My 18 week old wakes pretty much every hour all through the night. But he doesn't need or want a feed. I just stick the dummy in as soon as he cries and he goes straight back to sleep. After 3 or 4 hours that stops working and I feed him, and then he wakes another hour later and so we go on.
Why?! I'm not complaining (much) - he used to be much worse and I'm getting way more sleep than I was but I worry that something's wrong with him that he can't stay asleep. His naps are rubbish - often only 20 minutes, so it seems like the same thing is going on in the day.
He did have mild reflux when he was younger but he seems to be entirely over that now. He sleeps in a hammock which is sloped so his head is higher than his feet. He wears disposable nappies overnight so I don't think he feels wet. He's putting on weight and developing fine.
I've tried:
dressing him more warmly
co-sleeping
him sleeping in carseat
him sleeping in another room (disaster for me because I had to get up every hour instead of just reaching over)
giving him bottle of formula when I go to bed (he won't take it)
leaving him a few minutes to see if he settles himself without the dummy (he doesn't, just continues to cry and wakes up properly, although I've only tried this before I go to bed, can't bear to try once I'm trying to sleep)
I also worry about him being so dependent on the dummy. He loves it (only gets it when he's going to sleep and if grizzly when I'm wrangling toddler too). If he's tired but not due a feed he cries if I try to bf him but settles to sleep with the dummy. Have you ever heard of a baby that prefered a dummy to a bf?!
Any theories about what might be going on, and any suggestions for what to try very welcome! Sorry to be so long...