13 week baby - waking up every 2 hours in the night - why????

[YankInLondon]

I thought is was a growth spurt but it's been nearly 3 weeks now. From 8-11 weeks he would go to sleep at 11/11:30 and wake at 3:30, 5:30 and 7:30. Then at 11 weeks he started sleeping from 11-5:30 or 11-3:30 and then wake up at 7:30. It was great, amazing, wonderful, the best thing ever, and I stupidly thought it would just improve from here and 12 weeks would be perfect.

Instead, he's regressed to waking up at 2, 4, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30. It's been nearly 2 weeks and is killing me.

He sleeps in our room in a moses basket. We're waiting for his cot to arrive in the next few weeks. He falls asleep on the breast fine and then I transfer him to his basket. He settles in his basket fine after the next feed, but then won't settle after that. I will then take him in bed with us. He will fall asleep on me and then I move him between us.

We didn't change his bed time routine.

Any ideas?

mine did same, slept 4/5 hours at a stretch until about 3 months old.

is now 7 months old and waking pretty much 2 hourly for a feed. welcome to the world of no sleep!

I think that's pretty normal. My ds2 didn't sleep though the night until a few months ago and he's now 20 months old. He still wakes during the evenings too.

It's normal, it's just what babies do.

Co-sleeping can work for some people then your ds can feed and you don't even really need to wake up yourself.

Growth spurts can last for weeks and mix in with hardening gums, little tummy upsets.....it all adds up.

Don't worry too much, he probably won't be doing it when he's 5

MY ds is almost 7 months and his sleep patterns are pretty similar. He was sleeping really well but now wakes at least 3 times between 7 and 7, often 5 or 6 times. No help I know but at least you're not alone!

it could be a growth spurt, it could be the beginnings of teething. it's bloody hard work, but normal I'm afraid!

My DD was a fantastic sleeper from about 6 weeks until about 16 weeks, then it all went wrong - she was waking up 5, 6, 7 times a night, such a hard time. I think it was just the fact that she was getting hungrier and wanted more milk, plus she got her first teeth through at 5 months. By about 7 months old things started to improve and gradually she settled down again. I think it helped when we moved her into her own room, and we weren't disturbing each other so much.

Hang on in there, keep telling yourself that everything is a phase at this age, things change quickly and it won't last forever!

Thanks so much for the messages. I feel as though I am doing something horribly wrong. All the other mothers in my NCT class have babies that just sleep and no one seems to have a baby as hungry as mine.

I'm not following a routine (Gina, Baby Whisperer, etc), so feel as though I may have brought this on myself. But he does go to sleep easily at night and seems happy. No bouts of mystery crying and he's growing tons.

It is nice to know that I'm not alone.

I found that people are very quick to announce when their baby sleeps through - not so quick to tell you when they stop! (Often after only one night).

People get so weird and competitive about these things - I remember feeling completely green with envy at a friend whose baby had been sleeping through since 8 weeks. It was only when I finally asked her at 6 months what her technique was that she looked at me blankly and said "He's an awful sleeper - I haven't had an unbroken night for months!"

It turned out that he'd had a very sleepy phase at about 8-10 weeks during which she had proudly announced that he'd started sleeping through.

Also some people have very odd definitions of sleeping through - one friend told me her baby was sleeping through - it turned out hi longest stretch was from midnight - 5am and he was then up for the day - which she classed as sleeping through, whereas my idea was 7-7 or near that!

Don't worry - it's really NOT the norm for them to sleep loads and it will get better. Your baby sounds completely normal.

plus the going to sleep quickly thing sounds great - it sounds like your baby is similar to my DS - a frequent waker but easy to sooth back to sleep.

IMO that's better than the alternative which can be a baby that wakes only once or twice, but takes an hour to resettle each time.

I was miserable for ages about DS's sleeping patterns and then made a conscious decision to count my blessings and to stop thinking of his sleep patterns as a failure on my part - it didn't change his sleep but made me feel much happier! Next baby I have promised myself I will stress much less and just go with the flow (yeah right!)

This just makes me wonder what exactly is supposed to get easier at 12 weeks then????

I guess it's the smiles and not more sleep.

I think the cot might help too. It did with our baby, as it meant he could wriggle around a bit and stretch his arms our without hitting the sides and waking himself up. Also I think he likes being able to see out of the sides. He used to sleep through quite well but then stopped at about 4 months (he's 5 & 1/2 now) and is now waking up at about midnight and again at about 3 or 4am - goes to bed at 8pm and then up for the day between 6.30 and 7.30, roughly. So, not amazing but not too terrible either.

hi when you have finished breast feeding Dont let baby fall fast asleep,If baby does just be fore you lay him in cot just distrub him a little & when hes dozing then lay him asleep then baby will learn to fall asleep independantly alone, as once baby stirs he then looks again for the breast to go back to sleep this could be the same if you rock.sing.baby. shelly