3 month old waking frequently at night

[MrsLL2b]

My little girl is 13 weeks old and has been waking every 1-2 hours throughout the night for the past 8 nights. Until then she has always been very good, usually waking twice at night for a feed.

At first I just put it down to being the 3 month growth spurt but I've noticed that she doesn't seem to always be hungry when she wakes and she isn't feeding any more often during the day.

At first I was feeding her every time she woke but often she would just fall back to sleep on me straight away. She seems quite happy to just be held. Sometimes once settled she will go back down and fall asleep for another hour or so, and sometimes she squeals as if she is in discomfort when I put her down.

One thing that has changed is her bowel movement pattern (this has changed every few weeks since birth). She is currently just doing a poo once a day and it is during the middle of the night at the moment, usually between 3 and 6am.

It occurred to my sleep deprived brain today that she might be waking as she is in discomfort having not done a poo all day. She does seem to settle and sleep well for three hours or so once she has done the poo.

I just wondered if anyone else has anyexperience of this and how it was resolved? I could just wait and hope the pattern changes again soon, but I wondered if there was any way of me encouraging her to poo during the day or in the evening before she goes to bed.

Thanks for any advice

[Fuschia]

Are you breastfeeding? Feeding actually encourages them to poo then and there... but if she is pooing regularly at night ther emight be a bit of day/night confusion that you could improve a little by having it bright in the day, dark at night etc, bath before bed (you prob do that alreaxy)

Ad a baby gets older its sleep patterns change. newborns drop straight into deep sleep, later on they get adult sleep patterns, cming into light sleep every 45-90 mins. It sounds like she is waking every time she comes into light sleep. Now is the time to encourage her to self settle if possible and encourage sleep associations (use of a mobile, blankie, quiet music etc

Also (re brain development/wonder weeks/sleep regression)

http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/02/qa_what_are_sle.html

http://blogginaboutbabies.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/wonder-week-19/

[Fuschia]

My 13 week old is waking every 1-2h as well atm, if that makes you feel better!

[MrsLL2b]

Hi Fuschia

Thanks for replying.

That sounds like it could be the problem. I have the wonder weeks book but didn't think she was at the 19week stage yet but if they start preparing for it in advance then that could also be a contributing factor.

Yes she is breastfed and we do differentiate between night and day. Though we only give her a bath every second night as I was worried about drying out her skin (she likes to spend ages playing in the bath!)

I'll read up on helping them settle through the sleep cycles.

Thanks again.

[LeilahB]

Mine is 18 weeks old and also waking every 1-2 hours through the night. We had been using a dummy to settle her but having been up every hour last night to replace the dummy we're ditching them. Have just spent 1.5 hours trying to settle her without a dummy though to no avail. Not sure what to do now. Is desperately hard - you both have all my sympathies!

[supergolden88]

Just to say you are not alone. My son (4 m) is going through some major teething and waking every two hours. I am getting rather desperate as I also have tons of work to deal with

[MrsLL2b]

It's one thing after another isn't it! I know as soon as this is resolved we will be into teething, the next growth spurt etc! Good luck with your little ones, hope we all get a few hours of decent sleep soon x

[Fuschia]

I just have mine next to me in bed so although he wakes frequently my sleep isn't too disrupted. Have done that with all mine and it works for us though the evil day arrives eventually when the night time milk bar has to close and (oddly!) toddlers aren't so happy at the news... for now though new baby F and I are muddling along quite happily.

[Fuschia]

I am not a fan of the sleep training industry, but I quite like this article

http://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-support/baby-wont-sleep-your-fault/