With Drew now being just a little over a month, I thought it was time to put this out there. He's a night owl and I have no idea why. We start his bedtime routine around 7pm with a bath a few nights a week, pj's, bottle and bed. He does great getting up every 3 or so hours. We have yet to go past 4...I am so waiting for that day. His 10pm and 12am feedings go great. We get up when he wakes up, we do not wake him, feed him, change him, re-swaddle and back to bed. He does wonderfully at the 10pm and 12am feeding....It's the 3-4am feeding that is a nightmare.
Around 3-4am we get up, bottle, change, re-swaddle and then he does not want to go back to sleep. We rock, walk, sing, try to burp some more and nothing. We will put him in his pack n play and literally not 5 minutes and he's screaming again. We've tried the bouncy seat, which is a bit better. The swing is a complete failure. He will also be more than happy sleeping on my chest while I'm sitting on the couch, but when I get up to move.....we start the cycle over again.
So I am reaching out to you mom's, baby whisperers, mind readers of 4 week olds. What can we do? This usually lasts for about 2 hours, then he goes back to sleep on my chest, and after many, many prayers that he doesn't wake up, I move him to his bed. He then sleeps until about 7:30am.
So any thoughts on what we can do? We are at a lose. At first I thought it was just every once in a while, but nope, it's been this way for the past 2 weeks.
I should also say that he naps great during the day. He is usually down for a nap every 2 hours for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. I assume this issue is his scheduling being off, but how can I fix it? TV at 3am is not interesting what so ever, and let me tell you they have some strange shows on at that hour!
Thanks so much!! Have a great weekend!
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5 comments:
So frustrating! The first 2-3 months are rough. I hated hearing this from others, but it really will get better!
As to your question - I will tell you a few things I did that seemed to help my little one. First, during night time feedings I had no lights on, no tv on, no talking. I didn't want to stimulate the baby to wake in any way. Also, I changed my baby's diaper before feeding her. This helped because she would fully relax during feeding and then I didn't have to disrupt the calm to do a diaper change. Other than that, I don't know what to tell ya. I did let my daughter sleep on my chest for part of the night for several weeks so I could get some rest at least. It certainly wasn't great, but it was better than her crying! Oh, have you tried his car seat? Our little one slept a few nights in her car seat. Not ideal, but when a baby is awake at 3 am, you do what you gotta do! :) Best of luck!
Hudson was a terrible sleeper as well. He somewhat did he same thing Drew is doing and I think the only cure is time. I remember thinking to myself that I would never sleep again, but trust me, everyday gets easier.
Hey girl, we encountered the same thing. Nick is now almost 6 weeks and it's much better. I don't know if it's a phase they go thru or what but he's sleeping 4 hrs at a time thru the night, which is awesome for us. Usually when he gets up during the night I just change him, feed him, swaddle him and he falls right back to sleep on me and then i can transfer him to the swing or bassinette. For a while there he did just as your baby did, nothing would satisfy him. That is so frustrating,esp when you're sleep deprived. Just hang in there, it does get better!
Hi Abby, I so feel for you. My Jillian is 4 months old and isn't that great of a sleeper. I have tried everything too. A few things have worked, a few others, not so much.
I no longer change her at night. It sounds like changing your little man most of the time doesn't wake him up too much, but I would stop that step especially at the 3-4am feeding. It sounds like he will be find especially since you change him all of the other times. I also stopped turning on the lamp in Jillian's room for feedings. I turn on the bathroom light which is adjacent to her room and shut her door almost the whole way until just the tiniest bit of light comes in. The TV may be stimulating him a little too so I would perhaps use this time to read or go on the internet which is less stimulating to him.
I hope some of these suggestions help. Jillian still has trouble sometimes going to sleep after a night time feeding. It's horrible, especially when you are so sleep deprived already. I know exactly how you are feeling and I feel for you!!! I wish I could say it does get better but we are still dealing with sleep issues ourself and people are still telling me that. I keep asking when!!! She does have a few five or six hour sleep stretches a week now so that does help. I honestly don't think I will know what to do with myself when she does start sleeping through the night. BTW, have you tried a paci with Drew? That helps Jillian fall back to sleep along with her Fisher Price sea horse. Take care.
Karen
Hang in there, Abby! This is normal. I remember Cam doing this at that age, and I was so frustrated because I wanted sleep!!
It will pass, I promise, but right now Drew is probably trying to sort out his days and nights. It's common for infants to confuse them at this very age. The thing you can do to help him is just keep it dark at night (no lights) an quiet, minimal movements. And then during the day, make sure it's light (even for naps) and there should be regular noises- T.V, the washer or dryer, people talking, or the radio going on. It will take a few weeks but he will sort it out.
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