help for 16 weeker doing 45 min cycles all night

[Harryslave]

Help please anyone. DS previously not so bad sleeper but for last 2-3 weeks has been getting progressively worse. Now doing only 45 mins naps during day and night. Goes to be at 7.30ish and up for 8.15 then he calms down very quickly and sleeps till 45 mins later - this carries on throughout the night and I have resorted to co sleeping as is easier to shush him to sleep or pick him up. Needs a dummy to self soothe and is biting more,dribbling and hands constantly in mouth so we think is teething but I hear that teething can go on for months before teeth come through and can't go for months with this sleep pattern! Anyone any ideas or anything similar? Please help - am knackered

Could be that the dummy is the problem as when its not in his mouth he cant get back to sleep so has to shout on you to put it back for him.

Have you thought about getting rid of it? - he should then find a way of self soothing that doesnt have to rely on someone popping a dummy in every time he comes into light sleep (roughly every 45 mins!)

Hi Seona 1973,
I don't think it's the dummy as we have just started using it over the last 10 days because of his teeth (we didn't have one before) and when he wakes up he doesn't always need to suck anything. Sometimes he does use his own fingers anyway.
Last night was a bit better as he did 2 hours initially and then 3.5 later in the night and was windy early this morning.
But thanks anyway.

Sounds like it might be pain from teething - have you tried Calpol? It might not last too long - dd cut her first tooth around 4 months and then nothing for a while. Although the pain CAN go on for ages it tends to come and go with each tooth rather than two years of hell! (although there are exceptions!)

My dd2 is 13 weeks and has been the same for the past two nights waking every hour. She settles easily with a feed but not for long. She has also started biting me towards the end of her daytime feeds and is gnawing on her fists and anything else she can get hold of. I think it might be the start of teething but will watch this thread with interest to see if anyone has any bright ideas. Hopefully it is just a phase that will pass . She is fine during the day, perhaps because she has more to occupy her??

Thanks for you suggestions morningpaper and cooperoo. Well looks like the teething pain has subsided on its own without any teeth coming through though I can definitely feel something around the bottom canines (though apparently they are the last ones to come through!!!
He had improved slightly from hourly wake ups to a couple of hours twice in the night but then we decided to do his bath earlier and give him a formula feed before bed. The next 2 nights he did 6 hours straight!followed by a middle of the night feed and then hourly wake ups from 3ish. Last night we were later with his bath and he didn't take the same quantity of feed and woke after 2 hours and needed another feed then. After that i think there was another 2 hours and then hourly wake ups from 4ish. I am wondering if now he is just hungry. He eats well during the day but at the final feed he takes a 250ml formula feed plus breast milk after that and then still wakes up at 2ish!!!!
Any thoughts?
Looks like I may have to think about giving solids earlier than planned if I ever want to get any good sleep!

get a grobag

he is in one all the time for his sleeps and he is in his own cot except for when so knackered have to take him into bed with me.
Have just fed him formula bottle now and breast top up again so will see how he does now!
Why don't they have a tired face icon!!!

Ha, a tired icon would be used sooo much lol. Hope you get to the bottom of things. My mantra is 'It will pass, it is only a phase'.
Good Luck.

No helpful suggestions for you, just sympathy, as my ds similar age to yours and in the last week has taken to waking about 3 times from about 3am onwards. The 1st and last waking usually only take about 5 minutes to settle him, the middle one takes about 1/2 hour. However when he wakes at 7ish he is happy to wait whilst I get my brekkie, the cats brekkie, change his bottom, etc before feeding him so I am pretty sure it can't be hunger driving the earlier wakings. Watching this thread with interest to see if there are any other suggestions. In the meantime repeating the mantra 'it is just a phase' and feeling like I am reliving the early weeks with the woolly headed feeling you used to get from having to be up feeding several times a night.

Well he is now doing 2-3hourly sleeps at night as long as I sleep with him and takes a feed around 4 though I think he could go without.What has helped is that he is sleeping on his side and can now sort of turn over by himself onto his tummy or the other side. His worst times are around 4-7 when he has bad bottom wind and cries with it. My husband wants to do controlled crying but I don't think it's appropriate when he is in pain though other mums I have talked to have used it under these circumstances.What do others think?
He also wants to start solids but althoughI am keen to wait a bit longer (he is now 18 weeks) perhaps solids may help with his wind problem. Even his teeth don't compare with this pain and he is constantly having hiccups and sometimes they make him bring up his milk if he is lying down even after an hour.
Anyway I guess I just have to keep plodding on!