Help! Why is my 3mo so unhappy?

[sanfair]

Long one, sorry.

My 3 month old slept 7 hours and then 3 at 2 months and we got very excited but since then he has gotten progressively worse.

He now sleeps around 4 hours and then wakes every 1-2 hours afterwards until around 5.30am. He goes to sleep at night around 6.30 like a dream though.

He doesn't seem that hungry. I give him around 80-100mls for the first waking (he doesn't seem to want more) to try 'tank him up' for the rest of the night and again at around 4am. He also isn't usually hungry in the morning (which I would think he would be if he was not getting enough at night)

I get the feeling though that he isn't that starving. He whimpers in his sleep and gets more and more upset (still sleeping) until he wakes himself up. Usually I can get him back to sleep again with just a shh/pat or dummy if he's very awake.

My initial thought was possible reflux and his cot is elevated.

I'm also struggling to feed him during the day which I think is connected. I can never figure out when he's hungry. He'll get a bit fractious and it's been a while since his last feed so I offer the bottle but he acts like I'm about to perform some form of torture and starts screaming and refuses it so I take it away. I don't push it as I really don't want to increase whatever negative connetation he's picked up.

He'll get more and more upset so I offer the bottle again five minutes later and you'd think I'd been starving him the way he starts glugging at it.

He also doesn't want to eat in a nice periodic fashion. Sometimes he's starving and drinks a whole bottle only an hour after he's already had one so I find it very difficult to judge.

I'm trying to get him onto the EASY method but haven't had much luck.

Can anyone tell me what on earth is going on with my previously easy going little boy?

Further to that- I don't think he's waking up because he's struggling to settle himself. He seems almost to struggle to wake up - whimpering and crying until it almost seems too much for him. I'm trying to leave him to settle himself and only going to him once he's definitely not going to get back to sleep.

Sounds like reflux. Putting the cot on an incline helps a little but you need to make sure he's properly winded after every feed (can take up to half an hour!). It peaks around 3-4 months and gets better once they move around a bit and can sit up.

My DS has reflux and sounds similar (feeding refusal, whimpering and wriggling, gradually getting worse).

I'd speak to your GP about reflux - point out the feeding refusal. Does he suffer from painful wind? Wriggling during feeds? Doesn't like being on his back? Wet acidic smelling burps? These are signs.

A dummy can really help as it keeps the stomach contents down.

But there is also a growth spurt around 12 weeks and sleep goes mad. Signs of overtiredness can also be mistaken for signs of reflux.

When you say you're struggling with the EASY - what bits are you struggling with?

I tried to put DS on a routine because he went on nursing strike due to reflux. So I fed him before his naps which worked quite well.

Hmmm, perhaps you're right about reflux. I've made an appointment with my GP so hopefully he'll be able to figure it out.

With the EASY - pretty much all of it, he doesn't like eating for at least 1/2 hour after he's woken up and then he just takes a bit, and then wants a bit more. I can get him to sleep without a bottle first but it's usually a bit of a struggle.

That said, for the first time ever, he slept 8 hours last night!!!! Completely out of the blue. Maybe whatever it is is subsiding.

I wouldn't worry too much about doing the EASY routine until he's a little older. If it is easier to feed then nap, go with it. My DS at that age used to nap then feed (as he was awake for only 45-60 mins at a time it worked well) then he switched to feed then nap.

If your DS isn't getting enough naps in the day, he could be getting overtired at night which manifests itself by lots of wakings especially after midnight.

Great that he slept so well! Long may it last.