3 month old waking every 2 hours

[charlh929]

Hi all! I'm in desperate need o help, from around 8 weeks my 14week old was sleeping from around half 8/9 through until around 4/6 am. However for the past 3 weeks he is waking every two hours. Usually around minight, 2, 4 and 5.30. Needless to say me and my partner are exhausted. We have tried putting our LO down later around 10ish to sleep but he still wakes 2 hours later. We have also tried putting him down at around half 7 and dream feeding him at 10/10.30 which also didn't work as he was up again for a feed at midnight again. We have tried just settling him with a dummy to see if he will go back sleep but he screams till he gets a bottle, has between 1&2 ounces and still wakes up regardless. He always takes around 3 ounces every 2 hours in the day. I have tried upping his feeds to try and stretch his feeds out but he still only takes 3 ounces. I have also tried to make him wait a little longer before I give him his bedtime feed to see if he will take more, but he doesn't. He doesn't sleep much during the day at all and usually has around 3 20 minute naps if that, so you'd think he would be flat out at night. We make sure the room is dark, peaceful and try to make as little noise as possible so he learns to know the difference between night and day. He has been teething since he was 8 weeks and has never been like this before so I don't think is that. We always make sure we give him gel to ease the pain when we can. Has anyone got any advice or any other methods I could try to see if he will sleep for longer periods?

If you think it's teething use ibuprofen, it's much better than gel.

I think he's overtired. When he's been awake for 90 minutes try to settle to sleep - often by the time they look tired, they're often overtired. I found this helpful www.mybabysleepguide.com/2013/02/average-sleep-charts-by-age.html?m=1

I would try to only feed every 3 hours with a view to 4 hourly by 4 months. Ds was very similar and would happily snack on milk every hour or two. You are getting to the stage when you can start to distract him with toys and walking round the garden etc until it's time for a feed.

My ds also never took a huge feed and had a night feed until night weaned once on solids. By encouraging him to feed more on a schedule it did mean that we could do a 10 pm dream feed and a 3 am night feed which wasn't too bad.

Hope that helps

No advice really but it does sound normal. I have a 12wo too and it's similar. I just co-sleep tbh which makes it a lot easier (I also have a toddler so can't cope with both of them unless I get reasonable sleep). If he's definitely teething I would also give calpol.
I learnt with my first that everything is just a phase. He may be waking every 2 h now but in a couple of weeks will probably be doing something different.

I recommend going for walks etc during the day to try and get him to sleep more during the day. Many people think thay babies sleep better at night if they nap well during the day. I'm not convinced, but enjoy the exercise nonetheless.

My 12 week old is the same. It's so tiring when they've been sleeping through previously!

I second what a PP said, my little one sleeps better at night if she naps well in the day. Over tiredness means she is impossible to settle! They are ready for sleep after two hours of being awake maximum, read up on baby sleep cycles, so even if she doesn't look tired I put her down for a nap after she's been awake for 2 hours and she usually settles quickly. If I miss the window, she won't settle at all.

I also think she's teething, and possibly having a growth spurt. Hopefully it will pass soon!

Thanks for the advice guys! I hope it passes soon!