Getting back to sleep?

sweetky_06

I shouldn't complain, as DS has been a very good night sleeper from the get-go, but for the past couple of weeks, it's not been great.

He puts in a great stretch of sleep to start off the night, and he wakes up between 3:30 - 4:30am like clockwork and needs to eat, regardless of what time he went to bed (typically between 7:30 and 8:30) and whether or not we did a dream feed. No biggie at all - but what is a biggie - he is considering this wake-up to be THE wake-up for the day! I do everything I can think of - keep the lights low, I don't talk to him or look him in the eye, and once he's re-swaddled I bounce a little bit with him on the exercise ball to see his eyes close before laying him down (also, he never falls asleep while nursing during the night) -  he might be quietly sucking on his paci for 10 minutes and then he starts with the "eh eh eh eh" which quickly evolves to full out wailing if I don't rock the RNP. This continues off and on until we get up for the day at 6:30, and then we hang out for about an hour before he's interested in eating.

Also - dreamfeeds really do nothing to extend his sleep during the night. And, he's always swaddled for sleep and we use white noise via an air filter.

So - am I missing anything that I could be doing? I know we can't do any sort of sleep training at this point, but perhaps I'm missing some other sort of comfort measure? 

dizzycooks

No advice, my little one is the same as far as sleeping patterns go, but she will go back to sleep.  I do not unswaddle her to eat though, I just pick her up and feed her, then put her back in her crib.

sweetky_06

dizzykates:

I do not unswaddle her to eat though, I just pick her up and feed her, then put her back in her crib.

Maybe I'll give this a try - that's the way we do the dreamfeeds - but by 4am I'm just not completely confident that I've not missed a poopy diaper so I have been changing him when we get up at 4. I trust my cloth diapers for wetness but I hate to leave DS in a dirty diaper! 

2BMrsMcW

We don't swaddle, because DS is a freaking Houdini at getting out of every form of swaddling I try (completely different story at daycare, but that's beside the point). Anyway, DS was waking up around 3:00 every morning to feed, and I was having the same issue with him thinking it was THE wake-up time. What worked for us, was for me to feed and cuddle with him for about an hour until he was settled, but still awake. Then, I would wake up DH who would rock him back to sleep. I think DS has formed some kind of link between me and being awake.

Jessiree

Once I knew C was capable of STTN (which she does every so often) I stopped unswaddling her and changing her diaper for her 2:30 am dreamfeed. I will also sometimes turn her into a side lying position once she has stopped swallowing and is just nursing to sleep. (We always start in a specific position to nurse, regardless of time of day) 

Once she's asleep I make DH get up and come help me transfer her to her RnP. I can't do it on my own without waking her up, so sorry DH! you've got to help LOL 

The toughest thing about nighttime for me is that dream feed because if she totally wakes up, she is up for at least an hour, sometimes more. She teases us every so often with STTN, but nothing consistent yet. GL with your LO!

michnthecity

If baby wakes up ready for the day and I'm not, I nurse him, change him, then bring him into bed with me.  I can usually get a couple of hours, if not more, out of him that way.  I know the whole co sleeping thing is frowned upon, but in the position I hold him it would be impossible for me to roll over on him or for him to roll out of my arm. 

SoonToBeMsP

We don't swaddle, but I pretty much do the same as you- pick her up, change her, feed her and put her back in the RnP all in the dimmest light possible. She is great about going back to sleep, so I don't mind changing her. If she were a pain to put back down, I'd leave her in the CD until the next feeding session.