Help! Changed bed and now waking every few hours!

[SusieQue]

I'm here again! DS is almost 7 weeks old and was sleeping at night in our bedroom in a crib from 7 until 3am, waking for a feed then going to sleep until about 6. Unfortunately the crib broke and rather than spend out for another one that he will grow out of in a couple of weeks we thought it a good time to move him to his cot bed. This doesn't fit in our bedroom so is in his room. We put him in there at bedtime last night and he took a while to settle, understandably, but fell asleep by himself with me next to the cot. He then woke at 12am then 3.30 am, both times we had to feed him to settle him. I'm now really panicking that we've taken away something that he might have been using in our old bedroom or the crib to help himself fall asleep! Is it possible that this is the case? He has a lovey but doesn't pay any attention to it in his crib, but I noticed he was trying to fall asleep last night and was getting frustrated- I think he focuses on something when he falls asleep and I'm worried that this was in the old bedroom! Is there anything we can do or should we just ride it out and hope he goes back to putting himself to sleep at night?

[trimbler]

Hi there How frustrating about the crib! You're probably right in that he's noticed something has changed, I can't say what but can give you a few ideas to get you started, perhaps others will chip in with some more... It's only been one night so far, right? Don't lose hope, it's still early days

- is the new room as dark/light as your bedroom?
- any new noises, eg plumbing, etc? White noise can be useful in masking this although that may take some getting used to if he hasn't used it before
- he may be reassured hearing your breathing etc in the night, perhaps you could sleep in there for a few nights whilst he gets used to it and see if that helps?
- is the temperature as he's used to, and comfortable for him?
- is the mattress very different? If so, not sure what you can do, but he'll probably get used to it
- he may miss your scent, perhaps you could sleep with one of his new sheets for the night and then put it on his new mattress so that he can smell you even when you're not there
- he may feel less cosy in the larger space, I know you can get cot inserts to create a smaller space for newborns and younger babies, but would have to ask around for that as I don't know any brand names etc - where are you based?
- another possibility is that he may have been a bit OT from having taken longer to settle at BT, if it was significantly longer, hence the extra wakings
- has he had his 6wo growth spurt already, or do you think he could be having it now and just been extra hungry at night? Actually those feed times you've given look pretty normal for his age, and especially if he's having a growth spurt he may need to feed a bit more at night for a few days, which would have happened even if he'd stayed in his old crib in your bedroom
- lastly, I'm a bit concerned about the lovey in his crib as he's pretty young for that, it's not really recommended under...6mo or even 12mo, can't quite remember the current advice! Unless you're sure it's well wedged in somewhere out of reach and there's no possibility of him getting hold of it and burying his face into it? There is a risk at that age that LOs can get these things over their faces and be unable to take them off again and get into difficulties just checking

[SusieQue]

Thanks so much for the reply! I noticed that the room is not as dark as ours as it has a window above the door, which our bedroom did not, so I'm going to cover that today. I think you're right about missing our scent so I think I'll get his grobag today and stuff it down my jumper for the day! I've put him up there for two naps today and luckily he has gone to sleep (short naps, but that's for another day!) to help him adjust. It's just frustrating about the night feeds as he actually slept through the night two nights last week and now we feel like we've regressed again! The lovey is well out of his reach but you've got me worried so I'll take it out! I'm happy to sleep on the floor in there tonight if it helps him, I wouldn't have thought of that so thanks for your advice! x

[trimbler]

Ok glad that's given you a few ideas, sorry if I scared you about the lovey but better safe than sorry. Giggling a bit at the image of you stuffing the sleeping bag down your jumper - reminds me of DS stuffing things down his T-shirt pretending to be pregnant

[SusieQue]

Ha, that's exactly what I look like! My 4YO keeps asking why I've got another baby in my belly!

[trimbler]

Brilliant

[SusieQue]

So DS has now started waking at 10pm! The last few nights he has gone to bed about 6pm then woken at 10, then 3 then awake at 5 and won't resettle. He was sleeping really long stretches when he was in his crib so I just don't understand it! Do you think there is an issue with our EASY? Here is the average day

A between 5 and 6, get up straight away
E bottle at 6 or 6.30
S 7 settles in cot for nap but usually only a catnap
A 8 sometimes falls back to sleep downstairs if I cuddle for a bit but not usually possible with a 4 year old running around!
E 10am
A 10.30-11
S this is usually in the pram as I go out with my toddler at this time. He has a good sleep in the pram, usually for 2.5 to 3 hours
A 2pm
E 2pm
S 3-4 (usually in the pram again or cuddle to sleep and put down)
A 4pm
E 5.45 after bath
S 6pm - this is when he goes down, but can take about 30 mins for him to fall asleep

Then we have night waking a any time from 10pm onwards. He only takes a few ounces then falls asleep so I'm not convinced he's hungry but he won't settle otherwise.

Any ideas? I'm worried we've done something dreadfully wrong by moving him too soon, but I don't want to confuse him by moving him again!

[trimbler]

Do you think he's going through a growth spurt at the moment? Those NWs look really normal to me if they're night feeds, especially if during a growth spurt. I also wondered as you seem to have him on a 4h feed routine, whereas I'm used to 3h routines at this age, but then I don't really know about bottle feeding, is 4h intervals what you've been advised? The only thing that really jumps out at me is the A time between the last nap and BT, it seems a bit long after just a 1h nap, have you tried shortening it? Or getting in another CN, say 30-45mins around 5, then pretty much immediately into BT routine, aiming for 6:15/6:30 at the latest. I just wondered if he might be a bit OT by BT, which may be why he struggles to settle. Four naps would be more usual at this age, too.

[creations]

I'm late to the thread to help but just wanted to say that your idea of there being something in your bedroom he was focusing on which then changed with the change of environment could easily have been the case and I'd agree with your Mummy instinct on that.  I know for sure my DS did the 'seven mile stare' focused on a certain object in the room, when he was not faced in that direction he could not settle at all, until he got used to the new view and a new object for the seven mile stare.  It's one of the things that can help them re-settle mid nap or during the night which is why it is helpful to go to sleep in the same place they are going to wake up and transition from one cycle to another.  You'd think at such a young age they don't have a clue what is around them or can't see it because the room is dark but they certainly do still know the change in environment and view point.

I wanted to say too, if your LO is getting comfort from falling to sleep with a lovey already you could perhaps let him fall asleep with it but remove it as soon as he has nodded off. I kind of did this with my DS, initially the lovey was just part of WD and resettling but some naps when I saw him awake and staring I put it right by him and it certainly helped him self settle. Then I removed it so he wasn't alone with it.

FWIW the NWs look really normal to me too. He's doing a 5hr stretch which is considered 'sleeping through the night' although it doesn't feel like it when you're up feeding in the small hours.

It seems to me you did really well with the transition from crib to cot-bed

[SusieQue]

Thanks so much for the replies, I think you are right about the growth spurt. We've decided to just go with it at the moment and feed him whenever he wakes. He slept from 6.30 to 3am last night so no two nights are the same at the moment!

[trimbler]

That's probably a good sign too - if the wakings were habitual you may be seeing patterns to them, if every night is different it's probably not habit but hunger, most likely. Sounds like things are moving in the right direction with that lovely long stretch last night, that must have been lovely