Let me sleep!

[hanlindley]

So my daughter was always a really good sleeper, from 6 weeks old she slept from 11-7, then from 10 weeks she went 9.30-7 but at around 16 weeks she started waking in the night sometimes 4 or 5 times, it was like having a new born again!
I brought her bedtime forward to 8pm and for nearly 2 weeks it worked she would sleep 8-7 which was amazing!
Now at 23 weeks I'm coming close to the edge!! After those 2 weeks it all went down hill again, she's waking near enough ever single night around 3/4 am, apart from the odd night when she will sleep through. But when she wakes she's usually very happy laughing/giggling/talking away to herself, most nights I try to leave her in the hope she will drift back off but more often than not after half an hour she starts getting grumpy, meaning I have to go in and settle her, when I get there she's all smiles and happy again meaning we're awake for at least another hour, she's happy to go back to sleep by this point if she's in my arms and I'm rocking her, waking straight up if I try put her back into her cot, eventually when she's back to sleep it can be as late as 6am and by the time its 7 she's awake again and ready to be up for the day, by this time I'm probably not even back off to sleep again meaning I'm normally up from about 4am, I just don't no how i can combat this, on the off night she does sleep through I don't do anything different in the day or at night.
I must admit her routine during the day isn't great, she refuses to nap unless she's on me apart from a nap in her pram in the morning, usually around 9/10ish which can be anything from 10 minutes to 2 hours, then after that it's just a case of when ever I can manage to get her to sleep, she has 5 bottles a day of 7oz (doesn't always finish them and if she does she throws up like half of it) and she will also have a couple of spoonfuls of porridge around tea time and a crushed up milk in her bedtime bottle ( I know this is not recommended) I do try to keep her awake after 5pm but by 7 she's so moody and I have to deal with a crying baby till 7:30 when I start getting her ready for bed!
I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for me, I'm just such a tired mummy

Do you feed her when she wakes around 3/4am? Maybe she’s hungry.
Probably not what you want to hear but her night time sleep is pretty good for 5 months. It does sound like she needs to nap more in the daytime though.

She dropped her night feed at 6 weeks, she was a big baby and she wasn't interested by that point but when she started waking again in the night I thought she might be going through a growth spurt so started offering her one in the night again and all she does is have about an oz and then spits the bottle back out!
Is there anything I can do to encourage her to nap more in the day?

I would definitely attempt to feed in the night. Just because a baby hasn’t had night feeds previously doesn’t mean they’re not now waking hungry x

So she sleeps through from 8pm until 3am/4am, sometimes longer? TBH I think that’s not too bad and I wouldn’t complain. Others have it much worse. Could you go to be early at 9ish, so if you need to be up from 4am you’ve still had a good amount of sleep?

Hey I would also try getting her ready for bed earlier. If she's cranky by 7, try putting her down at 6/6:30, she's probably telling you she wants to go to bed if she's cranky. It doesn't necessarily mean she'll be up any earlier in the morning. Good luck!! I'm going through the 4 month sleep regression with my lo at the moment and I see every hour during the night so I can feel your pain!!

Although hard and I know you will be knackered- this is totally normal. Baby sleep isn’t linear, it goes up and down in the first few years as there’s so much going on- regressions, growth spurts, developmental leaps, learning a skill, illness, teething etc. Babies that previously slept through can wake regress and wake again. There’s no guarantee once a baby sleeps through that will always be the case, however I know it will be even more sore if you’ve been blessed with a great sleeper from the get go.

Do you suspect it could be teething? My DS doesn’t sleep through but I know when he wakes in the night and is all raring to go instead of just wanted a BF it’s normally teething related.

I’d probs try whatever I could to get baby back to sleep at 4am- feed, rock, co sleep etc to see if anything works. If nothing works it may just be something you need to ride it out and find ways of dealing with the lack of sleep such as going to bed early as already suggested, taking it in turns at night if you can, napping whenever you get a chance etc.

I know it doesn’t feel it but 8am to 4am for such a young baby is good, and it could be a lot worse. I do totally sympathise, by DS went through a phase of hourly wake up for WEEKS. It was torture and even now he’s never slept through. It’s just a phase and won’t last forever and she will be in a new pattern before you know it! You’re doing a fantastic job!

At 23 weeks it is probably related you wanting more calories than you currently get into her in the daytime.

Either:

• make daytime feds closer together so that you add in an extra bottle or two over the course of the day
• start weaning on high calories foods. Do not reduce daytime feeds for several weeks, solids should be in addition to milk, not instead of.
• accept that a night feed will be needed if you cannot get more calories in during the day. Wake and give this feed at 11pm, to maximise your own sleep.