3 month old baby's sleep routine

[whisker]

Hi there,
I'm a 1st time parent with a 14-week old daughter. For the 1st 8 weeks she had a natural 3-hourly feeding routine during the day & 4-hourly at night (11pm, 3am & 7am) So far so good!

Then at 8 weeks old she began waking earlier & her current routine for the last 6 weeks or so has fixed at...10/11pm drain both boobs & take 4fl oz formula in her moses basket & off to sleep. Wake at 2/3am & take 4-5fl oz formula & back to sleep, then wakes gain at 4am takes only 1fl oz or so over half an hour, then 30 mins later wakes again at 5am for the day but not much interested in feeding.

We've realised she isn't actually hungry after her 2/3am feed - she just wants to get up & play! She doesn't sleep too much during the day - just has a nap of about 45mins-1 hour before each feed, so x 5 naps per day.

She weighs 10lb 2 oz & has always been on the lower end of the weight spectrum (one of the reasons I started giving her formula at night) but health visitor is happy as she is gaining weight steadily. She was 7lb 12oz at birth and has never been chubby.

Does anyone have any recommendations to help her return to her 4-hourly night feed routine?

Much appreciated!!

Hi, if she is having 5 naps X 45 mins that is quite a bit of daytime sleep.

Obviously every baby is different and requires variable amounts of sleep but if she is waking at night and she is not hungry she may be getting too much sleep in the day.

I've looked after quite a few babies now and I would say they were sleeping around 3- 3 and half hours in total in the day.

I presume your baby is in your room. Is it very dark?

She might be having a little too much sleep during the day although I've had babies that slept for five hours and slept well at night. Have you tried just patting/snuggling at the 4amish feed she might learn to sleep a bit more then.

I'm with three month old twins at the moment - fully formula fed for about three weeks.
They have bottle at 7am, sleep 9am-11am(sometimes or it may be broken), another bottle, sleep 12.30-3pm, another bottle, sleep 4.30/5ish for 1/2 hour, bath, story and bottle in bed for 7pm. Dream feed at 11pmish. Then usually sleep through until 6ish or later. If they wake earlier it's usually due to dirty nappy so it's a change and then back to bed, I will pat them if needed or pick up or play the mobile.

Hi whisker im not sure if anything I have to say will be helpful or if you'll just want to punch me in the face

ds is also 14 weeks, he has slept through since abouut 8 weeks. Last week he weighed 15lbs 5oz, his routine at the mo is

• wakes about 7am has 6oz formula and then maybe goes back to sleep for nap
• walk out with pushchair to do schoo, run at 8.45 am, if he hasnt slept after first bottle he normally sleeps now for about an hour.
• will feed again at about 11am and then in his councy chair or on play mat
• sleeps for about an hour in the afternoon, times vary.
• may sleep for half hour early evening again depending on if I go out in the car or anything
• swaddle him and put him to bed about 8.30pm
• dream feed when I go to bed anytime between 9.30-10.30

HTH

Hi thanks for your messages.

5 x 45 min naps is only 3 hours 45 mins sleep a day, so if 3-3 1/2 hours napping is normal it doesnt seem like shes sleeping too much.

she does sleep in our bedroom & its dark.

i tried the cuddle & back into her moses basket last night. She fell back to sleep immediately on my shoulder. Took dummy in basket, but woke again in 10 mins and so on.

We tried the putting her down to sleep at 7pm and dream feed at 11pm, but she then woke at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am & 6am! Drove us crazy we gave up after a week, realising she just wanted to get up and start her day earlier, because she'd gone to bed earlier.

It's so frustrating, because clearly a lot of other babies the same age nap more in the day & sleep more at night too. She's a great baby, just not a great sleeper. Feel a bit guilty. Just would love to get better sleep all round!

Any more suggestions welcome & thanks so much for posting me back! Really appreciate it!

Thanks x

If she is waking after 45 mins that is the end of a sleep cycle. Maybe try a week of trying to extend the early avo nap to at least two sleep cycles.

Also keep trying to get her back to sleep after 4am. If you do get up and turn lights on etc it means she will take longer to sleep through this bit.

4am I think is the worst time to wake as it's not the middle of the night but it sure feels like it.

Usually if my babies wake around then I do cuddling and resettling and they do end up sleeping through - it does take time!

I agree with nannynz about the sleep cycle.
It could be lots of things
teething happens long before the tooth appears as they move down in the gums.
It could be a growth spurt.
Could actually be lack of sleep if she is more active during waking hours she may be more tired than before.

