12-week-old boy doesn't sleep longer than 2 hours at night. help!

[liduoduo]

Hi, my boy is 12-week-old, he doesn't sleep longer than 2 hours at night, every time he wakes up, I feed him. we are doing mix feeding, 90% breast, 10% bottle. I tried to figure out the possible root cause:

• hungry? I read a book called "the baby whisperer" by Tracy, I do top up and dream feeding (bottle is used for this feeding) at night, so I don't think he is hungry. every time I feed him at night, he takes one side, sometimes both side, but he refuses bottle at night except dream feeding.
  
  
• diaper? I change diaper every 6~8 hours, so only one change at night, doesn't seem like diaper bothers him
  
  
• too hot/warm? I lower the room temperature and only over him with blanket, doesn't help
  
  
• cry it out? sorry, I can't do it, I don't accept this method at all
  
  
• prop? I don't think at his age feeding is a prop, not until he is 5 months. am I right?
  
  
• illness? he used to have reflux symptoms, but much better now, we went to see 2 pediatricians, both of them don't think he has reflux as he double his birth weight.
  
  I am doing co-sleep, on the same bed, but not the same blanket. no improvement in night sleep either. when I say no longer than 2 hours, actually most of the time is only 1.5 hours, 2 days ago, every 1 hour and 20 mins. and in the early morning, 5:00~7:00, in the worse case, he would wake up every 20~ 30mins, and then sleeps for an hour. for his naps? most of them are half hours, but sometimes can be 2 hours, even longer than his night sleep!
  
  does any mom have the similar experience? how do u resolve the problem?
  
  thx.

[ch1134]

Feed as often as you can during the day to 'fill him up'. I did this and at 12 weeks went from feeding every 2-3 hours, to roughly every 4 hours.

[flopsybunny45]

OP - have read your thread with much interest as I approach the birth of DC2 shortly and its bringing memories back of the first months with DC1. DD1 - matches your description. She was awake more of the night than asleep. Rarely slept more than 1 hour at a time. Colic got worse, not better, from wk 7 onwards. She had a short fuse during the day. Eventually began to fuss that scream at the breast, and at 5 months finally began to stop gaining weight.

Please go with your gut feeling. I had friends who settled for the 'they are a baby, I just accepted it was their nature'. After five months of people telling me much of the same above (and our sanity/marriage/likelihood of DD2 happening all seriously flaking), we finally got referred to a paediatrician and found DD had allergies to Soya/Milk. (All coming through my BM). DD was put on special milk (nutrmigen). I went soya/dairy free and continued to feed her at night when possible. I cannot emphasise the HUGE change (hence DC2 on way!!) She was literally a different baby, only waking twice at most and briefly for a feed. Within two months, she regularly slept through.

I spent hours soul-searching on mumsnet...for any answers. She had tongue tie, but no change after that sorted. Please persevere if you are in any doubt at all. You know your baby best and don't doubt yourself. I remember recording her waking at night just to try to get Drs etc to believe me!!

[liduoduo]

update of the baby's magic tea.
doesn't work for my baby, no change at all. sigh.

[liduoduo]

new update, heard of babies' magic tea, ordered and going to try it.
50/50, some moms say it works excellent, some say it doesn't work at all.
anyway, hope it improve my love's sleep, at least let him sleep longer than 2 hours at night. really don't want to wait until he is year old, tooooooo long.

[pinkr]

She did get diagnosed with reflux at five weeks after i spotted blood in sone sick.
I know the next might sleep bit if it doesn't I could see it harming my marriage. And my sanity

[AnonyMust]

Aaaah. So feel for you. My son (now 7) was exactly like this. Could've set a timer: woke up to feed and ... stay awake... every hour and a half - for 6 months.
It nearly drive me insane.
But he sleeps like a log new. Takes him a while to drop off but he has slept solidly through the night since 7 months or so. Second DC was different. Much easier from birth. .

[PotteringAlong]

My first son was like this - he's now 3 and still doesn't reliably sleep through. He woke up every hour for the first 18 months of his life.

My 14 week old will go 3 hours at night.

You get a sleeper or you don't and you just have to ride it out.

[liduoduo]

@ odoneel:
1st 2 years!!! every 40 mins for 2 years??? I just can't imagine how u survive!!!
if u see this message, can u pls tell me any other symptoms your love had? my boy used to have some reflux symptoms when he was 7-week-old, but not now, so not sure if we should consider medication anymore.
thx.

