Baby sleep atrocious!

[Flossy78]

Help me MNers!

DS is 15 weeks & his night sleep has gradually been getting worse over the last few weeks. Tonight is particularly horrible & I need advice. I put him down at 10pm, he woke at 11, breastfed for a few sucks and asleep, put him back down, woke an hour later & cycle repeated. He's clearly waking & using breast to go back to sleep. I can't do this all night.

I'm seriously sleep deprived & exhausted. How do I stop this cycle tonight? DH has a chest infection & is sleeping in spare room so I'm on my own with this tonight.

Help!

You're in sleep regression territory. I would suggest co sleeping if possible, really helps me on days like this.

Oh god! How long does that last for??

Sounds like the 4 month sleep regression with us it lasted about 4 weeks, very similar cycle to yours. The only thing that helped us was moving her into her cot in her own room and her sleep improved a lot! However I know this isn't for everyone, it was the last option for us (crazy sleep deprived mum )

Yes, 4 month sleep regression. It's really normal - there are loads of threads about it on here. We are in it too and co sleeping to survive.

Thanks for the replies. Will try co sleeping for a couple of nights. Then could try cot in his own room too. I have DD who is nearly 3 so am only reluctant to move DS into his own room in case he wakes his sister who is in the room next door. I will try anything though as I'm bloody exhausted!

Hello, hope you're not too shattered today.

The 4 month regression comes about when a baby does not know how to put themselves to sleep. Your baby has a sleep association of being fed to sleep and so he needs you to do this.

A good way for a baby to learn how to fall asleep on their own is the shh-pat method, it's perfect for 15 weeks old. It does take up to two weeks for them to get the idea of it but it is gentle and not a crying technique. See this link for how to do it www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/01/shhpat.html

Another thing it so avoid overtiredness as at this age, sleep = more sleep. I like this link for awake time length by age. It is just a guide but it really helped me www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/02/wake-time.html.

As your baby is likely to still need 1-2 night feeds at this age, try and set a time limit so if bedtime is 10pm there can be milk then and maybe 2am and 6am?

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the advice Theres. The Shush-Pat method worked a treat with DS last night & the night was much much better than the previous one. I had needed to tackle his naps next so will use the advice for that. Thank you again for taking the time to post

Oh good, I'm so glad you had a better night. An online friend on another forum once said that sometimes it just makes you feel better to try something whilst your baby works it out on their own and I agree with that too!

I hope you continue to see improvement.

How's it going Flossy?