Baby wakes up hour after bedtime help!

[SamK93]

Hi just looking for some advice please! My DS is 11 weeks old, this is my third & I never had this problem with my other two. I started a bedtime routine a few weeks ago starting with a bath, bottle and bed around 9pm always an hour or more after last nap as I've read... but he always wakes back up! It's been going on for three weeks now I thought he would have kind of got into the routine now, as soon as he'd had his last bottle and burped I put him down but he's awake again 45 mins to an hour later sometimes sooner, so I resettle him, then he wakes back up and we carry on doing this for a good couple of hours. Last night he didn't go to sleep until 12am and then I was in two minds whether to give him a feed as it had been three hours. Sometimes once I do get him off he will have at least a 3/4 hour stretch of sleep. I'm just at my wits end trying to get him to stay asleep when bedtime comes! I think he thinks it's just a nap that's why he's back up again I'm just tired of the constant resettling for a good 2/3 hours.

Sounds like you lucked out with your first two. This is within the realms of normal I'm afraid! Sending a hug! Nap if you can. Unfortunately, I think you just have to ride it out. Sorry I don't have any other advice. It's really difficult!

We had this with dc2. Dc1 and dc3 were fine (terrible sleepers but not waking after 1 hr)

We realised it had become a habit. Best way to break a habit is to do something to remove the trigger, in this case it’s the end of the first sleep cycle. From what I remember we tried sitting in the room from 40min onwards and resettling at the slightest movement so that he didn’t learn to wake. I think we also tried slightly stirring him 20min before the normal wake up time, to reset the sleep cycle. I can’t quite remember but eventually something worked. And then a new bad habit developed unfortunately but you don’t need to hear that sorry