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Sleep

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Original poster

3 month old - good sleeper, but becomes very restless at 3 am!

17 replies

fatdave · 02/03/2010 17:58

Hello there.

My DS is 3 months and is normally good sleeper. Goes down easily and sleeps for long stretches. recently, however, he has started to become restless at around 3am (thrashing around and moaning a little but eyes usually closed) and continues on and off until morning.

I have been feeding him when he stirs but he doesn't seem overly hungry (he is EBF). I have tried letting him settle himself and he sometimes does or popping in his dummy, but within 20 mins he stirs again.

Any tips would be most welcome! Thanks

OP posts:

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Igglybuff · 02/03/2010 20:58

Is it wind? Or reflux? My DS did this at 3 months and it was silent reflux plus wind. Medication has sorted it but he still does it sometimes and cycling/pumping his legs usually clears things out (you can do it and they tend to stay asleep).

Original poster

fatdave · 03/03/2010 10:06

Thanks, will give it a go. He used to be quite windy but thought it had died down. He was a bit better last night (saying that he tended to settle himself as I was so tired and left him be!).

OP posts:

Meandacat · 17/06/2010 08:37

I want to bump this thread as my baby is going through exactly the same thing at 14 weeks and I did find a question from someone on a yahoo discussion board from someone experiencing the same thing.

I'd love to know if this is a common thing that she'll just grow out of, or if there's any good reason for it. it is NOT something as obvious as wind, to my mind.

Previously DD has been sleeping quite well from midnight(ish) through to about 5.30-7am. But for the past week she's been waking us earlier and earlier with head tossing, noisy grunting and general restlessness which gets worse and worse until she wakes herself up. She'll mostly re-settle in her moses basket (sometimes easily, sometimes not) if I get her before it gets to that, but then I have to sleep the rest of the morning on the sofa. NB. we've tried earplugs to help us ignore it and see if she'll settle herself but it hasn't worked!

Anyone able to shed any light?

curlyLJ · 17/06/2010 10:04

I am having exactly the same thing with my DD who is 13wks. She has been a good sleeper since 8 weeks and has generally slept 9pm-5am (or thereabouts) every night.

She started doing this restless, head-tossing thing a few nights last week and then it settled down again over the w/e. She has started doing it again this week (3 nights in a row now) and I am finding it hard to get her settled again. She starts about 3am and I try to leave her for a bit (in the hope she will re-settle) as she also tends to still ave her eyes closed. Eventually I feed as I figure she could be hungry and she does drink but doesn't want to go back in her moses basket, when up until a week or so ago I could happily let her re-settle herself after 5am feed

I will be watching this thread in the hope that someone can shed some light. It also makes me feel better that I am not alone in this

Suchanamateur · 19/06/2010 17:53

Yep- I have this with my 14 wo, although the rest of his sleep is also pretty scratchy. I too would be interested in light shedding. Occasionally we can ignore and he'll resettle but often not. Maybe wind but we've tried the obvious wind release techniques to no avail

Suchanamateur · 19/06/2010 17:53

Meandacat · 22/06/2010 06:32

Well, I'm glad I bumped this, even if it was only to know there are a few of us experiencing the same thing. But please... can ANYONE out there shed any light on this? How long will it go on for? I'm now in so much pain in my shoulders and back from sleeping on the sofa that it's no longer becoming an option. And the thought of starting my day at 4.30am makes me want to cry.

pommedeterre · 23/06/2010 15:08

Another one with a 13 week old that has taken to thrashing and grunting from 4.30am onwards here! Maybe the heat??
I did think maybe wind but if I get her up to try and burp her or pump her legs I get nothing and there are no farts when I finally give in and get her up properly either.

curlyLJ · 23/06/2010 17:36

Last night DD started doing this even earlier at 11pm - that's the first time she's woken before midnight since she was 8 weeks old (she's now 14 weeks) - and I have no real idea why...teething, too hot, trying to roll?????

She continued to have a poor night fussing and waking herself up at 3.15am, 5.30am, 7.00am and then we were finally up for the day at 8.30

I offered a feed each time and although she took some, she wasn't particularly interested. In fact DH managed to settle her at 5.30 without any feed. 'tis wierd when she has regularly been sleeping from 9pm until at least 4.30am for weeks, until recently...

