My 3 month old baby is a very poor sleeper. Please help!

[dearmummy2012]

Hi,
This is my first thread so please excuse me if anything is wrong.

My 3 month old boy is a very poor sleeper. He doesn't sleep much during the day or night. I have read that babies usually sleep for 16 hours a day but my darling son only takes 2-3 minutes naps after I put him down. During the day he would only for 2 hours at a stretch on 2 ocassions and at night he doesn't sleep before 1 or 2 am.

He also takes feeds (breast fed/ expressed milk) every 1 1/2 to 2 hours be it night or day. I have tried topping his feeds with expressed breastmilk or pacified it with a dummy. His constant need of attention is stressing me out as I also have a 4 year old girl to look after.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I am sorry to say it, but he isn't a poor sleeper.

He takes 2 x 2 hour naps. He feeds every couple of hours at night. Is that right? Those are both completely normal.

The not sleeping during the evening at all thing does sound tough, and I am sure people can offer some tips on that. Other than that, I'm sorry, but it does sound like you had a good sleeper first time, rather than a bad one this time.

It's all about survival. Is your 4 year old at school normally - so you can use the daytime naps to sleep? Do you have family who could let you nap in teh day over Christmas? Do you have a partner who could maybe do a shift with the baby in the evening so that you could get some decent kip in first before the night shift kicks in? Or take some of the night wakings (if he will take EBM at night)?

Have you thought about co-sleeping?

I am utterly thrown by the sleep differences between my two dc. But however....
What is his weight gain/nappies like?
If he's waking up after 2/3 minutes he isn't full. Are you offering the same breast a few times to ensure he's getting the hind milk or do you swap?
Is there any difference between the expressed and breast feeds?
Are you putting him down immediately after the feed? My dc has to be properly asleep or they would wake up so is sit with them a good ten minutes first - worth it for the longer break.
Is he cluster feeding in the evenings?
Does he sleep better if you walk with the pram?

My 3month old will not nap for longer than 45 mins twice a day, and is really unsettled in the evening.

I think it is all normal and just to be waited out. The only thing I will add is that I echo the other poster about waiting until dd is fully asleep before putting down. If I put dd down even when asleep after a feed within 10 mins, she will wake up and not go back to sleep.

And god help me if I put her down when sleepy but still awake.

Hi OP that sounds very frustrating!! I have a 9 week old DS and he was doing something similar. I twigged a couple of weeks ago (after HV and GP pointed it out) that he was overtired and didn't know how to settle himself because I was always cuddling/rocking him!

If you leave baby in his bed in a quiet room will he go to sleep at all? I found just putting him down the instant he showed tired signs and walking away/out of sight helped him. Letting him grizzle for 5 mins ( when you can tell its just a tired whiney cry and he's fed, nappy changed, winded, not too hot/cold etc) helps and he goes to sleep better when I just leave him rather than watching over/rocking him. And if he wakes up just leave him there till he goes back to sleep/or starts properly crying!

Not sure if that's helpful as your baby is a bit older and you have the experience of another one! Anyway it's working for me. Was totally a lightbulb moment that sometimes babies just need to be left on their own to chill out and go to sleep on their own!!