Growth Spurt & sleeplessness

Tandi - posted on 12/25/2008

i am glad i aw this. my baby is just starting into these behaviours (not sleeping, fussing more, breaking up routine!) she was born on the 27th of aug. and she has never slept more then 6 hours at a time, which she jsut recently started to do but the last couple of days she hasnt slept more than 4 hours a time and she refuses to eat even though sh is hungry! but i am glad to see i am not alone and that others are having similar problems

Lisa - posted on 12/24/2008

Must be the age....my previous perfect little sleeper (used to sleep 8pm-7am) has started to think that playtime begins at 3am! She's not waking to feed however, and seems happy but needs help to go back to sleep. Daytime naps are also a huge struggle as well, she twists and turns and refuses to let me pat her.....She has recently cut a tooth and might be related?

Steph - posted on 12/23/2008

I too am back to report... the cereal didn't do the trick. She was eating it, but it didn't seem to be helping her stay asleep all night. I started to feed her about an hour before I would put her to bed and then feed her again right before bed and that seemed to work... it was either that or she got over the sleepless spurt like Katy's little one! We are back to sleeping 10-12 hours a night! WOO HOO! Merry Christmas to all!

Katy - posted on 12/23/2008

Good news to report - my daughter is finally getting back to normal - she goes down at 6:30PM up at 7:30 then down until 12:30 AM and then down until about 4:30 or 5 AM - thank god!!! I don't think I had been so tired since I first brought her home! She isn't teething yet - so I am guessing it was a growth spurt : )

Ashley - posted on 12/23/2008

My daughter was born on the 24th and has been sleping through the night since she was about 6 weeks old, and now i am running into the same problem. She wakes up several times during the night and wants to eat, and she eats 8oz before bed and wakes up 3 hours later for more! Last night she wouldnt go to sleep for nothing, she normally is in bed by 11pm at the latest but last night she was up past 2am!

Heather - posted on 12/16/2008

My son is the same way! He is also a 8-8-08 baby too:) I have to rock him to sleep now. He is teething too which makes it worse! When he gets fussy and tired and I have stuff to do, I put him in his harness and he goes to sleep every time! I think he likes to be close to me. It helps when I get tired of holding him. I never feel rested. I hope he grows out of this soon! I am sure its quite normal what your experiencing. Good luck and your daughter is adorable :)

Ruth - posted on 12/12/2008

my sons normally last any where between 3-10 days, on the longer times i think maybe he just has a hard time finding a schedule again

Sarah - posted on 12/12/2008

My little one is doing the same thing. She was up to 4-5 hour sleep and up for a quick nurse and back to bed... and then about a week ago it all changed. I am a bad mommy and give my babe a soother to help her sleep and I need to wean her from this becuase I figure she needs help now learning how to go back to sleep on her own. But it is reassuring to know that there are others out there that are experiencing similar things with or without the soother dependency. How long do growth spurts last???Does anyone know?

Ruth - posted on 12/12/2008

My son has been doing this too. He went from 10 hours a night to four and kept it up for a week in a half and fought nap time all day long. Thankfully he is finally starting to add a few more hours a night again he is now back up to seven. I think he just hit a growth spurt, plus his teeth are on the move and that is keeping him up a bit. I would say not to try cereal yet because being so young his system may not be ready for it.

Justine - posted on 12/12/2008

And I forgot this important bit- I have a friend who is a lifelong diabetic and also new mum- DON"T start feeding solids too early- before 6 months - leads to a far higher likelihood of a child developing diabetes, apparently!

Justine - posted on 12/12/2008

Sarah- try Brauer's Colic formula- worked wonders with my bub, even without giving it on a regular basis as recommended on the label. Seems to get her through that little grumpy phase and let her get some sleep. She still sleeps very little in the daytime- you need to be on high alert for those sleepy signs, hey? Luckily Molly sleeps through the night to the point of worrying us now.

Sarah - posted on 12/12/2008

my bub has neva slept thru the night! he has had severe colic and is a very restless baby so no matter what routine i try to get him into it dosent work...i have been told that he will 'grow out of it' so just have to play the waiting game, i know what its like to have no sleep so feel for you all, at least im used to sleep deprivation now!

Amy - posted on 12/11/2008

i'm so glad i saw this! my little boy is doing the same thing. i added an extra feeding right before bed and that has helped a lot. i didn't want to get up with him in the middle of the night because i didn't want him to think it was awake time. but, i don't have the heart to let him cry it out either. so anyway, there was a lot of rocking and butt patting for awile, he seems to be doing better now. he went to the dr. today and she said it is normal. but goodness, i'm no longer normal b/c i'm suddenly sleep deprived! i guess all the smiles and laughs make up for it. you can't be too upset when they give you that gummy grin. :)

Steph - posted on 12/11/2008

I tried the rice cereal tonight... I will let you ladies know if that helps with sleeping through the night! *fingers crossed*

Ericka - posted on 12/11/2008

Same here! The joys!

Jessika - posted on 12/10/2008

My son is doing the same excat thing!!! Maybe its an august baby thing! lol. Nothing has worked for me, i also thought that I might try the rice cereal to see if that helps. He has such a hard time staying asleep after I lay him down, he just wakes up instantly and starts crying like he is in pain. anyone have suggestions!!! Please help, like the rest of you I NEED SLEEP!!

Steph - posted on 12/10/2008

Good to know Im not alone on this one either! Abbi was sleeping 10-12 hours a night and now we are back down to 6 to start with, a feeding, and then maybe another 3 before she is up again hungry. I'm considering starting her on some cereal before bed just to fill her tummy and maybe that might help her to get a good nights sleep. Let's hope we can all get a bit more sleep in the comming months!

Katy - posted on 12/10/2008

This is a relief! Thank you everyone for your replies! My daughter is gumming everything too - mostly her hands. I am nursing as well and she is eating like a vaccum! Normally she goes to sleep bet. 7:30 & 8 - not so lately. She is also waking up in the night and needing help to go back to sleep! Ugh - I miss sleep too!!! Was up last night from 1:30 - till 3:30

Anett - posted on 12/09/2008

I know what you mean. My little guy use to just fall asleep at any time oft he day and now he fights it until he is so tired that he passes out. I am nursing so when he gets like that I give him a bottle and it usually helps him go to sleep. He is also getting ready to cut teeth I think cause he is drooling and gumming anything you put near his mouth.

Adina - posted on 12/09/2008

HI... I had this problem as well... I just added an extra feed during the day for a week and then she was back to sleeping. I hear another spurt happens at 6 months as well!

Good luck

Whitney - posted on 12/09/2008

ditto unfortunately...all of sudden he just changed. we was on this "schedule" and now he's basically "fighting" it. i mean he usually goes to bed at like 745 and last night he was up till 10pm but i think it has a lot to do that he is tired but he's still hungry. i felt his gums the other day to make sure he wasnt cutting a tooth so it's prolly a growth spurt.

Melissa - posted on 12/09/2008

My baby is doing the same thing. Sarah was sleeping for 9-10 hours at night and multiple naps during the day and I would put her down awake and she would fall asleep on her own without any help. Now she fights naptime and bedtime and has to be coaxed to sleep. Plus she started to roll over and now wakes herself up at night. I miss sleep!