7 week old waking every hour but only after we go to bed!!!

[emmiebruce]

Ok ladies, I need some help with this one!

My 7 week old DS2 is a reasonably good sleeper, he naps fine during the day and usually settles ok at bedtime however we are having an issue with night wakings from the point we go to bed onwards.  Josh has his last feed at 6.00 to 6.30 and is asleep by 7pm (most days!) he then sleeps until the DF at around 10.30 11pm when we go to bed.  Unfortnately from this point onwards he seems to wake after an hours sleep, takes half an hour or so to go back to sleep (having been given his paci back several times), sleeps for another hour and then does the same again. So basically for every 1 and a 1/2 hours I am getting an hours sleep.  He has a NF at around 2.30am and then his morning feed at 6.30 to 7 am. 

On nights before we introduced the DF he would sleep solidly until 12.00 or 1 am before waking for a feed so I know he can sleep for a decent 6 hour stretch at a time, in fact the DF was started to try and push the long sleep into the night but this hasn't worked he only goes 4 hours after this point... He also sleeps solidly for the duration of his naps (1.5 to 2 hours) without waking for his paci. 

So, basically, why does he wake hourly from the DF onwards and how can I get him to sleep for the long stretch after the DF rather than before it (if possible!)...  I have tried bolsters in his cot to make it more cosy, a sleeping bag rather than blankets which got kicked off, a swaddle (but like David Blane he always manages to get out!) and finally moving the cot from beside the bed to across the room.  My only other thought is that we are disturbing his sleep by being in the same room so have thought about trying to sleep elsewhere one night and see what happens (we have a baby monitor etc)

I don't want to get rid of the paci if I can help it as he is a very sucky baby and still so young to have self soothing skills.  Sorry for the long post, any suggestions would be great...

Thankyou, Emmie and Josh x

[mmom]

(((HUGS))) He is so young.  Is he sleeping too much during the day?  Is he getting direct sunlight during A times?

How about discomfort? Does he seem in pain when he wakes?  How are you resettling him?

We never did the DF the 2nd time around, because I was just too tired to stay up.  We would put our LO down at 8 and just feed him when he woke.  That first stretch used to get longer and longer. 

Are you keeping it dark and non-stimulating during the DF?

[emmiebruce]

He has between 4 and 6 hours of nap time with A time in between and yes he has plenty of daylight etc.  He isn't in pain and the DF is done in the dark with no noise. 

Actually last night was way better, I found a large lightweight blanket which we used to swaddle and he went from 6.30 to 11.00 (DF) to 2.30 (NF) and then only woke twice at 4.30 and 5.30 where a re-swaddle and popping in the paci was enough to settle him. 

We are in two minds about the DF too as he can so long without it...

[jayjan]

Hi Emmibruce. I'm in a similar situation with my 6-week-old who wakes in the night even though he's full of food. Just started EASY and I'm thinking it might be the soaking wet nappies. I'm wondering if you've had to change the nappy during DF or NF or left it till morning like it says in the book?

[emmiebruce]

Hi Jayjan, thanks for your reply.  I change a nappy before the NF when DS is awake but generally leave it at the DF unless it is dirty.

[eaf]

I have a similar situation with DD (4 1/2 weeks old), and I recall it not being very different with DS (27 months old) the first couple of months. There is a good, solid stretch of sleep before the first feeding of the night and then their sleep seem to get somewhat disturbed, and they start to wake up at shorter intervals. I always wondered why that happens.
Oh, and for that same reason we didn't do a DF with DS, and I believe it will be the same with DD. I guess that, specially when you BF, DFing may disturb and interrupt that first strecht of solid sleep.
I have doubts with the nappy change during the night also. For the last 3 nights, DDs PJs were wet when she woke up for a night feeding (last night it happened twice), although she didn't have a bowel movement. I recall that happening a lot with DS when he was this young too, and maybe it has something to do with the restless second part of the night? Is there something I can do about that? I've heard about double diapering, but I'm not sure how to do it.
Sorry if I got sidetracked a little bit. I just wanted to say that we're on the same boat!

[faerywings101]

Omg I just posted virtually the same thing... I dnt want to get rid of dummy yet either but am thinking he needs to be in own room as we are keeping each other awake. husband wants us to leave it til he is older before he goes to own room but he sleeps through it all !
Sorry no answer but I totally sympathise my son is 8 weeks now x

[Bex09]

Hi, is your DS bringing up wind ok? It does sound like the feed is causing some discomfort. DF doesn't always work for all LOs.

Just as a note about moving LO into their own room. The SIDS recommendation is that babies sleep in the same room as their parents until 6 months old. Obviously this is a personal choice and many parents have baby sleep in their own room much earlier than this, but just wanted to make you aware.