Baby wont stop waking at 5.30am :(

[KaransMom]

Pls help a really exhausted mommy.
Little boy is now 3 months. Wont drink more than 4/5oz. Has a feed at 7pm goes down by 8pm has his dreamfeed about 10pm and will wake up about 2/3am for a feed. Then he wakes at 5.30am! He wont drink any milk and wont sleep. If he ever does its such a light sleep when i put him back in cot he just wakes up and kicks his arms n legs about like hes tired.
How do I get him to sleep better past his 2/3am feed until 7am feed? I dont want to feed him earlier as it throws out his whole days routine and worse still his bedtime.
Any advice welcome - a very very overtired mum who just cries all the time now due to exhaustion.

I think you're being a bit unrealistic here about how babies sleep

This, sorry! DD2 is just coming up to 1,and is only now sleeping reliably through the night, 7ish to 5.30/5.45.

DD1 didn't sleep past 5 til she was nearly 6! 😮

Dd is three months and wakes every hour some times.
You have an amazing sleeper. Try to go to bed when baby does and you'll get loads of sleep x

Hello!

Our DD is 4 months. Congratulations on your DS! As others have said I suspect it's habit although I'm a first time mum so what do I know? I dropped the dream feed for our DD and after a few days she was only waking for one feed through the night. She too takes only 4/5 Oz. Her feeding routine is:

6am- wake for feed
930am feed
1pm feed
4pm feed
615pm bath
645pm feed
7pm bed

Thanks all for your advice.
He sleeps from 8pm to 3am with a dreamfeed at 10pm. Its once hes had his 3am wake up and feed he goes back down sleeps till 5.30am :(
Ill keep at it!

3 months is tiny.... he sleep he's already doing is amazing. You can't really expect any more from him than he's already doing. Maybe you need to start going to bed soon after baby does and get your sleep in that way.

It's 5.20 and we're downstairs watching baby tv!

8-3 is 8 hours! Absolutely amazing for such a small baby!

If I were you I'd be going to bed at the same time and banking those 7 hours sleep every night, then if you doze off again afterwards then that's a bonus!

Honestly, I don't know why the sad face - 8pm to 3am and then back until 5.30am is an awesome amount of sleep, probably until your child is about 2.

It probably won't last till your baby is 2. :) Their sleep patterns do change.
But we do need to adjust to them, as it's quite difficult to change theirs.
But you can try to keep him awake just for a few minutes longer each day and keep the room absolutely dark in the morning, and see if you can push the sleeping hours to match yours.
But if you have a baby that sleeps at least 6 hours in a stretch, then count yourself lucky.

I agree this sounds like good sleeping!

Their tummies are tiny. They need to feed every few hours. At this age this is all it is. Nothing (or VERY little) about routine or whatever else. Really really do not underestimate the feeding aspect of this. He's waking regularly, and doing good chunks in between, and presumably settling ok as you don't mention a problem. All of which bodes well for the sleeping getting gradually longer and more solid - although beware the sleep regression that may kick in 4/5 months. This is developmental and v little you can do if it happens.

5.30 waking is normal for a very long time (like several years!).

Is this your first baby OP? What time are you yourself going to bed? I presume you're staying up til after the dream feed and possibly a few chores, so maybe around 11pm? What are you doing in between? TV, chores, chatting to your partner?

If it is your first baby, you might need to realise that your own sleep schedule often changes when you have children. "Sleep when the baby sleeps" and all of that. It's good advice. Chores can wait til daylight. Couple time can wait until weekends or until a day you have enough energy to spare the time. Go to bed at 8pm and get your partner to do the 10pm dreamfeed. You need to put your health and your sanity first. 3 months is very tiny and they don't respond well to training or reasoned arguments at that stage - do what you need to do to preserve your energy until the baby's sleep stretches a bit better. 8-5:30 with only one wake up in between is really very very good, so you should be making the most of it.

