Baby hardly sleeping

jennoak · March 2014

For the past few nights my 9 week old son has not been sleeping well at night. He'll go down at 9-9:30. And up a few hours later very restless and grunting very loud. He does this for about an hour or so (seems like an hour since I'm so tired) I put sucky back in mouth turn the vibration on in his playpen and he's out! He'll wake up and do it all over again about half hour later. I'll feed him and he'll be out again for about an hour and start all over again! He does not sleep a lot during the day either. He'll have a few little cat naps
Anyone's LO"s doing this? Is there anything else I can do?
Hope this makes sense. Been so tired lately can hardly think straight

jennoak · March 2014

He would also stay asleep if I keep my hand on his chest and my fingers touching his cheek. Just like when he was just brought home and couldn't sleep but it's hard to do that all night.

Jmattis · March 2014

Does he have gas? My DS does this often and it is caused by gas.

If it's not gas maybe your baby is overtired and can't fall asleep? If my DS is overtired, he has a hard time falling asleep and I will have to help him. I usually pay his back and go shhhhhhh and take him into a dark room where he can't be stimulated.

bethughknee · March 2014

Have you heard of the Wonder Weeks? There is one from 7.5-9.5 weeks and my DD hit a bad period of sleep smack in the middle.

I also have noticed that her night sleep is better on good nap days. How does your LO nap? In the PnP? Held? Swaddled? Do you swaddle at night? Arms in? If it were me I would do whatever I could to also improve nap time and hope it carries into the night. Also, on Troublesome Tots, she suggests getting bedtime earlier around 2 months. (DD was asleep by 7:30pm before the time change.)

There are just a TON of factors to take in and there's also the answer my pedi would give me when I asked, "Sometimes babies have a few bad nights of sleep just like adults do. You can try and try and try and sometimes they right themselves all on their own."

ScarlettDahlia · March 2014

DS has nights like this. It's usually excess gas or reflux acting up. I'm planning on asking his pedi today to see if we should try another formula because his reflux seems to be getting painful for him.

I also notice that when he has crappy nap days, he has a crappy nights. Sleep begets sleep. I try to get him to sleep more during the day (I can't control it while I'm at work, though). So when we get home on those days, I really try to start winding him down earlier and getting the house quiet/darker earlier.

jennoak · March 2014

MarBee1214 said:
Is he grunting alot during feeds? My LO would do this and then not eat much and therefore not sleep much either. She has a lactose intolerance so we switched her formula and I can't give her my frozen milk because I wasn't limiting dairy at the time. After switching formula there is a huge difference. She eats more, has less gas, is a much happier baby in general, and she sleeps longer and more peacefully (was a very loud, grunty sleeper before)

I would take him into the pediatrician and evaluate a few things. Rule out reflux, MSPI, etc. and that might help.

He doesn't grunt at all during feedings. He may grunt alittle after a feeding but not often.

bethughknee · March 2014

Seriously? Between 3 responses there were about 10+ questions asked to try and offer you some advice and all you respond to is that no your LO does not grunt during feedings.

Didn't you also at one time claim your OB had dilated your cervix and get upset when people wanted to know WTF that meant?

If this were more like an actual conversation, I'd be a lot more patient because BELIEVE ME I've spent the last 2 months analyzing every good night of sleep and trying to replicate them so I get wanting to do what's best and help your LO sleep but come on. Throw me a bone here.

jennoak · March 2014

bethughknee said:
Seriously? Between 3 responses there were about 10+ questions asked to try and offer you some advice and all you respond to is that no your LO does not grunt during feedings.

Didn't you also at one time claim your OB had dilated your cervix and get upset when people wanted to know WTF that meant?

If this were more like an actual conversation, I'd be a lot more patient because BELIEVE ME I've spent the last 2 months analyzing every good night of sleep and trying to replicate them so I get wanting to do what's best and help your LO sleep but come on. Throw me a bone here.

My apologizes that I have not answered everyone's questions.

jennoak · March 2014

Just seeing everyone's different opinions.

jennoak · March 2014

bethughknee said:
Have you heard of the Wonder Weeks? There is one from 7.5-9.5 weeks and my DD hit a bad period of sleep smack in the middle.

I also have noticed that her night sleep is better on good nap days. How does your LO nap? In the PnP? Held? Swaddled? Do you swaddle at night? Arms in? If it were me I would do whatever I could to also improve nap time and hope it carries into the night. Also, on Troublesome Tots, she suggests getting bedtime earlier around 2 months. (DD was asleep by 7:30pm before the time change.)

There are just a TON of factors to take in and there's also the answer my pedi would give me when I asked, "Sometimes babies have a few bad nights of sleep just like adults do. You can try and try and try and sometimes they right themselves all on their own."

When he naps during day it's usually on me or in his bouncy chair. At night he's in his playpen as he outgrew his bassinet. He does not like to be swaddled at all.

bethughknee · March 2014

jennoak said:

Just seeing everyone's different opinions.

My opinion would change based on info about how your LO actually sleeps. Without any info whatsoever, here's what I've got. I recommend swaddling arms in. No, it doesn't work for every SINGLE baby but struggling against it initially doesn't mean your baby "hates" it. My DD hates the act of BEING swaddled but is calm soon after. I would also recommend trying different ways of getting your LO to sleep during the day. In a swing, in a carrier, etc. You could also try moving bedtime earlier to see if your LO is just overtired by 9pm.

