up every 1-2 hours (x-posted in breastfeeding)

[StrongFeather]

Can someone please tell me what I have done wrong? When my LO was younger we gently encouraged him to be more awake during daylight hours, feeding every 2 hours, etc, and then worked towards sleeping more at night. It worked great, and at about 8 weeks my DS would have at least a 4-5 hour stint of straight sleep during the night.

Now at 12 weeks, he's been back to being up every 1-2 hours. Last night being the worst, it was all night long. We co-sleep (I couldn't even imagine if we didn't!) so at least I have that going for me (cat naps while he feeds), but I am starting to wear thin.

Is there anything I can do to turn his cycle in awake during the day sleep at night again? He does take a longer-ish nap in the early AM (at about 9:30am) I hesitate to wake him from naps during the day, but what else can I do?

[onelittleone]

He's probably having a growth spurt. Let him sleep when he's sleeping and sleep with him ... nurse when he's hungry. I know easier said than done. It will get better and he will regulate. Right now I am up til about 6 am ... DD goes to school and I sleep with the baby during the day on and off. So nothing else is getting done!

[kismetbaby]

I agree with PP about the growth spurt. And I have always found that waking them from naps during the day only backfires. IMO they need the sleep during the day to regulate and relax enough to sleep at night (and vice versa). It always seems that more/better sleep begets more/better sleep.

Hope this passes quickly for you! Its rough to be up all night! My LO never goes longer than 3 hours and usually is up every 2 during the night. Napping with him during the day saves me, although it means that I don't get anything done besides nursing and napping and talking to him . . .just cooking dinner or taking a shower is a big deal.

[StrongFeather]

so no waking him from naps.. got it.. thanks for the replies ladies, just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something obvious.

[2boyzmama]

Yes, most likely a growth spurt, and you should let him set the pace of feedings for a little while so he can get what he needs. But, if it continues after a week or two, then it's possible he's created a habit, even though the groth spurt has ended. There's some disagreement about that though, some people think that a baby that young isn't capable of being "spoiled" or "forming habits", but my experience is that you sometimes need to do some gentle encouraging like you described.

I remember you asking about pacifiers before...did you decide to try one? If you did, and if he's still continuing to wake frequently during the night after the growth spurt should have ended, you can consider offering him the paficier. Sometimes the baby will wake and just want/need to know that mommy is near, not necessarily to eat. So offer the paci and see if he soothes back to sleep. If he does, then great, if he doesn't, then he probably is really hungry.

But like I said, there's disagreement about this. I don't like using pacifiers in place of a feeding obviously, but if you think the spurt has ended yet he's still getting up frequently, you might consider it.

It was Connor's insistence on using me as a human pacifier that ended our cosleeping. He was just shy of a year old and was literally attached to my boob ALL NIGHT LONG. I mean it too, I couldn't roll over, I couldn't sit up, I couldn't do a thing, he was attached all night. I was so sleep deprived and after a while got ANGRY at him and I realized that wasn't healthy for either of us. So we transitioned him to his own bed. At first I got less sleep since I had to get up to feed him, but slowly he started sleeping longer since I wasn't right next to him. I'd say it took two weeks and he was on much better sleep patterns, only getting up once or twice a night (but remember he was 11 months old).

[StrongFeather]

Originally Posted by 2boyzmama

Ye

I remember you asking about pacifiers before...did you decide to try one? If you did, and if he's still continuing to wake frequently during the night after the growth spurt should have ended, you can consider offering him the paficier. Sometimes the baby will wake and just want/need to know that mommy is near, not necessarily to eat. So offer the paci and see if he soothes back to sleep. If he does, then great, if he doesn't, then he probably is really hungry.

But like I said, there's disagreement about this. I don't like using pacifiers in place of a feeding obviously, but if you think the spurt has ended yet he's still getting up frequently, you might consider it.

