12 week old bad sleeper

[Ilovecake73]

Hi,

My dd has been ebf from birth which is going well. She feeds every 2/3 hours during the day - sometimes longer if we are out and about as she loves sleeping in the car! I have tried to introduce a gentle bedtime routine of feed, bath, book and bed but it can take anywhere from an hour to two to get her to sleep (around 8pm bedtime).
I've been trying the no talking, hushing and calming then pop the dummy back in method of getting her to sleep but with mixed success. Ideally I'd love for her to self settle without a dummy - is she too young??

She then wakes for a feed at approx 12.30 /1am, 3/4am and 6/7am. She used to go straight back to sleep, however now she thrashes a lot and wont settle easily. We've just moved her to a cot as she was hitting the sides and her head of the moses basket. Is this normal for this age? I understand there is no such thing as normal!! Am I missing a trick for more sleep for the two of us at night? Should she still be feeding so much at night? We are both shattered!! Her daytime napping is generally quite ok but not structured, I put her to bed when tired.

Sorry for the rambly question!!!

Sounds normal to me. My ds started feeding hourly at night when he was 12 weeks! It's a typical growth spurt time. What happens if you make it a feed just before sleep? It's completely normal for babies to feed to sleep at this age and that might reduce how long it takes your dd to settle at the start of the night. I'm sure there are some out there who self settle at 12 weeks but mine certainly couldn't! Co sleeping might help you both to get more sleep. You have my sympathies- I found the sleep deprivation really hard at 12 weeks. Hang in there and try to nap in the day to catch up.

My DS now 14 weeks used to take a long time to settle but is now getting much better. I do massage instead of bath as he doesnt have a daily bath, it helps to calm him. I then do book and feed with his music on, if he doesnt fall asleep feeding then he has another book and cuddle then bed. I also had to start swaddling him to stop him waving his arms around which stops him relaxing, he never used to need it.