Hi! I'm not sure this is a problem, but I didn't face this with my daughter. I have a three month old. From 6 weeks until now, he has slept through the night - 10/11 hours - crazy, but so thankful for that. The last three nights, however, he's been waking up all the time. If it's a growth spurt and he's hungry, I'd expect the feeding at 5am (usually last feeding at night is 6/7pm) to be awesome, but he doesn't feed that well then. Also, he is not a great napper during the day - he usually cat naps - maybe 30 min. or so. I was fine with that as he was getting such an incredible night sleep, but now that the night sleep is changing, no one is getting sleep. Is this temporary? Usually I thought babies get better at night sleeping as they get older. Should I go "backwards" and start feeding him when he is waking at night (he does go back to sleep with just the pacifier, but only for a 2-3 hours rather than the massive sleep he was getting). When can you let a baby cry it out? 3 mos. seems a little young.
Any advice would be great!! Thank you!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!!
I have a 18month old daughter she was da sm way but once I put cereal in her bottle with her milk she sleep most the night an I have a 3month old son he's a good sleeper smtimes they have their day and night mixed up try to keep him up all day or get a swing for him my son loves that . Well good luck on everything.
Growth spurt. Feed him!
Okay first cereal to early (and 3 months is to early) can cause allergies and tummy issues that will only make sleeping worse. Gas and constipation do not HELP a baby sleep. Second anything other than normal liquids in a bottle is a choking hazard, and it sounds like you are nursing anyways.
my son has never slept well. it's something with my kids, they don't sleep as babies, i think i'm cursed. But at 3 months my son still coslept and was eating every 3-4 hours, and only cat napping in the day. At a little over 4 months we finally fought and got him in a crib, but even at almost 10 months he's up 2 times a night, between 7 and 7, to eat. The only improvement is that he sleeps 2 hours in the early afternoon and takes a cat nap in the evening.
He will outgrow it, it will get better, you can not spoil him at this point and increase the amount of times he gets up. If he's just awake, by all means see if he can self soothe. This isn't CIO, this is common sense. There is a difference between a Cry/wail that means something is needed and a whine because he's awake. But if he's up and crying he needs you, even if it's simply because he needs a cuddle after waking up. You've been very lucky, appreciate it, and as hard as it is on no sleep, enjoy the extra snuggles.
If he is waking at night to nurse-absolutely you should feed him.
I am totally anti-CIO. We cosleep.
BUT the very earliest you should ever attempt it is SIX months.
CIO creates a break in trust. If your baby is crying-he needs you.
This site has tons of articles on CIO, this is just a really poignant one:
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/12/crying-it-out-causes-brain...
FWIW, my 2nd (my son) was a champion sleeper from the start but a crappy napper...and that slowing wanned (the nighttime part).
My DD was never a great sleeper.
HTH a little!
I wouldn't let him CIO, too young in my opinion. I would try patting the back, pick him up / rock if necessary until he goes back to sleep. If none of that works I would feed and then help him go back to sleep. I am trying hard to remember that age, but my DD started sleeping through night at 9 weeks. I do remember a few nights on and off like yours, where she was just up for no reason. I wouldn't back track to feeding unless nothing else is working though. I remember my DR saying that at that age, it is all about not creating a habit that you will pay for later. Check the temperature in the room, what he is wearing, even maybe swaddle again - maybe there is a reason besides hunger that he is waking up.
sleep regression hits from 3 or 4 months. my son went from bad sleeper (until 2 months) to good sleeper (till 4 months) to bad (till 8 months) then worse (till 11 months) and now it's anyone's guess... he still wakes up 2-4x a night. at 3 months, absolutely i'd feed him. probably is a growth spurt :)
They do change their sleep patterns between 3 and 4 mos. Unfortunately, it's not always for the better. If he seems hungry, I would definately feed him. They grow so mauch at that age. My daughter slept for 8 to 10 hrs/night from 8 weeks to 4 mos. Then she started getting up every few hours to eat and she started taking a longer 2hr nap in the afternoon. For me, the waking at night continued until she was around 2yo and then she stopped napping and started sleeping much better. Hopefully it won't take your son that long. Good luck.
If he's hungry, feed him - he's still young so I would say that itmay help him sleep better. Just don't go overboard and start feeding him every time he wakes if he begins to wake several times at night. But once is fine and then maybe at other times he wakes - do something different so as to not create bad habits. I remember my son went through sleep changes all of the time and we always just stayed very consistent and he would then go back to "normal." Please get and read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - it is simply the best book ever for sleep. Beware of bedtimes as well - usually around 4 months old, babies tend to need an earlier bedtime and also maybe work on the daytime naps. Better daytime sleep means better night time sleep. Although he is getting a good 11 hours at night - he still needs multiple naps throughout the day to keep him going or he will get overtired - making nightime wakings even more important. He is getting close to the age where you will need to be establishing new sleep habits for him or else your problems may get much worse. Please get the book, it's fantastic and spot on :)
I suspect he's hitting a growth spurt, and you should definitely feed him at night if he wakes up -- generally, at that age they still need to eat every few hours. He's definitely too young to cry it out, a method I don't believe in, but to each their own. Additionally, he may be teething -- it's a bit early, but not unheard of. My son popped out his first tooth the day he turned 4 months old.
