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Waking in the early hours (also in born in Feb)

Any advice on this one...

LO can sleep throught the night, he has done it 6/7 times but at the moment he is really unsettled. He wakes around 4/5 in the morning and I can hear him sucking on his fists. I leave him to self settle, thinking that if he is hungry he will cry and let me know. After about an hour of this(!) he gets a little whingy and so I decide to get up and feed him. He'll take 2/3 ounces at the most so I know he's not really that hungry. I then put him back in bed where he practices blowing raspberries (which he can't do properly yet but just sort of blows through his lips) then goes to sleep again.

I just don't understand why he is waking... he's not hungry... or do you think he maybe just needs a small feed, like a little 'snack' to sustain him until morning? The problem is if I feed him at this time he takes less when I feed him in the morning. He's not going through his 16 week growth spurt (he is currently 15+5) as otherwise he would feed more during the day and night and he hasn't been.

Maybe it's the birds waking him now it's summer? Maybe he is going to bed too early (7ish with a dreamfeed between 10 and 11)? The problem is I can't keep him up past seven as he gets so tired and grumpy and he does eventually go back to sleep until 8ish.

Any ideas at all?

Replies

  • hello

    it could be one of two things he could be teething (our LO got his first ay 15 weeks) also at about 4 months babies go through a big developmental stage which involves waking in the night, we are just coming through this at the mo x
  • At around this age, they start waking more in the night (or again if they've previously slept through). It's a developmental thing, as they are learning so many new things & have to process them.

    You're probably right that he doesn't need the feed at this time, as 2-3oz is probably a snack, although there is a possibility that if you continue to feed him at this time, he will continue to wake out of habit. Have you tried leaving him after he gets whingy, as I know some babies (mine included) like to have a little whinge before sleep?

    Could he possibly be teething, as this could wake him? As you say, it could be the birds/daylight, in which case a black-out blind may be a good investment (maybe cheaper thinking about the above first though ;\) ).

    The only other thing that I could think of, is he getting enough sleep during the day? Sounds silly, and DH didn't believe me at first, but good day time sleep leads to good night time sleep.

    My lo is also waking in the night at the moment (22weeks), and chatters away to herself at 3am. She doesn't need/want anything, and will chatter herself back to sleep after a while. She also wakes early (around 5am) from time to time. I know that she's probably not getting enough sleep during the day right now, so is possible that this is causing it.

    Afraid I can't say how long it lasts, but hope things settle back down for you again soon (just realised epic reply-thinking out-loud, sorry!) xx
  • Thanks for your replies! We'd just got sleeping through sorted and then this happens! Typical! I'd completely forgotten about teething - he is chewing away on everything and dribbling lots - he might be chewing his fists rather than sucking them. Might try some bonjela.

    Also I didn't know about the development thing but that would fit too as he looks like he is trying to roll and he seems to practice blowing raspberries a lot!

    Looks like I might be waiting a little while longer for a full night's sleep... I just hope he's not too much like me as I apparently didn't sleep through until I was 15 months old... maybe this is payback for me being such a tearaway baby! image


  • The only other thing that I could think of, is he getting enough sleep during the day? Sounds silly, and DH didn't believe me at first, but good day time sleep leads to good night time sleep.


    Hmmm... the nights when he has slept through do seem to follow days when he has slept a lot! Seems really counter-intuitive doesn't it but it's worth trying. I am attempting to get him to have a good nap of around 2 hours at lunch time every day so he gets enough sleep and so I can eat something in peace (ha ha ha!:lolimage

    Lots of ideas to try... will have to give each of them a go and see what happens over the next few nights.
  • good luck, we also find good napping in the day = better sleep ate night image
  • Well we seemed to have a better night last night... to be honest I just did a lot of ignoring anything that wasn't crying. I think if he figures out that mummy won't let him have a play at 5 in the morning he won't bother trying to wake up!
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