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my little boy has a cold - why is he now waking up again at night?

8 replies

dodi1978 · 26/11/2013 08:12

Hello,

my little boy, 16 weeks now, has had a cold since middle of last week. Very snuffly nose (sounds like a little piggy when breathing) and a bit of a cough. No fever.

This made him go from a sleep through baby (only end the beginning of last week we thought we'd cracked it.. three eight to sevens in a row!) to one that wakes up at night again. At the height of his cold three times a night, but now we seem to be back to once at night. Is this normal?

He does take about half his normal bottle size when he wakes up, but drifts off again quite quickly. I wonder whether he just needs the comfort or whether he likes to sit up to take a bottle (and to drain his snuffly nose in the process :--)).

Have you had this? Is this likely to disappear again when he is fully over his cold? It is odd also that he now tends to wake up during the earlier rather than the later part of the night, which is what he used to do.

I guess I shouldn't grumble about once a night.. but I soooo got used to not having to stumble downstairs into a very cold kitchen in the middle of the night to make a bottle....

OP posts:
misshoohaa · 26/11/2013 08:18

Don't bank on anything when it comes to little ones sleeping through! I had so many 'we've cracked it' moments in the first 18 months before I realised kids just don't sleep through the night EVER! Well my DS still doesn't at 2.5.

They will be effected by illness, new changes, growth spurts, daylight saving, nightmares etc and you just need to take each day as it comes whilst trying not to feed any bad sleeping habits like rocking/feeding to sleep.

I do remember 4-6 months being a particularly rubbish sleep period I think there is an awareness thing that kicks in and they fight sleep quite a bit.

Good luck Wink

BitOutOfPractice · 26/11/2013 08:20

Well I know I often wake up in the night if I've got a cold. I expect you do too. Why should a baby be different? It'll pass. Good luck on getting him back into routine

lastnightopenedmyeyes · 26/11/2013 08:23

Totally normal and the first of many reasons why your child will wake up at night! My little boy is 3 and generally sleeps well but colds/illnesses and nightmares will all cause sleeplessness.

BigArea · 26/11/2013 08:26

He is probably waking up because his nose is blocked. We put drops of olbas or equivalent on a muslin next to DD which seems to help a bit, also Karvol chest rub. Unfortunately colds etc always affect sleep though - I was up 5 times with DD last night and she'll be 4 soon!

Sammie101 · 26/11/2013 08:33

My DD is the same age and recently had a cold which messed up her sleeping. She couldn't breathe properly through her nose so was screaming when we tried her with her dummy, but that's the way we settle her Hmm she couldn't feed very well either so she was waking up more often for feeds because she wasn't taking as much each time (we think!)

She has a horrible chesty cough right now which is waking her up more! So definitely normal to wake more when they have a horrible cold Hmm

dodi1978 · 26/11/2013 09:05

Thanks everybody. Hanging my head in shame, you all are right... I guess he just isn't too comfortable at the moment. Never mind, once a night is bearable!

OP posts:
Aquariusgirl86 · 26/11/2013 09:30

Both my kids 2.5 and 15 months wake up constantly when they have a cold. They also act as if it's the worst illness in the world and they think they are dying.....it's just a cold though.
Also if he just started "sleeping through" then don't bank on it happening forever, both of mine had a brief period if sleeping through at that age but neither have ever slept through the night for more than a couple of days ever. When they are having a big developmental change physical or mental their sleep gets worse for a while..... They just like up keep you on your toes.
Hope he feels better soon

BigArea · 26/11/2013 13:04

Don't hang your head! It's horrible when they take a step back sleep-wise. He will get better soon and then it'll be time for the next 'phase' Wink

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