Waking up in the middle of the night

alliebsmith

Hi ladies! I know there are 100000 sleep threads and questions but I haven't quite found my answer yet!

Here goes....my LO is 15 weeks. At around 8 weeks she started sleeping 12 hours through the night without waking for feedings (6:30pm-6:30am). I went back to work 2 weeks ago and since that time she has still be going down at 6:30pm but now will wake up between 2-3am every night. She is not hungry and refuses food. I still have to swaddle her because she has a strong startle reflex and will not sleep without being swaddled. Usually at 2/3am I will go in her room, keep it dark, and reswaddle her if necessary and give her the pacifier (she goes to sleep with the pacifier and then when she falls asleep I will remove it because when she spits it out she rolls her head on it and it wakes her up). She goes right back to sleep but then will wake up again around 4:30/5am and be ready for food and to start her day.

My question is....how do I get rid of this middle of the night wake up? She isn't hungry and she seems to just be squirmy. She will make noise and cry out so that's why I go in her room. I don't feel comfortable letting her cry it out while she's swaddled because she has no way to self-soothe. I know I should be counting my blessings she sleeps so well since such a young age but I am a Special Education kindergarten teacher so sleep is precious to me!!!

Thank you all in advance and I apologize for such a loooooong post!!!

SmrBrd2012

630pm is pretty early for a bed time. I wonder if you slowly change it over to 730 if it will help a bit. Or maybe she's going through a growth spurt?

Buckles0528

When you say squirmy do you mean she's getting out of the swaddle? My guy was breaking out and still has a strong reflex so we're trying to see what works (currently still giving the Merlin's suit a chance). If she can get out of the swaddle that might be what is making her wake up, or if she's super squirmy in it you may need to try something else because it could be her telling you its not comfortable anymore.

alliebsmith

@SmrBrd2012 her bedtime has always been that time because she can't stay up later than that without becoming overtired and extremely fussy. She does not nap well during the day and she goes to daycare so by the time she gets home she is exhausted.

@Buckles0528 she was escaping the swaddle and then we switched her to the miracle swaddle blanket and she hasn't been able to escape but she still squirms around and as soon as she is given the pacifier she goes right back to sleep. I would LOVE to not have to swaddle her anymore but I've tried putting her down in a sleep sack or without a swaddle or swaddled with one arm out and she hates it and she can't sleep, won't even fall asleep or calm down.

alliebsmith

@Buckles0528 I forgot to mention.....we had been using SwaddleMe Velcro swaddles since birth but she's able to escape them now because she's so long they are too small. I bought the size up and it fits her for length but they're too baggy for weight and she can escape as well which is why I now have the Miracle Swaddle Blanket which she cannot escape from but still is waking up in the night with just almost turning her head back and forth and wiggling around in the swaddle.

Buckles0528

We had the same issue with swaddle mes being too baggy. He broke out of the miracle blanket too which is why we stopped swaddling. One arm out and sleep sack didn't work for us either. The struggle is real

canadianmom89

I have no advice but I hAve a similar situation. from 6 weeks to 14 weeks dd slept 12 hours (930pm-930am) from 15-19 weeks she wakes at least twice. We have moved up her bedtime to 800pm and she wakes up around 2 or 3 and again at 5 ( she needs to nurse both times) and then she sleeps again until 8. I know I shouldn't complain because she is still sleeping lots, it's just hard to give up those 12 straight hours... And I have no idea what changed....

OlgaN15

I have the same thing with my LO. He used to sleep through the night, but has been waking up between 2-3am each night the last few weeks. It doesn't matter if he goes to bed earlier or later. He's 18 weeks now. Hopefully he'll grow out of this again.

laceybee29

My daughter is 17 weeks and has started waking again after sleeping through since 9 weeks. I've been reading about the "4 month sleep regression" which may be helpful for you.

kremerj1

My son wakes up every 4 hours, a lot of times every 3 hours. I would give anything for your schedule. If she doesn't fuss, maybe just leaving her in her crib would help. She may put herself to sleep again.

alliebsmith

Thank you all so much for support and sharing stories!!! I know I am lucky she is only waking up once!!

Tonight I swaddled her in the Miracle Swaddle Blanket like normal but then I wrapped the comforter/quilt blanket that came with her bedding set around her body like a burrito, I just rolled her up tightly in it (she has AC in her room so she doesn't get overheated) and she slept all the way through! I heard her rustling around at 3:30am and I watched her wiggle on the monitor but she kept her eyes closed and eventually fell back asleep on her own. It's now 5:50am and she's sound asleep! I'll have to wake her soon to go to daycare!

Hopefully this sticks and isn't just a one time thing!! I am dreadingggggg the 4 month sleep regression and praying that this little hiccup was it (hahaha unlikely) so I want to get some good sleep habits down now before that hits. We stopped rocking her months ago and she goes in her crib awake at bedtime.

lunalii

I had the same exact problem with my 15 week old last week! I now got him to only wake up once a night he has his bottle and goes right back to sleep! I have been keeping him very active during his wake periods i but him in his gym, walker, lots of tummy time & he practices standing all day! With all the added constant stimulation he puts him self to bed around 7 every night (after him nightly bath and story time!) he wakes at 3am eats 8 oz and goes back to sleep till 7:30 am! I also stopped swaddling him (switched to tight fitting foot pjs) and added a white noise machine and it worked like a charm ! We are so happy because since birth he was waking 3-5 times a night only sleeping in 2-3 hour time periods! Being un swaddled allowed him to move more freely around him crib and allowed him to self soothe! I hope this helps... We dreaded un swaddling at first but after a few days he got use to it and started to enjoy having so much freedom in his crib!