Sleep regression? Or will it get worse

[Anicairt]

Sorry to bother you all- ft mum and struggling at the moment.
My three month old used to sleep almost five hours at the start of the night, then wake every three hours. This typically meant bedtime at eight, a wake up at half one, half four, and then on and off dozing between five and seven; I realised I was pretty lucky. However in the last two weeks my baby has been sleeping for shorter and shorter stints- the last three nights having a maximum of two hours from the start of the previous feed to his next wake up. He's combination fed, with a full formula feed just before bed, then breastfed during the night. He shouldn't? Be hungry, but here we are. He also has reflux so I'm only getting about a half hour of sleep at a time between keeping him upright after feeds, and his taking about an hour to feed each wake up.
Has anyone any advice? I know he's too young for sleep training, and I'm too afraid to co-sleep, especially given my current level of tiredness. I thought maybe I wasn't producing enough milk so I tried extra formula tonight, but it made no difference.
I'm on about two and a half hours of sleep a night now which is pretty unsustainable. Please tell me it gets better!

It 100% gets better but it’s hell when you’re in it and really it gets better and worse and then better again…

It is really normal for your baby to want to be close to you and feed at night.

I think you’re probably going through a sleep regression and it’s a case of riding it out. I highly recommend co-sleeping, it was a lifesaver for me, but I understand it’s not for everyone (I co-slept with my youngest from birth). It’s a case of getting through each regression tbh. Our worst was 30 minutes of sleep at a time.

I would suggest formula in the day and breastmilk before bed/at night if possible just because there are hormones in breastmilk to indicate it’s night time. That said, plenty of people formula feed all the time but maybe it’ll help.

(I tried to reply to this an hour ago and then my battery died. Sorry.)

Good luck. It gets better promise.

It's the four month sleep regression arriving a little early! It's awful, as with PP at worst we had waking every 30 minutes.

There's nothing you can do beyond what you are doing - making sure he's fed, the right temperature etc. You just have to ride it out and hope it passes quickly.

Sounds like sleep regression to me....do you have a parter or husband that can give the night time formula, then you get your head down for an early night, and then they get up early with baby so you get an extra hour in the morning? At least you'll then get a few hours. Our a
DD2 was and is still a terrible sleeper, but it does get better, although as pp said, worse, then better then worse etc. It's absolute hell going through it but it will pass x

Hi I’m sorry you’re struggling with the dreaded sleep regression. We’ve just come through it after 2-3 weeks. We weren’t able to do a lot as it’s something you have to unfortunately wait to pass. It sounds like you’re doing all the right things though. I know it doesn’t feel like it but it won’t last forever. The only other bits we were recommended was to keep things as they were before the disruption to sleep started and don’t change too much from your usual routine. Hope it passes for you soonx

Thank you all so much! Fingers crossed it'll pass; I read so many posts saying that around now they should be sleeping through the night/five six hours I was disheartened we were going backwards, but good to know I'm not on my own there! ❤️

Honestly cosleeping made me safe to function and therefore less likely to drop my baby. The risks can be overstated.

I've read a few journals stating as much in all honesty- I probably just need to get out of my own way!

Reflux peaks at 4 months so the reflux might be starting to ramp up. From 10 to 17 weeks my daughters reflux because completely out of control.
Hunger is just one of many reasons a baby wakes up and with reflux babies more milk causes them to wake up more. Have you tried switching the formula feed before back to breastmilk?
What reflux treatments have you tried?

Thank you so much for letting me know - I hadn't realised that!
We are on anti reflux formula which works really well for him. We keep him upright, and when is taken off the breast/bottle I do about ten minutes of baby massage and tummy exercises to help relieve gas each time. We take our time with feeds - usually takes about an hour in total just to be sure we're helping His little tummy!
His reflux hasn't been bad at all for several weeks now thankfully, but I wouldn't stop any of the actions we are taking in case that is why 😅 last night he had breast milk before bed and moved his formula feed to earlier in the day and he slept as he used to. I'll do the same tonight and see if that makes a difference or if it was simply a fluke! 😅