15 weeks- crazy night

[okthen]

My lovely 15 week old ds has had some rough nights recently, and topped it all last night by feeding three times between bedtime (7.30) and midnight, then waking hourly, but not always for a feed.

Up til about 13 weeks he was sleeping well, did some 8 hr stretches, but more typically 5-6hrs then a couple of 3 hr stretches per night. He's ebf so I appreciate he'll need night feeds for a while and this was totally manageable.

Recently he's settled at bedtime til around midnight, then fed every two hours. This was somewhat more knackering! But last night was really bad.

I know from dc1 that sleep can get better and worse in the first year or two. And he's had several colds on the bounce which can't help. But I'm worried his sleep has simply gone up the spout.

In the day he feeds every 3-4 hrs, and has around 5hrs naps in three blocks. In fact his daytime pattern is a dream and he self-settles for naps and bedtime. So the night-time issues are a mystery!

Atm I offer a feed each waking as I am so knackered, and often take him into our bed. But I'm really not keen on co-sleeping and it's definitely not for us long term or even as the norm short term.

My dilemma is whether to bother to intervene at this stage- eg by changing routine or trying to settle without feeding. Or just to ride it out.

Any thoughts?

You have my sympathies. DD2 is 14 weeks and the past couple of nights have been getting progressively worse. Last night was awful.

Getting her to sleep in the evening was a nightmare but she went down at around 8.30. She slept until we went up to bed at 11. I tried to give her a feed (ff) but she only took an ounce. She was up again at 1.30, 3, 4.30 and 7. Got her back to sleep after that in the bed with us and she slept until 9 when DD2 got up (half term.)

She was going all the way through from 11 to 7 before so this is a nightmare and I am exhausted!

Tonight I am going to try to not feed her everytime she wakes. But I dont know how successful I will be. Its hard to know what to do isnt it!

It really is! Until now I've been going with the flow, but now I'm not so relaxed....

Our nights were eerily similar! Comforting, in a way....!

Not much help, but could this be the dreaded 'four month sleep regression' that everyone talks about? Dont know much about it as DS is only 3 months so we've not hit this yet, but I think they have a mad growth spurt sometime around 4 months and the sleep goes up the spout as a result.

Could you offer more feeds (breast) or bigger bottles (FF) during the day, to try and up their calorie intake during the day and see if that makes any difference at night?

My friends with babies reassure me that this period of weirdness only lasts a week or so - fingers crossed thats the case for you guys xx

I did wonder about that (remember it from dd) and it is a help to think this may not last too long!

More feeds is a good idea, though he naps so well that I am loathe to wake him...

Gahhh, it's starting again! Put him down at 7, we've been up and down stairs ever since and I've just fed him again. Once more into the breach....

Yes, we arent doing well here either.

I think we will be co sleeping tonight. :(

My ds is 19 week and we've had a rough week of sleepless nights. He is ff so I know things maybe different but this morning he has woke with a tooth were so relieved to have an answer could this be the same ?

I always thought ff babies slept better but it seems this may be a myth!

Well here we are at 3.30am... Not a good night. We have got him in bed with us. Am panicking that his sleep will be crap forever....

We skipped the 1.30 wake tonight. But only just finished feeding her now. Tried for 10 minutes to get her sleeping but she just woke up more and started her talk/squeal thing she does.

Shes going slowly back over now in her basket. I am hoping as DD1 isnt here to wake her she might sleep to 8.30am. But thats unlikely.

She has been teething karinajack so that could be contributing!

I hope you get some sleep now OP!

Hello, can I join you? My DD is 14 weeks old tomorrow and seems to be n the same sleep slide.... Last night she went down beautifully at 7, I fed her at 10 and then we were up at 1.20, 3.15, 4.55, 6.18 and 7.25, fun, fun, fun. I'm feeding her each time and she's brutally efficient usually done in ten mins and back too sleep but has still just had a monster half hour feed. Ooof. Not feeding is not an option as shenis still quite dinky. Anyone got any idea how long this will last? I was pretty chilled about one or two wake ups as she was five weeks prem and my expectations I the sleep front were low but this will be a killer if it keeps up! Anyone know how long this will keep up? Is it habit forming???? Much sympathy to you all! Off to the HV today will post if she has any marvellous advice....

Ive had a simular night last tuesday night we had our best nights sleep- awake at 11,3 6.40 then up at 8. its been getting worse each night.last night ds (14 weeks and ebf) fed every hour from 12.
I just left him in bed with me so I could snooze bewteen feeds. im now worried he wont like going to sleep in his cot as he has had lots of cuddles this week in an attemptvto make him sleep.

im a bit crappy this morning.. just shouted at my husband as made us both coffee and he commented i put too much sugar in his.. i shall be using the line 'oh im sorry ; i was up all night feeding our child' in a slightly shouty voice alot today. :)

Well she did sleep to 8.30 so last night wasnt too bad.

