waking so much thru the night

[kylie87]

hi everyone,
my 3month ds used to be a good sleeper, only waking at 1 and 5am for a feed but for the last 3 weeks his been waking every 2 hours on the dot, from 8pm to 7am. His breastfed and i feed him each time but he will only feed for about 10mins before falling straight back to sleep and nothing will wake him up.
Can anyone tell me why he could be waking so much more for just a small feed? i thought he was maybe having a growth spurt or possibly teething. Someone suggested giving him farex baby rice in the evening before bed just to fill his tummy up more but im not sure.
His always warm and looks comfortable with a clean nappy, and his still sleeping beside me in his bassinette but im becoming so exhausted at getting up so often im willing to try anthing :sleeping:
what can i do??

[lenka]

I don't know if I can be much help, but my daughter went a bit crazy with her sleep from about five months. There were nights where she'd wake up to once an hour. We didn't feed her, except once a night, just patted her and reassured her we were there, and she would drift back to sleep. Her sleep has improved since starting solids, but still isn't great. I have heard of other babies who responded well to solids at your son's age, usually starting as you mentioned with farex in milk.

[JabberJaw]

My bub was the same till about 5 months, i just persisted with feeding on demand. She still only feeds for 10min at a time at 7 months but wakes less.
Not sure if it is a good idea to introduce food so early, actually it could upset her tummy and she may be worse.
In the 'old' days they introduced farex early but it is not a recommendation anymore.
Breastfed babies have smaller tummies which need filling more often, hence demand feeding.
I am sure she will improve but around the 3 month age they do a phenomenal amount of growing and experience growth spurts frequently.
Personally i would persist with feeding every couple of hours.
You could up your water intake and be sure that you are eating healthy meals, also take a breastfeeding supplement maybe, there is a sticky in the breastfeeding section an lactation cookies, they are great! They give your milk a real boost! They will help you produce great quality milk.
Good Luck,,hopefully its a short phase!

[fludo]

The waking could have initially been caused by a growth spurt, but from what I've read, when a bub wakes like clock-work it's out of habit rather than hunger - especially as he's not feeding for very long each time.

I would cut out some of those overnight feeds and settle him in other ways. And make sure he's taking full feeds during the day so you're fairly sure he's not hungry that often in the night. Maybe even try and slip in an extra feed or two during the day while you get him back on track. I wouldn't try the solids just yet - I'm planning on starting my bub early, but not before 4 months.

Also, how much day sleep is he getting? My bub starting waking more in the night just before she was 3 months old so I tried less day sleep and instantly she slept much better at night. She goes down at 7pm and usually only wakes once between 3 and 4am for a feed. I've found big discrepancies in books between how much day sleep babies need.

[LilMissnBoo]

Sounds like a growth spurt. But remember babies are forever changing their sleep pattens.

3 months is still really young and your little one still needs to feed during the night.

Maybe try cluster feeding in the early evening to fill up his belly a bit more. Also IMO it is still too young to worry about farex, all your baby needs is milk at the moment.

All the best, I hope the good sleep comes back!