Sleep is getting worse.....

MaggieF516

My little guy was doing pretty good with sleep from about 8 weeks.  He would fall asleep around 8 pm, wake at 2:30 to eat, fall right back to sleep, then wake again at about 6 am, etc. 

In the last week, his sleep has gotten much worse.  He seems pretty awake in the evenings and is falling asleep now around 8:30, sometimes he makes it until maybe 1:30 am until he needs to eat, but last night for example he woke up at 11:30 pm.  He then wakes up and seems to be restless and need some sort of attention about every half an hour until the alarm goes off at 5 am.  He will not go back down in the co-sleeper or RNP and I finally have to put him in bed so he is right there.  The paci also falls out of his mouth and I think this causes some of the issues.  I try to first give him his paci and that will calm him for a few minutes but he is restless again after it falls out or is just restless in general.

I am exhausted.  I feel so braindead at work that I can't even function beyond doing the simplest of tasks.  I have a pretty demanding job that I need to strategize, balance multiple projects, etc. and I sometimes can't even remember a simple thing, like what floor my office is on when I'm on the elevator!!  My boyfriend travels for work and is in a high stress job so he basically can't help with any of the overnight stuff.  Basically I only get that one stretch from 8:30 until he wakes up at 11:30, 1:30, etc. and then it is disrupted sleep every half an hour at least until the alarm goes off at 5 am.  I try to go to bed as soon after he does but it is hard as I have to pump, load bottles/pump stuff into dishwasher, etc. and then I always feel anxious about not getting enough sleep. 

Anyone have any suggestions?  I was thinking maybe the Magic Sleep Suit, but I don't want to spend the money if it won't work.  He is not the type of baby that you can leave fussing at all, it ALWAYS escalates to screaming so I don't want to try CIO in any manner.  He is gassy and I give him gas drops before bed.  TIA!!

MaggieF516

Whoops wrong board....will repost on 3-6 months!!  I am obviously braindead from sleep deprivation LOL!

lixeysc

This could be a possibility...My LO had the same sleep schedule, "He would fall asleep around 8 pm, wake at 2:30 to eat, fall right back to sleep, then wake again at about 6 am, etc."  until this week (He was three months on Monday).  He now has similar sleep patterns as your LO where is wakes more frequently and fusses easily as the night progresses.  I was in denial at first (b/c he is so young), but we have found that his schedule has changed b/c he has started teething, and his mouth was extremely uncomfortable when he tried to sleep.  He isn't old enough for Orajel, but we have been using Gentle Naturals Homeopathic Teething Drops and they really help soothe him.  Also, I have found that if he wakes up and it is not time for the drops, letting him suck on a cold wash cloth for a few moments relieves the pain and he falls back asleep.  Unfortunately we have not been able to keep him sleeping, but these may help get your LO back to sleep if he may be starting to teeth.