14 week sleep is going wrong

[Notsoinnocentorangejuice]

Hello!
Between 5-11 weeks my DD would sleep anywhere from 4-8 hours for her first stretch (amazing yes) and sleep between 10-12 hours overall, wake to feed and sleep. This would be after hours of colicky crying and it would be a struggle to get her to sleep but once she was down, it would be ok.

Since 11 weeks I have managed to put her in the Moses basket and I can pat and sing her to sleep (again, I thought yay real progress) and the colic has mostly gone BUT since then she has woken every 2-3 hours with no longer stretches. She seems to have a decent feed every time she wakes so I think she is genuinely hungry but I am longing for those longer stretches. I’ve now got a cold and she only naps in car or on me (a once in a blue moon crib nap) so I never get proper rest during the day.

is this an early regression/a growth spurt/something I’m doing wrong? I just need 4 hours of continuous sleep please 😭

shes exclusively breastfed but I am trying to get her to take a bottle so I can get some rest but she’s also refusing the bottle so I am feeling really pretty trapped.

TIA

I think you'll find that sleep is constantly changing, especially at this age. I often found that you establish a routine and as soon as you get used to it, it's changing again. Your baby is growing and their sleep is maturing (google sleep cycles and their changes as baby gets older and as their sleep cycles get shorter and they need to learn to sync them. If it helps, think of it like this, we as adults wake often to turn around, get a drink, go to the loo, but then we manage to get ourselves back to sleep, sometimes not even noticing that we've changed positions. Babies can't do that and they wake between cycles. Plus anything can upset their sleep routine, mild illnesses, growth spurts, etc so hang in there. Don't think it's anything you are doing wrong, it's pretty normal I'd say.

Yes I’m sure you’re right. I’m just struggling with the sleep deprivation big time 😮‍💨

It's completely normal for babies to go through phases of longer and shorter sleep patterns, especially around 3 months when their sleep cycles are still developing.

I recently had my third baby earlier this year and as a work-from-home virtual assistant, it's been really exhausting (not to mention my middle child is just 1-year old). I was exclusively breastfeeding at first, but it drained so much of my energy that I really needed more sleep. We decided to switch to pumping and bottle-feeding, which has helped a lot. Now, I breastfeed in the morning, and my husband handles the nighttime feeds, so I could at least get longer stretches of sleep.

As for your baby refusing the bottle, that’s completely normal. You’ll eventually find a bottle that works—just be patient. For us, we used Pigeon bottles with our first and second children, and they worked great, so I went with them for our third baby as well. Also, this article might be helpful for you in introducing a bottle to your breastfed baby.

Good luck and wishing you and your baby all the best!

Baby sleep is hard! Like a PP said, you get some semblance of routine/normality, then it all changes. We were also lucky sleep-wise when our son was little. From about 5 weeks to 5 months, he would only be up twice a night. But then we hit a regression, then teething, then another regression, then more teeth… We’re at 20 months now and, if I’m honest, his sleep is still hit and miss. Some nights he sleeps through, then other nights, not so much (but very bad nights are few and far between).

Best of luck with getting your little one to take a bottle! Hopefully that’ll help you get some rest. It’s a journey. An exhausting journey! But it does get better. It’s so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you’re in the thick of it, but I promise, there is one!

It has been colder recently, if you’re following the gro guidance I found it recommended one layer too short for both of mine and they both slept better with a slightly warmer outfit - nothing massive just a long sleeved vest of they said short sleeves. They still woke through the night and showed no signs of being too warm before anyone jumps down my throat to suggest I was overheating them into a coma!

I would persevere with getting a good nap regime in place, it really improved their sleep at night. I used to put mine in their cot 10-15 mins before a nap was due and pottered about, quite often they’d fall asleep there. Sometimes we’d have to do a hugging nap instead and obviously sometimes in the car, but I persevered with cot time everyday and it really paid off.

This morning I decided to just put her in the crib and not lie with her shushing/singing/patting and she put herself to sleep in about 20 minutes. So that’s amazing. Thank you! This wouldn’t have worked a few weeks ago as she’d have cried immediately. I will keep persevering with naps, it’s just exhausting when your LO has serious fomo!

Yes you’re right…I really wasn’t prepared for how long the sleep deprivation lasts. Accepting it is probably the first part of the journey ha…
it must get better because why would anyone do this more than once