sleepless nights again!?

Question

My 13 week old has recently started waking every hour at night not necesseraly for feeding but she is just unsettled. A few weeks ago I thought she was finally setting into a routine and only woke three times between 8pm and 7am for feeding. She never used to cry and just feed with no fuss and went straight back to sleep. Now she cries and fusses each time she wakes every hour and we have to rock her back to sleep. I was thinking maybe she is not satisfied with milk (she takes 3-4 oz every 3 hours at night) and maybe I could start her on baby rice in her night bottle. Can anyone offer any advice?

Answer 1

i had a similar problem and found that changing the teat on the bottle helped. my baby was falling to sleep before he'd had enough milk which left him hungry and he would be up earlier for another feed. i changed to a teat with 3 holes and he was drinking more per feed as he was getting it easier. he started to get more milk through the day aswell which helped during the night and after a few weeks started going to bed at 8 and up at 7 with four 8oz bottles during the day. i think its too early for baby rice but if you do give it to her it shouldn't be put in her bottle. try a milk for hungrier babies first.

also, the more you rock her, the more she will depend on that to get back to sleep when she wakes, so try and let her get back back to sleep without you. it takes time but its worth sticking it out.

Answer 2

My daughter was the same. For two reasons hunger and teething. I used to give a 5 oz bottle at night with a 1/4 of a rusk crushed in. I used to cut the rusk and crush it with a rolling pin in baking paper until it was really fine and give it a good shake in the bottle. I was always advised not to do this by my heath Visitor but my mum said "I did it with you and it did you no harm". The first night I tried it she slept right through. As for the teething I'd have a look for the 'signs'. Red cheeks, sore bottom, warm gums, excess dribbling etc. If she is usually a happy baby then she is letting you know something is wrong. At 8 weeks my daughter became really unsettled and it turned out to be teething!

Answer 3

It could be one thing or the other, or a combination of both: she is either teething and this is causing her to become unsettled, or she is what you already said, dissatisfied with milk alone. You will hear all sorts of advice about 'too early for solids, blah, blah', but you and only you know your kid. Your baby will be fine with baby rice at this age, just introduce slowly. My boy was just fine and started even earlier than your baby. My mum had us all on solids as early as that and it never did us any harm. In fact, what you put in your baby now will have an effect on how strong the baby becomes. Baby cannot live on milk alone for 12 month (latest research contradicts this) - if you want a filled and strong baby as opposed to a crying loaf of bread, introduce solids early. They also have a great selection of fruit purees in the shops (don't do home made for the time being, you can't make it smooth enough). Babies need vitamins, and fruit is great, stops them from potential constipation, and increases appetite. Keep off berry based fruit, this could cause an alergy in young babies. We have never had any alergies from going on solids early, and are now 5'8'', 6'3'' and 6'5''. Just ensure you keep up the milk intake as well as they need liquids and calcium. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

You shouldn't be giving a child anything but formula milk until they are 4 and a half months old, but you should be giving the child between 7 and 9oz every 3 or 4 hours at that age

Answer 5

I don't think you are giving enough milk per feeding. She's 3 months old, she should be up to 5 or 6 ounces every 4 hours, and longer at night.

Answer 6

I wouldn't give her baby rice yet, her digestive system isn't working well enough for that yet. I don't think it is anything to worry about. I have a 2 year old that still doesn't sleep through the night. She used to until she hit about 3 months then no more sleep for mommy! If you are really concerned, you could take her to the doctor to make sure everything is okay, but i'm sure she will be fine. She could be going through a growth spurt or she is just lonely at night.

Answer 7

Depending on the season, a warm bath is a great way to relax. If you can’t take a bath, you can give yourself a foot massage with slightly warm massage oil, sesame oil, or castor oil from a health food store. What was very helpful to me, especially when my mind was racing, was to lie in bed and listen to relaxation CDs, especially those that contain someone speaking with relaxing music in the background. Many of these CDs are available on eBay for very low prices. A helpful technique is to relax your body one part at a time. So you could relax your feet, your lower legs, upper legs, moving up from your lower belly up to your chest, etc., etc. Of course, guided relaxation methods can help, imagining yourself in the country, the beach, or whatever is most soothing to you. If you have annoying thoughts or personal issues that run thru your mind when you are trying to sleep, you might have to deal with those issues first. You might want to talk to a counselor or therapist about that. I suggest avoiding prescription sleeping pills unless nothing else helps. There are herbs that are helpful for sleep, eg, valerian root, kava kava, chamomile, hops, passion flower, skullcap. If you get the real herbs, you can make teas out of them. Otherwise get the herbs in capsule form. You can try a single herb or herbal combinations. Probably, valerian root and kava kava are the best. You can also try trytophan, 5-HTP and melatonin (1-2 mg). I would not take melatonin for over a month. It is a hormone produced by the pineal gland. If you take too much, your pineal gland might get "lazy" and produce less melatonin naturally. Life Extension and TwinLabs are probably the best brands, in that order.

Answer 8

I think that it sounds like she is hungry. try and up mik feeds during the day.
You shouldn't give anything other than milk in a bottle tho.
Hope you get a good nights sleep again soon
x

Answer 9

Definitely try giving her more milk but I wonder if she is teething? Try rubbing some oragel on her gums and see if that helps. There are also some great homeopathic teething tablets by Hylands. Ask your pediatrician about the cereal. I started all my kids on cereal at four months.

Answer 10

This is what happened to my son....i gave him baby rice. BUT your health visitor will advise against it. try changing the milk to hungry baby one. Or up the milk in the day.