Sleep help

Sarcasm101 · July 2016

Hi,
I am at a loss over what to do for my 15 week old. He goes to sleep very easily around 7-7:30pm. But he is waking up at 1am, 3am and 6am. Sometimes after the 6am waking I can get him to go back to sleep until 7:30ish. With each waking, I keep the room very dark, change him fast and feed him. He always goes back down very easily. But I can't figure out how to get him to stretch out his wakings. He has slept 8-9 hour stretches before but they are very rare.

His sleep is actually getting worse. Around 8-9 weeks old we were getting the 8-9 hour stretches and slowly over the last 2 months he has been waking up more and more.

He is 16 pounds, sleeps in a RNP, wears a sleep sack, and is bottle fed. His naps are generally pretty good. He is up for 90 minutes then goes down for a nap. The first nap is always the longest (around 2.5 hours) and then the naps get shorter as the day goes on. He also tends to eat more later in the day.

Any ideas? I know 15 weeks is still too young to sleep train and that the 4 months sleep regression is right around the corner. All the sleep training methods I have heard of help get your LO to sleep, which isn't our issue.

I am willing to try anything. Thanks!

ashton2190 · July 2016

Why are you changing his diaper at night? If he's not pooping, leave him in the wet diaper. They're supposed to handle 12 hours of wetness

Sarcasm101 · July 2016

ashton2190 said:

Why are you changing his diaper at night? If he's not pooping, leave him in the wet diaper. They're supposed to handle 12 hours of wetness

I have tried that. It doesn't make any difference.

sarame500 · July 2016

Does your LO use a pacifier? After some trial and error, DH and I discovered that after letting DS (23 weeks old) fuss for a couple of minutes, going in and putting the pacifier back in usually does the trick. He goes to bed at around 7:00p. If he wakes up between 4-6a I breastfeed him on one side and put him right back to sleep without changing him (unless I notice that he's pooped). He gets up for the day between 6:30-7:00. These things seem to work (for now). He doesn't have teeth yet...

g&tlewis · July 2016

My son didn't like sleeping in the RNP. He would slide down and be all bunched up in the bottom and would wake himself up fussing. We had a lot more success with a swing until he started doing the same thing in it. We moved him to his crib last Friday and have already had two nights where he slept from about 8 to 5.

Mine is 15 lbs, wears a swaddle with one arm out, and is bottle fed. Maybe try changing up his location? Good luck!

TwizBeans · July 2016

I'm sorry but you are describing a perfectly normal 15 week old. Even down to the length of his naps.

You are correct...you cannot sleep train him right now not only because he's too young, but also because he is just going to keep changing so trying to "train" behaviors at this age is pointless.

Everything is trial and error with kids so perhaps the RNP isn't working, or the sleep sack or perhaps this is just the way your baby is right now.

If he is fed, dry, and the environment is conducive to sleep (dark, white noise, etc) then there is literally nothing else you can do. You are doing all the right things so you just have to wait for this phase to pass.

emilyalso · July 2016

You may have tried ALL of this... and I am no expert - I just have the one baby. I am just going to name as many things as I have heard or tried. Good luck!

Is he sleeping in his own room? Our Ped said that would help our little guy after he had a regression.

Do you use a sound machine? We couldn't live without ours.

Have you tried different temperatures at night? Does he like his room a little cooler? Warmer? Lighter pjs? Warmer pjs? Fan on? Fan off?

This sort of goes with sleeping in his own room... We have never done cry-it-out (but I have no ill-will for those that do!), but I think it helped us to not hear every peep. I'm no longer rushing to get him when he first wakes up, and he can fuss a little from across the hall and it doesn't bother me like it did when he was 3 ft away.

We aren't essential oil nuts, but I do add lavender to his lotion at night and rub his feet, legs, and chest.

Hang in there, mama.

SmrBrd2012 · July 2016

TwizBeans said:

I'm sorry but you are describing a perfectly normal 15 week old. Even down to the length of his naps.
You are correct...you cannot sleep train him right now not only because he's too young, but also because he is just going to keep changing so trying to "train" behaviors at this age is pointless.
Everything is trial and error with kids so perhaps the RNP isn't working, or the sleep sack or perhaps this is just the way your baby is right now.
If he is fed, dry, and the environment is conducive to sleep (dark, white noise, etc) then there is literally nothing else you can do. You are doing all the right things so you just have to wait for this phase to pass.

