at a breaking point :(

[vaniilla]

for about a week now Rowan has consistently been wide awake from 12am-4am, for two nights now though as soon as it hits 12, he'll feed, sleep for 10 mins and then be wide awake and cry if he's not picked up til his next feed, this is continuing til 6 am, I'm so miserable and exhausted I don't know what to do

 

[vaniilla]

bump

somebody must have some advice

 

[aliss]

This isn't going to be the best advice but unfortunately this is quite normal for a 4 week old. Babies can be quite sleepy in the beginning but as they get older (but are still very young), they begin to become more alert. He may also be starting another growth spurt. When he feeds and then cries again after 10 minutes, do you know if he is actually swallowing the milk? Because he may just be comfort sucking or taking in a couple of drops. If it was up to these babes, they'd be attached to your breast 24/7!!!

Have you been implementing strategies to teach him day and night?

 

[ellie27]

Oh dear!

It does sound quite normal for a young baby, but.....

Are the rooms bright and busy during the day but dark and quiet at night?

How much nap does Rowan have during the day?

How is he feeding? If its formula, how much, how often during the day?

 

[aliss]

Sorry for some reason I assumed BFing, if he's on a bottle, how much is he taking in?

 

[Louise N]

Agree with the others he's probably got his day and night mixed up but he's still very young at 4weeks.

 

[HollySSmith]

It's normal (unfortunately) but I personally saw a great difference by 6 weeks. All I can suggest is making sure LO knows the difference between day and night. It will get better though...then get bad again around 3 months lol!

 

[vaniilla]

he's being bottle fed, he has 3 and a half oz during the day and then 2oz at night, he feeds every 2 hours on average but can go 3 hours every now and then during day, at night he sometimes wakes up every hour, recently though I feed him, put him down and 10 minutes later he'll start screaming the place down til he's picked up and he'll want to be held til his next feed and then its the same all over again

I'm keeping the curtains wide open during the day and have him facing towards it, I play loud music and try to play with him but he just stays asleep, at night we're keeping him in the dark, I don't know what to do, we're using infacol atm as he's a bit windy but its not helping him settle at night

I thought it was bad only having 2 hours of sleep at a time but now its getting to no sleep til 6

 

[aliss]

I think a swaddle may help your situation. It sounds like he needs a bit more closeness/comfort (literally, to be wrapped up like the womb).

 

[KittyVentura]

Maybe keep him awake more in the day... or try upping the amount he eats in the day to fill him up for night?

Do you have a bedtime routine? Fin has a bath at about 8 every night which is a bedtime trigger for him, he's asleep by 9/9:30 every night and sleeps til 8 with normally 2 wake ups. We keep night feeds dark etc and don't interract with him whereas in the day it's bright and I talk to him loads.

Fin has 4-5oz every 3-3.5hrs and naps at least an hour between each feed... I don't let him nap after 5pm xx

 

[AlwaysPraying]

You say that your playing music etc during the day but hes staying asleep? Babies a month old need 20 hours of sleep easily. That includes the time he's awake being changed or fed. So he may be over tired and not getting enough sleep. I remember feeling like all he ever did was sleep at that point, but they need it. Just a thought.

 

[aliss]

You say that your playing music etc during the day but hes staying asleep? Babies a month old need 20 hours of sleep easily. That includes the time he's awake being changed or fed. So he may be over tired and not getting enough sleep. I remember feeling like all he ever did was sleep at that point, but they need it. Just a thought.

This is true. We made the mistake of not knowing this and our baby was chronically overtired, sleeping maybe 1-2 hours in the day, for ... (bad mommy alert)... 3 months.

Once we started putting him down for regular naps after 1 hour awake (now we're at 2 hours), his night sleep was better and he started getting day/night. You'd think the opposite, but no, not infant sleep cycles.

 

[vaniilla]

Maybe keep him awake more in the day... or try upping the amount he eats in the day to fill him up for night?

Do you have a bedtime routine? Fin has a bath at about 8 every night which is a bedtime trigger for him, he's asleep by 9/9:30 every night and sleeps til 8 with normally 2 wake ups. We keep night feeds dark etc and don't interract with him whereas in the day it's bright and I talk to him loads.

