Obsessed with sleeping thru the night

[sharvs]

I think i have a problem. I am obsessed with my 12 week old sleeping thru the night. We recently spent 3 weeks in Adelaide & at 9 weeks old my DS started sleeping thru. He would feed at 8.30pm, go to bed at 9pm and sleep until 7am. He did this every night we were there until i came home last week. Now he is all over the place. Sometimes he sleeps through, others he doesnt. When we were in Adelaide he was on a strict routine of feeding times & it was working perfectly.

Now when he wakes up at night, i get quite stressed because I know he is capable of sleeping thru. I try to settle him without a feed but a feed is all that will work. To make matters worse, I am home alone with him until April (DF is away with work) so there is no-one to help.

Could it be that he is growing and needs extra? I just put a thread in "bottlefeeding" about how his eating habits have become a nightmare so I think this is the case. Should I just let it go & accept that I still need to get up to him? I tried a dream feed once, he only took about 90ml & slept through to 5.30am (dreamfeed about 10pm) but I get really tired early & like to go to bed when he does.

Can anyone help - be honest, tell me if i am wanting it to happen too early in his life.

[misskittyfantastico]

Hi Sharvs
My DD is 51/2 months and only sometimes sleeps through:rolleyes:
I was getting quite uptight myself until my DH pointed out that it wasn't helping a lot!

Just try to relax and go with the flow because the little darlings seem to change constantly:) :)

[reAllytee]

Just try to relax a little bubs is probably going through a growth spurt or just out of sorts from his little holiday !
There would have been so much going on & now he is waiting for more heheheh.
Try & hang in there it will get better just remember bubs is still only very young & will go through many changes yet :hugs:

[Foxy]

Hi Sharon,

It has been my experience over the past year, that just when you think your routine is perfect - something will happen to change it all! Things like growth spurts, teething, illness, rolling over, crawling etc, have all to some extent changed my DS's sleep patterns.

Overall, we have been quite lucky, and I was able to drop the "middle of the night feed" at around 4 months and he has been "sleeping through" since then. From time to time since then, there have been periods of 1-2 weeks when he would wake and cry at odd times during the night, not necessarily for feeding, but for comfort etc.

IMO at 12 weeks, they still need a night feed and while it is quite stressful getting up night after night with no DH there for support, it really does only last a short time. If you can, just try and accept it for the time being, and get some extra rest yourself during the day when bubs is asleep. I always found an hours sleep in the afternoon a real life-saver.

Good luck! :)

[rynosmum]

Try to relax a bit more about it. He's only 12 weeks old and will sleep through regularly when he's ready. Just think that its probably as stressful for him as it is for you.

Go with it, feed him if that's what he needs and enjoy the quiet cuddle times.:hugs:

Too soon, he will be sleeping through the night, safe and cosy in his own bed - with only baby dreams required.

My DS is now 21 months and maybe once every 2 months, he will wake up in the middle of the night for a bottle and then go back to bed. Kinda makes me feel needed...and I get a snuggly cuddle out of it.:D

[sharvs]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I think you are all right - i need to relax a bit more & accept that if he needs me then he needs me.

I just worry so much (i'm sure i'm not alone here) that I'm doing things right. But i think sometimes I read too much and go "ohg, DS isn't doing that, there must be something wrong." I was just speaking to DF and told him the situation, he said the same as you guys. I havent seen a dr or CHN since DS was 2/3 weeks old so I think i might look one up and go for a visit - more so just to reassure me that I am doing everything right - and to have a chat so avoid PND.

Thanks again

[rynosmum]

Great idea. I lived with the 'Baby Love' book when DS was born as DH was away quite a bit through the first weeks.

Take all the advice you can get, then throw out all that doesn't work for you and bubs. I found that once I stopped trying to do what I thought I should be doing, I started to do what was right.

We're all learning this whol child rearing stuff - be confident that if what you are doing feels right and is the best for baby, then you're doing well !:thumbsup: