My 3 month baby boy keeps me awake all night.How should I regulate his sleeping pattern?

Question

He tends to sleep mainly during day, though not always, and by the time I come from work in the evening at 6pm, he is either asleep or just waking up. I breasfeed him for a while and then he either sleeps for an hour at most or keeps playing till 4-5am in the morning.

Sometimes he just cries and I can't seem to find the reason why, especially when he is feeding. He just rejects the breast and yells like he's in so much pain. I check his pamper, feel if he's too hot or cold, lay him on his tummy in case he's having a stomach ache,,, What am I not doing right?

Plus I have another concern. I seem to have lost so much weight after giving birth. My bum, hips and thighs just shrunk, though my breasts enlarged but now are drooping already! I really look awkward. What should I do to gain weight in the right places and have firm breasts?Please help.

Mama.

Thank you all for your contribution and advice.

Answer 1

first dont give him other food its way 2 early. second try not to stop the breastfeeding you are doing fantastic keeping it up and workin too well done and thirdly its like your wee darling has his body clock mixed up alter his routine slowly by an hour a day and be strict with the childcare person your his mum so you set the rules you need to do something now before its a habit at 5 or six try controled crying if he doesnt settle leave him in his cot an sit near ignroe his unless he is distressed and every night move a little further away until you are out the door he will learn but it may take a week also see your healthvisitor they can help you with this as for your breasts sorry to say it but thats them doomed invest in lovely lifting bras they will shrink a bit as he gets older but stay saggy now i speak from experience and its pregnancy that does it they will get a wee bit firmer again but not much. make sure you eat properly and look after yourself and talk to someone its really tough when they dont sleep and you need help to remain sane

Answer 2

Hi isn't being a mum hard work especially whilst working on hardly any sleep. I think what you need to do for yourself is put baby on formula milk completley, as you say you are losing so much weight and baby keeps refusing. Your probably so exhausted that your milk is thinning and not filling baby up enough which is stressful for baby and you! I have three children of my own and breast fed them all until enough was enough, don't feel guilty about stopping you have already given baby the best possible start in life! Try putting him down for a nap mid morning and again at dinner and late afternoon, probably about an hour each, tell your carer strictly. babies are completley fine of a ten minute power nap just to get them in a proper routine. When you come home from work spend some quality time with him and half an hour before bed start winding him down, get him ready for bed sing a melody and give him his last feed for the night. So i'm guessing about 7.30 8pm you do this, then when you go up to bed give him a 'dream' feed this means gently get baby out of his cot cradle him in your arms and put the bottle in his mouth babies can still drink when they are asleep. Wind him and then put him straight back in his cot. Doing this you are already missing out the next wake up call which would probably be when you have been in bed an hour, which means you are now gaining a full 5 hours undisturbed sleep!! When baby does wake up don't go rushing straight in and never turn on any lights or take baby out of his room this just means play time to him. You will need to persevere with this but trust me all my kids have slept straight through from being six weeks old.
Good luck and hope this helped you.

Answer 3

The typical pattern at this age is wake up in the morning, awake for 2 hours (approx) and then nap for 1 hour. This is repeated 2 more times each day before bed time. So 3 naps a day right now. This should continue until at least 6 months when one of those naps will drop and they will take 2 naps a day, 1.5 hours long each. That can continue until they are 2 years old. It can be hard to plan around all those naps, but sleep is when they grow their brains. Nap time allows them to process what they have learned that day up to that point and make room for new stuff. Don't skip them!

Answer 4

He is probably colicky and needs drops for gas as far as the crying goes.

As for sleeping all day you need to have a talk with whoever is caring for him while you are at work. He should be getting some stimulation during the day too. Most babies are backwards until they get around 6 months although some are quicker at it than others.

Make sure he has a time in the morning when he is played with and kept up for a few hours, then nap for a few.

Same in the afternoon.

One more thing nursing babies go through growth spurts just like bottle babies.

You could try giving him rice cereal made with your milk at bedtime, before his bath and see if that helps any. Good luck!

Answer 5

Breastfeeding burns loads of calories and with any new mum you proably aren't eating enough because you are so busy with work and looking after your baby. My daughter also cried at night for a few hours as though she had wind it turned ou to be colic which is very common you could try infacol which you can get at any chemist/supermarket. You could also try a nightime routine of bath, bottle (make this a large bottle so it satisfys them for through the night) and bed and if your baby wakes during the night try to get them to go back to sleep without giving a feed so that they learn to sleep through the night. It is all a bit of trial and error but i am sure you wil get there. Good luck!

Answer 6

the child maybe having issue with gas might want to check into some mylicon drops or similar gas aids. Also you said you were coming home in the evenings so i assume he is either in daycare or with a family member during the day while you work. if with a daycare ask for a schedule of what is occuring during the day and see if you can alter the schedule some to keep him more active during the day. Can do the same with whomever is babysitting. as for weight gain you can try simple exercise to tone certai areas and increas protein intake to gain the weight

Answer 7

With my daughter, to keep her awake during the day before she hit three months, my hubby and I used a wet washcloth on her. It made for a long day, because she would cry all day long, but it helped to keep her awake. I would let her take naps during the day. I didn't keep her awake all day. By the time she got to be three months old, she was sleeping through the night and taking naps during the day. It's been great. She still had occasional rough nights, but she's six months now, and sleeps beautifully.

The weight thing, I know that breastfeeding helped you to lose your baby weight, because it helped me to lost nearly all of mine. But are you getting enough extra calories when you eat? I think my breastfeeding class recommended 300-500 extra calories a day to make up for what you lose breastfeeding. I would talk to your doctor, but maybe eating more calories would help you out.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Ask the caregiver to not let him sleep all day. Keep him stimulated and awake. Get him into a new cycle.
The pain may be caused by gas. Or teething.
I'm sorry to have to tell u this but the breasts will probably never be firm again.

Answer 9

Try keep your baby as busy and awake as possible during the day this will ensure he is tired at night. I'm not a mother myself but I have a younger brother so I hope that helps .
As for your body, do a lot of skipping,it's good for firming up. When the baby is older take up swimming.
Good luck!
M xx

Answer 10

try getting whoever looks after him during the day to try and keep him awake even if he goes to sleep earlier in the day its that late afternoon sleep you dont want him to be having. dont forget babys cant tell if it is day or night time at that age u need to give him a bath have a little play then lay him in his cot about 7-8 ish depending on what time you want him up inthe morning. my little boy was sleeping right through at 4 wks hope this helps in some way.