a lot easier than feeding her every time she wakes. I didn't want to use a dummy (my first dd never had one)but it has been a lifesaver! She doesn't have it all night. I am hoping she will go longer between wakings until we get back to four hours (wishful thinking!!!) I also give her infacol before every feed as I am aware sometimes her farts wake her up! Hope thongs start to improve for both of us, I am beyond tired.