Does anyone else have experiences with their 3 1/2 month olds (15 - 16 weeks)completing changing their habits all of sudden? She would nap about 4-5 times a day for about 45 minutes, now she only wants to nap for about 10 minutes. Also, she was waking up 1 - 2 times at night consistently, now all of a sudden she is up 3-5 times during the night. I thought maybe it was a growth spurt, but its been about 5 days now and she is still the same? Anyone else experience this change in their infant around this age? What did you do, how long does it last? Could she possibly be getting sick?
I think at that age she is not really on a schedule yet. Mine were not on one till about 5 or 6 months. As far as what to do, you need to just wait it out. She will probably change her schedule again and again till she is on a normal one. Good luck
I know this won't help much, but .....welcome to partening. Everytime we had a good schedule going, my boys would change it!! My two year old still does when it comes to naps and bedtime. Just try not to stress about it and go with the flow. ENjoy your baby=)
we went through something similar when duncan was about that age. he's five months now, and although his naps are still rather erratic, i'm able to get him to sleep for much longer stretches at a time if i lay down and nap with him. also, i make sure that he does not sleep if i think it'll be time to nurse soon, that way he doesn't wake himself up hungry.
as far as sleeping at night, he started waking more when we started putting him in a bassinet instead of just in bed with us. so when he wakes to nurse, he just comes to bed in the 'big bed.' now he wakes up maybe twice. and as soon as i realize he's awake, he gets a boob and i go back to sleep. that way we all get more sleep.
other than that, since i don't really know your situation, where you all sleep, whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, all i can say is to try to be patient. these first few months are really tough and they grow SO fast. hope some of this helps! good luck!
I did a little bit but my mom told me to give the baby a bottle and a nighttime bath and everything would be alright. Now he sleeps during the night try rubbing his back and soothing him. The routine will change and the baby will sleep more and so will you.
As someone else mentioned, welcome to parenthood lol. If your baby is acting normal otherwise (eating good, no real personality change, no fever) I doubt she is sick. Teething can definitely do this. I went through this around this age with my daughter, as well as age 5 months, and now almost 8 months. Her naps and sleeping have diminished greatly. Just when I think everything is going smoothly, she throws me a curve ball :) In the last month, she has gone from sleeping 12 hours a night with 2 naps during the day (a total of 15 hours of sleep all together) to sleeping 9-10 hours a night, with only one main nap during the day for an hour, and a 30 min cat nap in the early evening. Talk about a difference. I was just getting accustomed to sleeping good again :) Anyway, if she is drooling a lot, trying to naw on things, it very well may be teething. Most babies start teething 2 months + before a tooth pops up, which can happen as early as 4 months, or as late as a year. Some baby tylenol, hylands teething tablets, or some other baby gum remedy can help. If not, you just have to ride it out. Good luck!
Hello J...I am a stay at home mom and well every baby is different..and maybe your baby is just changing due to her growing or if you have changed the way you usually carry out your days..Have you talked to her pediatrician about it? Maybe feed her some cereal or try to play with her more to get her tired enough to fall asleep regularly..well i wish you luck
sincerely,
B. Rader
Every baby is different, but they all seem to change their schedules on us just when we get used to it! Keeps life interesting, doesn't it! It could be anything at this age, but my two best guesses are a growth spurt (which will last more than 5 days), or teething. She may be ready for an increase in formula/breastmilk if you are bottlefeeding. You could try that and see if she sleeps a little better. When she turns 4 months you can start her on plain rice or oatmeal cereal. That usually holds them over better and can help them sleep better. Try to read her signals and figure out why she is waking up. Does she seem to be in pain when she wakes up? If she is it could be due to teething already- my daughter started teething early, so tylenol or a cold teether/washcloth or a slow flow bottle with cold water in it would help. If it is gas pain- simethicone/mylicon drops, tylenol, burping well, and laying her over your legs on her tummy and patting her back should help. Unless she sounds congested, she probably isn't sick. You could try a humidifier in her room at night if you wanted- it won't hurt, and the white noise may help her sleep more soundly. Honestly, it's a guessing game when they are little because they can't tell you what is wrong. Just try to read her and just go through the list of possible problems/solutions, and if that doesn't work, start the list over again. It does get better. And this too shall pass!
Good luck.
If she is not wanting to sleep for any length of time, I would have her checked for reflux. Our son who is now two had a similar situation and it was because he was refluxing and it would wake him up. You can also try elevating the head of her bed. Good Luck!
Babies change all the time. I have noticed my 9 month old waking up more often at night and it was due to teething. She slept through the night after one month, and all of a sudden she is waking up 3 or 4 times. Just a hint of advice, don't always pick her up at night when she cries. When you go in there, try not to make it fun and she will soon understand that you are not there to play with her. Wish you luck!
My daughter is 16 weeks and I am going through the same thing. She is up every 2-3 hours at night and takes one nap a day (I used to be able to run errands and shop all day when she slept!) I attribute her being up all night to the fact that she is growing so fast and constantly hungry. She is also eating 6-8 ounces per sitting when she was only eating 4 before. Another thing is that she has started to have separation anxiety and when she wakes up and realizes she is alone she won't go back to sleep. This is probably just the first of many phases and hopefully the sam efor you. She will soon have to realie being alone is OK at night. Good Luck!
I'm so glad you posed this question! We're going through the same thing right now at 16 weeks. I wish I could give some advice, but I'm at a loss as well. Here I thought we were doing so well with our routine...but now we're up multiple times throughout the night and reacting to 10 minute naps. *yawn* It just proves, once again, that our time is no longer ours -- we're on permanent baby time! Just wanted to let you know you're not alone...I'll be thinking of you as I'm up at 4am rocking the baby...good luck!
I know you probably don't want to hear this... but it could be just about anything at that young age! :) Here's a list of possibilities that my husband and I go through every time our little guy (now 9 months old) switches things up on us:
* teething?
* developmental leaps? (rolling over, babbling, crawling...)
* getting sick?
* reaction to something in mom's breastmilk? (like one of the big 8 allergens - dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, etc. - or if you formula feed a possible dairy or soy sensitivity)
* hungry? (growth spurt)
* if feeding solids, tummy ache/gas/constipation? and beware of suggestions to start solids this early even though some say they make them sleep longer - they're really not recommended until your child can sit up well unassisted, has a good finger-thumb pincer grasp, and perhaps some teeth - the old, outdated suggestion to start solids before the signs of readiness is still circulating
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html
* other physical discomfort, like reflux?
Hang in there! As soon as we think we have something figured out with our kids, and there's a nice schedule that we've grown to depend on, the kids get other ideas and help keep us parents on our toes, flexible, in "detective" mode. ;) Do what works - if this means playing around with sleeping arrangements until you find something where all of you are able to sleep better for a few weeks, go for it. Here's hoping you ALL get some more rest soon!
My daughter did this until I quit putting her on her back to sleep as recommended and started putting her on her tummy instead.
Good luck!
