3 month old good sleeper suddenly gone wrong - Help!

[NessieD]

My DS is 3 months old and after a difficult start (has reflux) has been sleeping really well the past 7 weeks. Here's how his day/night went up until a few nights ago.

*Up at 7am - feed
*approx 8am nap for 2 hours
*10am - feed
*approx 11.30 nap for 2 hours
*1.30pm feed
*2-3pm nap for 1- 1 1/2 hours
*5pm feed
*6.20pm bath
*6.45pm feed
*7pm bed
*10pm dream feed
*anytime between 4.30am-6am feed

For the last few nights however, he has been waking every 2 hours during the night. He is swaddled and every time he's woken up, he's managed to get his arms out of the swaddle. It means that he has been awake for large portions of the night the past few nights.

Is this his way of saying that he doesn't want to be swaddled anymore?

A couple of times we tried him in his sleeping bag last night but he immeadiately pulls his dummy out and rubbing his face/eyes and won't settle. We have also tried swaddling him with just one arm free but the same problem.

If he's swaddled he goes off to sleep within minutes (on his own too and will settle himself back off to sleep but now he's getting his arms out he can't settle himself.

Any advice on how to deal with this. It's really bad timing as we are spending Christmas night at parents and could do without a sleepless night!

[Bryony]

Hi there

If the swaddle seems to be the issue, you could try one of the swaddles with velco etc to keep your LO snug.  I think they are called Swaddle Me or Miracle Blanket... 

Just looking at your routine - do you also do a catnap?  If not I would be worried about your LO being overtired by bedtime - what time does the last nap end?

The other thought - does he need his dummy to sleep?  Around 4 months or so some people run into difficulties with them being a prop and waking up when they come out. 

Hope that's given you a few things to think about

Bryony

[Jennerific]

hi nessie my LO is almost 4 months old & we're having the same problem with the swaddle, the eye rubbing & knocking the paci out. i bought the swaddle me blanket 2 months ago, we had a ton of success - until this month when he suddenly figured out how to get his arms out (even tho it uses velcro!!) ... i just wanted to let you know that we're having the exact same problems & even tho i have no solution for you, I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!! i hope someone can come along to help us both...

[NessieD]

Can anyone else help us? up AGAIN every 2 hours last night!!! tried again to move him to grobag but no success   

[Bryony]

Nessie

As below - I don't think it's to do with the swaddle, personally. I would be more concerned about the dummy (does he need it to go to sleep?) and/or being overtired (what are his A times throughout the day, and what is his last A time before bed?)

Also what is he doing when he wakes up (screaming?  fussing?  chatting?)

Bryony

[NessieD]

His A times are as follows, the activity varies dependent on his mood, these times are approx as they vary from day to day by say 15 mins:

7 am - 8.30am
10.30am - 12 midday
2pm - 4pm
5pm - 6.30pm

He doesn't need his dummy to fall asleep but if he wakes in the night I will give it to him and he will fall asleep after a few minutes. When he wakes he is fussing and after a while this will turn into loud grunts and eventually a very loud cry. I was up AGAIN last night every 2 hours, each time he had arms out of his swaddle and was sucking his hands, after re-swaddling each time he fell back to sleep within a few minutes.

This afternoon I have been trying to put him down for nap with his arms out of the swaddle but he will NOT go to sleep and I am now just leaving him to cry, I have been trying for the last 50 minutes.

I really need some help here or I am going to go INSANE   

[Bryony]

Oh HUGS to you!

Your routine looks pretty good - are you only on three naps?  2hr, 2hr and 1hr?  That should be fine though if that's what you are doing....    Is he OK with the longer 2hr A time mid afternoon?  Can I just check that those A times also include feeds - ie are they time between him waking up and going back to sleep?

It also sounds as though he's not ready to come out of that swaddle - he's still pretty young. I think we were still swaddling until around 5 months.  Did you look into the other types of swaddle?  You might also want to look at the Aussie swaddle so that he can suck his hands thorugh the swaddle - there are instructions for how to do it on a FAQ in the general sleep board.  It looks pretty complecated, and I have never tried it, but I know a lot of people swear by it.

Please don't leave him to cry though - that won't help anything

Bryony

[NessieD]

Hi Bryony, thanks for this, I never quite know if the routine is OK or not, I just tend to go by what he is telling me. He is fine with a 2 hour A time in the afternoon and yes these are the times that he is awake, so include feeds etc.

Last night he woke twice at 2ish am and again at 4.20am, both times out of the swaddle, although this is better it's not that same as the 11-6 that he was doing before!!! hopefully this is a just a phase. I will try the Aussie Swaddle and see if that works 

[NessieD]

Update - DS is know back to waking once in the night, still out of swaddle but only taking 5 mins to get back to sleep, i'm going to try Aussie Swaddle for naps 

[Bryony]

sounds good!

let us know how you get on