19 weeks - night wakings

[mama12]

I'm breastfeeding exclusively my 19 weeks old son. He is on a 3 hours schedule.  The problem is that he is waking up several times at night.  He goes to sleep on his own with his blanket and soother.  When he wakes up I go in his room and give him his blanket and soother back and then 5-10 minutes later he cries again.. so I go back..sometimes I have to go 4-5 times in a row so I'm up for an hour.  I know I should not rush in when he start crying but he never settle himself ...it escalates.  I know BW doesn't recommend "control crying". Is it possible that I'm confusing him by sometimes feeding him sometimes not? Should I stop nursing at night?

7:30 wakes and play in crib
8:00 BF
8:15 - 9:15 Activity
9:30 Sleep NAP (1hr - 1:30)
10:30 Wake
11:00 BF
11:15-12:15 Activity
12:30 sleep NAP (2hrs)
2:30 BF
2:30 - 3:45 Activity
4:00 cat nap (40 - 45 min)
5:00 BF
5:15-6:15 Activity
6:15 BF
6:30 pm Sleep
Midnight feed
4:00 am feed
8:00 am feed

He wakes up between the feeding times posted but I don't feed him. Please help me

[becj86]

6:15 BF
6:30 pm Sleep
Midnight feed
4:00 am feed
8:00 am feed

This is completely normal night feeding for this age.

He may be waking because his routine's not quite right for him - he should be on at least 4hr EASY, with maybe  an A time a touch higher than 2hr. Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY 3-4hr EASY Transition – In 5 Minute Increments

[mama12]

Thanks for your reply☺

For the past 2 days I've been keeping him awake for longer period (1:45 - 2 hrs) and I've already seen some improvement !!!

I also moved the DF to 10:00pm as I didn't want to stay up to midnight every night ... i still want to feed him at 3 am until solid are established (7-8 months.. I guess).

Last night
E 6:15 pm
S 6:45
NW 7:48
NW 8:45
DF 10:00 and diaper change
E 2:45
NW 3:35
E 7:45 and up for the day

My other question is how to eliminate the last feed? From what I understand I should slowly move it forward. From 3:00 am, to 3:30, to 4:00 so on till his first morning feed at 7:30am. As I move the last feed forward baby is likely not to be hungry for his morning feed and therefore ruining the beginning of the day? What do you think?

[becj86]

My other question is how to eliminate the last feed? From what I understand I should slowly move it forward. From 3:00 am, to 3:30, to 4:00 so on till his first morning feed at 7:30am. As I move the last feed forward baby is likely not to be hungry for his morning feed and therefore ruining the beginning of the day? What do you think?

Are you feeding every night at 3? Or are you waiting for him to wake for a feed? I just ask, as a lot of mums who wake LO for a feed at a specific time find that they end up with an habitual waking at that time, whereas if LO is waking for a feed, they tend to push the feed later themselves (some don't, but some do). WRT the beginning of the day, you can do a topup feed in the morning at WU or you can reduce the night feed so its enough to get LO to WU feed.

[mama12]

He usually wakes up around 3 am and I feed him. The others NW i dont. i decided to feed him at this specific time because it's 5 hrs after the DF and it's not too close to the morning feed but now I'm not so sure if it was good idea!

[becj86]

Is he waking frequently before 3am?

[mama12]

He usuAlly wakes up once or twice before DF (around 7:30/8:00). I have to go in his room and give him his soother and blanket otherwise he won't settle. When I go it's very quick in and out in 30 sec! For the DF he's really asleep i sometimes have to change his diaper to get him to drink. After his DF (10:00pm) he occasionally wakes around 1 am same thing in and out the room. Around 3am he'll cry Again and I'll feed him, full feed.  He also wakes up once before the morning.

[becj86]

He usuAlly wakes up once or twice before DF (around 7:30/8:00).

This indicates overtiredness at the end of the day - He probably can't handle much more than about 1.5hr after a catnap...

Doesn't sound like he's waking at 1 from hunger. Do you think the dreamfeed could be disturbing his sleep? Is he waking more than he did previously, if the wakings shortly after bedtime are new?

[mama12]

I've been working on keeping him awake for 2 hours and for the past 2 days he went down very easily for his naps. 

For the 1 am NW Im quite positive he is not waking up from hunger.

