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Waking in the early hours

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

  • Wow, I'm envious!! I'm still feeding my little angel every 2 hours round the clock and am going slowly out of my mind... especially when my husband's at sea - not that he can do much as i'm still breastfeeding. I've been trying to get him to accept a bottle but he won't have it! Oh well, will just keep persevering and hope that when its time for weaning he'll sleep for longer. He's definitely teething and part of that is forever chewing on his hands and stuff... could this have anything to do with your problem?
  • Thanks for your reply... he may be teething. We actually had a better night last night! It's not so much the waking that bothers me as the fact I don't know what he wants... if he was hungry I could sort it out easily and then settle him down again.

    Mind you, I don't envy the 2 hour feeds! Hope it gets better for you soon
  • Mrs CP - I could have written your post!
    Harry goes down for the night between 7.30 and 8.30 with a drem feed between 11/11.30. There have been a good few nights where he has gone through to 8am, but usually after waking at 4/5am for a while. He doesn't really cry, just winges. Generally he's not hungry either, and even at 8 sometimes only takes 5/6 oz, where as these days he can polish off 9oz no bother lol.
    Personally I think its the light mornings and am thinking of investing in a black out blind, as the sun can be very bright at 5am. He was in his own room all night last night for the 1st, but didn't make any difference.
    Sorry not much help, but you're not alone. Maybe others will have some ideas?
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