Could this be sleep regression and if so, what can I about it?

[ladyruskin]

My son's sleep patterns have recently gone haywire and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to get him back on track. He used to have a feed at around 10:30-11 ish and then wake around 3:30 and 7 which was fantastic. Over the past week or so he has started cluster feeding through the night - either from midnight every 1.5 hours until 4 or more recently from 2:30 until 6:30 ish. I'm pretty sure he's not really hungry as he tends to bob on and off the boob during these feeds but I don't know why else he's waking. He has also gone from making half asleep hungry noises to being wide awake and very pleased to see me (hence the feeding as that gets him back to sleep)at these times.

He turned 3 months on Sunday so I'm wondering if this sleep regression come early.

He self-settles by sucking his thumb when he first goes down at 8pm but tends to fall asleep whilst feeding a lot. Could it be that he's relying on me to get hom back to sleep at night? He's still in our room and I'm a very light sleeper. Maybe he'd go back to sleep naturally if I didn't get him up to feed?

Any suggestions would be welcome!!

[mrs f]

Hi, baby f suddenly started waking for no reason around this age & would be really tricky to get back to sleep. I was mean & let him cry it out & it took one night of lots of crying then a few nights of crying for 20 mins & then he was great again, only waking at 5/6 for a feed

If you cam bear it leave him for a while (much easier said than done especially when all you want to do is get them back to sleep ASAP!)

My son now sleeps really well generally

[Pickle]

I seem to remember my two doing something similar about the same age, having also been babies that woke once around 3am for a feed having had a dream feed around 10pm. I think there's often a little growth spurt around that time, and also general growing awareness of their surroundings.

It could be that he is actually taking more milk than you think, as if he's cluster feeding it will be rich hind milk that he's getting, so very rich and high in nutrients. Try riding it out for a couple of weeks, and it might pass naturally. At the same time it is a good idea to see if he'll self settle himself back to sleep without a feed, if he's not making hungry noises it could just be him coming out of a sleep cycle.

By 3 months we had moved both of our children into their own rooms, which isn't for everyone, but I did find they slept much better that way and in part I think it's due to me not jumping up at every little snuffle. Not for everyone I know, but worth considering.

Good luck!

[ladyruskin]

Thanks for the advice. I think I may give leaving him to settle himself a go. I tried that last night and managed to last for about 50 mins of grunts and shouts before giving in and feeding him. I am sorely tempted to put him in his own room, I do think I may be fussing more than I need to!

[MrsAk]

Putting our baby in her own room was the best thing we did! I think we were all waking each other up and at the slightest snuffle I fed her. Now I think she settles herself back to sleep if she wakes up during the night and isn't hungry. X

[mrs f]

Oh yes baby f was in his own room from 6 weeks & we all slept a lot better after that point!

[kapaxiana]

My baby is 16 weeks old and she used sleep from 9pm til 4/5am feed then back to sleep until 7:30am then just over 3 weeks ago the same happened to her, she started to wake up every hour or so, it was very frustrating but I knew it was probably sleep regression, read a lot on it, many experts say you can't really spoil a child this young and that it's is very important for the baby to know you will respond to his/her needs so I decided to go with the flow, A few days ago she suddenly went back to sleeping for longer hours... hope your little one settles back into his sleep routine soon.

[jennyh]

We also moved our daughter into her own room around this point I think, and we took away her dummy shortly after as she was waking for it to be replaced every 45 minutes through the night. Quite a lot of change for her but she actually slept better in her big cot as she could spread out a bit more and I wasnt disturbing her every 2 minutes. I think just go with your gut instinct really, sleep training isnt for everyone but you will know if it is something that you want to try. Unfortunately you really do have to stick with it though.

We did a very loose version of controlled crying and as I learnt to distinguish between her cries of trying to go to sleep and her cries for food/wet nappy etc it became easier, I would return to the room every 5 minutes to try and soothe her and quickly knew if there was something else wrong with her. As mrs f says, she got the hang of it really quickly and mainly goes off to sleep on her own now although at 8 months the issue is more babbling, rolling around the cot, unzipping her sleeping bag, throwing toys out of the cot etc etc! All things to stay awake for!

[mrs f]

Unzipping the sleeping bag, wow that's impressive, she really will do anything to fight sleep!

[Ruth_Baldock]

My daughter is 13weeks and she went through something v similaie 2/3 weeks ago. I put it down to a wonder week. She was impossible to settle (having previously self settled) and when asleep would wake after the first sleep cycle around 45mins after settling. Evenings were worst, it was takig up to 2.5 hours to settle her :( it did pass and her "good" habits returned. It took about 10dYs from start to finish. Absolutely nothing you can do for a sleep regression/ wonder week although I found consistency helped us- we kept her routine the same and I settled her upstairs, refusing to bring her downstairs with us for fear of her getting used to it. This nay not be th approach for all and I'm sure others are more adaptable and laid back than I am!

[MrsLL2b]

This happened my daughter and nephew at exactly the same age. On the second night of waking every 1-1.5 hours we moved her from the Moses basket in our room to a cot in her own room. The frequent night wakings lasted 10 days with my baby and 2 weeks with my nephew, so it does end you just need to ride it out.

At first I rushed to her every time she stirred but after a few nights I was too exhausted and would wait a few mins and half the time she would just whimper for a few minutes and go back to sleep. I wouldn't put yourself through 50 minutes of lying there listening if you know you can get them back to sleep with a quick feed, maybe give it 5-10'mins. Whatever you're comfortable with unless the crying is very hysterical.

I agree with the others that there isn't much you can do but try and be as routine and consistent as possible.

On the plus side, when my daughter came through the other side she slept much better than she did beforehand, waking once between the dreamfeed and morning. Good luck!

[jennyh]

mrs f Wrote:

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> Unzipping the sleeping bag, wow that's impressive,

> she really will do anything to fight sleep!

Yep I know! Just enough to stick her foot out the end and then play with that instead :)

[mrs f]

jennyh Wrote:

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> mrs f Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Unzipping the sleeping bag, wow that's

> impressive,

> > she really will do anything to fight sleep!

>

>

> Yep I know! Just enough to stick her foot out the

> end and then play with that instead :)

Brilliant!!! Of course, the feet!