Author Topic: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!  (Read 1525 times)

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Offline maofaha

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LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« on: November 14, 2014, 06:15:43 am »
I hope someone can help us with this issue: our LO is waking every hour-45 minutes after his 4am feed. I can get him to go back easily by replacing his paci or holding him a bit, but he's up again just as I'm falling back asleep (hence the grumpy mummy :-\). I don't feed him during these times. Here are the details:

AGE:      13 weeks on Sunday
ROUTINE:   EASY

NAPS:       1 hour naps are the norm, occasionally can extend a morning nap to 2 or 1.5 hours.
BEDTIME:   [E]at [A] bath and cuddle time [S ]leep at 8-8:30pm.
UP @ NIGHT:   10pm-11pm dreamfeed; 1-2am 2oz feed; 4am 2oz feed; 5; 6; 630; 7

FED:      Both bottle and breast
AMOUNT:   8min avg on breast (one side only), 3.5oz avg on bottle

What’s your LO like when waking at night? Drowsy/unconscious unless we jostle him too much, turn on a light, or change a diaper.
How long is he/she up? Just long enough to eat.
When you go to him is he fussing or crying? Fussing, unless he has to wait for a bottle to warm, waiting makes him cry.
What have you tried to settle? During feedings, nothing, eating is enough. Otherwise as described above.
What do you do for A time and how long is it? Talk, sing, dance, read books, tummy time, diaper change, baths, etc. 1hr-1:15 max.
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? Nearly three months.
Have you introduced cereal? No.
Do they have a prop? Paci
Do they have a lovie? No.

Offline katie80

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2014, 05:23:47 am »
Hi there, I'm wondering if he needs a little A time increase. At 3mo, I would expect him to be going more like 1h20-30min. This may help you get better naps and decrease those early morning wakings. Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

Do you burp him during/after the NFs? I'm wondering that for two reasons. One is that he doesn't seem to be taking a full feed either time. I've never bottle fed (not sure if you do formula or EBM, although I don't think that should matter), but at 3mo, I'd expect him to take more like 3-4oz per NF rather than 2. The other is that those early morning wakings could be discomfort related due to trapped gas.

What do you think?



Offline maofaha

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 00:56:53 am »
Thank you so much for replying! hmmmm that's so funny that you mention the A time situation because I'm so confused as to what to do about that. Some resources I've read (non BW resources) indicated that more than an hour at this age leads to overtiredness. Here is what I'm seeing with my LO:

At around 45 minutes he starts to get really talkative, and for him that means mostly yelling (he's spirited :-)) Or he'll grunt and kick and generally seem pretty restless. At 55 minutes I'm usually swaddling him, but he's fighting it and crying and not at all happy about the situation. Then it takes a bit of crying and struggling to get him to fall asleep. This is typical, but not every time. If I keep him up longer than 1 hr, he gets very hyperactive for a bit and then fussy, and usually I have the same going to sleep routine. But maybe I should be keeping better track of my A times, and how he reacts to my routine.

More to the point, thank you for this tip, I will certainly be trying it in the next few days.

As to your second question, I don't burp him after night feedings, but in the past he has taken a full feed but I've basically be restricting him to the two ounces in a (perhaps misguided) attempt to get him to eat more during the day and thus eliminate the night feedings eventually. But as you point out, perhaps this is causing him to wake incessantly, which really is a major backfire on my part. So I will go back to preparing 4 ounce bottles and letting him decide when to stop to see if maybe he wants to eat more and that was the issue.

Offline katie80

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2014, 03:48:33 am »
You might need to push his A times little by little, so that he can get used to them. You may need to hold him a bit more toward the end of his A time so he doesn't get overstimulated. But, I'm guessing when he does longer A times, he'll nap for a little longer and it should help with the unsettledness in the early morning as well.

As to your second question, I don't burp him after night feedings, but in the past he has taken a full feed but I've basically be restricting him to the two ounces in a (perhaps misguided) attempt to get him to eat more during the day and thus eliminate the night feedings eventually. But as you point out, perhaps this is causing him to wake incessantly, which really is a major backfire on my part. So I will go back to preparing 4 ounce bottles and letting him decide when to stop to see if maybe he wants to eat more and that was the issue.
Yes, I would offer a full feed. You'd rather him take a full DF and then maybe one other full feed rather than 2 smaller ones, right? At this age, their tummies can only hold so much, so even if you try to cut oz at night, he may not take more during the day, yk. It's very normal to still have 2-3 NFs at his age and I don't think you can purposely cut oz until he's ready not to have them, iyswim. I'd try to burp him at NFs as well... lots of frequent early morning wakings can be an indicator of discomfort. With all of mine, I've just kinda sat them on my lap with their upper body resting against me and gently rubbed their backs. They're usually so relaxed after a MOTN feed, a burp is not too difficult to work out.



Offline maofaha

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2014, 04:35:13 am »
I just came back to say that you were absolutely right. I tried both of your tips, and I'm not sure which one worked but I'm not having this problem anymore! Thank you so much for your insight!

Offline katie80

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2014, 16:27:06 pm »
Great... you're welcome! :)



Offline joyce05

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2014, 18:36:20 pm »
HI,

My 9 week old is doing the same thing. I feed her depending at 4-5am then she will sleep for an hour and then wake up fussing, so then i put her in her swing. she does another hour or so and then finally i bring her to my bed. She nurses a bit to sleep, but she is mostly bottle fed.  In the last 2 days she wants to sleep in till 9am.  How do i get her to stay asleep till she is ready to get up? She is also the 30min napper, i have to go in and gently rock her to being half asleep then lay her down again.  She will normally sleep 2hrs if she naps

Offline katie80

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Re: LO waking every hour after 4am = GRUMPY MUMMY! HELP!
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2014, 20:44:59 pm »
Hi Joyce and welcome to the boards! :) It would be best if you started your own topic, so that members can offer suggestions on your specific situation. Please also include what your daily routine looks like, EASY-wise.