Confused, don't understand, tired - will someone help me to understand??

[CrazyOVERbaby]

Hello

At the end of my tether this morning. I have a 13 week old who has never been an especially good sleeper. She's the happiest baby, but doesn;t seem good at sleeping! Straight from the hospital she would sleep from 10.30pm ish until 2.30pm ish, and at the time we thought this was wonderful! However, other than a few times when she has stretched this length of time out, she has never progressed from this. Last week she suddenly slept through from 11pm-7am 4 nights in a row and we thought we had it cracked. She was feeding so much better during the day too owing to the fact that she hadn't filled herself up at 2-4am.

The last few nights have gone back to 2.30am, 3.00am, 3.30am. Tried a dummy, and re-settling but she will not settle without a feed. The feed she's taking isn't especially large and I know from how she's sucking that she's not starving. Also, she's totally not interested in her first feed of the day, and this morning would take none of it.

I feel like I'm stuck in a cycle. She
feeds through the night and then won;t feed as well during the day, meaning that she genuinely needs to feed a bit through the night. I know this is the classic time for a growth spurt, but if this was indeed a spurt, wouldn't she be hungrier at some of her other feeds?

Will someone PLEASE tell me what to do??

She sleeps for approx 3 hours over the day, and generally goes down to sleep well and settles well after a feed. She refuses to sleep without being swaddled and likes a dummy to help her go off. She's a bit of a sod to feed (life's too interesting for her stop and be still to feed, resulting in her squirming round and only taking the minimum, unless i feed her in her sleep after naps - which works really well.)

fed up, tell me what to do!

so she is having 3 feeds in a night over 1 hour? (? is that sort of one feed and shes falling asleep)
to me she sounds like she is doing just great
is she bf or bottle fed?
i would think she is hungry then despite your feeling she doesnt take much milk
and if it is for comfort, personally, my take is that theres nothing wrong with that at such a young age
but thats just my way of parenting , which may not be your way, and neither of us would be wrong IYSWIM
btw i was a walking zombie till 7m! perhaps that might put you off my way ! but i'd still do it the same way again

It's defo comfort, not hunger. I walk into her room and she's not upset or hungry, just happy to see me. Her little legs start going and she's all smiles. Very cute, but not what you want at 2, 3 and 4am. This morning I gave up, feeling guilty and fed her at 6am thinking she must be hungry, but she only had a few ounces. She just wanted to play. Now, whereas there is part of me that thinks its lovely that she want to say hello to mummy in the night, it's becoming a real problem and unless she's hungry and needs to feed, I don't think it's good that she's waking this frequently in the night.

I'm a big believer in babies needing good quality sleep as much as they need anything. I just think that if I let this carry on without at least trying to guide her in the right direction it's setting her up for problems in the long run. I don't believe in leaving babies this young to cry, as I think they cry for a reason. But at the same time I need to try something. I guess she'll grow out of it. But suggesions welcome

Doesn't taking a few ounces mean she's hungry? They have ting tummies still at this age - and it very unusual for a 13 weeker not to need feeding in the night. I would just go with the flow, I'm afraid. It won't last long - honestly!

oh
DD woke at night wanting to play for an hour or two, i used to stick her mobile on and that often worked and she fell back to sleep, she also woke at 5 for months and months, but despite no sleep training, she now never plays at night and wakes 6.30-7, i understand that their sleep patterns mature as they approach 1y
sorry no suggestions!

Seeker - seriously - she's not hungry. he was big born and takes 7-8 oz at most feeds. 3oz, when she's chewing on the teat means she's not hungry and is snacking for the sake of it or for comfort - that is not hunger! All she wants is a bit of comfort so I guess I'll just go with it and give her a dummy or a cuddle. I certainly don't want her to get into the habit of snacking. Oh I think you're right tired pooky, I think her brain will eventually mature and her patterns will change.