6 week old not happy from 4am- please help

[Cheffie100]

Hi all, I have not been attempting very much structure yet and have just been going with what my dd needs to do. I have however been bathing her, feeding her and putting her to bed for 7pm every night which works really well and she sleeps until about 1pm. She has a good feed and goes back to sleep until 4am.

At 4am she wakes grunting and fidgeting, I change her nappy, she feeds for 10-20 mins, falls asleep, needs another nappy change, falls asleep, feeds for 10 mins, nappy change. If I put her back in her basket she crystal and wriggles and grunts. I usually give in about 6.15 am and put her in bed with me where she generally falls asleep instantly for an hour.

Obviously the ultimate aim is for her to go through the night and I'm hoping soon that two feeds become one. For the time being though is there anything i can do to tackle the 4am situation or do I just need to grin and bear it and wait for it to sort itself?

Wow, 1 feed a night at 6 weeks old! That's pretty good, I wouldn't be worrying about her waking at 4 if you've got that!

Fwiw, my lo used to get really grunty at about 4 am - have you tried manipulating her legs to see if you can get any farts out of her?

Thanks forgetful, I'm not waking her at 4am. She wakes then and grunts, feeds, dozes and is quite unhappy.

I want to continue feeding her at 4am but could do with getting her to feed and go back to sleep, any thoughts most welcome?

No I wasn't suggesting you we're waking her at 4. I always used to bring my dd into bed with me at that time, but that's not ideal either.

No suggestions I'm afraid, I've only just got my dd down to 1 feed & in her cot at nearly 11 mo by doing cc, but obviously you can't do that with yours as she's far too young.

Hopefully someone will be along who can help. Good luck!

Agree with forgetfulmog about wind - DS was similar in the early weeks and it seemed to be a buildup of gas from earlier in the night, plus fallout from his reflux. Pumping legs and tummy massage helped a bit, but also making sure that I burped him properly after each feed (or crying session) earlier in the evening.

My ds was the same as the other posters: hard to settle from 4am onwards. I really was not keen on co-sleeping so we just toughed it out....it was hard for a couple of months, lots of popping a dummy in, tummy rubbing etc etc. The only thing i can say to reassure you is: as your baby gets older and more settled, she will sleep more deeply in the later part of the night. In the meantime, do whatever you can to survive. Me and DH used to take 2 hour shifts with DS in the living room whilst the other one slept. It was horrific! In retrospect, I probably should have co-slept, would have got a lot more sleep. On the plus side, having never co slept, DS did sleep through the night in his cot in his own room from about 4mo. Swings and roundabouts.

Echo what the others are saying though: if your baby is sleeping from 7pm - 1am at 6 weeks old you are doing brilliantly well. DS was nothing like that good!! If you're finding the 4am wake-ups hard, maybe you could go to bed at 8pm and make sure you get a good 4 hour block of sleep before the fun and games start??

What is it about babies and 4am? I used the time as a cut off, still do at nearly 5 months. Any time after 4am dd comes into bed and we sleep/feed until about 7. Even though I don't go into a deep sleep and wake frequently to pop a nipple in it's so much more restful than trying to get a crying baby to sleep who fights everything!

Thanks all- I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Forgetful- apologies I read your note as 'waking her' rather than 'her waking'. Extreme sleep deprecation is my only excuse

Thanks all- I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Forgetful- apologies I read your note as 'waking her' rather than 'her waking'. Extreme sleep deprivation is my only excuse

No worries

My DD is 16 weeks and we used to get this. Sometimes she'd settle, sometimes she wouldn't. I found when she was big enough dry night nappies helped - not having to change her before feeding. I often co-slept (and still do!) if she woke at 4 onwards, it's just easier to feed lying down and snuggle!

It's worth trying to get on top of wind in the day using gripe water or infacol, you get a build up over the day. It's not worth giving them overnight though, too much faff!

Fwiw DD now often stirs at 4am (enough to wake me) but doesn't actually wake.

We had the same thing with DD.

I think it's the flip side of having a 7pm bedtime - they have their deepest sleep at the start and then their sleep gets gradually lighter (and so more disturbed by wind etc) during the night.

If I have a second dc I won't be doing a 7pm bedtime until they're a bit older and have got better at dealing with wind...

Hi there, I had the same issue with my now 11week DD. She would sleep from 8pm till we woke her for a dream feed at 11pm then would go back to sleep till around 3/4am but after that is terribly noisy - not crying enough to get up but snorting/snuffling/grizzling enough to keep us awake.

As she has got older the waking time has moved later so is now closer to 5am. I am hoping that this will become 6am soon and will officially be sleeping through. Basically you're doing really well and stick with it (smile)

I thought it was just me before I saw this thread. My DD is nearly 7 weeks and has been doing this for about 2 weeks now. From 4am, like clockwork, she doesn't cry, just lies there making noises and wriggling around. And she's so loud! At least I now know it's not just me.

My 6 week old will nod off feeding at 4 then if you put him in his basket will be wide awake and wriggling and not whinging but making noises but if you put him in our bed he'll nod off as soon as his head hits the pillow the little monkey! He's actually in his basket tonight for a change and I can't get back to sleep!

Mine too. DS1 did it too. It passes but is crap isn't it!

I am at 7-1! Bloody hell

Another one who had the same here! Was recommended colief as apparently babies can get colic at other times of day but as I breastfed I couldn't be bothered with the faff so decided to ride it out until the magic 12 weeks and decided to tackle it then if it hadn't passed.
Am now at 13 weeks and can't remember the last morning when he was like that, it gradually improved until without realising it it had stopped and most nights he sleeps 7-7 with one feed.
I second the suggestion of early nights so you get a good chunk of sleep before the fun and games start it makes a HUGE difference!

Oh and also second infacol and serious winding make a big difference too!

Thanks all. This really helps and gives me hope x

Thanks for the thread - I have the same thing and spend 4-6 trying to get her settled. She cluster feeds 9-2 and I'm shattered but will try the leg pumping/tummy massage for wind. Stupidly I hadn't linked grunting with wind
I'll get 4 hours straight sleep sometime...
Very at 7-1!!