Hello,
I'm posting with a question about sleep. I'm quite tired at the moment, and getting a bit more tired every day. My boy is now 12 weeks & instead of sleeping longer & longer stretches he actually has been sleeping shorter & shorter stretches at night! Which is really surprising to me.
Here's what has been happening, so that perhaps you can get an idea:
--Until recently, he used to sleep from 7-11, then dream feed at 11, then he used to have one good 5-hour stretch until 4 or so. And then he fed again at 4 am & slept until 7 am, when he fed again. I was very happy with this schedule, which let us get enough rest...the only problem was (and still is) his dummy falling out all the time & us having to put it back in.
--At the moment, and for the last 10 days or so, he sleeps at 7 pm again, then eats at 11 pm. Then after that the trouble starts! For some strange reason he wakes at 2 or 2.30, cries for ages & finds it hard to go back to sleep however much I try to trick him with his dummy or by comforting him. Last night when this happened I managed to postpone feeding until 3.30 am, but he was completely unsettled between 2 & 3.30 & we didn't get any sleep. Then he slept until 6.00 am and at that point cried with hunger & I fed him again (far too early). Then again he woke at 7 am, again I fed him. Then he was unsettled but managed to sleep for a bit, & I fed him again at 9.30.
Some clues to what might be happening, although I have no idea what's contributing more to his unsettled sleep:
--first, he eats far too little during the day. Not sure if any of you have a similar problem, but since my baby started smiling & gurgling etc, he just is not interested in day-time eating. I'm still exclusively breastfeeding him, but I'm getting more & more frustrated, since he eats very few minutes at day feeds, & prefers to look at me, smile, laugh, gurgle. I try & try to turn his head to the breast, but can't manage!
--second issue, I'm concerned still about the dummy situation. He's very used to it now, uses it day & night, & cries when it falls out. This happens countless times every night. We initially used the dummy at around 7 weeks in order to give my breasts a break...but now it's become a complete addiction & I'm really worried that it's disrupting his sleep.
--third issue. He sleeps in his cot only between 7-11. Then after that we still take him in our bed, just because we've got used to this & it's convenient & cosy. To be honest though, I'm ready to move him full time to his cot (which is next to us) because I know the more we wait, the harder it'll be, both for us & for him. So I've said this to DP & I hope one of these days (maybe even tonight) he too will feel ready to move our baby permanently to his cot, so that in a few months we can also move him to his own room. So far DP prefers having the baby in our bed with us, and to be honest it's something that's very easy to get used to! But as I said I'm ready to move on & put him in his cot full time, as I'm also concerned that his sleeping in our bed contributes to his night waking.
Any tips or ideas? I'm a bit frustrated because I felt at this point sleeping would be less of a problem, but instead, it's becoming more of a problem...
Maria
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Sleep
12-week old waking up more at night
4 replies
Maria2007 · 25/10/2008 11:47
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