No sleep… help!!!

[JammyDodger101]

DD is 15 weeks and had been sleeping through the night up until 2 weeks ago. She started wakening once and now she is wakening at least three times a night.

I’ve introduced a dream feed at around 11pm and try to settle her without a feed on subsequent wake ups but she ends up screaming uncontrollably so I end up feeding her to sleep.

My problem is, the more I feed her, the more she wakes!

Please help keep me sane MNetters. I am exhausted and dread going to bed in the evening 😭.

No advice sorry but solidarity. Since my little boy hit the 4 month sleep regression last month he wakes hourly. It's so exhausting 😴😭 apparently it does get better with time.

Also what comforts me is knowing that frequent waking is a protective measure against SIDS and completely normal for babies x

This is normal unfortunately, you were just lucky he slept so well before. It will get better but might take a little while, and you've got plenty more ups and downs ahead of you. Try to accept it and lean into it rather than fight it. And sleep whenever you can.

Was going to write exactly the same thing.

OP I had exactly the same and it felt so much harder than if she had woken regularly from the beginning (which is what I had with DS two years before). DD is 13m now and we've had ups and downs still, with some nights just having 1 wake but we're still at 2 most of the time, if not more... Can't deny it's not hard, but going in and doing a quick feed right away means I'm back in bed and usually asleep within 20 mins.

Safe co-sleeping and feeding lying down is what has saved me as I was getting to the point of falling asleep holding her which was horrific. Realise that's not an option if you're not breastfeeding, but if that's the case you need to bring in support from your partner (if you have one). Unless they have a job that absolutely requires full rest for safety, I refuse to buy in that just because they're going to work and you'll be with baby that they get undisturbed sleep. DH and I did shared parental leave both times, with me going back to work after 5 or 6 months, but I've still been doing all feeds (because it was genuinely easier all round than me having to pump in the night anyway) and whilst I'm tired, I have still been able to work without issue.

You do learn to live with it, but as PP said - the sooner you lean in and accept that this is completely biologically normal and that you just got lucky before, the easier it is to crack on. This too shall pass.

She is still pretty small and might need milk during the night. If anything it’s surprising she was sleeping through before. She could be undergoing a growth spurt or developmental leap as well and need more milk. You could try feeding more frequently during the day to increase the daytime intake a bit.

If it’s really affecting your sleep and ability to function try to get your partner helping more and do anything you can to get more sleep like going to bed early. I developed terrible insomnia from the night feeds and just could not go back to sleep after the first wake up. It really helped for my DH to take over for awhile.

I would try upping daytime feeds a bit.

Is she breastfed? You could try giving her a nice big bottle of formula at bedtime - that worked for us for a while until DD started refusing bottles, and it would be a good idea to pump before bed to compensate.

Also, do you give her chance to self settle before intervention? Is she crying or does she just wake up and make a bit of noise? If the latter you can pretend to be asleep, and give her chance to fall back to sleep (might take 20 mins or so). If crying, try shhhing a little first to see if that settles her, before giving into picking her up.

At 15 weeks I expect this is the 4 month sleep regression.

I know this doesn't help but 3 wakes isn't that bad compared to a lot of babies (including mine).

Personally I've never totally understood the logic of a dream feed, but my baby was waking up all by himself at 2 hour increments 🙃

It is normal and it will get better.

You had a good result run, so honestly I'd try to appreciate it for what it was. Mine did the same, decent stretches of upto 7 hours until 4m and then the regression (she was a better sleeper at 5 weeks than 5 years!!)

Sleep is so up and down for the first few years, your likely to have good and bad spells. Tbh, 3 times a night is probably still better than average, it's just your body isn't used to it. Once your busy adjusts, it won't seem at bad.