7 week old waking umpteen times at night, could he be cold?

[EssiesInvisibleLlama]

Last night he woke 5 times I think between 12 and 6am. I am wrecked! Each time I feed him and he goes back down for 45mins/ an hour or so. He doesn't cry when he wakes, just grunts and wriggles. I've tried leaving him to see if he goes back to sleep but he doesn't and eventually will cry. I stayed at my Grans at the weekend for the night and her house was like a furnace, he slept like a log! I woke at about 3am in a panic because he hadn't woken, and had to go and prod him, which woke him, so I fed him and he slept til 7am. This would NEVER happen at home!
I've been keeping our room cool at home after reading all the advice not to overheat them, but actually now think he might be waking cos he is cold. I think Grans house might have been a bit on the warm side, but somewhere in between might be better? He's been in a long sleeve vest and 1 tog grobag at home as the room is about 20-21, but I think perhaps he needs to be in a sleepsuit, or a warmer gro bag? What do people thing? I'm terrified of overheating him but we all need more sleep, including him!

I should add, he's a massive baby, hence why he is in a grobag at such a young age.

Also, he is ebf, and I appreciate he will need feeding regularly, but every 45min-1 hour is a bit extreme, he goes between 1-3 hours between feeds during the day.

Sounds like ds is waking after each sleep cycle (sleep cycles are 45 -50 mins approx). It could be the temperature and if he is feeling on the cool side when he wakes between cycles he might struggle to transition into next one. Have you checked if his back and chest are cool? What about legs? Hands and feet aren't good indicators.

BUT sleep can change due to growth spurts too around this age and he may well need the extra feeds. This should pass though.

My room is around 20/21 degrees. Dd is 4 months and sleeps in a 2.5 tog grobag and a sleep suit.

Gro have a table you can refer to that shows what they should be wearing at each room temp - see if you can find it online. Does the room get colder at night? Do you have a thermometer?

Thanks both. Yes I have a gro egg, temp is around 20-22, and the grobag table says 1 tog bag and vest with arms but not legs. Doesn't seem enough to me. If I wore that I'd be cold, I am when I get up to feed him even in pjs! Might try a baby gro with legs on under the 1 tog tonight, or the long sleeve vest with a 2.5 tog. Guess I can experiment a bit and see if anything makes any difference.

Will have a feel of back/neck tonight too and see if I can decide if he's cool or not? He's not slept well since birth, though he will often go 3-4 hours at the start of the night after first 7-8pm feed. I'm not expecting him (or wanting him!) to go through the night or anything, but every hour is a bit knackering so if I can get 2 hours between feeds here and there I'll be a bit more rational during the day I think.

It definitely sounds as if he might be cold. I think getting babies to keep warm, but not overheat during the night is really difficult, especially as the room temperature can vary during the night. There are guidelines on clothing for babies during the night, but they are really just guidelines and you need to apply them depending on how cold your baby tends to get, which is individual. Some babies may need more clothing than others.

Also, guidelines say that after the first month, you can dress your baby in the same number of layers and the same materials that you are wearing. So, if you'd feel cold the way he's dressed at night, you can assume he does too.

I have always wondered how cold a baby must be to feel cold on its neck - seeing as that is its core temperature, it must be absolutely freezing for it to feel cold there. This is why I always check DS's thighs and arms, if the skin there is cold I assume he needs another layer.

First of all, I would make sure the room temperature stays the same for the whole night. Then I'd add an extra layer every night. I'd start with a cotton t-shirt over his vest, then a pair of cotton pants, then a cotton blanket over the gro bag until you get it right.

I'd be using a vest and sleepsuit with a 1 tog bag at this time of year. Disclaimer - not any kind of expert but had a winter baby and now have an 8 week old. She's in vest and sleepsuit but cellular blanket rather than bag as she's still in Moses basket.

No that's not enough. I think they err on the side of caution but I always put ds in more layers than they said as ds was cold! Ds is in full sleep suit now

Dc3 is 11mo, so slightly older, but he's in vest, babygro and grobag. I think they need a vest and babygro as night clothes at this time of year, for the enclosed cosy factor. Then bedding as appropriate to room temp.

Dd is 13 weeks and is in a short sleeved vest, sleepsuit and 2 tog gro bag. I'd only use a 1 tog bag in Summer, I'd definitely try more clothes or higher tog. When I had ds (December baby) I was so terrified of SIDS that I just about froze the poor little mite! When he went to my sister's frankly stiflingly hot house he slept like a log.

My 17 week old did that a few days ago so I introduced a 2.5 tog growbag and a long sleeved vest and the next night we slept much better and have since so could be the temp change! It's 18 degrees in our room.

Try following this guideline as you definitely don't want your baby to overheat either which is actually worse due to SIDS risk:

gro.co.uk/pages/what-to-wear

12wk old DS is in a long sleeved vest and 1.5together gro bag but is also on my bed (gets warmth from me) I would put a sleepsuit on him at least if he were in a cot.

Saying that, he had nights of waking every 45 - 60 minutes (they are such awful nights.......) and also is quite grunty and squirmy if he is having reflux. Even if he is still asleep.