3 month old early waking?

[Odin's_mom]

Hi there,

Our little guy always wakes up around 5 and I have been nursing him back to sleep as shush/pat has not been working at that time.  We have gotten shush/pat to work for naps and other night wakings.  He will usually wake up around 7 after nursing to sleep but today we slept until 9 (oops  )! Is 5 am when he should be waking if he is usually asleep by 630/7?  I'd really like to get him sleeping until 7 am without having to nurse him to sleep.  I imagine he is hungry at this time so I would nurse him but am not able to put him down drowsy but awake.  Any insight you may have would be super helpful!

[Lindsay27]

Quick question - is he feeding at all during the night?  If not then I would guess that this is simply a hunger waking, and feeding and back to bed is likely the only solution.  Given his age it is perfectly normal for him to need a NF (or 2 or 3!) so while in an ideal world sleeping until 7 would be great, it is totally normal for him to need to eat at that 5am waking.  Also, as you are treating it as a NF, it is also normal for LO to fall asleep while eating so I wouldn't worry too much about putting him down drowsy but awake at that time.  The goal is just feed and back to bed .

[Odin's_mom]

Hi Linday!

He eats usually between 10 and 11 pm and again around 2 am.  My issue isn't with him needing to eat so much as needing to stay on the boob.  Any time I remove it he wakes up.  Other NFs he will just go back to sleep when I remove it but at this time he will not.

[Lindsay27]

Ah okay, I was thinking that the 5am waking was his only NF.  How old is he?  It does sound like he just wants the comfort.  Have you tried/are you opposed to using a pacifier?  It might just help him suck and settle back to sleep.

[Odin's_mom]

We tried desperately to get him to take one.  We must have spent a small fortune buying different brands to try to find one he would take. He will very rarely accept the Soothie by Avent but never at night. 

Do you think 630 is too early a bed time?  I used to put him to bed at 7 but we struggle with the catnap so I started an earlier bed time a few weeks ago.

[Lindsay27]

No I don't think 6:30 is too early, my DD often goes to bed at that time if we can't fit a CN in, otherwise 7pm.  It is completely normal for LOs at this age to need a 12hr night so I would expect a wake up around 6:30am.  Is your feed at 10/11pm a DF? And does he take a full feed at 2am?

[Odin's_mom]

No it's not a DF.  He usually wakes at that time.  If not he will wake later around midnight.  I can't say for sure if he takes a full feed at 2 am.  He's breastfed which makes it hard for me to tell.  He falls asleep easily on the breast at night but can usually do the normal length of feed which is about 15 mins or so.

We tried the dream feed a couple of times with A bottle of pumped milk and he Threw up after, even with many stops to burp.  It was quite scary! 

[Lindsay27]

Yes I've never had much luck with the DF myself either.  How are things going?  I guess I was kind of thinking if either of the other NFs moved out a bit it might push the 5am waking out too.

Can you post your EASY so I can take a look and see if there is something else that might be contributing to that NW.

Thanks!

[Odin's_mom]

It's gotten much worse and I believe the night wakings are due to gas.  I burp him between breasts when he feeds and after so I'm not sure if there's much I can do to help this.  When he wakes I cycle his legs to get the gas out and then I nurse him.  He STILL doesn't like to fall back asleep any time after 5 am. 

Here's today:

E 730
A 730-845 (he's normally awake longer but got very sleepy)
S 845-1015

E 1030
A 1015-1145
S 1145-1230

E 1300
A 1230-1410
S 1410-1500 (actually only slept for 30 mins)

E 1545
A 1500-1630
S tried this nap with shush-pat and no luck after 40 mins
A 1630-1800
E 1750-1810
S 1815

For the past 2 days we have been trying to lengthen A times to get naps better so things are a bit all over. 

[Lindsay27]

The first nap was good so I think the next one was maybe a little UT which cause a UT/OT problem for the rest of the day.  Great first nap though!!  How are naps normally? Short or do you usually get some decent ones? 

If you are mostly getting short naps some of the NW could be OT related too, especially if they are in he first part of the night.  I think extending the A times is a good plan to get some good naps. 

I don't have much BF experience but I am wondering if he is reacting to something you could be eating? Or possible reflux?

[Odin's_mom]

Our naps are usually short.  They were nice and long when we used to nurse to sleep!  Haha. We've had one good one each day for the past couple days so he has gotten a bit more daytime sleep.  He normally doesn't wake up until at least 10 pm for NW but just woke now at 8:30.

It could be something I've ingested.  I'm not sure how that works.  I haven't watched anything I've eaten at all since he was born.  I started taking multivitamins again a few days ago so maybe I will stop for a week and see if he's better. 

I've always wondered if he had reflux but he doesn't prefer to sleep with his head elevated and doesn't spit up hardly at all so I figured maybe not.

When it comes to awake times is it normal for them to vary?  I found it strange he couldn't do 1.5 hrs this morning but before the next nap it seems he could go longer. 

[Odin's_mom]

Ok so I looked online and I think the gas might be due to the probiotic drops I started giving him about 5 days ago.  He was very fussy and had really smelly poo (normally BF Doesn't smell) so I figured he might be fighting something.  His mood and poop smell have improved greatly but now he has gas.  Supposedly this will pass in a few days.  So I don't think this is why he won't go back to sleep after 5 am.  Just an aside!