Fin has 4-5oz every 3-3.5hrs and naps at least an hour between each feed... I don't let him nap after 5pm xx

its with a struggle that we're getting him to 3 and a half oz, he falls asleep during feeding so we wake him up in between, he would bring it up if we tried to give him more, same with the night feed how do you keep him from napping past 5pm?

I think I'll start with a routine tonight

 

[KittyVentura]

You say that your playing music etc during the day but hes staying asleep? Babies a month old need 20 hours of sleep easily. That includes the time he's awake being changed or fed. So he may be over tired and not getting enough sleep. I remember feeling like all he ever did was sleep at that point, but they need it. Just a thought.

This is true. We made the mistake of not knowing this and our baby was chronically overtired, sleeping maybe 1-2 hours in the day, for ... (bad mommy alert)... 3 months.

Once we started putting him down for regular naps after 1 hour awake (now we're at 2 hours), his night sleep was better and he started getting day/night. You'd think the opposite, but no, not infant sleep cycles.

I was doing the same until about 10 days ago... I was scared of him crying and so whenever he cried I'd pick him up and jiggle him etc to ty and calm him... little did I know that he was crying because he was tired and I was keeping him awake thus making it worse. Since enforcing my "nap between each feed" rule Fin sleeps much better at night xx

 

[aliss]

You say that your playing music etc during the day but hes staying asleep? Babies a month old need 20 hours of sleep easily. That includes the time he's awake being changed or fed. So he may be over tired and not getting enough sleep. I remember feeling like all he ever did was sleep at that point, but they need it. Just a thought.

This is true. We made the mistake of not knowing this and our baby was chronically overtired, sleeping maybe 1-2 hours in the day, for ... (bad mommy alert)... 3 months.

Once we started putting him down for regular naps after 1 hour awake (now we're at 2 hours), his night sleep was better and he started getting day/night. You'd think the opposite, but no, not infant sleep cycles.

I was doing the same until about 10 days ago... I was scared of him crying and so whenever he cried I'd pick him up and jiggle him etc to ty and calm him... little did I know that he was crying because he was tired and I was keeping him awake thus making it worse. Since enforcing my "nap between each feed" rule Fin sleeps much better at night xx

Haha glad you figured it out wayyy before me!!!

 

[redpoppy]

Try and go out in the daylight as much as possible and I would definitely back up the idea to swaddle. babies at this age sleep LOADS so don't wake him if he's sleeping. But if he's sleeping in the day go out with him in a pushchair or sling.

Also, have you tried any white noise? The hoover or hair dryer works wonders although you can invest in a proper white noise machine as apparently its dangerous to allow things to overheat!!!!

best of luck and I really recommend the swaddling. Had double on LO (one miracle blanket and one kiddopotamus Velcro one so she couldn't wriggle free!) till a few months in and it was a life saver!

 

[KittyVentura]

Maybe keep him awake more in the day... or try upping the amount he eats in the day to fill him up for night?

Do you have a bedtime routine? Fin has a bath at about 8 every night which is a bedtime trigger for him, he's asleep by 9/9:30 every night and sleeps til 8 with normally 2 wake ups. We keep night feeds dark etc and don't interract with him whereas in the day it's bright and I talk to him loads.

Fin has 4-5oz every 3-3.5hrs and naps at least an hour between each feed... I don't let him nap after 5pm xx

its with a struggle that we're getting him to 3 and a half oz, he falls asleep during feeding so we wake him up in between, he would bring it up if we tried to give him more, same with the night feed how do you keep him from napping past 5pm?

I think I'll start with a routine tonight

Well, Fin will normally nap in his swing for 1hr - 1.5 hrs between his first feed and his 11am'ish feed... then he goes straight in his pram and we go out for a walk or into town... in his pram he'll sleep for 3 hrs normally without fail. So he then has his 2pmish feed, another nap before he wakes for his 5pm ish feed.

By then he's generally quite alert and awake, I change, feed, play with him and he has time on his mat etc. By then DH is home and he'll have time with Fin having cuddles. The new face keeps him interested and awake. Fin gets cranky about 7:30 and then it's nearly bath time so we just try and keep him as entertained as we can for those last 30 mins xx