Intro from me and help sought re: sleep

Hi there

I am a first time mum with a 3 and a half month old wee boy. He used to be a wonderful night time sleeper but over the last month things have gone downhill. He used to go to bed at 7pm, wake for a feed at 3am and then straight back to sleep until 7am. Positively blissful However (there had to be a but!) over the last few weeks we are almost back to newborn waking. He is up anywhere between two and four times a night, generally taking a feed each time. SOme of the wakeups are not hunger related but I resort to feeding as it is the quickest way to ensure we are both back in bed ASAP. I hoped it was a growth spurt initially but 4 weeks later I am guessing it isn't. I am kind of resigned to the fact that this is unlikely to resolve until he is onto solids which is at least another few weeks away (if I wean at 4 months which wasn't my ideal plan). He is a very tall boy (top of the chart at 68cm) but isn't huge weight wise (about 13lbs).

I guess I would like to hear if anyone else has gone through this and when it ended (and what changed to improve it). It is absolutely exhausting

Look forward to hearing any advise and getting to know people on this site

Hi Caro welcome to Oh Baby!

I agree with Stacey, definitely do the dream feed.  Just make sure you don't wake him up.

 

Thanks for your replies

I kind of knew I had to ride it out but hoped there might be an easy solution! The dream feeding scares me a little. I have never done it and am quite frightened of waking him up and making him worse. He hasn't learnt anything new in particular but in the last week or so he has become a lot more alert during the day. He has extended his wake up time from 1hr to up to 2 hrs now. I think it is just another 'phase'. Here's hoping we hit the 'sleeping through the night' phase soon

I'd try dream feeding first, that is if he isn't already up for feeding past 9pm anyway (that's what Kryssi did).

I'd suggest toughing it out for two more weeks and if he still is powerful hungry, slowly introduce solids one at a time.

Thanks for your replies! Last night wasn't so bad - only up twice then stirring from 6am. I have been thinking about dream feeds and think we might almost be doing that when he feeds. Although he wakes up to tell me he is hungry as soon as he latches on he closes his eyes and pretty much drifts off. I give him a quick wind and he is nearly always fast asleep on my shoulder and then I pop him back to bed. Some nights he is up as early as 10.30pm but think I might try dreamfeeding him if he isn't awake at this time. I will build up the courage to try this.

As for day sleeps that is a bit of a battle but I am trying really hard and just keep persevering. He will 'usually' take 3 x 40minute sleeps as a minimum throughout the day. I went to the family centre last week and they suggested swaddling which worked like a dream when he was there (slept for 2hr30mins, typical!). He hasn't quite repeated that again but he has had a couple of 1hr30mins sleeps.

I know it is part and parcel of being a mum. Maybe if the day sleeps improve the night will take care of itself. It's funny isn't it, that the more sleep they get in the day the better they sleep at night. I feel it should be the other way around but know that it isn't

Thank you for all your replies - it seems like a really friendly place with some great advice