3mo suddenly waking after 2 hours HELP please!

[grumposaurusrex]

My ds has suddenly gone from sleeping between 5 and 7 hours for his big sleep to waking after just 2, then again after a couple of hours, then 1 etc. He has always been somewhat of a fussy sleeper-refused his Moses basket, woke up every half hour-1 hour at night, and literally did not nap at all in the day until he was 3 weeks old. We were co sleeping at night, which I hated, simply because I was that exhausted that I couldn't stay awake when feeding him. We invested in a co sleeping crib after a month and although it was a slow process, things started getting better and by 3 months he was generally sleeping between 5-7 hours for his big sleep then waking every hour after that and coming in with us around 5 so we could get a couple more hours. Also, he's now waking up really quickly and crying, which he NEVER used to- he'd just wiggle around and make the odd noise until I fed him/popped his dummy in and he'd carry on sleeping. I don't understand why he has suddenly regressed sir dramaticically, don't think it's a growth spurt as he's feeding normally in the day. Could he be teething? Is it the weather? Please help, it's so demoralizing

• and he's back to co sleeping with us again from about 2am every night because I'm that knackered I'm falling asleep feeding him again :-(

I'm afraid I think it's quite unusual for a 3 month old to sleep for 5-7 hours, and you've just been lucky up to now . Does he go back to sleep quickly if you feed him?

Yes he does, but when I pop him in his crib he becomes very unsettled and wiggles around waking himself up again so I have to soothe him for up to 45 minutes- after which he might sleep an hour! I tried burping him but that really doesn't make a difference, he still thrashes around. He's now starting to cry when he wakes himself up, which again, he never used to do.

Normal. My DD started the night with a 5 hour stretch then waking every couple of hours from 8 weeks to about 13 weeks. Then suddenly she's been awake at least every 2 hours. Now 17 weeks it's improving again.

It's coincided with her starting to become more fun and interactive - reaching for things, rolling over etc.

I know what you mean though, it's annoying when you think you've cracked it and you end up back at square one! Apparantly most babies don't really start to consolidate their sleep ie have it all together in big stretches until they're 6 months old. This website explains it really well.

My solution has been co-sleeping and investing in a coffee machine

Also ditto the thrashing around bit you've just mentioned. She seems to have just stopped doing that though.

Thanks for the website plummyjam. I have heard of the 3 month sleep regression but was hoping it was a myth! Does your dd settle in her cot ok after all the co sleeping? Thats what I worry about, it took a good few weeks to convince our ds to stay in his crib after accidental co sleeping for the first month or so. Is your dd hungry when she wakes up? Ds seems ravenous, despite only having about 180ml bottle (his one formula feed of the day-supposedly to help him sleep longer!) a couple of hours previously.

What I do is feed her to sleep then put her in the cot for the first part of the night then co-sleep after her first wake up. She seems quite settled in the cot it's just that if she wakes up and I feed her then put her back, she thrashes around in her sleep. I think it's possibly a bit of wind and maybe reflux. At least if she's next to me in bed I can check she's OK without having to get up.

She doesn't exactly wake up at night, she just starts fidgeting around, so I stick her on the boob, she has a good feed then settles again (although I'm usually asleep before she is!). She seems to stir about every couple of hours which is how often she feeds in the day.

I'm hoping that she'll start to sleep for longer periods at the beginning of the night, if she regularly starts making it past 1am (she goes to sleep at 9.30) then I might try feeding her then putting her back in the cot. It's just that if she wakes up when I've only had an hours sleep (say at 11.30) I feel totally knackered if I try to sit up and feed her.

When she did a good 5 hour stretch I'd get up to feed her then pop her back in the Moses basket because I could handle 3 wake ups at night. Now she's feeding every couple of hours I just can't manage it without being shattered in the day.

I do think she needs feeding because she's a big baby and also it's been very warm so I figure she might be thirsty.

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing but I seem to be getting good sleep so I can enjoy her in the day and she seems happy too. Also it's lovely to wake up next to her big cheesy grin! I would continue to co-sleep if I could but I'd like to have my husband back in bed (I'm in the spare room still as he's a bit of a heavy sleeper) and I do also like a glass of wine now and again .

Also she will nap in the cot during the day.

Thanks so much for sharing, its so comforting to know its not just me! This sounds pretty much like my ds's routine, I think I'm just going to have to lump it and do whatever I can to get through it, and not feel guilty about co sleeping if that's what we have to do. on the bright side he's getting ever so good at putting himself to sleep in the day and at bedtime- eventually he'll have to start doing it at night too- I hope! :-)