Babies: 0 - 3 Months
cherie82
member
what happened to my baby!?
cherie82
member
DS was getting to the point that he would sleep a 5-6 hour stretch, wake up to eat maybe an ounce or two and then go back to sleep for another 5-6 hours. For the last 2 weeks he has been waking up every 3-4 hours at night! Eating normally during the day, so this shouldn't be a growth spurt right? What could be the problem????
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Re: what happened to my baby!?
Have you tried increasing the amount of food before bedtime or feeding him every 3 hours? Your baby may be stopping at 2 oz because he's truly full, but it's worth a shot. Sometimes my son will cry for his bottle and go to sleep during the feeding but really be hungry and I have to wake him up several times to finish it or he will wake up every 30 minutes and cry because he didn't eat enough. The hospital had us feed him every 3 hours, and most babies will only eat an ounce or so at birth, but he always ate 1.5 or 2. He started waking up at intervals closer together at 3-4 weeks, so we tried adding extra formula here and there and it turned out that he was still hungry because he was growing so quickly. He turned 8 weeks Wednesday. He now eats 6 oz every three hours during the day and normally goes to bed at 10 and wakes up around 2 am and 5 am for his nighttime feedings. His growth rate, weight gain and head size are right where they should be according to his pediatrician.
4 hours is awesome for a 2 month old. You have to realize that their brain is developing and changing so much that he really may be in a new rhythm neurologically.
My daughter didn't sleep 6+ hours until she was close to 16 months old. She's almost two and still wakes almost every night.
My son, who is now 8 weeks, is sleeping 3-4 hour chunks.
Another thing to realize is that by 8 weeks or so, babies start being aware of how to respond to their situation, instead of just react. He may be wanting comfort or need a new sleeping environment, whereas before he just slept because he did. No thought at ALL to it.
I hear you! The same thing is happening to me. My son is 5 months old and he has always slept well until we moved overseas a couple weeks ago. It took him a little time to get adjusted but he's waking up a LOT now. A couple nights ago, it was like 10 times! I think it's because he's teething. I gave him some baby tylenol and he slept a bit better last night.
Sometimes he just wakes up for a sec and I get close to him and he goes back to sleep. Sometimes he wants to nurse for a few seconds and falls back asleep but sometimes I'm awake for a while and he's dream nursing. It used to be I could sleep with him while he nursed but not lately. Even though I'm tired. I've been having trouble sleeping.
My baby is almost 6 months and started doing this at 5 months. I got so sleep deprived, I was a crazy lady. I started doing some reading and found some ideas that collectively worked for me:
Write down (for a few days) when you baby eats and how much, when he sleeps and for how long (including naps). Evaluate the data you collected, and go from there. I found that my DS was not getting enough sleep at night or during the day and was constantly over tired, making for a cranky baby. And when he would sleep, he would be constantly waking and fussing. I also noticed he was getting enough food for each 24 period, but a lot of his consumption was still during the night, making it so he was waking up every 3 hours for feeding and contributing to him not sleeping well.
To fix it we did 3 things. Now, I feed him more during the day, one 3am feeding is all he needs, and he goes right back to sleep. I make sure to put him down for naps during the day if he is giving sleepy cues, so I don;t miss the window. And we also started a sleep routine (Bath, books, baba, bed) which helps him get to bed around the same time every night, and wind down into sleepytime mode. This combo seems to be helping us a lot. We are both more rested. We were putting him to bed at 8 or 9 whenever we would wind down but now he goes down between 6 and 730 and will sleep straight through til 3am. He might stir one around midnight, but usually we rub his back for a sec or replace the binky and he goes right back to sleep.
There is also a great book that has hella ideas called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" Good Luck everyone!!!