Author Topic: 3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!  (Read 1482 times)

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Offline seaflower

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« on: October 27, 2005, 08:04:56 am »
Hi,

I am not sure if this is a sleep or feeding issue, I posted before regarding trying to put my 3.5 mo on 3 hour EASY and she wasn't happy.

She is now on 2.5 EASY (between 2 and 3 hrs), goes down for a nap on her own, all naps around an hour, sometimes streches the second morning (lunch one) to two hours. Takes good feeds. I also feed her at 5,6 and 7pm, goes to bed at 7.30 (usually very fussy at this time), and recently wakes up screaming again an hour -hour and a half later. So I feed her again.

The night sleep is seriously regressing :( She used to wake up every 2-2.5 hours to feed, now she is up every hour. Don't think she is hungry, I think its more that she can't settle, and since we are really desperate for sleep I just feed her - she takes very little.

She also has a dummy addiction, she only falls asleep when she is swaddled and with dummy. But she is quite strong recently and gets out of her swaddle, and nothing will calm her down. I tried few nights ago not feeding her, it took 40 min of walking between me and DH, she was shaking with tears at the end and felt if she is going to choke... so I did feed her.

I really don't know where to start from!!! I am terrified of getting rid of the dummy as at least she naps during the day with it. Somebody on the other boards recomended the miracle blanket for swaddling, but she is too big for it.

Please, can anybody tell me I'm n ot alone and what can I do?

PS. I posted this under BF-ing discussion as I remember reading somewhere that sleep is closely linked with food in so small infants.
My little princess is 2.5 :) Textbook/Angel/Spirited toddler
My little munchkin is few weeks old and doesn't understnd EASY!

Offline Kayna

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2005, 14:36:22 pm »
Hi Seaflower, I would stick with your 2.5 hour easy during the day for now if you feel like that's working. But at night it sounds like you may need to start pat/shh when she is waking after an hour of sleep. She is not hungry after an hour but can't figure out how to get back to sleep on her own. It sounds like you may have accidentally become a prop so she will probably not be too happy the first couple days you start pat/shh.

Good luck and maybe check out the pat/shh board if you need some help getting started. Let me know how it goes. :wink:
Kayna
Eric DH Married 5/1/99
Daikon Neil 8/14/01
Avery Rose 6/13/05


Offline seaflower

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2005, 15:13:55 pm »
Thanks Kayna, do I still have to feed her every, lets say, 3 hours during the night, or just continue sh/p until the morning? She has never slept through the night, but used to feed every 3-4 hours.

I'll try it tomorrow night as it is the weekend, so will be able to handle it better :)
My little princess is 2.5 :) Textbook/Angel/Spirited toddler
My little munchkin is few weeks old and doesn't understnd EASY!

Offline Kayna

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2005, 16:10:32 pm »
Actually Seaflower I stated doing pat/shh before but if I remember your lo is 3.5 months old which means pu/pd could probably work better. Sorry!

No I wouldn't go the entire night without feeding. It will be a shock to her at first since she's used to getting fed. So try your pu/pd until your regular 2.5-3 hour feed time is up. She will get hungry again quicker if she's crying and awake.

Remember not to get frustrated by her cries. She's not angry at you. She's just trying to figure out how to get to sleep on her own and is frustrated herself. Try to stay calm and reassure her with your voice. Also, do not fight a tired baby. If when you pick her up to reassure her she does not calm down (ie: arches back/screams louder) keep her lying in her crib while she cries but make her feel safe and secure by placing a heavy hand on her chest (or back if she's a side/belly sleeper) and using your voice to calm her. HTH, keep me updated.
Kayna
Eric DH Married 5/1/99
Daikon Neil 8/14/01
Avery Rose 6/13/05


Offline GraceKellysmom

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2005, 18:34:56 pm »
It is quite likely that she does still need feeds during the night at this age. I would aim for getting her to wait until after 12, and again around 3 or 4. When you feed her every hour, that will hurt her tummy, and make her wake more often with gas/burps.

Swaddle her tighter, they always fight it but once they realize they can't get out they feel safer and can relax.
Stacy, Mama to
Grace Kelly 01/03, Maximilian Alexander 07/04, Faith Noelle 03/07, Henry Patrick 12/08
and my angel babies

Offline seaflower

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2005, 09:28:56 am »
Hi, just a quick update. We streched almost all day feeds to 2h45mins - 3 hours. The naps are still quite short - 45 mins, with one (usually the second morning-lunch one) 1.5 hours.

The first night she fed every 4 hours after waking up twice in between, so had to do sh/p for about 20 mins each. Last night she took a DF at 10:30 and woke up 2.5 hours later so again, had to do sh/p for 40 mins - she stopped crying after 10 mins btu took another 30 to get her to sleep. I was only trying to strech the feed by another hour and was prepared for her to be up after 30 min  - BUT SHE SLEPT until 5am!!! The early mornings are still a mess, I think I fed her at 5, 7 and 8:15 this morning, but can't remember really, was so tired! :oops:  :oops:

Thank you so much for the support, and wish me good luck.

A quick question - should I aim to feed her every 4 hours tonight or should I aim for 7 hours (since she did it last night)?
My little princess is 2.5 :) Textbook/Angel/Spirited toddler
My little munchkin is few weeks old and doesn't understnd EASY!

Offline GraceKellysmom

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2005, 19:58:49 pm »
Most people says it takes about a week to see any kind of pattern emerging. The 3-6 months age is the beginning of new wake ups, for teething and developmental.

I think I would hope for at least 4 hrs between night feeds. Make sure she gets plenty of calories during the day, and remember she will still want to eat once or twice per night.

Way to go on a great stretch though!  :D
Stacy, Mama to
Grace Kelly 01/03, Maximilian Alexander 07/04, Faith Noelle 03/07, Henry Patrick 12/08
and my angel babies

Offline seaflower

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2005, 09:57:32 am »
Just to say THANK YOU! She is on 3-3 1/2 EASY already and doing 4 to 7 hourly  streched during the night :D  :D

I'm still battling with her shorter naps during the day (45 mins, and takes another 30 afterwards to get her to sleep again) and the afternoons - she seems to get overtired easily, hence has a late nap which throws us off schedule a bit.

But so far so good... will post again when I have new questions (surely there will be many). Thank you!!
My little princess is 2.5 :) Textbook/Angel/Spirited toddler
My little munchkin is few weeks old and doesn't understnd EASY!

Offline izzygirl

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3.5mo won't sleep during the night - HELP!!!
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2005, 00:40:02 am »
I'm on my third EASY baby.  My daughter sounded like yours - she was a completely different case than my son.  Congrats on your longer stretches at night!  About the naps... don't sweat them.  My DD didn't start napping really well until, oh, I'd say 9 months or so.  At 16 months she's a pro, three or so hours.  It just took her a lot longer to organize her sleep and feeds.  Be patient and be encouraged!  Things really ebb and flow at times, but before you know it - they're toddlers!
Heidi
Izak, the Textbook Baby/Rackmonster Sleeper 10/16/02
Liberty, Textbook Baby 6/8/04
Levi, Touchy Baby 10/18/05