6 week premmie night waking

[mrsmack]

Hi everyone,
I am desperately hoping you can help my husband and I. We are so exhausted and stressed that it is affecting our relationship.

Our dd is 6 weeks old, she was born 5 weeks prem with a low birth weight of 3lb 12oz due to pre eclampsia which stopped her growing. She is now 5lb 3oz.

She naps well during the day although at times maybe too well, she feeds well taking one breast at each feed followed by 2 oz of sma formula. During the night she gets just a formula bottle of 3 oz with no bf.

We have kept to a 3 hr routine with feeds although occasionally she will go to four hours or want fed after 2- we have put this down to a growth spurt!

The main issue we are facing is nighttime. She has her last night feed usually about midnight which then involves a nght feed about 3 or 4am. When she wakes at this time we cannot get her back to sleep after her feed. If we swaddle her and lie her down she cries, if we hold her she lies bright eyed and content- we feel we have tried everything. She has had some really awful episodes of colic which have had her climbing the walls, at that time we were told only thing to do was nurse her which we did. I am wondering does she now think getting nursed at 4am is the norm? Its killing us.
As far as the colic goes we use infacol with every feed and we have recently tried some herbal crystals.

My husband works long shifts and gets up for work at the bk of 5 am. He is like a zombie! She doesnt manage much activity time although we sing, read and play with her when she is awake, we have also managed to get her enjoying her mat for 10-15 mins during the day!
Any advice at all would be great esp for a premmie/low weight baby who is otherwise an angel.

Thank in advance
Linzi

[mrsmack]

In case i have missed anything
How old is your child? 6 weeks
What’s his/her daily routine?
What’s nap routine?1-2 hours after feeds
How long are naps?see above
What's bedtime routine? Time? after last feed
Do you bottle or breastfed??both
How much? or how long? 3 hrly, breast the bottle 2-3oz
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)one
How many wakes per night?2
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? 1st wake fine, 4am can be awake for 2 hrs
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?Im not sure
What have you tried to settle?? swaddling, pacifier, ssshh pat, rocking crib, cuddling, nursing
What do you do for A time and how long is it? sing, read, playmat 10-15 min
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? premmie low weight
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)no
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? prop?
Do they have a lovie?no

[Katet]

Am I correct, that age adjusted she is 1 week old?
It is actually VERY VERY normal for a baby to have an unsettled period in the day (aka 24hours) some people are lucky & get that around 4pm others get it around 10pm & other really lucky ones (like me with DS2 & you) get them around 4am. It is very normal to have babies in the first 6 weeks (you are only really at week 4 at best, but with small birth weight, I'd say week 1) to feed less than 3 hourly & to have absolutely no distinction between night & day.
What will help most is time... by 3months one would hope things should have greatly improved, but I know it is the now. I found that the best thing was to work with it rather than try to get the baby to change... EARLY to bed allowing for the wake up rather than hoping it wouldn't happen really does help mentally (it does change lots over time... focus on now/today, not thinking "I don't want this to be a habit in 6 months"
Try to wake for feeds 2/2.5hourly in day (she is small & only 1 week adjusted) & keep her awake 3-5mins longer if you can... that may not be the solution, but it may help... also LOTS of day light in day times even sleeping in a pram can help the day night cycle, but that still comes down to time.

To be prefectl honest if you are only getting 2 night wakings, I'd say you have a fantastic baby & quite possibly you need to change your expectations a bit... many mothers are still dealing with 2 night wakings & lengthy ones at many months old... I know I was still being woken 3+ times with Ds1 & he was a big baby... I think with the 4am wakeup, the real answer is time... it is her unsettled period & she hasn't chosen a great time for it, but if she is only waking at midnight before that, your answer is got go to bed around 8pm to allow for it... it won't last forever!