17 weeks...waking hourly

[sian123]

HI,
My 17 week son has been on the easy routine for a couple of weeks now. His day starts with a 7am feed and he feeds every 4 hours from then on. His awake and nap times are fine (although sometimes his lunchtime nap can be a hour so I have to do shh/pat to stretch it out). My question relates to his night time wakings. He takes a dream feed around 11pm. At around 1.30am he wakes. If I leave him he'll start crying so I go into his room & shh/pat him. This gets him back off to sleep but he'll be awake again an hours later. This continues throughout the night until about 4am. (Must admit that some nights I'm so tired I bring him into bed with me). He's not hungry as I've tried giving him a bottle & he won't take it. (He's currently taking 5 bottles a day approx 6oz per bottle).

Should I continue with the shh/pat or should I go straight to PU/PD when he wakes at night?

This has been going on for about 2 weeks now. I originally thought it might be a growth spurt but as it's still happening I reckon not.

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[em_here]

What does your routine look like, someone could take a peek and see if the issue lies there maybe

Poor you you must be shattered 

[sian123]

Hi,

Last night was a bit better...he woke every 2 hrs!!  The funny thing is he can go from 7pm to 11pm without waking practically most nights, yet after the 11pm feed he 's awake within 2 hrs.  Weird huh!!

Routine is along these lines:

E - 7am
A - 7.30 - 8.30
S - 8.30 - 10.00
E - 11am
A - 11.30 - 1.00
S - 1.00 - 2.15
E - 3.00
A - 3.30 - 4.30
S - 4.30 - 5.15
A - 5.15 - 6.45 (includes bedtime routine of massage & bath. Feeding in his room no later that 6.45)
S - 7.15 - 11.00
E - 11pm

He's then awake about 1.30am. Last night I did PU/PD which worked well in that it settled him after about 10 pick ups. The only thing was that 2 hrs later he was awake again.

Do you think this could be down to feeding & that I should start him on solids? He's 17 weeks today & would not weigh close on to 15lb (he was 8lb born).

[em_here]

hmmmm your routine does not look too bad........ unless someone else has another opinion, I am by no means an expert but it looks like nice long naps!  I started solids early, but I know there are lots of reasons for waiting, so I would read the current recommendations and make your mind up from there 

Sorry I cannot help any more, someone will have a good anwer for you soon I am sure 

[momofclaire]

Hi,
Looking at your routine I think he might be overtired.  Those do look like good naps but at his age he needs to be getting a bit more sleep than that.  I would shoot for 2, 2 hour naps and a 45 min cat nap.  Those shorter naps make the 4 hour easy hard because you have 1 hour of A time after sleep before he eats.  I would try to lengthen any nap that isn't 1.5 hours. 

Do you think he may be ready for a bit longer A time in the morning?  At 4 months most babies have A times of 1.5-2 hours.

[finlays mam]

the other thing to suggest is bringing the dream feed closer to 1030ish as it can interfere with nighttime sleep if given too late....

[sian123]

Hi,
A time of 2 hrs this morning & he settled nicely then for a nap of 1.5hrs. I decided to start on the baby rice too. He was so ready for some food I surprised he hasn't made secret night trips to the fridge!!!  He also took my arm off with his mouth when the spoon came near him. I know it's only the first day but the rice doesn't seem to have adversly affected him.

As for the dreamfeed, will bring it forward to 10 - 10.30 & see if that helps. 

Thanks for our replies.

[momofclaire]

Let us know how it goes. 
I will caution you about the food though.  Many babies really can't handle it before 6 months.  The AAP is recommending not starting solids until then.  If you go ahead with it, I wouldn't give him solids past lunch time so he has plenty of time to digest.