Since you said it's only been a few nights, you could also just wait it out. My DD swings back and forth between several nights of 7-9+ hour stretches and then back to waking 1-2 times at night. It's completely normal and I've stopped trying to "fix it."

On that note:

jennoak · March 2014

bethughknee said:

jennoak said:

Just seeing everyone's different opinions.

My opinion would change based on info about how your LO actually sleeps. Without any info whatsoever, here's what I've got. I recommend swaddling arms in. No, it doesn't work for every SINGLE baby but struggling against it initially doesn't mean your baby "hates" it. My DD hates the act of BEING swaddled but is calm soon after. I would also recommend trying different ways of getting your LO to sleep during the day. In a swing, in a carrier, etc. You could also try moving bedtime earlier to see if your LO is just overtired by 9pm.

Since you said it's only been a few nights, you could also just wait it out. My DD swings back and forth between several nights of 7-9+ hour stretches and then back to waking 1-2 times at night. It's completely normal and I've stopped trying to "fix it."

On that note:

I have answered the other questions and I appreciate your opinion!

bethughknee · March 2014

jennoak said:

-snip-
When he naps during day it's usually on me or in his bouncy chair. At night he's in his playpen as he outgrew his bassinet. He does not like to be swaddled at all.

My DD does not like being swaddled. She hates the act of it. Most babies do. You lay them on their backs, they feel like they're falling, then you put them in baby jail and it feels weird. BUT, as soon as I have her in there good and tight, I get to soothing. During the day that's bouncing, shushing, rocking, etc. Any of the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques really. She's calm now in under a minute. It used to take longer. On a particularly bad night of sleep for her, MH suggested maybe she was "done being swaddled" and didn't like it anymore. I had him read this page on Troublesome Tots. We kept at it with swaddling will continue to do so because it really works for us.

I made sure he paid close attention to this part:

Swaddling Troubleshooting

Baby Hates the Swaddle

Every baby I (or the fantastic team I work with) have worked with has responded well to being swaddled even if they protested viciously at the point of actually BEING swaddled. When I met with Dr. Karp of Happiest Baby fame I asked him explicitly if there were just some babies who really shouldn’t be swaddled because they hated it. His answer was brief. “No – swaddling is almost universally good for babies.” Babies fight the swaddle but still are more readily soothed and sleep better when swaddled.

But if your heart of hearts screams at you that swaddling just isn’t right for your baby, then you need to go with that. But I would suggest you approach swaddling from the perspective of, “prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this isn’t working.” Don’t swaddle a cranky baby 2-3 times and then shrug it off if it doesn’t seem to work as promised. It can be a very powerful tool to reduce crying and improve sleep and you don’t want to readily remove that sort of heavy artillery from your arsenal.

I would suggest watching your LO the next time he has a short burst of sleep. Is he jerking himself awake with his Moro reflex? If so, I'd try harder with the swaddling. I also usually wait until the weekend to try something new in the sleep routine because even when I was still on leave, it made the next day easier on MH. Maybe give swaddling another try this weekend?

jaclynwas17 · March 2014

bethughknee said:

Have you heard of the Wonder Weeks? There is one from 7.5-9.5 weeks and my DD hit a bad period of sleep smack in the middle.

I also have noticed that her night sleep is better on good nap days. How does your LO nap? In the PnP? Held? Swaddled? Do you swaddle at night? Arms in? If it were me I would do whatever I could to also improve nap time and hope it carries into the night. Also, on Troublesome Tots, she suggests getting bedtime earlier around 2 months. (DD was asleep by 7:30pm before the time change.)

There are just a TON of factors to take in and there's also the answer my pedi would give me when I asked, "Sometimes babies have a few bad nights of sleep just like adults do. You can try and try and try and sometimes they right themselves all on their own."

I googled "clingy and fussy, growth spurt" and found this yesterday! I don't know how much research has gone into this, but DS fit the bill totally for the first wonder week. It makes sense that babies experience mental growth spurts as well as physical ones.

bethughknee · March 2014

jaclynwas17 said:

bethughknee said:

Have you heard of the Wonder Weeks? There is one from 7.5-9.5 weeks and my DD hit a bad period of sleep smack in the middle.

I also have noticed that her night sleep is better on good nap days. How does your LO nap? In the PnP? Held? Swaddled? Do you swaddle at night? Arms in? If it were me I would do whatever I could to also improve nap time and hope it carries into the night. Also, on Troublesome Tots, she suggests getting bedtime earlier around 2 months. (DD was asleep by 7:30pm before the time change.)

There are just a TON of factors to take in and there's also the answer my pedi would give me when I asked, "Sometimes babies have a few bad nights of sleep just like adults do. You can try and try and try and sometimes they right themselves all on their own."

I googled "clingy and fussy, growth spurt" and found this yesterday! I don't know how much research has gone into this, but DS fit the bill totally for the first wonder week. It makes sense that babies experience mental growth spurts as well as physical ones.

@jaclynwas17 Absolutely. And TBH, I've never noticed a physical growth spurt for DD. She's been a frequent eater since day 1 so that could also be why. But emotional growth spurts? Oh hells yes. She feels growth spurts in her little heart for sure.

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