Baby sleep question...

[boredbuthappy]

My LO is 12 weeks today and for the past few weeks has been consistently sleeping from around 7pm until about 12:30am-1:00am...sometimes even longer. This is wonderful however after this he goes back to waking every three hours or so. Considering he is capable of sleeping a good 6 hours straight, how can I push this sleep time so that it is more between the hours of say 11:00pm and 5:00am?
I tried a dream feed a few times but it completely messed him up and he woke up every 2-3 hours on those nights. Should I try and change his sleep habit or leave it be and hope he drops the 1am feed on his own as well?

He's tiny still and is sleeping pretty well. When he gets to four months his sleep pattern may well go tits up change anyway. Sleep changes so much during the first year - I'm not sure what you could do to shift it TBH. Sleep is deepest at the start of the night and gets lighter as the night goes on so I think this scenario is quite common.

It's a bugger I know. If I were you I'd go to bed at 9pm and get a lovely four hours in before you have to get up again. Wish I could do the same but my DS nearly always wakes between 10 and 11pm

I'd leave well alone. My ds was sleeping 7pm-3am and I tried introducing a dreamfeed to get him sleeping 11pm-7am, but all it achieved was adding an extra feed so I couldn't go to bed early! He woke for a feed at 3am regardless of anything else until he was about 7 months.

Leave it be imo. Their habbits change so quickly at this age that you could put work in to trying to change it, just to find it all comes undone. There is a common (but not universal) sleep regression at four months (and some after that) when things could change anyway.

I'm afraid sleepless nights are just part of parenting. Ignore people's tales of their lo's sleeping through. Ime this is rare (though false memories are common. As is getting bitten on the arse by some sort of developmental change)

He will drop feeds but when will be up to him. Unfortunatly doing something once, or even for a period, doesn't mean they are ready to do it forever. Much like me and late nights!

I think the best thing you can do is change your routine to take advantage of the longest period of sleep. It won't last forever.

you'll have lots of responses saying for a 12 wk old you are doing great and should be grateful but its frustrating when you think a whole nights sleep is just beyond reach! DS1 was a good sleeper. I think we got into a routine of a 10pm (ish) feed 2am, 6am and then eventually he just stopped waking up for the 2am one. What time did you do the dream feed? Has he then woken up through hunger or because of wind, soiled nappy etc?

Oooh, mine did exactly this (DS is 19mo now)

I'd be VERY much inclined to keep bedtime when you ultimately want it to be, so stick with 7pm, and wait for him to show signs of dropping a feed. I must confess I 'nudged' DS to drop the feed by doing lots of rocking and shushing and trying to get him to do without - he is very laid back though.

He is a great sleeper now - does 7pm to 8am most nights, never wakes up

Sounds like you're doing a fab job there by the way

Your baba definitely has a good routine! My DD (12 weeks yesterday) generally sleeps for 8 hours a night, 5 hours to start with, then up for a feed, then 3 hours and then we're up for the day.
It's fantastic however she goes to bed between 8 and 9 every single night. It's completely her own routine, and I just go along with what she does. It may be a pain going to bed at 8 but hey, at least I get a decent amount of sleep so we're both happy! I'd say just go with it for now, it will change in a few weeks anyway!

Thanks for all the responses! I do go t bed at 9pm actually...later if the day demands it but I try to sleep as early as possible. To be honest, I'm happy with what he's doing, I just thought that it would be even better if I could get him to sleep his main 6 hours actually at night, but oh well...i should be thankful I suppose I get even that.

In response to trixie123, I gave him the dreamfeed all between 10:30 and 11:00, and he seemed to wake up hungry each time afterward. I did try to settle him without eating but he wasn't having any of it. It is strange considering he's got more in his tummy than a night without a dreamfeed but there you have it...

I might try rocking or shushing in a couple of weeks to try and see if he'll willingly let the 1am feed go.