7 week old waking every 5-10 minutes

[J0D13Ann]

Hi

I have a 7 week old, formula fed. He has always been a fussy sleeper and would grunt and groan/strain horrendously all night (more than normal baby noises) but he would usually stay asleep through this until he was hungry a couple of hours later. I’m talking every few minutes followed by a minute or so still and quiet.

For the last two weeks he has been waking up at night every 20/30 (if we are lucky) minutes once put down, often it’s about 5/10 minutes. I’m exhausted.

He isn’t hungry and will feed every 3/4 hours (he isn’t showing hunger signs until this time) but the constant waking and needing settling in between is intense. I don’t pick him out of his cot unless he is really crying. I try him with a dummy and patting his tummy/chest. This often soothes him for a very short period but then the pattern continues. He just won’t stay asleep.

During the day he will sleep on me in the carrier for an hour at a time but he is very hit and miss with pram/car seat/swing etc and often wakes again after 5/10 minutes. He stirs constantly if we do manage to get him to sleep and then will be awake. He is always yawning and cross when he wakes up. I’m finding I can’t get much done during the day but this is just about manageable. It also means I can’t “sleep when baby sleeps” as he will only sleep being held.

I have even tried co sleeping even though it’s not recommended for formula fed babies as I think he might just need to be close but that is exactly the same as if we put him in the next to me. When he is sleeping on me at night and I’m sat up awake he will still stir every few minutes but he doesn’t actually wake up fully.

I suspect he has silent reflux, Gaviscon hasn’t helped!! He breaks wind a lot and initially we thought the grunting/groaning was his stomach getting used to digestion. he usually poops every day if not a couple of times and he doesn’t seem constipated.

Things we do

• cot on incline
• item of my clothing in the cot
• hot water bottle in cot
• swaddle (he is slightly worse not swaddled)
• wind during the feed and after
• gripe water

Im struggling with my mental health and not enjoying this newborn stage at all. Baby boy is so wanted and loved - I am in no way expecting him to sleep through the night but Im at breaking point with every 20/30 minutes.

That does sound really really tough @J0D13Ann

Can I ask which formula you are using? Have you tried adding Dentinox to the bottle?

Another thing to try is (if you have a DH/DP) using a t-shirt they have worn as the sheet in the Moses Basket. Usually an item if your clothing doesn't work as well.

And I know he's not showing hunger cues, but what happens if you do offer a feed?

Have you checked the temperature in the room? As you mentioned hot water bottle I wondered if he might be too hot.

Also at 7 weeks I'm wondering if the cot is just too big for him?

Thanks for the reply.

We have a thermometer and it says 17/18 degrees most of the time. The hot water bottle is more to warm the next to me cot so it’s not a shock of cold when laying him down.

We’ve tried him in the Moses basket for the first two weeks but he was quite unsettled. We’ve even tried a sleepy head, which was much the same! We have a pram bassinet which is approved for overnight sleeping and more snug and he is the same in that.

Oh my, my first was like this and it nearly broke me. First thing I’d say is it is quite normal for them to want to be held 24/7 at this stage. It’s also normal not to get anything done during the day. Try and give into it and put your feet up holding a baby.
the only thing that got us through was me going to bed early while my DH sat up holding baby til 1am, watching TV. Then he’d put him down as gently as he could and I would take over. It meant I got a 3/4 hour stretch of sleep, even if only for the first part of the night.
it does get easier, it will pass. Their stomachs mature and by 6 months you will have more of a sleeper. Hang in there

Congratulations on your baby boy.

It sounds like you are doing everything right.

Babies do wake up frequently especially in the first few months if left to sleep. They just want to be with you all the time and held preferably. Have you tried a baby sling/ carrier so he has contact with you when he's asleep. There are some really good and easy to use models. It's worth a try. For examples:

www.argos.co.uk/browse/baby-and-nursery/travel/baby-carriers/c:29041/

Make sure there is something that smells of you in the cot.

It will get easier.

Oh it's so tough, you're doing amazing! Have you tried white noise at all? There are apps etc that have all different types, you can cycle through all the different ones until you find one that settles him a bit? Other than that, just keep doing what you're doing, he will sleep a bit better soon the first weeks are pure survival! Echo what pp said, feet up in the day holding him, don't try to get anything done for now

Is he crying or just awake?
Mine liked music and I’d play some if they woke but didn’t need feeding.

I will try my partners clothing. Thanks for the suggestion.

He was on Aptamil but we’ve recently started trying Kendamil as people have said that might be a bit gentler on his stomach. Haven’t noticed any changes good or bad yet.

We have been using white noise, I’ve trialled the tumble drier noise and pink noise so far. I don’t know they help settle him when he wakes but I do feel he does understand that this and swaddling means bed time as in the day we can’t even set him down at all.

I’ve stopped tracking his sleep as it was driving me mad. I’m definitely trying to just go with the flow a bit more. During the day I can manage holding him and going for walks in the carrier to ensure he has some sleep. My partner is also having baby downstairs 8-12ish so I get a chunk of sleep.

