Author Topic: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry  (Read 1592 times)

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Offline becky1969

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3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« on: March 18, 2006, 19:05:00 pm »
We're having trouble with my 11 mo old son. We've been working on his schedule. We don't have a dream feed yet (we're going to try to add a 10:30 dream feed in sometime in the next few days). Right now he has a 7 pm bottle, bath, then bed about 7:30/8 pm. He goes down really easily and sleeps until 12-1 am when he wakes for a bottle. We feed him quickly and quietly in the dark. He doesn't really even wake for the bottle, and then goes right back down 30 minutes after we start the bottle. He's taking 6-7 oz. at this time.

The problem is he's waking at 4:45 with a yelp of discomfort. I'm positioning him in the boppy to relieve his bowel pain (I think that's what it is) and he sleeps perfectly silently for another hour. Then at 5:45 he starts cryiing incessantly. I go in to try to figure out what it is, but he won't be comforted. I try to give him a paci, but he gags on it and spits it out. I try to hold him and pat/shush (works like a charm for naps), but he fights and bucks against me. Finally, I decide to feed him (usually it's getting close to 6 am by this time, so i'm thinking we might as well start out day) but he only takes like 2 oz. What gives?

Any suggestions here? Our schedule WAS going like this:

E 7 am
A 7:45-8/8:15
S 8:15-10:00

E 10
A 10:45-11/11:15
S 11/11:15-1

E 1
A 1:45-2:15/2:30
S 2:30-4

E 4
A 4:45-5:15
S 5:15-6:30

Bath 6:30
Bottle 7:00
Bed 7:30/8:00
 
Any Ideas on whyhe's suddenly waking so early? I did read in BW 2nd book that feeding after midnight was essentially having too late of a "dream feed" and might be disturbing his sleep. Do you think that might be the issue? We haven't had a lot of success with dream feeds in the past, but are going to try again in a few days. Any other suggestions? Also, we used to give the bath after the 4 pm bottle and he'd STILL sleep until midnight (no 7 pm bottle). In other words, he'd go 8 hours between bottles because of that bath. I know he's capable! I just need to figure out how to get him to do it!

Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline Jaime

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2006, 13:11:51 pm »
i was all set to reply - but then noticed something.... is your baby 3 months old or 11 months old?  that would affect my response!   :P  ;D
Jaime
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Offline becky1969

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2006, 23:03:04 pm »
That would affect things!  :P sorry for the confusion! He's nearly 3 months old (11 weeks).

I should mention we started a 10:30 dream feed last night. It went well, sort of. He ate it just fine, went down without waking up. He woke up at 2:30 fuss-fussing. Since he usually doesn't make any noise until 4 am when he starts his shrieking, I went in to see what was up. He'd sort of wedged himself against the side of the crib. I moved him a bit. This made him start fussing a little louder, and even crying a little. Then I felt that he was pretty wet - his diaper had leaked. I quickly changed him. By this time he was full-fledged crying and rooting. So we decided to feed him (how's this for dopey newbie parents?). We gave him 3 oz, which he gulped down pretty hungrily and went back to sleep fairly quickly (15 minutes after finishing bottle). We then didn't hear from him again until 6 am (so much better than the 4:45 start-up!) Same thing: yelp of discomfort, steadily escalating. We decided to wait it out, but it soon got so intense that I just SWORE he must be awake and needing me! So I went in his room. His eyes were still shut tight. I picked him and he just melted into me and went to sleep. I laid him back down, and he quieted.

I'm just not sure what to do. Do I let him just keep yelping? Do I go in and comfort him and risk him bucking and waking up? I mean, his cries get REALLY loud. During his naps, I know the difference between "banguage" and wake-up crying that is him calling for me. But this 4/5 am stuff is just different. It's like he's sleeping, but the crying is REALLY loud! NO ONE can sleep through it! But his eyes ARE shut. What do you suggest? Is this something he'll outgrow? Do you think after a few more days of the 10:30 dream feed he'll get out of the habit of the early morning wake-up? I mean, a 6 am yelp is better than a 4:45 one! And after I put him down asleep he didn't wake up again until 7:15, and then he was smiley and happy, so much different than the last few days when he's been grumpy and off schedule.
Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline Jaime

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2006, 00:45:03 am »
okay... now your post makes a LOT more sense    ;)

i didn't do it myself, but the dream feed does take a little while to totally kick in - some moms have reported that it can take up to 2 weeks!  but i'd say your initial trial sounds promising, so i'd stick with it. 

also, you are about to hit the 3 month growth spurt, so be ready for him to go a little wild with the feeding too - that may even be starting now.  that will probably account for any feeding you do at night.  to try & avoid it, you may want to slowly increase his daytime bottles & see if that helps. 

now, as far as the yelping goes... i'd say you were right to go to him.  the only thing i might change is i would try & soothe him in the crib and not pick him up; see if you can just put your hands on him and calm him down.  mainly cause he's still asleep, and you want to disturb him as little as possible. 

