Middle-of-the-night pooing, help!

[ChubbyScotsBurd]

This is ridiculous and I don't see what can be done about it, but I can see it driving me bananas so thought I'd ask on here.

DS is 3 months old and exclusively BF. He's at last at a stage where not every nappy contains poo - and a little toilet pattern is forming. Unfortunately this pattern currently means that every second or third night he stirs at around 1am and basically wriggles and grunts and squirms and strains until he has a poo, sometimes until 4 or 5 am! Often he settles for a bit then starts again with the grunting and follows up with yet another explosion, up to an hour later.

We cosleep out of necessity (he has to feed to sleep and then wakes if you try to move him ) which on the whole is nice and cuddly and lovely. But not when he's slashing at me with his talon-like toenails, thwacking me in the face with his arms and heavy-breathing in my ear a la DP getting optimistic. In the middle of the night. For hours. Also on my sleepiness I often (wrongly) assume hunger so shove a boob in his mouth ... then he inevitably overdoes it and vomits all over me/him/the bed etc ... ah the joys!

He's not constipated (oh no siree) and he's feeding fine. I'm not prepared to starve the little blighter but really don't know if I can do anything about this other than ride it out. I wouldn't worry but for the fact that he really needs his sleep to avoid the overtired nightmare, and doesn't make up for lost nighttime sleep by napping in the day.

Oh God, the memories!!!!! DS did this. And he added to the misery by preferring to poo in a clean nappy. It doesn't last. That's all I can say because I never worked out how to make things better. Would he nap if he had a trip in the car? Or does he do that irritating thing of napping while you drive and when you stop the car so you can rest, he wakes up?

Hi CSB, yep, ds did this for a while too - we called the 5am poo "revaille" (dh used to be in the army) and there was a dreadful week back in september when he pooed at 2am 4 nights running - twice such a big explosion we had to change our sheets!

would he nap during the day if you lay down with him? we (well, I) learned to lie down with ds on our bed, nurse him off to sleep, nap myself for a little while if I needed it, then sneak off. From what I recall of one of your other threads, this might work for you?

It's fine, as long as this isn't something I'm still going to be dealing with this time next year - I think I'd go mad, it's so annoying!

Corrie, yes he does that annoying thing! And Phantom, thanks, we do the cosleeping during the day and I can often get a 45 minute stretch out of him (of course 20 mins have passed before I can brave sneaking off but the remaining time is golden!).

Thanks both .

OK, stirred at 1am, pooed eventually at 3.41am, another between 5 and 6 and the finale came at 10.53am.

[bleary eyed emoticon]