10 week old, very restless sleeper. Does it get better?

[Newmamma1990]

Hi there,

I’m very new to this but just desperate for some reassurance. I have a beautiful baby boy who’s now 10 weeks old. He’s healthy, putting on tons of weight etc etc. But the nighttimes are awful, he sleeps for one 4-5 hour stint (with a regular bedtime) but is restless from then onwards. I get him to sleep eventually and then he’s awake again an hour later or less - and anytime after 4am is game over. I end up bringing him into bed, and he wriggles and dozes and feeds and cries then dozes again until we eventually get up. Most of the time when he wakes up, he doesn’t really need feeding- and I’ve tried it both ways - trying to wean him off a feed (he still wakes) or feeding him (worse, because he stays awake, spits up, wriggles around etc.)

Has anybody had something similar? And does it eventually get better? I have tried sticking to an awake time / sleep time schedule (makes no difference), we have a bedtime routine, I play white noise, he’s in a bedside crib so I can soothe him easily. He’s not too hot or cold. And we’ve tried a cranial osteo.

Any advice or reassurance would be so welcome.

Sounds quite normal. You're lucky to get a 4/5 hour stint - I hope you are sleeping too then! My 5 month old used to be very windy at night and often did a poo. After 12 weeks this gradually settled and now he wakes frequently for various other reasons (hungry, teething, a burning desire to blow raspberries at 3am....). From 3/4am onwards he continues to be quite restless and generally wakes for the day any time from 4.30am. I don't know if that is likely to improve at any point! Again, make the most of a block of sleep - I used to get a good 4 hour stint but reverted back to 1-2 hourly wake ups at 4 months and now I'm lucky to get 3 hours uninterrupted! Good luck.

My DS woke every 1.5-2hours for nearly 18 months, only survived by co sleeping and my body adapting to it at about 6 months. However by 2 years old he started sleeping through. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him and I was so stressed in the first 9 or 10 months where everyone was telling me he should be sleeping through and it was damaging him to have such broken sleep. Once I accepted he would get there in his own time everything seemed easier.

So yes your baby probably will start sleeping for longer periods very soon BUT if they don't - it's ok! Unless they are obviously in pain and you want to seek help (I also tried a cranial osteopath!!) then just be assured that waking every hour won't harm them - it might kill you but it won't harm your baby! haha

Enjoy the 4-5 hour stint as I think that sounds pretty good! We had something very similar at that age which slowly improved (we got to them sleeping 7pm-3am, then feed/nappy change and back down until 6am) and then we hit the 4 month regression and it went to shit.
Hopefully you won't get stung but in case you do, enjoy that first part of the night while you can!

Any advice or reassurance would be so welcome

● Big, frequent feeds through the daytime. Aim for baby getting as many calories as possible between 7am-7pm so that less is needed at night.

● Adequate winding after every feed and any period of crying

● Use a dummy as a way to settle baby without feeding

● Try swaddling

● Aim to feed baby when they wake up from a sleep, rather than feeding when going to sleep.

4-5 hours is heaven! Mine didn't even manage that until 14 months.