I say this as a former night owl who's gone to bed at 9:30 two nights this week, but I'm up at 5:15 every day now to get up and ready for work and organised for the day ahead and have some time to chat to DH before I wake my children. I used to struggle to get up at 7, and was never in bed before 12:30 or 1am on a weeknight! But your child may grow out of this in a few months and sleep through beautifully, or you may need to factor in night wakings and early starts for a few years yet, so you might as well start changing your habits now to give yourself the best chance of success.

I agree with everyone else re: you sleeping when baby sleeps.

My ds1 slept solidly from 7pm-7am from around 12 weeks old. I fully expected ds2 to do the same (ha ha!) but he still wanted a bottle at 10pm and 2am til he was 6 months old. I was referring to it as not sleeping through, til friends pointed out that if he was actually sleeping between 7pm(ish) and 7am(ish) with just two short feeds (technically only one as the 10pm was still the same day) then I was very lucky!

He went through a 6wk phase around 3mo of waking at 5.30am too. He'd take an hour or two to settle, then the toddler would be up for the day; I was knackered! But it did only last 6wks so fingers crossed its the same case for you.

Hope you get to catch up on some sleep soon OP, don't be scared to ask for RL practical help, lean on others and look after your own mental and physical well being.

potteringalong fair enough! You beat yourself up so much about the stuff that isn't going well, it's hard not to give yourself credit for the good bits!

Anyway, I'll smug off, sorry about that OP. Hope you get a lie in some time soon, even if it's just by someone else doing the 5.30 shift.

I have three kids. Exact same routine since the day they were born. Oldest wakes every morning around 5.20am - he used to wake at around 4am for the day, and this is since the very day he was born, but now thankfully sleeps in until that 5.20am (no matter what). Second wakes for the day 6.30am/7am - effing DREAM sleeper thank the gods. Third currently wakes anywhere between 6am and 8am. But children's sleep timings can be dependant on several factors growing up (development cycles, moving into toddler bed etc), but also on the child itself.

Just sounds like you have an early riser.

Please don't get hung up on it being anything you've done. My DTs were on the same routine and had entirely different sleeping patterns. Still one will wake a couple of hours before the other if they're left in bed.

Put him to bed later, he'll adapt after a while. There is no rule that says you have to put him to bed very early, you can put him to sleep at 9 pm and he'll sleep longer in the mornings.

Could your DH do the dream feed so you can go to bed earlier and get a solid block of sleep?

I thought this was in the range of normal for a 3 month old?? My DS is about that age and goes down about 8, dream feed about 10.30, up at 3 or so, up at 5.30/6.

Tbh I didn't think it was that bad.

We've had a rare lie in with my 11 month old this morning, 5.47am!

My DD also 3 months wakes at 5:30 to play. I took her downstairs this morning for half an hour then back to bed from 6-7! Also knackered but just have to go with it I guess!

at that age I would sometimes (with DC1) have days when I didn't really get up - would go straight back to bed once he was asleep, and when he was awake he'd come in/on the bed with me, and I'd either play with him, or read my book while he gurgled beside me. Boring to do all the time, but amazing as a catch-up.

I'd put to bed later. But my 4 month old on a good night is down by 9 in cot, fed at about 12 when I go to bed, feed 5-6. I'm on mat leave so she usually goes back down or another hour or so till my 3 year old wakes up. When I'm back at work in a few weeks we'll all get up then.
On a bad night (last night) it's asleep by 9.30, awake at 10, refuse to go back down, bring downstairs after half an hour, fall asleep on me about 11.30, wake up when I go to bed and sing for a bit, then wake at 2, 4 and 6 for a feed...and 3 year generally clambers in about 3am.

That's normal waking time for toddlers so he just preparing you for what's round the corner, time ti shift your start to the day earlier for next few years.

Another one with a 3 month old, fully breastfed ans no dream feed here - the last 5 nights he has slept 9:30ish-4, 4:30-6:30/7. I'm going to bed at 9:30 too as 6 unbroken hours is too good to miS's!

Thanks all for your advice. I know im pretty hard on myself and lots of babies around me are sleeping through so jist wondering what im doing wrong. Masssive pressure from family that baby shd be sleeping thru now like all other Gina Ford/Tracy Hogg babies. Everyone else i know has managed to implement the sleep training and its worked. I just dont know where im going wrong.