does my baby have a sleeping disorder?

Question

my son sleeps for about 5 hrs at nite then he wakes up every hour and a half after during the day hes very fussy and needy he fights sleep when hes tired and i watch his cues to get him to sleep and he doesnt like going to sleep

Answer 1

Sounds like you stole my baby!! Same here. Mine is now 3mos. He's had colic, reflux, and is just VERY "high needs"! I haven't had more than a 3hr. stretch of sleep since May 11! We give gas drops alot, and that helps when he's fussy as well as a pacifier. I wasn't gonna give him one, but it helped ALOT! Praise the paci!! His doc. told us to put rice cereal in his bottle to thicken it up, thus reducing the reflux, and spitting up problem. It helps alot too. Most times when he was too fussy, I found he had a burp stuck, or gassy, or just wanted to be cuddled. Good luck! Also, try to keep him awake more during the day by stimulating/playing with him, keeping the lights on, etc. (I know thats hard to do, but it helps come bedtime)

Answer 2

Any chance he's still a little hungry? They won't sleep if they're still a little hungry.

Any chance he's in an environment that is over-stimulating or that you aren't calm with him?

Any chance something is waking him up after the five hours (which would make him irritable, fussy, etc)?

Any chance whatever he's eating is giving him some belly pains or other discomfort, which would wake him and then make him irritable?

Sometimes what may look like "needing sleep" is really needing something else. Sometimes if you hold them and keep them nice and snuggled and calm and try to walk or rock them to sleep they'll sleep longer.

It sounds to me (in my modest and non-pediatrician's opinion) that your baby is "frazzled". He's either "frazzled" because something is waking him up, or else so "frazzled" he can't calm down enough to sleep well (which, in turn, leads to more "frazzlement"). Usually, what looks like "fighting sleep" isn't fighting it but is instead that he's so frazzled he can't sleep and he's agitated.

Although I'm wondering if a little more milk would help him, without knowing you or him or your situation, I'm kind of suspecting it may be the over-stimulation problem (or else you're getting "frazzled" over the situation, and he's sensing that).

Answer 3

well i was a pediatrician and thats normal for babies to do that. try to soothe him by singing or playing with his hair