Reducing night time wakings

[user1496137417]

Hi everyone. My 3mo is waking every hour after c.2am. It's wearing me out! He goes to bed around 7 and generally sleeps until 1ish for a feed (sometimes needs to be settled back to sleep before then). Then after 2 thehourly waking starts.

It isn't hunger and he gets enough milk during the day. He is v easy to settle back to sleep but won't stay asleep.

I think I need to teach him to fall asleep without the dummy. He falls asleep so easily with the dummy though and I don't know how to teach him to fall asleep without it. I have been trying ssshhing and patting his bottom, which has varying success. But sometimes he gets to worked up and a dummy soothes him straight away. Also worrried that all I am doing is replacing the dummy with the ssshing and patting.

Any advice please?

They go through various phases of repetitive night wakings but it doesn't last forever it's happened with mine a few times but then she goes back to waking a couple of times only, can you persevere a little longer? Sorry no advice on the dummy as mike won't take one! X

He's also still really little. Personally if it was me I wouldn't take the dummy away especially as it's such a handy tool that settles him quickly.

Dummies are amazing, definitely don't drop the dummy.

The dummy isn't the cause of baby waking frequently, just makes going back to sleep very much quicker and easier.

Yes, there's this phase where you have to reinsert dummy, which is annoying. Having to rock, shush or feed to sleep would possibly be far more annoying, since they involve much more effort for the same result. Baby wouldn't wake any less frequently.

I took one side off the cot to make it a sidecar cot. Then reinserting dummy could be done without moving from under my duvet or even opening my eyes.

Having said all of that about the dummy - might also be worth considering why the frequent wakes (because the dummy isn't the cause, just one of the solutions).

Lack of daytime sleep can contribute to frequent waking. Try to limit awake time (to 60-90m ish) between daytime naps to avoid over tiredness.

Likewise lack of calories can cause frequent wakes - in that baby would benefit from more frequent daytime feeds, or bigger feeds, or mire night feeds.

Hi ladies. Thanks so much for the advice. My son sleeps really well during the day with regular naps so I don't think it is over tiredness. I had thought that he was relying on the dummy to soothe himself to sleep, and so woke between sleep cycles if he doesn't have the dummy in, hence the frequent wakings. So I'd be interested to know what you mean by the dummy not being the cause of wakings just the solution? I'd read that if a baby relies on a dummy to fall asleep, it means they don't learn how to self soothe when they come into a light waking phase between sleep cycles???

I have also tried more night feeds but doesn't seem to affect his sleep/ wakings. He feeds really well in the day and has over 900ml which is spot on for his weight. My first son was such a terrible sleeper I am terrified of the same happening again!

What i meant was if baby doesn't have dummy for sleep then you'll just be doing something else - patting, rocking, feeding or whatever. Babies need some form of comfort to go to sleep. Self settling does not mean 'no comfort' - it is the stage at which baby can comfort him/her self. So if you're not one for cosleeping and feeding to sleep (which is probably easiest) then I'd say dummy is easiest.

It is also worth mentioning that the NHS do not recommend removing dummy from baby until doing it gradually after 6 months old. Inconsistent dummy use gives rise to an increase risk of SIDS.

You would not be well advised to stop using the dummy at this point.

I have to say that's nonsense about not learning to self soothe because of a dummy. A dummy is a self soothing AID. Seems mad to me that someone would say it's not useful for its very purpose! If you take it away I'd say be prepared to offer some other form of comfort as FATE says.