My 3 Month Old Son Does Not Sleep at Night Lately

Hi, have you tried givning him cereal yet? I started all mine at 3 weeks. It gives them a full tummy so they can sleep well. Just a thought, Have a great day! Katt

I agree with all of the previous suggestions: ruling out reflux, growth spurts, and trying an earlier bedtime with a ritual. If none of those work, my little guy started around that age to get harder to put back to sleep (or rather, he wanted to hang out in the middle of the night) and we just had to institute a policy that if all his needs were met and he just wasn't interested in sleeping, he was going to have to do that by himself so that we could get some sleep. (mind you, he wasn't a big cryer, so he was just hanging out in his crib) Of course, this is coming from a mom who just got her 7 month old to sleep through the night...

Even adults can create new sleep habits. Our body clock begins to respond at the preset times, which 'happen' when our schedule's change for a few days/nights.

Babies are VERY responsive to mother's emotional state. The first 'aid' here is to see that you are not anxious or irritable when he wakes you. Don't turn on lights...or sounds, which will further excite him.

The fact that he wants you to walk with him, seems to indicate that he may have some gas problems. Semethicone is very effective (comes under different brand names). A little when he goes to bed may prevent the sleep problem altogether. Changing his position might also be helpful.

Speak softly while making adjustments...best in a whisper, which will tell him that is is still 'quiet time'.

I always liked a night light for myself, so that I could get around at night...but it might be too much for him. We all need to sleep in darkness. Most of our rooms are faintly lit by lights on TV, DVD's, clocks, etc.

Rest well...and a "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" prayer will be helpful for both of you.

KayMarie...mother of nine.

Hi,
I agree with the "low light" comment. My son was (and at 5, still is!) a "lights-off, close the door at night kid". A faint nite-light so YOU can see a bit is OK. It probably is a phase & he will get over it. I remember that we got into the habit of taking my son for a ride in the car--but I don't suggest it! Let him cry for a minute, then 2, etc. he may get himself back to sleep on his own--give him a bit of a chance. I used to walk my son a fair amount as well, as that seemed to do it. On the bright side--you get to check out all the late night tv shows and early-early news shows! Hang in there & sleep when you can. It will pass. He will never be 3 months old again!

I had the same problem with my son. What worked for me was keeping him on a pretty regular schedule during the day, nursing every 2-3hours,play,nap, etc. I had a really strict routine for bedtime. Bath, nurse, rock and then put in crib. This helped him settle down and learn that this meant bedtime. I read the book by Dr.Ferber called "How to get your child to sleep through the night" and it was really helpful to us. Try not to nurse if he wakes up during the night. He needs to figure out how to put himself back to sleep and if you keep nursing, rocking, etc, he will associate that with falling back to sleep. Try letting him fuss a little before you go in. He might just go back to sleep on his own.

My son is 4 months old...and I am a first time mom as well. I think he was one of the many babies who had his days and nights confused, so he was not sleeping well at night (he fought going to sleep...just hated it, and it got to be a little frustrating for me.) My husband is in the military and deployed when my son was 2 months old, so it is just my son and I right now. So, I realized that i needed to do something to get him on a night-time schedule. At 3 months old, I started a bedtime routine. I fed him for the last time around 9pm, turned on "Lullaby Classics", and tried rocking him to sleep. He fought sleep for probably about an hour to 2 hours in the first week that I tried this. But by the end of that first week, I just started putting him right in his crib after I fed him, and I would let him "cry it out"...and the amount of time it took for him to fall asleep was less and less. Now, I also made sure he was eating every 3 hours during the day so he didn't have a reason to be hungry at night! At 4 months old, he is averaging about 8 hours of sleep, and he goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8:30. (It makes life just a little bit easier because I can get my sleep now too!) Oh, and one more part of the bedtime routine is that he gets his bath right before his last feeding. Hope maybe some of this helps!

Maria,

You will find that your darling boy is going thru a growth spurt. Babies that breastfeed have a tendency to go thru these growth spurts.

My sister has a 3 mo old little girl and she is going thru the same thing.

You might also want to try to give him less frequent naps during the day and then feed him as late as he can stay a week in the evening.

My sister has been doing that, and now her baby gets fed @ 10;30 pm with formula and then she sleeps thru the night. She breast feeds all day so she only uses the formula in the evening to supplement her and help her get her sleep.

Try the suggestions that I have given and good luck. I promise it will get better again soon. The growth spurts only last about a week or two.

A. C.

He might be getting ready to get a tooth. My daughter did the same thing. She still goes to bed late. She is 3, but today she slept in until 8:30 a.m. I nursed her until she was 13 months. She always slept at night, except when she was teething. She got past it, and so did I. I am sure that you will, too. Good luck.

When my daughter was between 1-2 months old, she started doing what you describe. She would only sleep in my arms and when I laid her down, she would squirm. In my experience, it was acid reflux. She was uncomfortable laying down. It may not be the same for you, but what you describe seems so much like my experience. It is a temporary phase, our pediatrition said she would outgrow it and she was fine by the time she was 5 months old. We had to give medicine that helped tremendously... BUT... made her eat more often. So, I still had to wake frequently to feed her, but at least I knew she wasn't in pain. I suggest you talk to your pediatrician to make sure that there is no medical cause for your son's sleeplessness. Good luck!

I feel for you! My (now 10 1/2 month old) daughter didn't sleep well for the first several months. It wasn't until January (she was 8 months old!) that she slept through the night. My poor husband was up with her walking around outside in the middle of the night. We were worried about what would happen when the weather got colder, luckily she outgrew that phase of sleep-less-ness! She was hungry during the night, people would tell me to let her cry it out, but I knew (just knew) she was hungry... once we started supplementing with formula (my milk supply was down, but I'm pregnant now and that's what started the decrease). If you're comfortable with it, try letting your little guy cry it out. Do you have a nightlight in the nursery? If so, turn it off. I've heard from other mothers that their kids liked it pitch dark (at this age), my daughter is the same way. Instead of picking your son up, try putting some light pressure on his chest (using your hand) while you 'wiggle' your hand around... providing vibration. It can give the same soothing effect as you walking.
What you said at the end of your post is most likely true. It's probably a phase and your son will grow out of it. I've always been told that just when you think you and your baby have a schedule down pat, they go and change! It's SOOOO true.

Best of luck,
R.

Does he seem to be working on a new skill such as rolling? All 3 of mine had disrupted sleep when they were close to mastering a new skill. During these times they would be interested in being awake instead of just wanting comfort or milk. It was like they didn't have time to sleep until they figured out this new skill. It always passed and once the skill was mastered, they returned t oa normal sleep pattern.

Hi,
My son is 4 months old. I nurse, but I found that if I pump and give him a bottle at night with some cereal (single grain rice 4-5 teaspoons) - he will be full and sleep thru the night. I've been doing this since he was 2 months old. He was getting 4oz of breastmilk in his bottle then.
He only wakes up on occasion and goes back to sleep on his own. I also found that I have to give him a bath before his bottle everynight to calm him down.
Also - make sure you have the correct size diaper on him - so that its not full early - I found that he would wake up in the night when his diaper filled up. I switch up to the larger size at the lowest lbs size.

Can you try putting him to sleep earlier? Like 7 or 8? He may be getting a "second wind" that keeps his little engine going. We had trouble with my daughter whenever we tried to let her stay up past 9. 8 o'clock is her magic time. And don't be too hard on yourself about creating "bad habits." The poor guy is so tiny. He may also just be a bad sleeper. My daughter is now 26 months and it took her until a few months ago to sleep through the night. It's just her nature, but she "self soothes" and all that jazz just fine now.