18 week baby waking every 1-2hr. Tips please

[meagain3]

any tips to get him to sleep longer stretches? He’s always been a terrible sleeper since newborn but I’m just so sleep deprived I can’t function anymore. He is actually waking for milk. 7 ounces every 1-2hrs. Every 3hrs in the day. I’ve tried upping to 8 ounces but he doesn’t take the last ounce

I'm assuming formula? Have you tried hungry baby milk?

I’ve been there. It’s hard. The only thing that worked for me was cosleeping even though I never felt comfortable with it, it was the only way I’d get any sleep

He's ready for solids. I know it's against (current) UK guidelines to wean before six months but the child is HUNGRY for crying out loud. Mark my words, it will solve your problem.

This could be true, DD only started sleeping through regularly once she was eating properly

It's normal. Bloody hard and difficult but normal, ignore anything that tells you they should be sleeping well. At this age they're also going through the sleep regression that changes their biological sleep cycles. How much daytime sleep and how many naps roughly? We had a late bedtime at this age with a few closely clustered breastfeeds in the evening and then tended to get a longer stretch when he first went down. It helped when he naturally started doing 3 naps instead of 4 and had a longer period awake before bed

Depending on how hot it is where you are - my bay slept a bit longer in the love to dream swaddle bags (there are lots of other brands do them too now). Loads on vinted. I think having the arms secure just helped him. If you are really sleep deprived and have a partner - could you ask for a night on the couch/ in a spare room? For sanity’s sake?

@dontcomeatme yes formula, no but he’s on comfort milk for constipation which is super thick.

@kikikaka we co sleep already, he will litterally scream every 10 minutes in his cot😅

@TwigletsAndRadishesI’ve started him on solids. He has baby rice at breakfast and a puréed fruit or vegetable at dinner. Has to be puree as he hasn’t grasped the food in hand to mouth yet. He has a few spoons then screams and clamps his mouth shut and won’t take anymore. I just don’t understand

@Petrie999 crap napper too. Has a 30 min morning nap, 1hr afternoon nap and 30mins - 1hr early evening nap.

@potatosconelovertried swaddling didn’t help sadly. DH works away for weeks at a time but does night shift the few days he comes home for but it’s just exhausting. All the time. 24hrs a day. I can’t do anything without him whinging. I can’t even bloody wash the bottles without having him next to me singing wheels on the bloody bus round and bloody round over and over to keep him quiet

Do not wean your baby early, they may well still not sleep and it goes against all guidance. You could cause long term damage.

have you checked the teat, the holes might be too small, so the baby gets fed up of trying / tired by the last ounce rather than not wanting it.

have they got silent reflux waking them up? Lots to try and good luck, sleep deprivation is hard but it really doesn’t last forever

My baby is 14 weeks and started sleeping in slightly longer stretches. But my first DS didn't sleep through till he was well over 1, he was a snacker during the night with his milk, every 2 hours at least. Hand hold, it's awful. Hope he grows out of it soon. I agree with PP hold back on weaning, especially as he doesn't sound ready yet x

I really feel for you, my first was like this and it’s so so tough when you are in the thick of it. He did eventually grow out of it and has slept through very consistently since shortly after turning one, though I appreciate that’s won’t be much consolation to you now.

i did read quite a lot about baby sleep because of all the issues we had early on and based on as lot of what I read then I would think that what might be happening is he’s currently waking after every sleep cycle and looking for a feed as a means of helping get back to sleep and not necessarily just hunger- although it is normal for babies his age to need to feed during the night. One approach I used with mine was to introduce some other sleep associations, for example playing music or white noise throughout the night, having a muslin he could touch with my scent on it, which you use as well as the feed to sooth him to begin with. The idea is then that when they wake, they will hear the music and smell the scent they associate with you and with sleep, and eventually be able to get back to sleep without needing a feed or other input from you. I do appreciate though that it’s not a quick fix at all and what you really need is sleep now.

Could you afford to hire someone to come in to help? A night nurse even if just for one night, or even someone who can come over during the day for a couple of hours to wash the bottles or entertain him whilst you try to rest.
Just as a final thought- is it possible he has an allergy to milk? I know of a few families where this was eventually diagnosed after some major sleep struggles and everything improved massively once they were prescribed special formula.
I’m really sorry you are going through this. Whilst it is normal for babies to wake often, that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely difficult