If you are still breastfeeding I would try to do this at night lying down to save disruption to your sleep. Just use the protective C position and take co-sleeping precautions.
3 months is young and although she has slept through, if she is on the lower end of the weight chart she may need more calories if she is growing.

Agree with all of the above but you need to try and see if she'll self sooth a bit too - do you get up to her the nano second she stirs? FYI - 10 month old with lots of health issues and he's still in our b.room - if so, try to leave it a bit. It could be routine for her to think "if I wake, I'll get fed/mummy/daddy". Especially if she's not taking vast amounts when she does wake. 1 or 2 oz is nothing really. Not like she drains a 8oz bottle or your boobs?

I think it's more a comfort/habit thing. Maybe offer her water - cooled & previously boiled - and see what see does. A few nights of this may prove she's not hungry?

BTW - my DS has only ever been on the 9th centile and hovered around it. Never really gone above it but he got the message!!!!!!

You need your sleep as much as she does and her daytime naps are the same as my DS's - short bursts. That will change as she gets more alert. DS now has 1.5 - 2 hours an afternoon then bed at 9pm - tube feeds means he can't physically lie down before then - to 9am! Happy days!

Good luck x

Hi & thanks again for taking the time to respond to me - really appreciate your messages.

I have tried giving her cooled, boiled water when she wakes again 1 1/2 hours after her 2am nightfeed. She just screamed & screamed though, so now we just lift her & she falls asleep immediately on either one of us, but wont sleep any further in moses basket.

I do breastfeed her lying down for 10pm bedtime feed, then top up with formula. We give her formula now for night feeds so that we can share nightshifts.

we dont pick her up till she progresses from grumbling to full blown crying & dont turn on any lights or make eye contact or talk - no stimulation, just shoulder, pat, shhh & back into moses basket over & over, or let her sleep on one of us till she's actually hungry around 5.45/6am.

We're taking it in turns now to do the 'nightshift' so one of us gets a full nights sleep in spare room. Keeps us sane, but not ideal obviously. Last night it was my husbands turn. She woke at 1.30am for her feed (took 5 fl oz) then woke againat 3am (not hungry) & he had to cuddle her to sleep over & over till 5.45am feed.

We ara trying giving her a longer early afternoon nap today - she is out in the sling on my husband, so should get 1 1/2 hours that way. Will let u know how it goes.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Many thanks!!

Hi again, a friend of mine bought a "wombie" which is a bit like a sleeping bag but zips up. She swears her ds has slept better since she bought it.

Some babies just settle themselves quite easily when they are inbetween sleep cycles but some don't unfortunately. My ds was the latter!

Hi,
inexperienced 1st timer so take it with a pinch of salt.
I had same issues.
DD is also 14 weeks
Did bf but didnt wish to be a martyre to it n just wanted best for LO, after a while it seemed breast wasnt best.
8-10 weeks n still 2 hourly feeds all nigfht thru, was killing me n no end in sight.
Started formula at night in vain hope of longer rest periods, no better.
It felt that I wasnt providing enough from the breast n she would spend all night on catch up so then did the first feed of the day as formula..... n frankly before you know it she was fully formula.
Tried hungry formula too.
She's now aptimil 1 does 5 oz feeds generally 12,4,8 o'cl etc, just managed to get her thru the night using pampers babydry nappies.
She's highly intollerant of wet nappy n the 4-5 am feed was just a piddly 1 or 2 oz so I thought soon enough she'd drop it but no joy, however her nappy was always a lead weight with pee n would need changing at 4-5 am. Sorted the nappy n she dropped the feed... last night did 11.30 till 7.30.
I realise thats not what you ewant to hear!
I also dont want to be down on bf as I loved it, but what mattered was a happy healthy mum n babe both of whome are alert n happy this wasnt what life was proving to be like when bf.
My boobs just werent up to it and when HV said it takes 3 months to fully establish bf (and I had only ever intended to do it for 3 monbths) I just thought whats the point.
Good luck

Sounds like you're doing all of my suggestions anyway!!! Not bad for a first timer You're doing fab!

Just a thought, if she won't sleep in her moses basket, is it worth trying her cot if you have one? DS was the same around that age, he needed more space around him to get comfy!!! His cot's in our room due to his feeding tube in case he chokes but moving him into there really made a difference although he looked sssoooooo tiny!!!!!