Baby restless at night and I'm exhausted!

[SunnyAfternoonFizz]

I have a 13week old who will sleep roughly 8pm to 5or 6am every night with usually about 3 or 4 dream feeds in between. This is all great and I can easily manage the feeds because they only last about 15mins and because he keeps his eyes closed the whole time he goes straight back down. My problem is from about 2pm onwards every night he is so restless. He rubs his face, pulls up his legs and flails his arms, all whilst seemingly being asleep. He'll happily do this for hours but he is so noisy he keeps me awake! I've tried burping him, feeding him, etc., but the only thing that helps a bit is me holding him or patting him on the back. What do you think could be causing this? Help, I'm exhausted!

That's quite a lot of night feeding for a 13 week old. What are his day feeds like?

Is it really? He would feed roughly every 2.5 hours during the day then at night I MIGHT get one 4hour stretch but the rest every 2.5hours again.

How's his weight?

@SunnyAfternoonFizz COMPLETELY normal to feed that often! Babies this age should be fed on demand& mine fed just like this. Don't worry about that for a minute!

His nocturnal activities...yeah that is normal too, some babies just wriggle about! X

He hasn't been weighed since he was 6weeks and then he was following the 75th. When he seen the dr and HV for his jabs they said they only weigh if there is concerns but commented that he looked a good weight.

Thanks NEmum. It's more that he is so sound asleep in the first portion of the night then seems really agitated after 2pm.

I still get this now and my baby is 19 months!!! It is exhausting but comes and goes. Might be baby is too hot or too cold? And your feeding is very very normal

Didn't really think of temperature. His little hands can get cold easily but I'm so conscious of not letting him over heat. How do you actually know when a baby is at a comfortable temperature?

@SunnyAfternoonFizz could be linked to his melatonin levels dropping (they start building from 3pm then drop after midnight)?? Although I'm not sure of melatonin levels at 13 weeks..!

Some babies are very noisy. Wear earplugs? Trust me you still hear them cry or whinge but it blocks out the snuffly hedgehog grunty noises.
From a sids point of view, hearing you breathe is what reduces the risk so its best if baby is in with you even if you block out the noise.
That amount of feeding is normal in a 12 hour period alas!

I'm sorry to also have to say that my 3 yo DS is a really restless sleeper and always has been. He needs to be comforted back to sleep and does go over but this can be many times a night. It's draining and sometimes my brain just stops functioning with total exhaustion leading to horrible moods etc. It does get better with time and you just learn to cope on less sleep - I know this is really no comfort to you now but you have my sympathy OP.

Thanks all. It does help knowing at least I'm not the only one. Maybe in a few months I'll brave earplugs!