My 3-month old son has been sleeping, on average, 3 hours straight at night, waking up to feed then falling back asleep for about another 3 hours. This has been the pattern for the last 2 months with the occasional 4-hour stretch here and there. However, I feel he is regressing as he's been waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours for the last week. I have not been doing anything differently (he sleeps swaddled) and it's not that he's hungry or needs a diaper change. What could be happening? Is he just going through a growth spurt? Should I try sleeping him on his stomach or is it too early for that? Needless to say, I am not getting any sleep and need help. Has anyone gone through the same with their babies? Any suggestions? I am a first-time mom and completely exhausted at this point.
There are some tips from sleep expert Dr. Marc Weissbluth and links at http://billiediscoverytoys.blogspot.com/2009/07/healthy-h...
Hi J.,
I hope I am helpful. When my son was three months old he was not sleeping much as well. There were several things my husband and I did that made a difference. First of all, when your baby is up does he/she cry a lot, if so they might be colic. Also, if you are breast feeding the baby might still be hungry and the milk is not sustaining him/her for long. So try to breast feed again. When I started putting cereal/rice (forgot which one) in the milk my son began to sleep longer. That worked for a while. Also, my son was a colic baby and he used to sleep for hours on anything that would vibrate, such as the bouncer or in the swing, while playing a lullaby cd from Johnson and Johnson--- Out of all of the things I mentioned the swing and bouncer saved me the most and my son loved it.
If you are breast feeding make sure to avoid eating foods that might give the baby gas and in turn might keep him/her up. Last but not least, please do not lay your baby on his/her stomach my niece stopped breathing in the middle of the night because of that. I really hope that the tips I gave you are helpful. Also ask the pediatrician they are very helpful with these types of questions. Take care and I hope you, your baby and your husband get a good night sleep soon. =)Congratulations to you and your husband.
Sincerely, J.
3 months is right on time for the first growth spurt.
Are you sure he is not hungry?
Does he "refuse" a bottle? usually babies will not refuse a bottle given to them at nighttime.
The rule today is "back to sleep" so I did not put my daughter on her tummy at all, but maybe you can try lying him on his side for a little bit...the left side to help with gas and to help digestion. If you do lay him on his side, just make sure he is near you....in your room in a crib etc, so you can keep an eye and ear on him.
maybe some of the other Mom's have a reason for you, but my daughter was always just humgry during a growth spurt and she never refused a bottle during those times.
Usually just a few minutes with the bottle and she was right back to sleep.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but just remember this too shall pass. All phases come and are gone within a few weeks....so hang in there.
Best of luck and congratulations on the birth of your new baby and being a Mommy for the first time.
There is much to learn, that is for sure, but every minute is oh so worth it!!
Take care,
P.
I know, its soooo hard. No, do not put him on his stomach, do not put rice in a bottle, do no let him cry it out, ect. Just keep doing what you are doing and he will pass out of this phase. Some things that worked really well for us is having the baby in his own room if possible, have a fan in the room for white noise and air circulation, attending to his crying prompty but letting him cry for a minute or two is ok at this point. You want to make sure he is really awake and not just crying in his sleep. And yes, it is probably a growth spurt or a time of great learning or advancement. That usually causes regression or a disruption for babies. You are doing great!
He's only 3 months old so erratic sleep patterns are definitely to be expected. I know you're exhausted but there's not a whole lot you can do! If he's fed, changed, swaddled, etc, you really just have to ride it out.
Lynsey
Is he breatfed? It is not fun, but breastfed babies will wake more often at night.
Also, there is a growth spurt at 3 months and that is probably what is going on.
If he is breastfed, let him nurse as much as he wants. That will boost your supply and if you make more, then he'll eat more and sleep longer.
Good morning!!!
I know this is the hardest thing when you want to sleep and they do not. Yes he is growing and I found that the better they slept and stayed on schedule during the day the better they slept at night. White noise is still my friend with my 9 month old and with the older 2 I would stand in the kitchen by the fan until they went back to sleep. Music or Fan may help. Some people agree and some disagree but I have had all 3 in the bed with me and that helps too....... sometimes they just want to be with mommy..... and they will go to their own bed when they are ready..... as hard as it is enjoy this time because before you know it he will be starting school and calling girls :) Have a great day!!!
J. - you are not doing anything wrong - all babies are different. Lucky, my 3 month old has been sleeping through the night for 6 weeks - but I think I had help. My cousin invented what's called a magic sleepsuit ( www.magicsleepsuit.com). It has work everyday since our son has been in it.
I know - my cousin invented it - but I have been able to transition back to work much easier since he sleeps. Check out the website and read up on it.
Good luck!
K. R
I posted pretty much the same question when my daughter was that age.... and got the response - growth spurt - for about 2 weeks at 3 months she started feeding much more at night and even crying while feeding because her demand was higher than my supply.... I just fed her every time she asked and it balanced out in a few weeks.
also, maybe time to lose the swaddle?
Hi J.,
I completely understand what you're going through. I'm a first-time mom of a 1 year old, and he went through several periods like the one you're describing.
I found that every time he learned something new or became more attentive/aware, he went through a period of not sleeping at night. It's exhausting while it lasts, but with him, he usually settled back down after a week or two.
This happened to me around 3 months and then again at 6 months and after that when he learned to sit up, crawl, stand up, and walk using the furniture.
In fact, last week he started waking up every 20 minutes to nurse, and it was only yesterday that he finally got back into sleeping through the night again.
So I guess although there might not be much that you can do right now, except try and catch a nap whenever she does, just know that it will eventually settle back down again. It will be exhausting while it lasts, but it will be over soon!
I hope this helped!
N.
