Night noises from newborn

[JustSimplicity]

My three-week old is a really good sleeper but lately he's been making all kinds of noises when he sleeps with us at night. The snorty noises I can ignore but he's been half crying/half whining every five minutes or so for 30 seconds and then falling back to sleep. It's really loud and I wake up every time because I think he's waking up to nurse. We've been swaddling him thinking that he's keeping himself awake with his hands, but now he just calmed himself to sleep by sucking on two fingers so I'm wondering if he's upset about being swaddled and it would help if he had access to his fingers to suck on. We don't use pacifiers and he nurses really quickly so I'm wondering if he just needs to suck more. Or maybe he's bothered by gas or a wet diaper? I'm just not sure what to do but it's tempting to move him to his own bed because I'm not getting any sleep this way.

[srs]

what time of night? Mine does this when he has to poop, which is usually sometime after 4am, generally closer to morning. I have also found that changing a wet diaper can help.

Does he want to nurse? If so and that solves everything, then great. Personally, I find that much easier than getting up to change a diaper.

Also, remember that he's really little. Things change fast at that age and in a few weeks it may not be a problem.

[Jaesun's Dad]

Our little guy seems to startle himself awake as if he's having a nightmare. He doesn't do it as often now but around 3-4 weeks is probably when he did it the most. It isn't very loud at all but it does fit the half crying/half whining description. I understand baby sleep patterns are a lot different than an adult and short frequent wakings are common. Sometimes we feel a little bad when we notice it looks as if he's having a bad dream but it seems to have been tapering off and he doesn't otherwise seem troubled.

[MeepyCat]

We swaddle our kids when their babies (DS is nearly three, so no more for him, but DD is only about six months and we swaddle her still). IME, there is no swaddle so tight that they can't pry their hands out if they work on it, but if he's getting comfort from the swaddle and from sucking on his fingers, you might try swaddling him with one arm out -it's a compromise that keeps him warm, and gives him most of the benefits of swaddling, but lets him have his hand.

I'd try the one-armed swaddle, and I'd try just putting a hand on him and making some shushing noises when he wakes up. If that doesn't help, I'd consider whether seperate beds might (some babies are really light sleepers and don't sleep well in bed with parents). I would also keep in mind, however, that you're getting to the point where colic *starts*. He's likely to go through a phase where nights are harder. It's just the stage he's at, it's not anything you do or don't do.