When he does wake his is crying, it starts off lots of stirring and “whinging” then eventually turns into a full blown cry. I try and hold off for a minute in case he is still asleep. He doesn’t ever seem happy with being awake when he does wake in the night, he doesn’t lay there or in my arms just staring if that makes sense. Usually if I offer a bottle again (even though he fed about 45/60 minutes) before he has about half an Oz and drifts back to sleep.

I really appreciate all the suggestions and to know I’m not alone! My experiences of babies thus far have been those magical unicorn ones so this is a massive shock to the system!!

Kendamal formula is amazing!! Try it

Great advice

Would just add that rather than leaving him a bit to see if he'll settle, pick him up before he gets really upset.
If he gets comforted straight away, he will be less anxious overall.

Could it be silent reflux? The grunting could be that he's uncomfortable/oesophagus is burning? Maybe that's why he sleeps in the sling?

This is what I thought - he hiccups all the time and often seems to have the look of a bad taste in his mouth, he urges and coughs a lot too. We are due his 6-8 week check this week so I will speak to the GP again as the Gaviscon they prescribed hasn’t made any difference. Weirdly it hasn’t given him constipation which is what everyone has said!

we wind regularly and hold him upright for 30 minutes at least after feeding!

Hi
Sorry you're going through this, things will get better. How often is your baby soiling their nappy? My son was like this and had tongue tie and cows milk protein allergy. Might be worth having a read about them.
Also we find this white noise works, play it as loud as a shower
open.spotify.com/episode/3zkdabRAuF3FjcpJ5MxYDz?si=FSHGyqskRqW98O1iYzdSJg

That sounds so tough OP. It might be "normal" but I completely get why you're at breaking point!

My DD had silent reflux and we found that putting carobel in the formula massively helped and didn't give us the constipation issues that gavsicon can cause. Maybe try that?

It WILL pass I promise you. In the meantime, it's all about survival. Is your partner supportive? If so, then tag team. DH and I worked out that we each needed 4-5 hours sleep to function safely. We used to do the night in shifts. One would do 7-1 and then the other would do 1-6 and we'd swap over after a few days because the 1-6 shift was the worst. I often ended up sleeping on the sofa when DH was "on duty" so I could get a few solid hours. Not great for my back but it was only temporary.

Thank you.

He is quite supportive but I don’t think he truly understands the emotional and mental load of it all! he absolutely would not cope at night so I have been doing the night “shifts” but he does have him downstairs 8-12/1ish. He will also help in the day so I can nap if needed although I struggle to drift off!

We are sleeping in separate rooms so we both get solid sleep, this is tough after 13 years together! Everyone’s words of it will get better is what is keeping us going at the moment!!

Between 1-3 times a day he is soiling his nappy. We have had the odd day or two where he hasn’t gone at all but that isn’t often. Poop looks normal too - friends have babies with cmpa and said to look out for rashes and mucus or blood in poop but we haven’t noticed any of that.

You don't have to have rashes to have CMPA. Lots of people with non-ige CMPA, like me, don't get rashes

What’s he wearing at night?

He usually has a short sleeve vest, baby grow/sleep suit and then at the moment we have a 2.5 tog sleep bag which has swaddled arms

When he is sleeping on me at night and I’m sat up awake he will still stir every few minutes but he doesn’t actually wake up fully

DD was like this and the 5-10 min thing if not on me. I slept propped up so I was semi reclined with DD on my chest. Did this till about 11 weeks. Bloody nightmare, and probably not that safe tbh but the only way she would sleep.

With hindsight DD had late diagnosed tongue tie, does your DS have signs of this? Also she was born early so immature digestive system. I am not sure she had reflux (we were prescribed ranitidine and it did nothing) but she was in some sort of discomfort.

Good luck. Even if you don’t find a solution, it will get better as he gets older.

Personally I'd dump the Aptamil and the Kendamil. There are tonnes of threads on here of babies being unsettled in both.

I'd try Hipp Organic in your case and if that doesn't help try Hipp Comfort.

DD was exactly like this, I was lucky to have a fab health visitor who recommended lactose free milk. This didn't solve the sleep problem completely but did help (exactly the same as yours - I was so envious of babies that slept for even a few hours rather than just 20 - 30 mins at a go). And when I heard people say babies sleep during the early weeks - mine was crying or doing a 30 min nap!

DD is now 11 and has a dairy intolerance. Doctor suspects this was from birth hence her reluctance to drink milk, and her inability to sleep (she was obviously in pain).

I would recommend speaking to health visitor or doctor.

Thank you. I will speak to the GP about this. The health visitor seems to think this is all in the realms of ‘normal’ which I understand a lot of it is I guess.

Im trying not to get ahead of myself and be in the moment but I can’t help think if this is what things are like now what must the 4 month sleep regression look like!!!!

Your op sounded exactly like my dd. You reminded me what a nightmare it was! I tried all those things like incline, swaddling, warming the city etc. I wondered if the cit was too big as she slept fine in the little clear crib in hospital. I wanted to buy one!

in the end discovering co sleeping by accident helped. Like you Id let her sleep on me propped up.

Reading other posts I now wonder if she was lactose intolerant. I mix fed her. Now she’s all grown up and is lactose intolerant. So maybe there is something in that.

it does settle. Eventually. Don’t pressure yourself to get stuff done. This stage is just existing.