What am I doing wrong? 3 month old struggles to sleep at night

[Newbiemum76]

Hi all
I’m really struggling and feel like giving up. My little boy is 3 months now and he’s never really been a great sleeper at nights, the other week he started sleeping 6/7 hours straight but the past few nights he’s been so unsettled, waking up and fussing and not going back to sleep for a good couple of hours. He wakes up with a really wet nappy so I change that but then he seems really awake but also crying like he’s tired.
Tried feeding, bouncing, rocking, swaying, stroking his face, singing, playing white noise and lullaby music, laying him on me to try and settle him and nothing works!
I feel like I’m doing something wrong with him and I don’t know what to do.

Any advice big or small is appreciated. Thank you x

Sounds completely normal!

You're not doing anything wrong. Babies can be frustrating! Your baby sounds frustratingly normal - all 3 of mine were like that and my youngest was the earliest to sleep regularly through the night and that wasn't until 6 months. Eldest took 6 years and middle a year so you're doing fine.

I have a 3 month old too and after having my eldest (now 5) who was an awful sleeper, I have come to the conclusion you either get a good sleeper or a bad one.

My 3 month old is better than her sister but this week we were back to night waking and two night feeds which shook me to my core 😂. Some say they get a sleep regression between 3-4 months (didn’t notice this with eldest as she was consistently hard work). Last two nights have been better and back to her normal of just one night feed around 4ish after a dream feed at 11ish.

We don’t even have a a strict bedtime routine for baby, she just figured it out quickly and I’m taking the win!

My eldest at 9 months was really bad so I have been there, she only really slept through when we got to school...then we had a baby 😂

Sound like he’s entered the 4 month regression early! Mine started it at 15 weeks to the day, 3.5 months. Had been sleeping 7-9 hours since around 7 weeks and then just… stopped sleeping! Up every 2 at night, only short naps. He’s now 18 weeks and slowly improving. Hang in there!

Personally I only change nappies in the night if they’re leaking or contain poo or it just wakes the baby up more. I don’t burp at night either but that doesn’t work for all babies. Could you try leaving the baby with a bit less intervention?

I would maybe only do 1-2 things for a few days and see if that makes a difference. Babies need consistency and your long list may just be confusing for LO.

And wouldn't change nappy unless unavoidable. Soon they will wee less overnight. If it's leaking normally the advice is to go up a size for overnight to tide you over.

Thanks for all the advice!! It’s nice to know it’s probably normal and it will pass!

@jmap81 I don’t do all those things at once, they’re just various things I’ve tried at different times to see if it will help settle him. I don’t usually change his nappy either but it felt so full I thought it might have been bothering him and keeping him awake.

@AlmostOver22 we are due to go away in a week for a bit so we will be out of routine but when we get back I’m going to try and see if he settles with less help from me. Fingers crossed!!