Am I expecting too much of my 3wk old? waking every hour

[Seasidedolly]

Hello
First time mum here to 3 week old son. We had a pretty traumatic birth and he was sleepy for the first week, meaning we had to abandon breast feeding. Even though he had his bad nights, most nights he would wake twice about 3 or 4 hours apart for the first two weeks.

However, for the past week his sleep has been getting worse, the last few nights have consisted of 2 hours sleep when he first goes down, then waking every hour after that. During the day he feeds often but not as much as every hour. When he wakes every hour he only has a small amount of milk, then either falls back to sleep or still makes hungry faces but either won't take the bottle or has a teeny amount then spits it back out.

Why is he waking if he isn't very hungry? We don't use dummies but I saw on another thread that some babies just like to suck so is it worth offering him a dummy when he wakes frequently?

Any advice or experience much appreciated, I'm so tired!

Sounds normal to me!

I think they go through a growth spurt around this time so that could be an explanation.

At 3 weeks old I would still be expecting your DS to need feeding in the night anyway. Maybe you just need to make sure he doesn't fall asleep on the bottle, and if he does then gently wake him up and try and get him to feed again. Maybe he is hungry but too tired to feed so he isn't getting enough when he does wake.

Have you tried not feeding him when he wakes but comforting him instead?

We've just been through the 3 weeks growth spurt although ebf. Lots of snacking, fussing, crying. It lasted nearly 3 days. Then she had a very quiet couple of days (to recover?) hang in there!

I have a 5 week old. She usually goes every 3 hours but when she wakes more often its usually because she has wind or because she fell asleep on the bottle and wants more, or she wakes up when I lay her down!

A midwife suggested they sometimes need a bigger teat because the milk isnt coming out fast enough so they get exhausted sucking before they have had enough so maybe go up a teat size?

My eldest was like that and slept all fucking day It did get better at about 6 weeks and at 14 weeks he was sleeping through for a good 7 hours.

I dont want to give you false hope in the form of a timetable, but yes completely normal at 3 weeks and yes it will get better.

Completely sucks when you're living it though

Thanks all, I can deal with it a bit better if I know it's normal! He is quite a windy baby and takes a lot of winding to get a burp out of him, if at all, and that's with using in facility before the feed.
I have tried a no 2 teat but it just pours down his chin so think it's still a little fast for him at the mo but will try it again in a couple of weeks. Thanks again :)

Dr Brown bottles were a life saver for us - we noticed far less wind immediately. Worth a try?

3 weeks is too soon for a level 2 teat, especially with an already windy baby.

When he wakes every hour he only has a small amount of milk, then either falls back to sleep or still makes hungry faces but either won't take the bottle or has a teeny amount then spits it back out

This sounds like a baby's natural desire to comfort suck.

A dummy will help. Your baby has no nipple to comfort suck on.

... Also, have you tried swaddling?

I agree use a slow flow test for a windy baby, then wind a best as possible.

Was the baby sleepy because of jaundiced? Often once the jaundice clears, they wake more frequently. At three weeks old it sounds completely normal to spending most the night awake, it's exhausting though.

If the birth was a bit traumatic, it can sometimes take a while for them to settle down IME. Congratulations btw