16 wk old waking every 2 hours at night. HELP!

[jenny260906]

help needed!!

My baby is now 16 weeks old, is 100% breast fed, doesn't use a dummy and is a happy little sole but oh my god night time is so tiring!

It takes atleast 45 mins to get him to sleep each night but the big 'problem' i have is that without failure he will wake up every 2 to 2 and a half hours. He feeds for between 5 and 8 mins then either goes back to sleep (I put him back in his moses basket before he is fully a sleep). Or sometimes following a feed he just sucks and seems to use me as a dummy for a few minutes before going to sleep.

Is this 'normal' behaviour and is there ANYTHING i can do to make him sleep for longer between feeds? I've tried leaving him to wimper a ltttle before picking him up to see if he will go back to sleep (I rock his basket too) but that doesn't work!

Any advice?!
thanks in advance.

How long has he been waking to feed every 2 hrs?
You could try a "dream feed" - where you lift him before he wakes and feed him while he is still asleep. It may a couple of days to get him to suckle while sleeping. I was sceptical but I used this technique with DS3 and it did make him sleep for longer - I put him down then lifted and fed him when I went to my bed and that way he'd sleep for about 6 hours - bliss!
Another option may be to introduce solids - if its a recent thing it might just be his way of asking for some grub!

Jenny, he's a bit young for solids imo. If he's hungry at this age he needs more milk but it sounds like it's not hunger he's waking from. If you've eliminated cold, nappy change etc then maybe it's teeth. Could just want a bit of comfort. Have you tried a dummy?

Our thread 'sleep is for the weak' is full of people with babies waking all night. Come and join us for a moan.

DS is now 18 months but exactly the same happened to me, so you have my sympathy, it's exhausting. I'm a bit of woos so my answer was to bring him in with us if he woke up once we went to bed. I was breastfeeding exclusively, and demand feeding toboot. If I was still awake when he fell back asleep I'd put him back, but often we all fell asleep together. I effectively learnt to feed him in my bed, lying on my side and well, asleep almost. I know some don't approve of this tactic though, but I did stop being exhausted all the time and DS was happy. We did/do always put him to bed in his cot though. I think when they're so little they sometimes just want a cuddle and bit of comfort, and I just can't blame them at that age. Good luck.

omg
this is my daughter!
I've put it down to growth spurt much to my annoyance.....
she is the third and I"m in no hurry to start solids tho - much easier just bfing for now

I miss my sleep tho and am much grumpier mummy without it
hope it doens't last v long

DS 15 weeks and started waking every 2 hours again a week or so ago. Turns out it was teeth . Tried sorted out his daytime naps and he's now going 3 - 3.5 hours between feeds which is an improvement!

Is your LO feeding enough during the day? I'd also got stuck into a bit of a rut re daytime feeds - only feeding on one side as that's all he used to take. Tried offering both sides at each feed again and guess what? He's taking more milk (duh!).

thanks everyone!

We did try him with a dummy but he wouldn't take it at all, or when he did he would suck it then keep spitting it out so that didn't work!

he has had this feed/sleep pattern since he was born so its not teeth. It must just be his way of getting through the night!

I will give the dream feed tactic a go though as anything is worth trying. I just hope he grows out of this soon (VERY soon!)

When he was very litle, he would sleep for about 6hrs in my bed with me but i didn't want to get him into the habit of co-sleeping as it just seemed like another thing to try and 'wean' him off so i know he can sleep for long lengths of time without being fed.

Looks like i will just have to hope he grows out of it.

Thanks again!
x

join us on sleep is for the weak! all our lo's are 4mths and bad sleepers

jenny - how is it going for you?

Hiya,

our ds ist 20 weeks tomorrow and we had the same problem for the past three to four weeks but (and this is a big BUT) it is getting better!
Ds is teething (whole gums are nicely white and swollen) and also: Just imagine how much your lo is suddenly learning to do! Ds is trying to sit up, rolling onto his belly, trying to go back onto his back, goes swimming, grabbing things and exploring them, takes in his environment much more intensely.

When is he supposed to work through it but during the evening and night? This is the only quiet time they get without any interruption. I know some people put their lo's in a darkened room to sleep during the day, doesn't work for us as ds is still looking around and far more interested in everything in the room but sleep.

I know it is hard work and really frustrating, but it will pass. Our ds is know starting to go longer between waking up at night. Until the next time, when he starts another developmental stage.