8week old wakes every 45m at night

[TBMLaura]

Hi there!
So glad I found this! My DS is 8wo today and we just started EASY a little over a week ago. The fist 6w was us doing a lot of AP since he is a touchy baby 100%!! I was rocking/nursing him to sleep, co-sleeping and having him sleep on me for naps...in other words..going CRAZY!! Which is why this book has been such a life saver!!
My lo was 8pds at birth and is now a little over 14 being EBF.
Easy has been great considering how miserable my days were. He has been sleeping on his bassinet ever since and since he is so young he adjusted pretty quickly to a 3hr (sometimes still 2 ½ hr) routine. However we still have trouble putting him down for naps. He fights the swaddle so bad since I only did it ocasionally before despite the fact that he absolutely needs it to sleep well. I now do it every time. He also doesn't like the paci too much, he fights it for a minute or two and then finally takes it but he then drops it when he's calmed down and ready to sleep. We live in the Caribbean and it's always bright and shinny (I don't mean to brag ) but I have a hard time getting the room dark enough during the day, I usually have to cover his eyes with my hand or a cloth in front of him.

Anyways, days are getting better and I know it's just a matter of time but my problem is that I feel like we took a step back on nights. First three days I did the sleep routine around 7pm (bath, very short massage, swaddle and lullaby) then I normally put him on his bassinet and sometimes have to do the PU/pd at most 2 times before he dozes off . He went down for 5hrs straight! I was in heaven! After that he woke up around midnight-1am and kept waking every hour or so.

Then something happened (don't know what) and he has been shortening that early night sleep each day.
Right now he's waking exactly every 45-50 mins which I know is their sleep cycle length and he's doing this throughout the night. He resettles quick enough but it's exhausting!! He's obviously needing help to continue sleeping...have I done something wrong or is this normal? Maybe I came to quickly the first nights when he cried or waited too long to put him back down..idk but I need some help here please!

I'm wondering if I should do the wake to sleep but I couldn't find any cases similar to mine, most people have lo's who wake at a specific time each night but how can I tackle so many wakings?!
I only feed him around 2-3am and then try to get him till 7 but doesn't always work.

Helpppp!!!
Ask me any questions if you need more info to help me out.

Thanks!
Xoxo

[Skadiver13]

We live in the Caribbean and it's always bright and shinny (I don't mean to brag ) but I have a hard time getting the room dark enough during the day, I usually have to cover his eyes with my hand or a cloth in front of him.

This could be an issue. I would suggest covrering the windows with darkening currents. I had to literally push trashbags over my lo's windows to keep all the sun out, but it was a case of gotta do what I gotta do. He wouldn't sleep otherwise.

As for the pacifier honestly if he doesn't want it there is no need to force it. Can you provide your routine in EAS format? Helps take a look to see if it needs tweaking.

[weaver]

When we had difficulties getting the room dark enough, we made a sort of tent over LOs cot. Fastened very very securely of course! But it did assist with him sleeping.

My LO1 was touchy too and the swaddled helped him enormously.

How long has his frequent NW been going on? Such frequent waking sounds like it could be pain or discomfort. What do you think? Waking in the first part of the night can also be a sign of OT.

[TBMLaura]

Thank you so much! And Im sorry I didnt reply sooner Ny sister in law is town and as you might imagine I've had little time to be online. We love her but this has also messed up our routine a bit (except for night time) and in my desperation I went back to some old habits....boo!
I agree...the brightness left in the room seems to be affecting him although he has been able to go longer stretches the last few days (around an hour) and at night 2-2:30 hours.
I believe he has a mixture of things. I went back to reading Tracy's second book so we can get back on our routine and realized that on HUGE problem could be the fact that he was diagnosed with reflux. We have taken some measures, like putting the crib in a 45 deg angle and keeping him upright after feeds. But the doctor prescribed some medication and I keep forgetting to give it to him, so he has been taking it erratically for about a week.
I just placed a sign right next to where I feed him so I dont forget.
I still think that some of the times he wakes up is because he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep after a cycle, so I try for about 15-20 mins to get him back to sleep during the day and if he refuses I try to give him some quiet time instead.
I am struggling with so many things its kinda overwhelming! So Im gonna try some changes this nect couple of weeks amd let you know how it goes
-Give him his medicine as prescribed
-Always burp properly (I get tired sometimes and usuakky find out later he had gas)
-Make sure he has full feedings and be consistent on tanking him up.
-Be consistent with the 4S method. Make sure room is dark enough, swaddle him always*, no rocking or jiggling and staying with him until deep sleep.

It seems like a lot, but if I dont try to fix all these I dont think it will work.
My baby is 10wks tomorrow and Im affraid if I dont tackle these now it will be harder later on. He cries a lot prolly from discomfort and being OT most of thr time so It's gonna be the best for him too.

Please let me know if there's something else I should do.
*Should I swaddle even if he seems so angry about it? If I don't he startles and wakes himself up. Will he get used to it if I do it consistently?

Thanks a lot!
TBMLaura

[Skadiver13]

Hi hun, yes I would certainly give his meds as prescribed and make sure they are right for his weight. I would post over on the colic reflux board. You can't really do any sleep training if reflux is under control. I would block out the light in his room so you can rule that out and it will help him sleep more during the day. And yes I would continue to swaddle him.

[TBMLaura]

OOOMMMGGG!! I'm so happy and amazed by the progress we've made in two days!! I love seeing how things are actually working for us! Finally!!

 Don't get me wrong, we still need some improvements...specially at night time, but these two days have been a bliss.
 
 I've gotten much better at reading my babies cues (specially the sleep cues) and W-O-W...it's amazing how quickly he goes down for his naps once you catch him at the right time! I also discovered that he doesn't like the Sitting part (From the 4S strategy in Tracy's 2nd book) so I do that part standing underneath the ceiling fan in the room (I stand still without rocking or jiggling) and he settles down in less than a minute. Then I put him down on his crib after 5 minutes and he dozes off all by himself...unbelievable!
 He is still waking up early from most of them but all I do is check if he seems cranky or tired and try to put him back down (he has slept for an extra 45mins). If he's content I've tried to spend the rest of his naptime as quiet time and put him down early for his next one.

 But like I said....just the fact that he is following the EASY routine so greatly in just two days of getting back on track is awesome.

 I did start giving him the medicine for the reflux...maybe that has a lot to do with it. He seems very happy in his wake times and has cried far less...hurraayyy!!

 He is still waking up in the early evening and at night...he won't go past 2-2.5 hrs....and less that an hour after 4am Sometimes I put him back down...others he seems very hungry so I feed him. I'll give him a few more days to see how it goes...maybe he'll surprise me

Anyways, I just wanted to share an update...I'm so happy I couldn't contain myself
Hope everything is well with your LOs too!

[weaver]

Aw, well done.  Great to hear happy news, thanks for sharing.

[Skadiver13]

Great job.