I just want some sleep...

[Hodge85]

Hello,

Our little boy is 6 weeks old and this grunting, straining and kicking he does through the night is having our lives! He starts thrashing in his sleep at midnight until he wakes for a feed which can be any time between 1 and 3am. I only doze during this time because he's so loud. He'll go quietly back to sleep after his feed only for it to start again half an hour later. We've tried swaddling, you name it but nothing helps. He's really loud and will keep going until he wakes himself up crying. Also, for some reason he's worse from 5am onwards. We can be guaranteed no sleep from that time. He'll nap soundly through the day however! He just sounds so distressed through the night. I kid you not, he kicks violently, stretches his arms, rubs his face, stretches his back whilst grunting and moving about in his crib through the night. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We're using earplugs which help to some extent. I just want some sleep!

What's different during the day? Does he nap in the same place as he sleeps? Is he fed the same way? I.e breast or bottle for all feeds not a variation.

My dc1 was very similar and part of his problem was reflux related, he needed burped and burped and burped, could that be part of the problem? The kicking, stretching and grunting in particular sound very familiar. We were told at antenatal classes that we didn't need to burp a breastfed baby...so we weren't. During the day we got away with it because I carried/wore him a lot. At night we didn't until I asked my grandmother for advice in desperation.

Failing that white noise (rain is my go to although I am still wide awake so maybe not the best advert, you can find 10 hour long videos on youtube) and call your hv on Monday if you haven't already.

Hope you get some sleep tonight.

Perhaps reflux? Babies stretch their backs or arch when thus happens my little boy suffered a lot in the first almost year speak to your health visitor but mainly you may just have to weather the storm I am afraid

Both of mine went through phases of this. I found that if I stood up and picked them up for a cuddle then quite often a little burp or some gas would be released and they'd be more comfortable afterwards.

For DS I would hold him upright and gently rub his back - he'd let out a little burp and then relax. DD liked tiger in the tree hold - she'd let out a series of farts and then sleep peacefully for a while. Maybe experiment with some different holds and see if you can ease anything that might be making him a little uncomfortable?

Have you tried picking him up and winding him?? My child does this when he has wind that needs out

I'm at a loss as to how a swaddle wouldn't help with "kicks violently, stretches his arms, rubs his face...".

The whole point of a swaddle is to calm this type of thrashing.

Incline crib
Ear plugs
White noise
A fan
Swap with dh in spare room/lounge

It sounds like reflux.
My son was grunty when small, he grew out of it though.
We’re just coming out of the rolling around in cot phase at 7 months 😩. I was constantly getting up to put him back on back as I was so scared he would face plant in his sleep.
I know you’ve probably heard this advice a million times, but really just try and get some rest in when you can. I wish I had done this more!!
My Husband has been off work a lot recently and I’ve made sure I’ve had some naps and got him to do some early mornings xx

Also just to add when he was around that age me and my Husband used to do shifts sleeping with him some nights. So I would do say 8-1 and my Dh would do 1-6 just so we could get a bit of quiet time xx

Oh God, my LO did this! It was torture. I used to actually be jealous of mums who had babies that woke up every two hours because at least they could DO SOMETHING and it would stop for a bit.

I tried all the things suggested but none of it worked. He just grew out of it in the end.

Sorry I’m not being helpful but I’m just letting you know that it’s most likely nothing you’re doing and there may not be anything you can do to stop it!