Sariska · 23/06/2010 20:35

My 14 week old dd has also started doing this after previously sleeping soundly (albeit with 1 or 2 brief feeds) until whenever her older brother wakes her in the morning.

It's been perplexing the hell out of me but I'm now wondering if it's a sleep maturity thing. As far as I understand (and my now 2.3 yo was definitely like this - still is a bit ) babies and young children's sleep gets more fragile as the night wears on, making it harder for them to resettle (or be resettled). In my (tiringly extensive experience) 5am seems like a particularly dangerous time, especially if it's getting light, which may be why so many parents start their day then.... I think it only starts to become apparent at about 8 - 12 weeks of age because, before then, they were in newborn sleep pattern when day/night is pretty academic anyway.

Anyhow, it's just a theory and I don't really have any solutions other than to have really excellent blackout blinds because early morning light does not help a lightly sleeping baby stay asleep. Oh, and go to bed early yourself, at least now and then, in horrid anticipation of the dawn start.

I guess it doesn't last forever...

Meandacat · 29/06/2010 08:42

OK, three weeks of this now and nothing seems to help... I keep reading snippets about a 4 month sleep regression which I think this could be (hey, what's a month between friends) but does it really go on for weeks? When will it end?

I've been to HV who suggested it was teething. Indeed, DD had been drooling loads last week. Tried Ashton & Parsons powder on her suggestion which seemed to help for a couple of days and then back to square one.

I feel this is all not being helped by the fact that I think she's hungry but we're finding it increasingly difficult to get her to take her midnight feed. For some reason she just won't take it. We've started using Hungry Baby formula but it's not helped. But then 2.15 was the start of the thrashing this morning - a mere 1 hr 15 mins after her last feed. Aaaaaargh!

I think I'm frustrated because I know she can sleep the night through with only one feed. She's done it before. So why all the shenanigans now?! Deep breath - patience, patience, patience.

Meandacat · 29/06/2010 08:47

Ok, so I meant two weeks and not three - it just feels like 3! But still... can I have the post growth-spurt "sunshine" week now? Please?

curlyLJ · 29/06/2010 16:56

sorry to hear you're still having probs meandacat , things not so rosy here either...

The 3am thrashing has kinda stopped, but dd is waking a lot more at night than she has since she started to sleep 9-5 at 8 weeks!

I have sucessfully moved bedtime to 8.30 now (eventually want to get it to 7.30, but doing it gradually) as a lot of people have said that an earlier bedtime can have good results in terms of longer sleep, but last night she woke at 1.15 I put it down to the heat, but as i say her sleeping patterns have been all over the place for about 2-3 weeks, sometimes waking as much as every 2 hours, sometimes back to the right-through-till-5 (which i love! ) and it usually starts with the head thrashing.

I wondered if it was some sort of sleep regression thing, but that's supposed to be at 4 months. if it's getting worse now, heaven knows what it'll be like then!

let me know if you find a solution!

Meandacat · 29/06/2010 17:28

Hi curlyLJ, so glad at least to hear I'm not the only one! Your LO and mine sound like they are doing exactly the same thing! I've got DD to a rough 8pm bedtime now, so keep at that. Some evening's are easier than others. It's only the beautiful smiles thru the day that keep me going.

curlyLJ · 30/06/2010 09:28

I know what you mean about the smiles...just when I am getting really frustrated with DD (like this morning when she was refusing to go back to sleep) she gives me this big, wonderful smile which I melt at every single time

Anjelika · 30/06/2010 21:59

Am so relieved that others are experiencing this grunting/thrashing behaviour in the night as I thought it was unique to our pair! DS1 never did this but we now have 11 week old DTs and both of them do it. Boy twin is the worst and usually starts around 4 or 5am about 40 mins before actually waking and crying.

Mae34 · 03/07/2010 10:14

Interesting - my 4 week old has been doing this too - she usually (in so far as there is any usual with her at this age!) wakes for a feed about 4 am ish and then has a couple more hours but in the last few days has been seemingly semi awake, restless,snuffling, wriggling, not wanting food (am BF and co-sleeping) and neither awake or properly asleep...sometimes goes off if i get up and walk around with her but then usually it all starts again once I lie down...its a mystery....but impossible to sleep through even with ear plugs! Anyway, guess for me anyway theres no rhyme or reason at this age....

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