any advice appreciated

[loreli]

Hi, first time poster but many time reader on here so hello! I would appreciate some advice. I have a 13 week old, who up until now has been an angel baby. He was sleeping 8-6 at five weeks and 8-8 at 8 weeks (he even had a lie in last bank holiday until 9am!!) However last week I decided to move him from his moses basket in our room into his own cot in his own room as the moses basket was far too small for him. I built up to this by putting him in his cot for day naps and he has always been fine. Since moving him in there though he has become a nightmare. He goes off to sleep straight away and sleeps until about 12, then wakes every hour from there on in. He has a dummy which he used to just suck on until he fell asleep and then I would take it out but now he keeps knocking it out of his mouth and thrashing about the cot. He wont be swaddled and will not give up the dummy so I am spending all night standing over the cot pushing the dummy back in his mouth as he cries. I am exhausted. So after my long explanation my question is this: do you think it is the change from crib to cot that has done this and will it get better. Or is it the "13 week" curse I keep hearing about where babies regress to night feeds because of growth spurts. I tried feeding him at 2am a few nights ago and he still woke up every hour after. Any advice or experience of either of these would be great as I am sooooo tired (I asked at baby group but get the answer think yourself lucky you had 13 good weeks! - not helpful!!!)many thanks.

[tinks27]

presume you have tried moses basket in his room, instead of cot in his room for night sleeps?

i did this first ( even though she was getting too big for basket!) to get her used to the room and the view! and then moved to cot. did use bumpers too to make it seems less 'big' for night times

it is knackering and you are lucky to only be experiencing it now( sorry) But it's crap whenever.

From your post reckon it is maybe not the cot and growth spurt and the thrashing could be over tiredness?

its is a bit of trial and error i would say and waiting game to see what makes the difference.

hope you get some sleep tonight

[fhutts]

I did the similar thing as tinks27 but put DD into the moses basket then put this IN the cot. After about a week, we bought a little matress which baby is put on to (in the cot) which has little velcro boulsters each side to keep baby snug. At this point we also but DD into a sleep bag too.
Personally I wouldn't bother trying to keep the dummy in, tbh if he is crying it will fall out anyway, perhaps pushing it back in as he cries is making it slightly worse? Saying that, when DD is having a paddy and won't take dummy to calm down, we gently but fast tap the dummy and along with shushing it does calm her down, however this is when she gets out the bath (long story).
You could also try some baby music, I know I thought it was a crap idea to start with but in the end tried it and it seems to work. Downloaded some Piano music and Natrual white noise onto Ipod and it works a treat on repeat all night. Finally, try putting a muslin snuggled along side his face so he can turn into it if he wants. My DD actually likes it over her face believe it or not, sends her off a treat when she is tired. Don't worry she can breathe through it as they are so thin and cotton.
If it was a growth spurt though I would imagine it would only last a few nights, and he would feed like mad during day?????

[Igglybuff]

The frequent waking suggests overtiredness? Also if he's in his own room, maybe he can sense you're not there (as no noise from you turning/breathing) which means every time he comes into light sleep (every 45/50 mins) he wakes up? From the mountains and mountains of reading I have done, babies sleep lighter in the latter half of the night (hence many babies waking at 2-4am and being unsettled but usually are fine if they're brought into mummy's bed!)

Can you sleep in his room and put him to bed earlier? I didn't let DS sleep alone at night until 7 months when it became apparent we were disturbing him. What's he like in the evenings?

[loreli]

thanks for all suggestions. He is really good early evening. He has been in play/bath/change/feed/bed routine for weeks now. He goes to sleep straight away with no fuss. I think the suggestions about noise are really good and rather obvious now you have pointed it out!!! When he was in his moses basket he was in the living room until we went to bed. TV was on, phone ringing, we were chatting and he never woke up. I used to carry the basket up to our room when we went to bed and then it would be lights on, bathroom door banging etc and again he never woke. Now he is in a dark, quiet room alone and we are downstairs tiptoeing about! It never occurred to me about the noise issue. I shall look into this asap. I also like the idea of the mattress as a couple of times I have gone in and he has turned sideways in his cot. I am surprised he doesn't have a six pack stomach the way he is using his legs to move around!!! I wish I could do ab crunches as well as he does! I spoke to a friend with a 14 month old early and her baby was an excellent sleeper and she said whenever her baby went through a developmental stage it disturbed her sleep for a week or so. She said it is called "miracle week". My baby is trying to roll so this could be it. Fingers crossed! I will now head off and try out all your suggestions, thanks guys x

[Igglybuff]

Yes these miracle weeks are also called wonder weeks - this website explains them and you can sign up for emails which are sent before your baby goes through one. Email explains what baby will learn (saves you getting the book!)