3 month old driving me crazy !

[celandine]

Hi there, I'm new to this board but have been so impressed by the support you all give each other I wonder if you could help me with a newly developed problem.

My son is 13 weeks old and has been on a Gina Ford routine for a month. In the past week he's been an absolute pain in the bum at night time, waking crying every 2 hours from 7pm - 7am. He sometimes cries out loud all of a sudden and sometimes it's niggles that get more persistent (despite me hiding under the duvet praying he'll go back to sleep lol )

I think it's just not being able to get back to sleep himself. We've been getting him back to sleep by holding his arms by his sides in his cot as this seems to soothe him, although this can take up to 20 mins each time to ensure he really is asleep or he cries again. I think he may need this arm holding because he's swaddled during his daytime sleeps (since which he started to nap brilliantly), though has a grobag at night.

I'm rather afraid to swaddle him at night in case of overheating. We have a dummy which I give him when I'm completely fed up with getting up but I really don't want to head down the dummy addiction route, though maybe he's already addicted to the arm holding??

Today, he's even woken from his naps after 30 mins each time and I had to rock him back to sleep (whoops - naughty I know but I was in the middle of making an apple pie ) We've tried our best since 4 weeks old to put him down awake for all naps and bedtime.

Prior to this last awful week, since 10 weeks old he'd been sleeping brilliantly on naps, going to sleep happily by himself and waking at the right times with a bright smile. His night sleeping also seemed to be improving with only 1 or 2 night wakings. We stopped nightfeeding him a couple of weeks ago as he started refusing it.

The only things I can think are that he's having his growth spurt, though he's not eating any more and doesn't seem hungry during the night; or teething as he's been drooling a lot and has bad nappy rash, though he doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any solutions? I'm not into controlled crying at this age but it seems that anything else I do will be just be something else he wakes up for every 2 hours at night.

And I thought we had it sussed! :-(
Thanks,
Cele + Samuel

hi there ...

I am impressed so far ...If only my 8 wk old wld do the same.
Could the constant waking be new digestive problems ? I find that my Baby wakes when she needs to fart ! yes, its true as it takes so much effort and she is very windy at the moment. If u are breastfeeding have you thought abt what u hve eaten ?
I am also desperate for my baby to sleep when she should and by herself and so am constantly at loggerheads as to whether or not to practice controlled crying.
Growth spurt could also be a factor .
I am also visiting for first time and have posted a message up as well ... Good luck ! Hope he is better this week

Hi Cords, thanks for the reply. I actually posted this message twice by mistake and got the replies on the other one.

The issue seems to have resolved itself now, thank goodness, and he's back to good habits. I thought maybe it was the lack of swaddling at night but now he's fine without it. I honestly think it was a growth spurt, just didn't realise how much of an impact they have!!