I am not willing to say its passed yet, but hopefully it passes quickly for us all.

okthen I could have written this! DD is (counts ) 16 weeks on Friday, also self settles for naps and almost for nights (just needs us to sit with her) and mid Jan her night sleep went from nice 5/6/sometimes 7 or 8 hour stretches to 2/3 hours all night. I also thought her sleep would be crap forever. She is ebf and I fed her every time. Fwiw introduced formula bottle in evening in case she was extra hungry but made no diff - sometimes it seemed she just wanted a suck and a cuddle and would pass out again

Am too spineless tired not to just give in and feed her when she wakes and was worried was habit forming but she seems gradually to be creeping back to longer stretches eg half 10 to 3am last night, then 6am, then 9, if that's a comfort.

DH thinks she would self settle if I left her - to be fair she does often wake and go back off for her daytime naps - but she is in a co sleep cot right next to me and I can't bear listening to her suck fists / grizzle / cry until she goes back off, a feed is much easier!

Hello fellow knackered mums! Are we all staggering through the day? Days like this I am so thankful I am on mat leave...

Well it's now clear that ds has a pretty awful cold. Is it awful for me to be sort-of glad? Ie that I can cling to the idea that it was this cold coming on that has buggered up his sleep?!

He spent all night in our bed and I too am worried he'll now go off his crib...

Hi everyone, hope u don't mind me joining in. I'm not currently in the same position as you but can relate to a few things.
My DD co slept with me for about 3 weeks around 9-12 weeks of age. She would either sleep in my arms or on her tummy next to me (I know people don't agree with this) but she was going all night till 6am whereas she would be waking in her cot and on top of that we would be up and down the stairs settling her.
I returned her to her cot and she started waking up about 3am which she hadn't done when in bed with me. Instead of feeding her I would cuddle her in bed with me. She wiuld go back off till 6 or 7 an. So she slept in her own cot half the night and with me for the rest. So yes I made her wait for her bottle. As soon as I did that it was like she knew that she could wait. That evening she went to sleep in her own cot and slept through to 6.34 (I remember the exact time) without waking.
Just to add though, my baby sleeps on her tummy as that's what she prefers, the night she slept through in her cot I started using the sleeping bag as well. Whether any of these contributed I don't know.
In regards to feeding more in the day to bump up the calories I disagree but that is just in my experience. What makes the difference with my DD is getting a good feed into her before she goes to sleep at 9. Whether she has drank well all day or not, it is this feed that makes a difference I think.

She now sleeps from 9pm until about 8am and is currently 15 weeks old.

What time do u put you little ones to bed? What is their routine leading up to bed?

I know my advice might not be welcome as I'm not currently in this position, but I was; only 3 weeks ago. For my DD, she need teaching she could wait for her bottle and just needed me to show her by snuggling her when she woke. I hope some of the things I have said might help x

thank you mamas
last night I cuddled my ds for an hour before feeding as its had only been 2 hours since his last feed.
im going to work at showing him he can go longer(without him getting upset)
so its nice to hear your experiance! :-)

Well i really hope it works for you. I dont know if you use a dummy but i do with my DS. When she used to wake i would put her dummy in and snuggle her in bed with me. For 20, 30 mins every minute or two she would spit it out and start crying again but she doon nodded back off.
Hopefully cradling and soothing will work even if it takes a week to drag out the times gradually. I wish you luck and hope that it doesnt take long so you can get some well deserved sleep xxx

Thanks mamasteph, nice of you to share your thoughts.

I too am thinking about soothing back to sleep without a feed if it has been less than 3 hours. He's not ready to go without a night feed at all, but I think I am feeding too readily as I'm so tired I can't be bothered to do anything else!

He goes to bed around 7.30 and until recently was sleeping well, just waking briefly for 1-2 feeds and sleeping til 7.30. I would be totally happy with this, and as his routine hasn't changed- and judging by past experience with his big sister- I'm counting on this being a hump caused by a developmental leap or his nasty cold- normal but exhausting!

thanks Mama, think you might have given me the motivation I need to try to soothe DD to sleep without feeding.

am wondering if you FF? DD bfs when she's in bed with me oftentimes so wondering how I can bring her into bed with me for cuddles without her frantically rooting around for the breast (she is a master of this!)

I use the dummy, it was a life saver.
trying to sooth with feeding if its been less than 3 hours since a feed. going ok but quite tired!