3 mnth old, waking every 1 1/2 hrs

Reggie22

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- Join Date: Nov 2008
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3 mnth old, waking every 1 1/2 hrs

#1

11-20-2008, 10:27 AM

Hi! new here - love the support and like mindedness - very helpful. Have a 3 mnth old girl - beautiful Maya! - I co-sleep with her, sometimes her Dad too, but he is in another room cos' had to be alert for work. ANyway, we have tried all the rooms in the house, and looking back some things could have been better. She started off sleeping in a cradle swing that is round and can be put on rocking function, at the beginning of the night and then moving in with me after the first one or two sleeps. It started off 1 - 2hr bursts of sleep and then she got to 3 1/2- 4 hrs at the beginning of the night - starting about 3 weeks ago- followed by some varied 1 -2 hr sleeps, usually with a restless patch at 3am. I do a little wind down to bed; put jammies on, relaxing music, massage etc - seems to help, most of the time, although I sometimes have been prempted with her fallign asleep before. Anyhow, a couple of things I've noticed, as of a few days ago, she reverted back to only a 1 1/2 hr sleep at the beginning of the night and maybe only once or twice in the past 4 days has she managed more than 2 hrs at a time. Her daytime naps have also changed, same times about, but shortened to around 45 mins. She seems very tired.
I feel a little responsible, cos' I feel I was restless a couple of nights and taught her bad sleeping habits, also one night my husband came in to get something from the room and it woke her up.
SHe seems like she really wants to sleep - nods off and wakes again - she has a bit of a cold recently, and might be about to teethe, cos she chews her hand a lot. She has also been feeding more - maybe cos of the cold? also we are in S. CA and had fires and air id dry so, that might have something to do with it.
I am concerned of reverting back - any advice??
oh! she is in a crib now, cos she grew out of the cradle swing really, by the bed at the beginning of the night, so I can either sleep a little without worrying about her being disturbed or stay up with my husband for a bit. She doesn't seem to mind the crib situ.
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Emiliacw

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- Join Date: Aug 2008
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#2

11-20-2008, 02:53 PM

Babies sleep is influenced by so many things, it could be any of the things you mentioned, particularly teething or cold. I would prob guess it's not your "restlessness" or your hubby coming in.. IT could also be developmental milestone stuff or a combination there of.. One thing I have learned about babies and sleep (I have a 13.5 mo wakeful baby ) is that it changes all the time. Whatever you are dealing with now will change and it might get better for a bit or it might get worse and then it will change again... I have found it best to not try to fix it (as long as you have covered your bases- health, allergies, etc) and to try to let go of expectations and just trust that it won't be this way always. I know it's hard but you will get through this. My DD has gone from waking every 45 mins (birth-3 months) then it was like every 1.5 -2 then it was every once a while she would have one 3 hour stretch.. and now it goes back and forth... last night she woke every hour... so just try to be patient... Hang in there..
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Reggie22

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#3

11-21-2008, 03:25 PM

Thank You! yes, I have been really trying to fix it , maybe I should just let it go. Just seems that she gets over tired sometimes, this morning, after a reasonable night, apart from the sniffles at 3am which really upset her, she has been weepy on and off, indicating needing feeding, then burping and confusing me cos' signals don't always mean she wants feeding and then I try and she gets frustrated, I stop and then she does want feeding and feeds so hungrily that I felt so bad about it - I am also very tired too, don't think I was engaging as much or being myself as much... anyway.... full of questions. Thanks for the support
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PaxMamma

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#4

11-21-2008, 04:50 PM

it could be a growth spurt, too. you could try increasing feedings throughout the day, making sure she's getting enough hindmilk and lots of skin-to-skin contact during the day, too.
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jen0608

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#5

11-22-2008, 01:55 AM

Hmm your problem is kinda hard but try to make your baby at ease with his/her environment. Don't argue with your spouses in the night or make her sleep with soft music. The latter really helps.
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Reggie22

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#6

11-22-2008, 10:36 AM

Thanks Jen! I have to admit, that time my hubby came in, I was pretty annoyed, cos she had just been sleeping for over 2 hrs and he clicked a cupboard etc... she tried herself the get back to sleep and then couldn't, so I had to help her, but I was pretty irritated with him, cos' of being tired etc and the previous night she had just done 4 hrs and then 2.5 hrs for the second sleep. Maybe she picked up on my irritation. Anyway, I do need to relax about it and stop being so worried.My best friend was just here visiting and she had done the Gina Ford sleeping scheduling thing, which is stark contrast really to attachment parenting, but she did mention a friend of ours who has a 2 year old still not sleeping through the night and his pediatrician said the parents had to sort it out soon or he would have life long sleep problems. So, now I have this neurosis I will cause this for Maya. I have read contradictory info, some saying co-sleeping creates better sleep, and then other info that says it can cause sleep problems. Any comments? don't feel comfortable with the sleep scheduling thing, I mean I have a rough outline of a routine but do not want to wake her up for feeds etc....

Oh - on that note, my friend above said that when her daughter woke up at around 10 pm, she would make sure she was really awake for a good, full feed to sleep through the night - is this ok? wasn't too sure. I do try and encourage her when she is half asleep by stroking under her chin.... long post - thanks for the help
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PaxMamma

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#7

11-22-2008, 10:57 AM

Originally posted by Reggie22 View Post

Oh - on that note, my friend above said that when her daughter woke up at around 10 pm, she would make sure she was really awake for a good, full feed to sleep through the night - is this ok? wasn't too sure. I do try and encourage her when she is half asleep by stroking under her chin.... long post - thanks for the help

this is called, technically, "tanking them up" seems logical to me.

as far as whether co-sleeping causes sleep disturbances later on, i would say then we'd all be evolutionary non-sleepers since the earliest man up until more recent human history co-slept.
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Reggie22

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#8

11-26-2008, 02:07 PM

Hi! thanks for all the advice, still doing 4-6 feeds a night, one night did sleep over 4hrs in a row, otherwise not much with difficulty falling and staying asleep for daytime naps. I am exhausted! also very long nurturing breast feeding sessions - wondering if she is drinking enough.
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Reggie22

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- Join Date: Nov 2008
- Posts: 98
#9

11-27-2008, 12:09 PM

TOO TRUE thanks for that, I sometimes get moments of being swayed by the 'regular' advice out there - I really appreciate all the words of help; she slept just short of four hours in a row last night which was great, I got about 3 hrs 15 mins of that but she is restless most of the night but it was much better. I read some other posts about the agitation when tired and she has that and I agree that it probably her way of getting things off her chest before she sleeps ..... will write more soon. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
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