unless he's jamming his face into the crib bumper & can't breathe, i wouldn't worry about moving him either.  many babies like to creep up into the corner; makes them feel more cozy.  also, if being too wet at night continues, you may want to try diaper doublers - kinda of a maxi pad that you put in diapers; they're by the diapers in my grocery store. 

finally - the yelping may very well stop once you get the dream feed well established.  if it does, great!  if not, pay attention to WHEN it happens.  if it's consistently the same time every night (within 10 minutes), it's habitual, and you can try wake-to-sleep to stop it.  stroke his head or whatever an hour earlier until he stirs (not actually awake).  hopefully that will disrupt his sleep cycle enough that he won't wake later on.  if the yelping is erratic, you are probably still dealing with some hunger issues.

HTH  :D
Jaime
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Offline becky1969

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2006, 18:52:54 pm »
Thank you SO MUCH. Your advice is already coming true! Our 2nd night of dream feed worked so much better! My husband fed him at 10:45 (he only ate 4.25 oz this time, instead of 6-7 oz) and he slept through to 5:45 without a peep! No 4:45 yelp, no periodic grunts and groans, nothing! It was heavenly! He did start crying at 5:45 and I did go to him (because I'm a dunce). I figured he was probably hungry since it had been 7 hours between bottles. But he wasn't - barely wanted 2 oz. He was soaking wet though. The cry this time at 5:45 was a normal wake-up cry. Once he did wake up it was with a big smile, very happy little boy!

I think tomorrow I'll let him fuss it out a bit. The only reason I went right to him was I thought I'd try to give him a couple oz. to tide him over until 7 - maybe get him to go back to sleep for an hour or two. Dumb thinking by a sleepy mom.

What do you think? Do you think we're on the right track? Or do you have other advice? I love the advice about the diaper doublers! I'm going to look for those today!! We defintiely need them because I think when he starts coming into light sleep in the morning he becomes aware of his full diaper.


The other added benefit of the better night sleep is that he's no longer having the 45 minute yelps during his naps either! He's now sleep thru just heavenly! Before he'd take 1.5-2 hour naps, but at 45 minutes on the dot he'd wake up with a yelp. Sometimes he'd put himself back to sleep, but most of the time I'd have to shush/pat him. Now he's sleeping through! It's like a miracle! I LOVE the dream feed now! I used to hate it because every other time we've tried in the past it's been an utter failure. I think it's because we quit too soon. I'm a firm believer now! I'm actually EXCITED about tonight's feed! LOL!
Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline Jaime

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2006, 21:14:24 pm »
that sounds like fantastic progress!!  well done!!   ;D

btw - not to totally sound like a gloomy gus - but after some progress forward, many babies regress a little.  this is NORMAL.  if it does happen with your baby, that makes it even more important for you to stay consistent.  i'd say he's close to no more night feeds (except dream feed  ;) ) and once you have that, it's oh so wonderful!!   ;D
Jaime
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Offline becky1969

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2006, 21:21:50 pm »
are you a prophet? LOL! Actually, last night he woke at 3 am and took 7 oz! But, since he turns 12 weeks tomorrow, I'm suspecting we're having a 12 week growth spurt because he then woke up at 7:20 and drained another 6 oz bottle. Since before I was having trouble getting him to drink 3 oz in the morning after 7 hours between bottles, it seems like he's just extra hungry right now!

I'm still extremely pleased with our progress, and confident that after the growth spurt is over that he'll be giving up the night feed and sleeping thru. We did have a 5:30 am cry out, but it wasn't a shriek, and he just went right back to sleep. I think he cried out maybe 1 or 2 more times, but just went right back to sleep and I didn't get up. I only went at 7:20 because I had a doctor's appt and thought we should get our day going so we wouldn't get too off schedule. Turns out he was awake, just happily looking at his Fisher Price Aquarium, smiling to beat the band AND NOT CRYING! I am pleased as PUNCH!

Thank you so much. I've been so happy with our life on BW up to now, but hated the dream feed before as it never worked. Now I'm a true convert to it as well.

Oh, and I learned so much about naps yesterday as well. I started putting him down while in stage 3 and he just put himself to sleep! And he stayed asleep! I also learned if I let him get in the least bit overtired (like 10-15 minutes too long awake), then he wakes at the 45 minute mark, and I need to pat-shush to sleep. So interesting! I've been feeling guilty about how much my baby sleeps - I love it, but I feel like maybe I'm forcing sleep on him. But he really needs it! He's a much happier little guy, and he sleeps so much better when I cut his activity short.

Sorry to write a book, but the last 3 days have made me even a bigger convert to BW! And a much happier more productive mum!
Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline Jaime

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Re: 3 mo old wants to wake at 5:45 - not hungry
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2006, 21:21:08 pm »
i'm so glad things are going so well for you.  you must feel like a whole new woman!!   ;D
Jaime
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DS - Touchy/Grumpy