Help! Is anyone else 'going through it' with their three month old? A possible *three month* regression?

[user666555]

Hello,

Not quite sure what I hope to achieve with this post but I guess I want to know if anyone else is experiencing the same or if anyone else has any tips?

My 3 month old would nap for an average of two hours on a somewhat regular basis throughout the day - until two weeks ago. I'm not sure what's happened but it's like she's flipped a switch. She will not nap longer than 30 minutes. Rarely will she nap for 40 minutes. She'll then be fussy after 30 minutes of waking as she's tired, it'll then take me another 30 ish minutes to settle her and the cycle keeps repeating itself. I'm not sure what's happened? She used to nap alright!

Previously going out in the car or in the pram would help and she'd sleep for a longer stretch but even that's not helping anymore. I'm not sure if she's just so intrigued by her surroundings and wants to soak everything in all the time, but she didn't sleep when I took her out in the pram earlier. She has got CMPA and I'm dealing with the issues and symptoms caused by this (she's on prescribed milk and is taking Omeperazole) but she will not nap properly! She's also extremely fussy all day due to being tired constantly.

Her night sleep is okay, she wakes up around 3 times for a feed but I'd expect that of her at her age.

What's everyone else's experience of having a three month old currently like?

Oh dear. Is it just me then? 😂

It’s a divisive topic on here but I’m a big fan of sling naps for babies. Not sure if that’s an option for you?

The four month regression is just rough age. My son started a bit early too, exactly as you describe.

He's coming out the other side now, with longer sleeps and longer naps.

@thecatsthecats when did it start and when did you notice it getting better? I suppose it is subjective as to when it starts and finishes - but it feels never ending. Especially with her CMPA, just when I thought maybe the Omeperazole might help ... boom - she stops having proper naps!

What's your LO's night sleep like? How did you navigate this early 'regression'? X

@DownWhichOfLate unfortunately I have a really bad back so I cannot wear a sling because I think the weight of wearing her in a sling will make my back worse to the point where I'll be bed bound and cannot afford to be bed bound as a mother 😂

Just keep repeating it's only a phase. It's useful for all age groups. Ah that's a shame about the sling I was just away to suggest that. How about contact naps on the sofa or your bed?

@theymustnowknow unfortunately still only 30 minutes! No matter what I do. I'll try rocking her in the pram so she transitions to the next sleep cycle whilst being rocked, I'll put her in a swing bouncer, I'll use white noise, I'll dim the lights, I've tried it all. Nothing works. Do I just need to let her grow out of it? or could it be that I'm making a mistake by not encouraging her naps to be in her crib? I read somewhere during my pregnancy that the baby's naps should be somewhere different to the crib/cot so they can tell the difference between day and night sleep, but is that where I'm going wrong? Is she more so associating the crib with sleep? X

4 month old DS has gone exactly the same way with naps it's so draining isn't it. He also decided about a month ago that he will only sleep in his cot upstairs and still his naps are rubbish and usually only 30 mins. So no difference in our case unfortunately.

@ISolemnlySwearIAmUpToNoGood when did it start for your LO? I'm jealous of the mothers that got an extra month of proper naps 😂 she's been like this before she even hit three months 🙈. Feels like the regression will last longer as it started earlier - it's exhausting. I feel guilty for not having loved every minute of the newborn stage when there are people paying thousands of pounds for IVF out there 😞 but as much as I try to laugh it off and be 'strong' about it. I've found the newborn phase so DRAINING and I feel like CMPA robbed me off of that newborn bubble that people talk about

I feel like it's been a good month of it here too 🤦🏻‍♀️ with the cmpa, DD had this and was put on nutramigen and I used carobel to thicken it which seemed to work for her. Have you tried that at all?

At this age my children had a short nap in the mornjng (maybe 30 mins) a bit nap at lunchtime (noon to 2:30 maybe) and then a short 30 / 45 min nap in the afternoon. You haven't said when all this is happening but if it is earlier in the day perhaps she doesn't need a longer nap then?

@Itsachange her naps throughout the day are like this. They're all 30 minutes whether it's a morning nap or an afternoon one. The cycle is that she wakes up, gets tired after 1h20mins. I put her down for a nap, she then naps for 30 mins, wakes up, can only manage an hour maybe a tiny bit longer (as she's tired from a short nap) then goes down again for another 30 mins then wakes up, can only manage an hour so on so forth until around 6pm where she starts getting fussy and it's time for bed where she will sleep a longer stretch until it's time for a feed.

Do you think it could be that her naps aren't in her crib? That they're in her bouncer/swing (supervised obviously) but maybe she's not quite linking her sleep cycles because it's not her normal place of sleep where she sleeps at night?

@ISolemnlySwearIAmUpToNoGood did your DD try Pepti 1? We have a review in 2 weeks time to see if the Pepti 1 is any good or if she needs to change to something else. Trying to stay consistent with the Omeperazole and see how she gets on before I make my judgement.

Does Carobel cause constipation? Ive thought of giving it to her numoerous times but I'm worried she'll end up constipated on it?

On the back pain issue, I recommend that you get a proper massage, then spend as much time as possible for a week without lifting the baby - prams, bouncers etc. If you can reset your back, a sling is a big help generally.

My son's regression has been about a month, but he had a cold for a week of it that knocked him out. Dramatic improvements over the past week in taking longer naps.

I don't know if he's just learned to settle again or if it's my method, but what I've been doing is putting him down in his pram, rocking and shushing until he's settled (possibly with a walk around the block), then stopping both before he's asleep.

Then setting a timer for the "nap gap" to rock and shush before the 30m mark is up. Then he stays down for another hour.

I start this process 90m after his last wake up.

The nutramigen worked for her so no others were ever mentioned/tried. IIRC with the carobel it was trial and error of how much to use and I think we ended up settling on a smaller amount than the instructions said but it made the formula just thick enough for her to keep down while minimising constipation at the same time.

@ISolemnlySwearIAmUpToNoGood Ah I see! I thought that Aptamil was always the first milk that they prescribed and if your LO didn't get in with Aptamil then they would change the milk to another brand!

Makes sense, I might give that a go then! I was just worried about fixing one issue and having another, but I think the way you've done it by adding slightly less than what the packaging states is a good way to do it! Thank you

To be fair she's now 8 so they've probably changed how they do things 😄

@thecatsthecats I don't actually know what's causing my backache. I had chronic back pain before I even got pregnant and would just take Ibuprofen and go about my day. But I feel as though the anaesthetic from my C section made the pain worse as they injected the wrong site three times before they got it right and i don't know if that's made it worse. I really do need to get it looked at though as it's only going to get harder as DD gets heavier etc.

Is there anything you did to help with the regression or did you just let it run its course? Also do you feel like the improvement you're seeing after the regression is better than what your LO was originally like with sleep? Apparently sometimes when the regression passes the sleep actually improves better than what it originally was like?

I'll give that technique another go, I've tried it before but no luck. My DD naps in the Joie swing and that's constantly swinging as she naps so I'm not sure how I'd start again just before the 30 minutes is up. Maybe I should switch it off when she's in a deeper sleep and switch it back on when 30 minutes is almost coming to an end?

I think that it's a mixture of the two. He wouldn't take any sort of shushing etc in the first couple of weeks, it only started to work last week.

He had his jabs, and that seems to have helped him learn, by added sleepiness.