All of this, especially the bolded. Lots of babies just don't sleep that well at this age and may not until they are sleep trained. My LO's sleep got consistently worse and worse until we sleep trained at 7 months and we had tried just about everything. As another PP said, I'd recommend getting him used to sleeping in his own room, if you haven't already and it may be time to drop the RnP.

Sarcasm101 · July 2016

Thanks everyone. He has been in his room since day 1. I know its time to get rid of the RNP but the crib only seems to make things worse, so I am putting it off.

I know this is just a phase but it seems like a really really long phase right now.

TwizBeans · July 2016

Sarcasm101 said:

Thanks everyone. He has been in his room since day 1. I know its time to get rid of the RNP but the crib only seems to make things worse, so I am putting it off.

I know this is just a phase but it seems like a really really long phase right now.

All the bad phases do

TwizBeans · July 2016

For what it's worth OP, my second child slept in the RnP until she was 4 months old but the last 2 months the RnP was in her room. Maybe try that. You don't have to put her in the crib just yet.

emilyalso · July 2016

I missed that you were using a RNP - my little guy slept in it until 5 or 6 months and continued to nap in it after he was sleeping in his crib at night. I guess it's a little different for you since it doesn't seem to be working... mine LOVED it. I honestly let him nap there until he started trying to flip over in it. If you feel like moving him to the crib is too much change all at once, don't feel bad about leaving him in the RNP.

Sometimes you have to make decisions like this... Is this a perfect solution for the long run? Maybe not... Does it give us a little break and some needed rest right now? If yes, then do it!

yodiggity · August 2016

Sarcasm101 said:

Hi,
I am at a loss over what to do for my 15 week old. He goes to sleep very easily around 7-7:30pm. But he is waking up at 1am, 3am and 6am. Sometimes after the 6am waking I can get him to go back to sleep until 7:30ish. With each waking, I keep the room very dark, change him fast and feed him. He always goes back down very easily. But I can't figure out how to get him to stretch out his wakings. He has slept 8-9 hour stretches before but they are very rare.

His sleep is actually getting worse. Around 8-9 weeks old we were getting the 8-9 hour stretches and slowly over the last 2 months he has been waking up more and more.

He is 16 pounds, sleeps in a RNP, wears a sleep sack, and is bottle fed. His naps are generally pretty good. He is up for 90 minutes then goes down for a nap. The first nap is always the longest (around 2.5 hours) and then the naps get shorter as the day goes on. He also tends to eat more later in the day.

Any ideas? I know 15 weeks is still too young to sleep train and that the 4 months sleep regression is right around the corner. All the sleep training methods I have heard of help get your LO to sleep, which isn't our issue.

I am willing to try anything. Thanks!

I didn't read all of the replies so it may have been suggested but have you tried a swaddler instead of a sleep sack? We have been pretty fortunate in the sttn department but had to use a swaddle for a while (and regressed back to one this week, yay 4th leap). The a&a easy-swaddle seems to be the tightest as the summer infant ones are more stretchy. You can also wrap the a&a swaddle like a wrap sack if he prefers arm freedom.

momofmanyinthemitten · August 2016

If it's the same time every night it may just be a habit. You could try the "wake to sleep" method. Jostle them a bit about an hour before they usually wake up-not enough to wake, but enough for them to stir. Sometimes this is enough to disrupt the papers of wake times. It has worked for is a few times, but not every time (this is #4 for us).

Mrsbearmomma · August 2016

When my LO was transitioning out of swaddles we tried sleep sacks, which did not work. I eventually tried the magic Merlin's baby sleep suit. It keeps him toasty and dampens his startle reflex. Maybe the sleep sack is the issue?

4N6s · September 2016

Are you going in right away? My pediatrician said to wait 5 minutes to see if they'd put themselves back to sleep. I'd transition to a crib sooner rather than later.

beemaya83 · July 2017

Second time mom here. My 2nd also sleeps in the RNP. I feel like yours is probably having a regression. All babies go through sleep phases and hopefully it won't last long for yours. with my first, I tried to do everything by the book. With this one, I'm keeping him in his RNP until he starts to roll over on his own. I need my sleep. It will probably be hard to get him used to a crib, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. All 4 of us sleep in the same room! Sorry not sorry! It works for us.

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