Need Help with Night Sleeping!

[Kymmi13]

LO is now 11weeks and nights are stuck at 2.5 - 4 hour stretches with the majority of them being closer to the 2.5/3 hour range.  I have him on a 3hr EASY during the day and he's become a pretty good day sleeper.  I can put him down after the wind down and he goes to sleep on his own.  First 2 naps are 1-2 hours each.  Third nap is 45min-1.5 hrs and if there is a fourth nap, that is 45min-1.5 hr. 

I do not have a set WU or BT.  I let him dictate those times.  BT usually ranges from 7pm - 9pm and WU anywhere from 8am - 10am.  His longest sleep stretch is usually the one right after our bedtime routine.  Last night, he had a 3.5 hours stretch followed by one 2 hour, one 2.5 hours and then the last one of 3 hours.  When he wakes, I let him stir for 2-3 minutes to make sure he's not in a sleep transition.  I then nurse him and he feeds well for this first 5 minutes and then falls asleep pretty quickly.  After I burp him, I try to nurse him again, but he usually is too sleepy to eat...I've even tried a diaper change to wake him so he feeds more, but most of the time, he's more interested in going back to sleep.  He then will wake up 2-2.5 hours later.  When he was 7 weeks, he did 5 hour stretches for a couple of days.  So, I'm not sure why his night sleep periods are so short. 

Here's yesterday's and today's EASY:

8am WU
E 8:15am
S 9:25am - 10:55am
E 11:15am
S 12:05pm - 12:10pm
E 2:15pm
S 3:25pm - 4:40pm (woke up at 4:10 but resettled at 4:20)
E 5:05
S 6pm - 7:35pm  (woke up at 6:50 but resettled at 6:52)
E 8
Bath
E 8:40pm
S 9pm - 12:40am
S 1:05am - 3:30am
S 3:45am - 6:05am
S 6:35am - 9:45am

Is there anything that I can do to lengthen his sleep during the nights?  There's really no particular pattern of when the longest sleep stretch occurs (sometimes it's the first sleep period, sometimes, it's the second or third or even last). 

Are these pretty good/average sleep lengths for a LO at 11 weeks?  Should I just be patient?  The interesting thing, when he woke up at 6:05am, I fed him and he fell asleep.  After burping, swaddling and setting him back, he fussed for 5 minutes or so and then started to cry.  I picked him up and nursed him again and then burped and set him down.  He didn't cry the second time around, but it did take him much longer to settle back and go to sleep (lots of grunting/groaning and squirming in his swaddle). 

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?  I've read other posts where plenty of LO's are sleeping much longer stretches.  I know each LO is different, I just want to make sure I'm not introducing any bad habits at night that's keeping him awake or causing him to wake more often.  I am assuming he wakes when he's hungry - but, he's proven he can last 4-5 hours without eating before, not sure why he would need to eat every 2.5/3 hours at night.

Thanks in advance!

[becj86]

Has it been recent enough that it could be a growth spurt? There are an awful lot of those in the first 6 months. TBH, its pretty normal still - do you have any inkling of discomfort at all?

[Kymmi13]

DS has been doing 2/3 hour stretches for weeks now, so, I don't think it's a GS. 

As a little experiment, I had DH feed DS last night during two wake periods.  The first wake period was after DS slept almost 2hrs 40min.  He devoured 4 oz and burped loudly and fell asleep for 2hrs 45min and woke up and ate another 4oz from the bottle and fell asleep for 2hrs and 40min again.  I am pretty sure (now) he wakes when he's hungry; or, some sort of discomfort wakes him and he is hungry as well.  He is not a fan of the bottle and will only eat from it when he's really hungry.  During the day, when he wakes from his naps, he will hold off as long as he can from the bottle (I usually BF him but on occasion, DH will feed from the bottle). 

As far as discomfort goes, he did have a cold and was congested from when he was 5 weeks old.  The congestion is still lingering and I have a humidifier running in the room.  I do put BM drops in his nose to help flush out any mucous.  I'm not sure if the congestion plays a roll since the times he has done close to 5 hours was when he was congested (he has only slept 5 hours twice).  The other possibility is that he is a bit gassy.  LO1 had a lot of gas issues and that didn't resolve until she was 16/17 weeks.  LO2 has some gas....he has small toots throughout the day as well as at night.  He grumbles and lets go some gas here and there...but nothing like LO1 where she would scream in pain and draw her knees to her chest.  LO2's gas is much more mild, so, I'm not sure if it plays much of a role as part of discomfort. 

The last possibility is that he's just a 2/3 hour baby and it will lengthen within time.  I am just looking for the reassurance that what he's doing is on the "normal" side and that I shouldn't expect more out of him until he's a little older.  I just want to make sure that feeding him every 2/3 hours at night isn't introducing any bad habits. 

Thanks you all for your guidance!

[becj86]

Yes, I'd say its in the 'normal' range. Its possible he's in pain with gas but not as vocal as your DD...

[Kymmi13]

If it is gas that's giving him discomfort and causing him to wake...what can I do?  Do I just wait it out until his digestive system matures?  How long would that be? 

We have tried to soothe him back to sleep w/o feeding; we've tried rocking and giving him the paci.  After 30-45 minutes of this, his cries are closer to hunger than pain (or possibly a little bit of both). 

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[becj86]

Do you have a fast letdown or oversupply that could be causing gas?

Any foods you've eaten more in recent weeks than previously that could be causing him issues?

You could put his mattress on an incline - that can help with gas.

[Kymmi13]

I do have a fast let down.  DH fed DS last night for the first waking - he ate 4.5 oz after only sleeping 2 hrs. 

On the second waking, I realized that DS was 'complaining' more than really crying.  It was already too late as I did not realize this until I was already feeding.  On his third waking (3 hours after I set him down), I let him fuss for a bit.  He complained for about 5 minutes and then was back asleep within 8 minutes.  He only slept another hour and woke up complaining again.  I let him fuss a bit until he started to escalate into a real cry (about 8 minutes) and then I fed him. 

I feel as if he's trained himself to wake every 2/3 hours and he's really not hungry.  I think he eats for comfort and goes back to sleep quickly. 

Any ideas on how I can lengthen the nights?  I'm exhausted from waking every 2/3 hours. 

[becj86]

Are you lying back to feed - to reduce the flow of milk?
http://www.biologicalnurturing.com

DS only ate that frequently when he was in pain - once I did some block feeding and lay back for feeds, he slept much better.

Have a read:
https://www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html
https://www.llli.org/faq/foremilk.html