Please help! 11 week old sleep issues

[KatyCochrane]

Hi all, I'm just wanting some reassurance I think that things will get better at some point. We have an 11 (very nearly 12 week old) who is just not sleeping well at night. I seem to be surrounded by people who's babies of a similar age sleep for 5 and 6 hour stretches whereas we are now down to 2.5 at best (a book that a friend lent me reinforces the fact that MOST babies sleep for long periods at this age). As an example from last night: 1. Slept 7.45 to 10pm (then very fussy - fed at 11.40 pm) 2. Slept 00:30 to 2am then awake and upset so fed at 3am 3. Would not go back to sleep and so my husband resorted to sticking the dummy back in every time she woke (every 20 mins) which can't be a good idea but was driven by desperation! In total she had less than 6 hours nighttime sleep. I have her in my arms right now (been trying to get her to sleep for a good while) as she screams every time she is put down. I am really struggling from lack of sleep - is anyone else going through something similar? X

That reads to me like your 11 week old is hungry and I suspect you would get much more sleep if you fed her quicker.

For example why didn't you feed at 10pm? She would then settle back to sleep much more easily. Likewise 2am - why wait until 3am to feed?

Most sleep issues in the first 3 months or so are due to feeding.

Regular (2 to 3 hourly) feeds through the daytime and then at night I work on the basis that dummy is put in at every wake up. I will allow a minute or two (5 minutes at most) persevering with the dummy. If that doesn't work then baby is hungry and so is fed. All done, dusted and back to sleep within about 15-20 minutes from waking.

Also, try the dummy with a swaddle.

How is daytime sleep? Poor daytime sleep can cause over tiredness and affect night time sleep. I'd be aiming for no longer than 90 minutes awake time (ideally 60 minutes) before a nap is needed all the way through the daytime at this age. Dummy + bouncy chair is great for daytime sleeping.

What fate said, I think your baby is hungry...
DS is 16 weeks now, fed every 3 hours like clockwork, day or night until very recently when he started dropping a feed, sadly not the one I needed (the 11pm rather than the 2am)