My 3.5 month old has been sleeping between 6 and 8 hours at a stretch (awesome). He has been a fussy baby, but always able to be soothed and calmed down. For the last two days he has slept all of maybe 12 hours. Every time he dozes off he jerks awake screaming like he is in pain. We swaddle him at night and the MOST we have been able to get him to sleep is 2 hours and then he wakes up screaming! What could it be? Teething? Growing pains? We are giving him cereal in a bottle about three times a day. Morning, noon and night. He has been pooping, and doesn't seem gassy. Gripe water has not helped. It seems almost as if he is afraid to sleep! Please help. My husband and I are worried and TIRED!!
Thanks for all the unwanted opinions on my feeding habits. For the record the doctor DID recommend feeding solids in the bottle. I wNted advice on my kids sleeping habits, not your judgment on his eating habits. I am really dissapointed in you ladies.
My son did the same thing. He was diagnosed with Acid Reflux and put on prevacid which helped. He had a history of colic as well.
He's at the age right now where he's becomming away of his environment and things around him. So he wakes up and sees that there are things to explore (like his own hands and feet!), and that you'll come in if he yells.
It's a huge developmental time for him, and sleep goes by the wayside in stages like this.
Feeding isn't the issue, so I wouldn't stress too much on that. Right now, his little brain is working in overtime. And please don't let anyone give you a hard time about the cereal. I gave it to both of my kids both in bottles and on a spoon at 10 weeks. I have big babies, and they're hungry. I can honestly say it didn't help with sleeping at night, but it kept them satisfied when formula wasn't enough.
It's time to start sleep training him. Now that he's "aware", he needs to start learning how to self soothe - however you decide to go about that.
Don't worry, this will pass!
The entire first year is a time of huge neurological/physical growth and development. Sleep is never static. Once you think you've got it something always happens lol.
And I have to wholeheartedly second Molly here. Unless your baby has severe reflux and you have been instructed by the pediatricain to use cereal in the bottle for that purpose there is *absolutely* no (let me underline that!) no reason you should be giving your 3.5 month old cereal in a bottle let alone *3* times per day! Unless doing it following physicians instructions your are causing your baby to get more of what they don't need (cereal) and less of what they do (I'm assuming you are formula feeding). Baby isn't taking in enough formula because the cereal is taking up valuable space in his tummy. This has also been shown to cause babies to over-eat. They are taking in far more than they need in their tummies at once.
How long have you been doing this? If this is a new thing and you are doing it because you think it will help him sleep you are seeing how wrong this old wives tale is. Baby has what is called an open gut. What goes into the tummy goes into the blood stream which can in turn cause all kinds of problems. And baby's system is not equipped or ready to handle any kind of solids at this point. His body simply can't process it. And you are denying baby valuable nutrition by taking up space with cereal that offers little nutrition to his growing and developing body.
And my wonderful second baby was doing the same thing sleeping 6-7 hour stretches till she hit almost 4 months old and never slept the same again till I weaned her at 20 months (granted she had great night of lengthy sleep but she still woke at night to nurse).
Bottom line-drop the cereal unless you are using it for severe reflux and your doctor has instructed you to do this (which is probably not the case since you said it's only 3 x per day), read The Baby Whisperer and Dr. Sears Baby Sleep book. They have invaluable sleep info, tips and tricks to help you better understand infant sleep and read your baby's cues to help him learn to sleep-because babies have to be taught how to sleep as they grow and mature. They don't automatically know how.
***Added***You are disappointed!?! Judgmental? Give me a break! You ask a question, provide pertinent info and we give you reasons why you may be having problems and you call us judgmental! Your doc is clearly outdated by telling you to put cereal in a bottle. There is countless research out there telling you why that's a *bad* idea unless medically necessary.
It's your job as a parent to keep abreast of the latest research and findings to forward your ability to provide the best for your child. If you don't want to hear about it then don't ask questions-cause you may not always like the answers you get!
I don't really have any advice to give, but I wanted to let you know that I totally know what you're going through!!! My son is just turning 4 months old and this has probably been the most difficult month so far! We had gotten into the routine of sleeping for 5 hours at a time during the night when all of a sudden as soon as he turned 3 months he would only sleep for two hours at a time and wanted to eat ALL night long. Then he started messing around with his nap schedule and now sleeps sporadically through the day with no repeating patterns anymore. Just when I thought he had worked out a consistent schedule, he decided to mix it up.
He did have a huge growth spurt this last month, so I am guessing that's his reason for not sleeping, and he's also learning to make new sounds so he'd rather do that than sleep. I say hang in there and hopefully in a month he'll settle down again. I heard that 3, 6 and 9 months are tough because typically that's when the growth spurts hit. Last night my son only woke up once for the first time, so I am pretty sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel! You can do it!!
I can feel your pain. My son, now 5, did the same thing. He was a great sleeper right off the bat. I thought we had a dodged a bullet with the whole sleep issue. THEN, he turned 3 months old and proved me seriously wrong. Here's the hard part - you are in a cycle where he's not sleeping well because he's over tired and he's over tired because he's not sleeping well. Nice, huh? My son would do the jerk and cry thing too - turns out it was the jerk thing that was scaring him.
Solutions? Here's what we did that worked: First - you need to break the no-sleep cycle. If this means a day or two of rocking and holding him during nap time to really get him some zzz's, do it. Then, you get to make a sleep schedule a priority.
At 3 months, everything changes, so your old schedule may not be working anymore (just when you got it down, right?). You may feel like a prisoner in your own home with my next suggestion, but make naptime and your new routine a priority - meaning no more naps in the car, stroller, etc. - all naps and nighttime sleep need to be at home in his crib. (I know this, totally changes the "babies are easy and portable" stance where you can take the kid anywhere and they just sleep in their seat. Prepare to be chained to your house - sorry). Create a bed time routine with bath, massage, reading, whatever and do it every night, the same way, and create a mini version for nap time. Another tip I got from another mom that was the holy grail - don't wash/change the sheets and swaddle blanket unless they are crusty or gross. The babies like the familiar smell. You can also put a shirt of yours that you've slept in a couple of times in the crib - tucked down tight. Keep on swaddling, that worked great. My son was swaddled until he was 8 months old.
2 Books that REALLY helped us: "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth and "Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp.
Good Luck!!!
Babies grow so much during these early months, and not just physically. Their minds and growing, their understanding of the world is growing. It could be a growth spurt, and he really is hungry (babies should not be expected to go all night without eating). He could be looking for emotional security. Many babies need to be held, even during the night. Our so used to wake up, look around and see us and go back to sleep. It was almost if he was just say, "Oh, good. Your's still here."
Feed him, snuggle with him, he might go right back to sleep.
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Hi,
First let me say congrat on your baby! I don't want to come off as harsh-but this is my advice and so please take it as I am saying this very kindly.
I would stop the feeding cereal in a bottle. Your baby is too young to be eating solids and feeding in a bottle poses a huge choking risk.His tummy is not equipt to deal with the cereal yet--that is why he is waking up screaming-it hurts. Poor guy! Most babies aren't ready to eat cereal (rice) until the earliest age of 4 months. Usually babies start at 6 months and only a few times a day to start out with in very small amounts-- 1-2 tsp tops. As far as the sleeping issue, it sounds like he is going through a growth spurt--keep swaddling him and doing all of your normal comfort measures. If he continues to have trouble, call your pediatrician and get him seen. But I think if you stop the cereal and give him a few days to adjust, he will feel a whole lot better! Good luck!
M
