Night Time Waking Problem- any suggestions?

[bigsize9foot]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site but hoping to pick your brains on the night time waking for my LO.

How old is your child?- 12 weeks

What’s his/her daily routine?- Easy 3 hours- on first few days of transition to 4 hr

What’s nap routine? - usually takes good naps as per 3 hour EASY- 1.5 hours 3 times a day and a cat nap in early evening

What's bedtime routine? Usually between 7-8pm. However this will be brought forward now as we have discovered LO is waking at 6am. We were struggling to keep him asleep till 7am and decided to just start EASY from 6am- makinghis bedtime 6-7pm. Today is our first day of trying this!

Do you bottle or breastfed??- I BF. However, slowly introducing bottle. He gets 1 bottle at lunchtime and we will be gradually intro bottle for all feeds.

How much? 4-5 oz at lunch bottle and about 10 mins BF each feed- he has always been a quick feeder since born and is putting on STACKS of weight- 1/2 lb a week

If breastfed.. one side or both?? usually 1 side- 2 if I think LO still hungry

How many wakes per night?- 1-2. Around 2/3am and at 6amish although this would stop if we make wake time 6am but might mean another wake time somewhere else if earlier bedtime.

What’s your LO like when waking at night? Tired- has feed but is barely awake and goes straight back to sleep- no nappy change or burp.

When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?- he tosses about the bed and grumps a bit. If left he will all out cry but I don't tend to let this happen much.

What have you tried to settle?? - have tried dummy which on occasions holds him off for an hour max andthen he wakes again. This hour is fretful and this is why I suspect hunger is the problem.

What do you do for A time and how long is it?- he has some time to himself to amuse himself in gym or bouncy chair. I spend some time playing with him. About an hour and half each 3 hour cycles as feeding time is so short and we're trying to extend his waking times to get him to 4hr EASY.

Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?- he shows signs of teething

Do they have a prop? If so what is it?- he uses a dummy to help him drop off. When he is ready He spits it out and usually settles well. Sometimes he goes off to sleep without it so I don't think its really a prop.

Do they have a lovie?_ I'm not sure what this is?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Fx

[teezee]

ok i have a couple of suggestions for you..

1. have you tried just leaving lo to see if he will settle on his own. i know i had this problem of 'rushing' in too soon when my dd was younger. sometimes it may not work but you may also be surprised at others...and if he doesn't 'need' you then you don't want to set yourself up for bad habits now..as they are harder to break as time goes on. if it is just a mantra cry let him fuss it out but if it escalates to the 'i need you mommy' cry go to lo right away!

2. have you tried cluster feeding? or dream feeding? cluster feeding as tracy says - is to tank the baby up with extra calories to help get through the night a bit better. dream feeding (don't know if you are familiar) is while the baby is sleeping pick him up and give him a feeding .. as best as you can try to be sure lo STAYS asleep - it may take a few times, or longer but do your best as that is the reason it is called a dream feed! this is also used to 'tank' up and kind let you be in control of the wakings as lo's often won't sleep through the night this early on ... even later is sometimes a long shot - but nonetheless maybe try a df to cut out the 1-2am feed, and hopefully that will hold over til4ish and then not feed again til 7am or so? hopefully... if you do opt for the df, do not do it past 11pm as that may cause night wakings if you do it past then.

i do absolutely agree with you though - if lo is settling for no more than an hr during these night wakings then he def is waking from hunger and feeding is the right thing to do. hopefully with either of the techniques/or both together this will limit the wakings or least help you 'control' them a bit!

HTH!