4am unsettled!

[SusieQue]

Hi there all, hope everyone had a sleep-filled and restful Christmas! I am after some advice please regarding our 6 week old son. He is only waking once at night now, around 3am after going to bed at 7.30. The problem is that he is really unsettled after this feed, and has been for a couple of weeks now. He is fine up until he has his night feed and then it's touch and go as to whethe falls asleep after he goes down after this feed. He is in a crib in our room and we can hear him shuffling and squirming (although he burps before we put him down) and then he ends up getting up at 6 and we're not sure if he's even slept. We have been suspecting reflux and he's started seeing a cranial osteopath to see if that helps so I'm not sure if it's that. He obviously knows how to put himself to sleep if he's going such long stretches at night, I'm just not sure what the problem is. He takes an age to go back to sleep after we get him up in the morning (noisy 4YO running around doesn't help!) and we swaddle him when he's in his Moses basket in the morning. Does anyone have any ideas as to why he would be so unsettled at this hour? It's driving me crazy that I can't figure it out!

[SusieQue]

Sorry I meant to post our rough EASY routine - I'm wondering if he's having too much daytime sleep?

Awake 6am
Eat 6.30
Sleep swaddled by 7.30 or 7.45
Awake 8.15 to 8.30 - sometimes resettles but often not
Eat 10.30
Sleep in the pram about 11 while out and about. Can sleep for 3 hours in there
Eat 2.30
Doesn't always go back to sleep after this bottle - we take out in the pram around 4 for a catnap if we can but often he is then awake until bedtime
Start his bath at 6 then bottle at 6.15 - he takes a long time to feed as he is a hard burper so can take up to an hour. Put in bed upstairs and has been falling asleep between 7.30 and 8. He always cries out for a bit more milk after he's put down so we go back up and he takes half an ounce (I thinks it's a reassurance thing).
Then he doesn't wake again until between 2 and 3am, but even then he only takes around 4oz before falling asleep, and that's when the unsettled period starts. He takes 6oz at his feeds in the day.

[becj86]

Is he breastfed? It might be worth lying back a bit for that middle of the night feed - its the one that babies have the most trouble with as it is when you have the most milk and the most forceful flow so they gulp and often need more thorough burping that at other times during the day. You may even find expressing off a little bit before latching him helps.

Highly unlikely he's getting too much day sleep, too little if anything but I reckon its most likely the feed that's the issue - its something that he will eventually grow out of, certainly doesn't strike me as refluxy from what you've written.

[SusieQue]

Thanks for the reply, sorry I should have mentioned that he is formula fed. My husband was up for ages winding him at the feed this morning and said he was completely relaxed and sleepy when he put him down. I counted that the most he stopped between squirming this morning was 15 seconds. We do swaddle him in the day so I'm wondering if he should be swaddled after his night feed to relax him a bit more?

[becj86]

You could certainly try swaddling. Have you tried a faster/slower teat at that time? Does he eat differently at that feed?

[SusieQue]

We did try with a faster teat but it was really uncomfortable for him so we've stuck with the slower one. We had the same thing last night as well - he woke at 2, fed and put back to bed and he was really unsettled and dozed in and out until we got up at 5.30. Im starting to think this is just what he's going to do and we need to just ride it out!

[becj86]

Yes, it could well be that its developmental. It happens with a lot.of BF babies too aeound this age. Have you tried pushing his kneea up to his chest to move any gas through? I guess if he's not upset with it, its probably not too bad and its worth just riding it out.