What is he doing at 5.30am?

[whattoexpect]

Hello

I've lucked out with DS - happy, contented baby who sleeps really well. He goes down at 7pm with a whinge, but without much of a fight, and sleeps until we wake him for a dream feed at 10.30, and then he wakes around 2.30 and then not properly until about 6.30-6.45 - which I'd like to encourage!

He's FF and we tank him up on the night feeds which he takes. But around 5-5.30am, in his sleep, he starts to flay around, whimper, and suck his fingers. Occasional little cries, head tossing and then back into sleep - only to do it again. He doesn't wake, so I don't wake him. When he does wake at 6.30-6.45, he's usually VERY smiley and happy (and totally gorgeous, I have to say) and waits till I go and sort a bottle etc.

But what is he doing then? If he was hungry, I'd assume he'd wake and cry. He's always been quite noisy at night when he's in a light cycle, so maybe he's coming out of a deep cycle? It does mean that I get woken when he starts up which selfishly, I'd love to avoid

Any thoughts?

How old is he?

My DS, now 6 months was doing that at around 5 months. Thrusting in his sleep, not awake but fussing quite a bit. This would go on for about 2-3 hours from about 2am!!
Took him to the doctor because I thought he could have an ear infection. He didn't so I put it down to teething. He's stopped doing it now.

Imisssleep - DS is nearly 14 weeks. Could it be teething? It's only early morning around 5.30.

My DS got his first tooth at 4 months, second one followed a week later.

I swear he was showing signs of teething at 3 months, all my friends and HV said " don't be silly, he'll never have teeth until he's at least 6/7 months!"

Well he now has 3 at 6 months! Also, could well be a 3 month growth spurt.

Hi Imisssleep

That's interesting, thanks very much; what are the signs of teething? I have no clue about this...sorry...and would a spurt show itself just at that time of morning? He (self) settles easily the rest of the time

I think the obvious teething signs are -

Chewing fist
Red cheeks
Restlessness
Dribbling

When my DS had his growth spurt at 3 months it only effected him between 2am-5am. He just would not sleep!! Jittery and a bit P**sed off!

He fed loads more too :)

Well, he's definitely chewing his fist! ANd I noticed today his cheeks seemed a bit redder...

How long did the growth spurt last for?

Thanks Imisssleep

Growth spurt only lasted for 2-3 days.

Try some Calpol if you think he's suffering with sore gums.
Calpol saved us from going mad when teething kicked in!!
:)

whattoexpect - it could be teething related but I think your comment about coming out of a deep sleep cycle is probably more likely. Around the 3 month stage a baby's sleep cycles become a lot more defined - they begin to move through stages of deep and light sleep, as we do in adulthood - and they come into a period of 'light sleep' very early in the morning, around 5/5:30am.

The whimpering and flailing around that you describe sounds exactly like the early morning 'light sleep' to me. I often hear DS2 (16m) cry out briefly, or whinge, or babble a bit around this time, and then he settles back to sleep. Some children really struggle to settle back to sleep once they come into this early morning 'light' sleep - hence why there are always threads with titles like 'why won't my baby/toddler sleep past 5am' on here!

With both our DSs we found that around the 4 month stage, we started to disturb them, and they would either really struggle to resettle back to sleep when in the lighter sleep phases, or they would wake us. We ended up moving them to their own rooms at this point (mainly because they'd outgrown the moses basket and the cot wouldn't fit in our room) which solved the problem. But I appreciate that this may not be something you want to consider with a 14 week old.

God your baby sounds just like my baby! Mine DD is 13 weeks and often whimpers and makes noises in her sleep - not at a set time but whenever.

We have come to the conclusion that she is simply dreaming. Sometimes she starts to cry and sounds really distressed but when you look to see if she is awake her eyes are shut and she is clearly still asleep.

She has a very similar sleep pattern to your baby and seems to have the same temperament too. I think she is defintely beginning to teeth as she rams her fist in her mouth and anything else she can get her little hands on (muslins, toys, my clothes etc). The teething may well be bothering your little one but I wouldn't worry about the noises as he is sleeping and is content and happy when awake. Strange that babies dream isn't it? What on earth do they dream about and what do they have bad dreams about?