He falls asleep on his own. I usually hold him, turn off lights, give him his soother & blanket and cuddle for a few minutes. I put him awake in his crib and he rubs his eyes, hold his blanket and slowly falls asleep. I just don't understand why he doesn't do the same when he wakes up At night... Last night was pretty bad:

6:00 BF
7:00 sleep
8:53 Nw
9:07 Nw
9:30 Nw
9:38 DF- thought he was hungry.. Finished 2 sides
12:08 Nw
2:05 am feed
3:35 Nw
4:08 Nw
4:28 feed 1 side (again thought he was hungry, wanted to sleep!)
6:30 Nw
6:43 up for the day
8:20am feed

Hubby went 3 times ... Not sure when I was way too tired!

Like you suggested in your earlier post I'm hoping the switch from 3 to 4 hour will help.  I went straight to 2 hours activity time. LO doesn't seem to mind during the day and he goes down easily. With the 4 hour I will feed him at 8, 12, 4, 6, 10 and one night feed. Should I try eliminating the night feed this way I would be consistent - every night waking I would not feed him.... Maybe this wAy he will realize there is no point waking up!!! Let's hope tonight is better

[becj86]

Should I try eliminating the night feed this way I would be consistent - every night waking I would not feed him....

No, he's quite likely genuinely hungry and not feeding him will only have him waking more often.

6:00 BF
7:00 sleep
8:53 Nw
9:07 Nw
9:30 Nw

How long was his A time from his last nap? How long was his last nap?
These NW are pretty classic of OT from the day or discomfort. Have you recently intro'd solids at all?

I usually hold him, turn off lights, give him his soother & blanket and cuddle for a few minutes. I put him awake in his crib and he rubs his eyes, hold his blanket and slowly falls asleep. I just don't understand why he doesn't do the same when he wakes up At night.

Is he pretty drowsy when he goes into the crib? Can he see when he's in his crib - DS needed to be able to tell he was in the same place he'd been when he fell asleep, so had to be reasonably wide awake going into bed and needed a night light as he was going to sleep and on all night so he could resettle himself in a familiar setting.

Give the new routine a few days, jumping straight to 2hr may be a rough way to do it, causing LO some OT. I always did big jumps with L too, getting through 3 days of resettling and then being on routine was so much easier on both of us than shifting the routine by 5-10mins every few days but it doesn't work for most babies.

[mama12]

Thanks !
The past 2 days have been pretty good. 3-4 NW total which I'm OK with.

I'm still working on keeping his A time for 2 hours: from the time he wakes up till he's asleep.

I'm still dealing with beginning of the night wakings. He always cries 2-3 times before his DF. He hasn't started solid food yet, so it's definitely OT from the day...

Something else to mention, I always have to wake him up from his catnap. He's usually in a deep sleep; he cries and he's grumpy. Maybe 50 minutes is too long or too short? Also by 6:00-6:15pm he rubs his eyes and he's READY for bed.   Do you think his afternoon nap usually (1-1.5hr) is too short and by bedtime he is too tired? If so I do I adjust my routine? I'd like him to be able to sleep good right from the beginning of the night and not be OT!!

Today:

W/U 7:36 am
E 7:45-8:05
A 8:05-9:15 (A 1h45 )
S 9:15-10:55 (1h40)
E 11:00-11:10
A 11:10-12:55(A 1h55)
S 12:55-1:55 (1 hr)
E 1:55-2:05
A 2:05-3:58 (A 2hrs)
S 3:58-4:48 (50min)
E 4:47-5:01
A 5:01-6:30 (1h30)
E 6:17-6:30
S 7:00pm

So far he cried at 8:16 pm and 8:48 pm waiting for the next one..

I also want to add that the DF is actually his best feed of the day-he's always really hungry. Let me know what you think ! Thanks !

[becj86]

That 1hr second nap is too short - push that second A time  little further, maybe 2hr-2hr10.

Generally when capping a nap, its less of a problem to wake LO when they stir during the transition to the next sleep cycle, try going in and watch from 35-40min into the nap and wake when he stirs... he might be better off with 3 solid naps for a little longer, eg:
7 - wake
9 - nap
10:45 - wake
12:45 - nap
2:15 - wake
4:15 - nap
5:45 - wake
7:30 - asleep for the night

Maybe 50 minutes is too long or too short? Also by 6:00-6:15pm he rubs his eyes and he's READY for bed. 

That catnap is only meant to buy you a little bit of time to get to BT with a day pretty close to 12hr.