7 week old waking at night and won't go back to sleep!

[Meggie]

I am having trouble for the past week with DD waking at night to feed and will not settle back to sleep.

Here was her routine yesterday

E - 6:30 (3 oz)
A
S - 7:20-9:45

E - 9:45 (3 oz) I had to wake her to feed
A
S - 10:32-12:45

E - 12:45 (4 oz) I had to wake her to feed
A
S - 1:45-3:45

E - 3:45 (4 oz) I had to wake her to feed
A
S - 4:45-5:30

A - 5:30 (bath)
E - 6:15 (3 oz)
A - quiet snuggle/wind down (she was fussy and had a hard time settling down)
S - 7:30-8:20

E - 8:30 (4 oz)
S - 8:50 - 12:20

E - 12:25 (4 oz)
S - 12:45-1:45

At 1:45 she will not go to sleep.  I tried to feed her at 2am and she only took 2 oz and was crying.  I tried to settle her many times and she was on-again off-again till she finally fell asleep at 4am when I gave in and took her to my bed to sleep.  I was quite proud of our day-time routine, but I am thinking that there must be something that I am doing wrong.  I know that I shouldn't give in and bring her in my bed.  But it is getting very rough on me and I need to get some sleep before wake-up time the next day.

I think that she may have day/night confusion since she tends to want to sleep a lot in the morning.  One day I accidentally let her sleep as long as she wanted in the morning and she went from 9:15am - 1 pm... which further disturbed her night waking (she was up from 1-5 am - on and off - with an attempted 1 oz feed at 3:45am)

Any suggestions?  This night waking is driving me crazy!

[Fenella]

my 7 week old son is just the same i was about to make the same post the only difference being he has df at 11pm sleeps till around 2am sometimes can settle him with a dummy till 4am so i know he isn't waking thru hunger last 2night he has take between 1 1/2 hours to settle back to sleep and 2 hrs it drives me insane too.  his awake time is longer than your lo though normally awake for just over an hour. if anyone has any ideas here i would love to here them too.  i'm sure mine is waking thru habit.

[Colin Macs Mom]

LOs get a huge growth spurt at 6 weeks-ish - do either of you think this is what may be going on for you?

Also I'm not clear on what you've tried to get the LOs to sleep - have you tried pat/shhh? And are you feeding at night after the DF? A full feed I mean, not the snacking.

[Meggie]

Kaitlyn is almost 8 weeks and has definitely gone through the 6 week growth spurt, so I know that this is not happening for us.

She is also very good at getting to sleep independently with little help from me (except for this one night time waking).  I usually go into her room and sit on a chair beside her crib, put her paci back in and rub her chest till she drops off.  Then I leave.  I have tried waiting the full 20 minutes after she goes to sleep, but even after that she will still wake up about ten minutes later.  I have even stayed in with her for 40 minutes after she's asleep, and she still will wake up at the 30-40 mark.

I have tried to DF her with no success.  She will only ever take 1 oz... If I persist, then she wakes up crying.  I don't think an extra ounce is worth the trouble.

[Meggie]

Last night was just awful again... shes sleeping less and less, and I'm starting to think that this is a feeding problem instead of a sleep issue.  During the day she is taking less and less at each feed (2-3 oz) then starts to cry and arch her back.  I am suspecting reflux... so maybe I'll take this to the feeding board, and to my doctor.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Yes, that does sound like it could be reflux. Definitely get her to the doc, but in the meantime it can help to elevate one end of her mattress so that she gets some help from gravity. Keep us posted!