[liduoduo]

@Pinkr: every baby is different, next one won't have the same problem I promise. I know it's too late to ask, but still want to say: did u check and see if your 1st baby has reflux? to me, it is the most possible root cause. and baby grows up, not necessary to feed them every time they wake up, for big baby, maybe 5 months old and older, can apply sleep training , such as pick up /put down, for this method, I recommend Tracy's 'baby whisperer'

[Monkeybrain10]

I'm another one to agree that this is normal for me too! Mine is nearly 6 months and he snoozes in the evenings with us downstairs (as there's no chance of him sleeping unless he's literally lying on one of us!) then the max he will do is 3 hours but it's mostly 2,1 or even 20 min stints through the night! After being unwell recently we're now in co-sleep territory so was hoping for some advice or miracle cure on this thread ! Sounds like every baby is different (met a girl last week with a 10 week old sleeping 8 hours straight - oh joy !!) . I guess in time we'll eventually all get some sleep :-)

[Acorncat]

Not saying that it is, but silent reflux should not be excluded just because they gain weight well - in fact that's a symptom as they comfort feed constantly! Mine has also almost doubled his birth weight by that age but has it.

[Tigercake]

Some babies do this, and it is fucking awful.

I found boob in mouth most of night seemed to work, and when I had totally had enough and needed a couple of hours, I handed baby to DH and told him to go elsewhere in the house whilst I used earplugs.
They do grow out of it, but no-one can tell you when.

[DancingDinosaur]

*great

[DancingDinosaur]

Both mine did this. They woke pretty much every hour until they were 11 months. On the plus side they are greater sleepers now.

[pinkr]

Oh and we had a routine from 6 weeks. Story, bath, feed,n bed etc consistently.
She never feed to sleep...always went down awake. I used to be envious of the ones that feed to sleep

[pinkr]

Yeah. Every 45 mins all night long. That lasted a good few months. I was on the verge of a breakdown. She gradually slept longer stretches but not consistently till 13 months. Until she was seven months she never slept longer than three hours andi could count the times she did that on one hand.horrendous
It's made us seriously reconsider number two.

[buttercupbear]

From my and my friends experiences don't agree that it's anything but pretty normal to be in ops situation, anything more I would see as a bonus.

My dd would only take a "cherry" dummy at first, the rounded teat ones, may be worth a try.

With a baby so young they will sort themselves out usually, we didn't really have a bedtime routine other than dim lights, baby massage and soft music, then into sleeping bag.

[odoneel]

Mine woke up every 40 minutes for the first two years. Cause of this was silent reflux .

[FATEdestiny]

I'm not sure why there are so many posts saying this is "normal" on this thread.

It is certainly not unusual to have sleep issues at this age, especially if he is your first born. But it is equally usual to have better sleeping babies.

My DD is 12 weeks - born end of September. She is breastfed. She has been sleeping from her 11pm dreamfeed to 7am from about 8 weeks old. Last night she did 9.30pm to 7.30am. She feeds 2 hourly (at least) through the day though.

Have a look at the anti-natal threads for September and October for some support from Mums with babies a similar age.

Using a dummy (or a pacifier as they call it in some countries) is a good way to help baby settle. He can suck on the dummy instead of your breast to help him get to sleep. If your baby is getting enough milk during the day then you should be able to shush/pat and put dummy in to get her back to sleep.

You do not have to feed baby every time they wake up in the night. Only if he is hungry.

[Geneticsbunny]

I Honestly lol at 9.00 being described as early in the morning! All of my babies think that any time from 6.00 is the morning! Hang in there. He will sleep longer eventually. Waking every hour sounds pretty normal to me. I coped my cosleeping a bit when mine were waking up loads and just going to bed when they did. Make sure if you cosleep that you do it safely though. I had mine in a sleepin bag above y covers so he doesn't get too hot and I stopped drinking when they were little pretty much completely.

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

There's nothing complicated about using a dummy, you just put it in their mouth. I sterilise mine. My baby used to instantly spit his out so it has to be gently held there until he got the hang of it. Some babies have a preference for particular brands/shapes. They have an age range on them.

[buttercupbear]

Just feed him when he wants it, he's tiny and doesn't know what the f is going on

[liduoduo]

about using dummy, I never did it before, can anyone show me how to in more detail? thx.
I prefer not to put him down on his back as on his side is more easier for him to sleep and settle. He did have reflux symptoms, but I don't think he has it now.
thank u for all replies and recommendations, appreciate it.

[ANewMe2015]

I'd feed him each time until you get used to him feeding himself so he doesnt wake you up!

It really won't be forever. Just work out what can help you get through the day.

[liduoduo]

everyone says it's normal, what about I say he doesn't sleep longer than an hour? is it still normal? it happened last night, and every once a while, it repeats again.

EVERY ONE HOUR!!!!and in the early morning 5:40~9:00, every half hour, I think he is tired too, that's why he got up at 9:00.

and most of the time, no longer than 1.5 hours. I am really tired, and when I talk to friends around, they all say their babies can sleep at least up to 3~4 hours, why am I so "lucky"?

I let him sleep on his own bed at the beginning, and since he wakes up so often, I have to cosleep so I can sleep a little bit more.

but maybe you guys are right, I shouldn't feed him every time he wakes up, I should try shush pat 1st. most of the time he wakes up and cry, I was able to extend his sleep by shush pat once, only ONCE.

maybe all I can do is suck it up? I wish someone can predict when is the end day.