I did indeed try the pacifier. He uses it, but I would not say he loves it, can not live without it, needs it, or even really cares for it. Which makes me very, very happy. I have tried it in the morning after my DH leaves for work at 5:50am, when I am hoping and praying for a couple more hours of sleep. He will suck a bit, and then spit out. But you know what, he's not fussing either. So i am not sure if I am just stuffing a boob in his mouth for no reason..

ahh..this motherhood stuff is so confusing sometimes!!! I have never doubted myself so much!

[guestmama9922]

definitely DON'T wake him from naps. Babies need lots of sleep during the day, if they don't get enough of it then they are wakeful at night and find it harder to settle.
This is a common mistake parents make. Keeping them up during the day does not necessarily mean they will sleep during the night. Usually as the day goes on babies will stay awake for longer periods of time, and have their longest period before bedtime.

It IS confusing, and there is a lot of trial and error - you will make all your mistakes with your first one for sure!

[tzs]

i don;t want to step on any co-sleepers toes and i for SURE don't know what i am talking about, i'm a total first timer....
...but....my doula warned me to get my baby out of the bed by 3 months b/c at that time they wouldn't necessarily be feeding b/c they were hungry but just b/c you were there. i guess under the theory that at that age they could potentially go longer between feedings but they wouldn't if the food supply and soothing was so readily available.
sounds like generally good advice (my SIL's 10 month old still wakes every 3 hours and she's been totally desperate to get her out of the bed but also dead tired at the same time so she keeps her there for ease...total catch 22) but maybe it's more something to think about after any growth spurts are over.

[ElliesMomma]

Originally Posted by powpow

It IS confusing, and there is a lot of trial and error - you will make all your mistakes with your first one for sure!

for sure, you will make a lot of mistakes with your first. but that doesn't mean you won't make mistakes with your second, too. just possibly different mistakes.

[guestmama9922]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

for sure, you will make a lot of mistakes with your first. but that doesn't mean you won't make mistakes with your second, too. just possibly different mistakes.

AND your third!!

[aleatha5]

Vincent did this too, and when I was headed back to work and he was still staying up until 3 am, I knew we had to gently work around. I never woke him from naps, but I encouraged more/better nighttime sleeping by making nighttime sleeping ideal (cosleeping with momma) and daytime naps less ideal (sleeping in traveling crib, bassinet, not with me). So, I never woke him up from a nap, I just made his favorite sleep happen at night, and after a week, he got turned around and now falls asleep between 9-11 most nights. It's pretty nice, but I'm a first time mom, so who knows, maybe he was heading that way anyway...?

[~Laura~]

This book helped me understand baby sleep a TON:

http://www.amazon.com/90-Minute-Baby.../dp/0761143114

I had a hell of a time with baby #1, and got better with each kid. I read this book for #4, are there was a lot I didn't know! It all makes MUCH more sense now and this little one sleeps great (part baby, but part me understanding how baby sleep works).

I hate, hate, hate feeling out of control, so studying baby sleep made me feel like I was in more control because because at least I *understood* when things turned crappy!!

I hope it improves soon!

Laura

[hipmummy]

Sounds like a growth spurt. Although ds1 was like this from day one

Originally Posted by StrongFeather

Can someone please tell me what I have done wrong? When my LO was younger we gently encouraged him to be more awake during daylight hours, feeding every 2 hours, etc, and then worked towards sleeping more at night. It worked great, and at about 8 weeks my DS would have at least a 4-5 hour stint of straight sleep during the night.

Now at 12 weeks, he's been back to being up every 1-2 hours. Last night being the worst, it was all night long. We co-sleep (I couldn't even imagine if we didn't!) so at least I have that going for me (cat naps while he feeds), but I am starting to wear thin.

Is there anything I can do to turn his cycle in awake during the day sleep at night again? He does take a longer-ish nap in the early AM (at about 9:30am) I hesitate to wake him from naps during the day, but what else can I do?