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.

2 of mine have CMPA and definitely struggled more with sleep and being unsettled. There are different types of CMPA IgE and non-IgE, which present differently. So might be worth asking GP if they think a change of milk would help.

That sounds really tough OP. My eldest only really liked to sleep on me on my chest for the first few months, it does get better I promise. I won't repeat all of the great advice
You've had already but have you tried a Love to Dream swaddle
Sleeping bag? It's like a swaddle but they have their arms up. I found this really helped. Hope it all gets better soon!

We had the exact same situation a couple of months ago (I'm breastfeeding but otherwise could have written this post). I don't know what your financial situation is but the solution for us was to buy a Snoo crib. It is horrendously expensive but in the end we decided it was worth it for our sanity/mental health. They do a month money back guarantee if it doesn't work, so we figured we would either get our money back and be no worse off, or pay a small fortune and get to sleep... which seemed like a bargain as I was really struggling and, like you, feeling like I wasn't able to enjoy the newborn phase.

Basically the way it works is that it rocks gently throughout the night, and it will respond to your baby and increase the rocking to a jiggle when he stirs. The swaddle clips in to the crib so it keeps the baby in a safe position. Your baby sounds like ours in that he was stirring and squirming himself awake, and the snoo has meant that he doesn't wake himself up from squirming, so usually only wakes to feed or if something else is bothering him. We went from 30-min stretches of sleep if we were lucky to 3-5h stretches of sleep for the most part. It's definitely worth trying if it's affordable for you - they often go on sale and I believe they also do rentals for like £120/month or something.

And as everyone else has said, it really does get easier! I think 7 weeks is the low point for this kind of sleep disruption as their digestive system develops so much at this point, which can be very uncomfortable.

We tried this rain noise and tonight has been the best so far! He slept for an hour then an hour and a half!!

Oh my, this brought a tear to my eye as my baby was exactly as you describe. The hiccups, the the grunting that turns into screaming... The 20 mins sleeps. My DH even did the same shift (8pm-12am)

I bought the SNOO at 3am in tears. I didn't work. After baby's crying the bassinet stopped rocking and the app flashed: SNOO STOPPED WORKING. BABY NEEDS YOUR CARE. Sure it worked for my friends but if the baby has issues with stomach etc.- the snoo won't work.

Nothing worked. GP sent me home every time I went in and cried. HV didn't help. I'm still angry as I do believe he had either severe reflux or something else.

He is now 8 months old and is the best sleeper. He sleeps 12 hours at night uninterrupted. At the time I didn't know how to get through another day of screaming, and I would cry and cry myself.
But it all passed.
Press GP for answers or medication. And take care. It's so shit I feel like I've been robbed of the beautiful newborn state experience (we're one and done).

*stage not state

How about trying a dummy?

Sounds very similar to what my DS was like. Things that helped :

wear a sling during the day, so he was close and I could get stuff done

use lavender in a diffuser in the bedroom

have white noise playing

put a soft blanket on the cot bed (I had a next to me)

keep the room dark with a very very low table lamp (which I put under the bedside table so it wasn’t bright, but I could see to change nappy in the night)

incorporate tummy time

googled the fourth trimester

took nights in turns with dad and on my night I’d go to bed early and vice versa

this too shall pass. Don’t be hard on yourself. Ask friends/family round to help with baby whilst you sleep or with cooking/cleaning. It will get better. I also googled lots of different ways to wind after milk and that helped trying different positions etc.

Hooray I'm glad it worked. I swear my this track, no idea why it works over other white noise but definitely not going to question it. Hope you get some rest whilst baby is resting

CMPA - I’d want a prescription for hydrologists formula to try. There’s a reason for reflux and being unsettled - poor latch, or allergies usually!

*Hypoallergenic formula

Also feel I should mention my boy will sleep for hours in a sling. I bought several and thought I hated baby carrying but a mamaruga zensling is THE most comfortable sling I have found for baby and me, the fabric is sort of stretchy like a wrap but its really easy to put on and the straps can be stretched out over your shoulders. I've walked for 3 hours (which I appreciate you probably don't want to do if youre shattered!!) With baby asleep on me. He used to settle really easily for my husband when he wore it too. Maybe see if you can pick one up second hand? I used to walk or sway in the kitchen with it on and then once he was asleep put him down for a nap.
My son now knows that going in his sleeping bag and having the white noise on is a sign he should go to sleep. After a bottle he will happily sleep for at least 1.5 hours

Reflux is hell.

And yes like pp said you need a dummy ASAP.

As your formula feeding shouldn’t be any nipple confusion. Recommend mam.

I can’t help think if this is what things are like now what must the 4 month sleep regression look like!!!!

Ha - the one benefit of DD being such an awful sleeper is we never noticed any 4 month regression. 4 month regression as I understand it is when babies go from maybe 2-3 wake ups a night to many more… we’d never been at the 2-3 wakes a night.

We never noticed the sleep regression either, it was all awful!
lots of good advice on here. What I would say is there may well not be anything wrong such as intolerances. Some babies really are just like this. It does improve. Speak to GP but don’t tie yourself in knots trying to find the cause. Accept your baby is not a sleeper for now and cope as best you can

We’ve been back to the GP and they have prescribed SMA Althera. It’s only day one and it smells awful - baby boy has been drinking it but less than he would normally have. Despite winding for 45 minutes I cannot seem to get him to burp either.

I really hope it makes a difference as I don’t know how much longer I can cope! During the day I’ve managed to get him to sleep on my chest for just over an hour at a time, but night time is awful. I’ve even considered just trying to sleep with him on my chest propped up which I know is not safe but he just continues to squirm and grunt and groan so I wouldn’t get any sleep that way. No amount of winding/tummy massage/gripe water etc seems to relieve whatever is going on in his tummy.

Hello
Hope this works for you. Its a hydrolysed formula so does still contain cows milk. You might need to ask for an amino acid formula like neocate if it doesn't.

This link might help you to understand more but feel free to message me as I've been in your situation (I'm the lady who told you about the white noise)
www.somersetccg.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Formula-Fed-Suspected-cows-milk-protein-allergy-guidelines-V6-May-20.pdf

Hope things get better for you soon x

Thank you. He definitely is starting to be more settled after feeding - not as much squirming around. Night times continue to be a huge challenge and the reflux symptoms are persisting but Hoping this is the start of him feeling a bit happier. X

Hi @J0D13Ann, I feel like I could have written your post myself. Please can I ask how you and your little one got on and if things started to improve? My baby boy has just turned 7 weeks and I’m not sure whether I need to just stick it out, try something for silent reflux or potentially look to change his formula/go dairy free (I’m mixed feeding).

I would get him checked for oral ties - my little girl had one and I was amazed she did (so much more to it than whether they can just stick their tongue out or not!) and it creates so much tension if they do have one. Can also contribute to wind and reflux as they suck in lots of air when feeding with a tie. Sounds like he has reflux symptoms too with the coughing and hiccups etc