Change in sleep patterns?

[tigger71]

Hello, just discovered this site after posting to Handbag/Talking Point - recognise a few names here! Have posted this on other forum but wondered if anyone here might be able to help!

Basically my daughter, Emily, is nine weeks old and for the past few weeks since we got into a bedtime routine, she has been a really good sleeper, happily going from 4-6 hours in the first stretch of the night, waking for a feed and going straight back to sleep for another 2-3 hours until the morning - cue one happy baby and even happier mummy and daddy. In the past couple of nights, however, it's all changed - she still sleeps fine in the first half of the night and wakes for a feed as usual, and for the past few nights has even fallen asleep on the bottle a few minutes into the feed (although she still takes a decent feed in her sleep).

However, although she goes back into her carrycot quite happily, she's started getting very restless after an hour or so - around 4.30-5am - eventually waking herself up crying. Have tried usual things - cuddling her back to sleep, giving her water, winding her - and all of these work, but only temporarily and she wakes up again a few minutes later. The only thing that seems to send her back to sleep is bringing her into bed with us - which is fine in the short-term (if only so we can all get some more sleep!) but I don't want it to become a habit!

The only thing I can think is that she might be getting a bit big for her carrycot, and she's waking herself up hitting her hands on the sides - or perhaps she's thirsty (she has started drinking more water since she started taking larger feeds), but I gave her water last night and she still didn't settle until I brought her into bed with us. I tried putting her in her big cot and that didn't work either (although she has happily taken naps in it) - but I think perhaps she was already unsettled by the time I put her into it!

Any hints, people? I don't mind being woken up occasionally, especially if I've had a good sleep in the earlier part of the night, but it's going to become tiring if it happens all the time (and if it starts happening in the first part of the night too then obviously we are all in trouble.....!)

[Diddlum]

Hi tigger, I'm sorry I haven't got a lot of advice but saw that no one else had replied and didn't want you to feel unwelcome!! So, welcome to Damsels, you'll like it here.

To be honest I think you'll find that their sleep patterns do change from time to time and most of the time you just have to ride it out. My little girl is 14 months now and her sleeping pattern has only just settled back down to normal again after a really bad patch when she started waking in the night and/or not wanting to go down at bedtime.

Do you not want to try feeding her again at that time? Or you could be right about the carrycot - we moved Niamh into her own room when she was 11 weeks and I seem to remember there wasn't much spare room in her moses basket then! (Although that wasn't the reason we moved her).

Sorry it's crap advice, but at least this has bumped your post up for someone else to see!

[minigirl]

We started putting Lois in her cot at that age, because she kept hitting the sides of her basket and waking herself up, as soon as we did that she was fine again. Also how dark is her room? She may be waking naturally at that time as the sun comes up, so you could try blackout blinds if you haven't already, I find these are good for naps in the day as well.

[Nat]

Im no expert as Tallulah is only 12 weeks old, but last week she was unsettled, and I realised she was a bit chilly... She slept fine the 1st half of the night as usual, but after her late feed at 11 she would only go down for a couple of hours then start fretting. Beacuse we have been having SUCH hot weather,she seems to be aclimatised to that, and now its cooled down again she is really feeling it and needs an extra blanket (HOW BAD DID I FEEL REALISING SHE WAS COLD) But I just didnt think it was the temperature, as to me, its still mild IYSWIM

The only reason I suggest this, is that when your little one is in bed with you, shes just extra snuggly heat from your bodies.. If she was has been so used to warmer weather almost since birth, the drop in temp recently might have made a difference ???

(This could be completely shite advice, so I apologise)

Also, as others have said, their sleeping patterns change alot anyway, so it might just be one of those unexplainable baby things. xx

[tigger71]

Thanks ladies. We put her in her big cot last night to see if that made any difference and she slept from 9.30pm-4.40am, which is the longest she's ever slept at night! However, it could have been something to do with the fact that she forgot to take her naps yesterday and was exhausted by bedtime - she's certainly remembered to take them today (and in fact is fast asleep in the cot now!) so will be interesting to see if she manages the same hours tonight! Also, she took a really big feed last night before she fell asleep - she usually conks out in the middle of the feed and doesn't always take as much as she could do!

That said, I put her back to bed at 5.20 after she woke for her night feed and she was wide awake again by 6.30 - and this time she stayed awake, even though I brought her into our room, gave her some water, winded her etc. Wasn't that bothered as she normally wakes up between 6 and 7 anyway and would assume she had just had enough sleep after that long stretch but obviously it's going to be a problem if she wakes for her feed at 2am and then does the same thing!

I think the carrycot may have been to blame - she is definitely getting a little big for it now. She likes having room to move around, and seems really comfortable in the cot. I was worried that she might sense we weren't in the room with her and wake up as a result, but she didn't seem that bothered.

It has occurred to me she might be a bit cold in the second half of the night, although I put her in a grobag every night which she loves (her face lights up when I put her into it!) , unless it's boiling hot in which case I just use a cot sheet. And we do have blackout blinds in her room, although they don't quite fit the window so a shred of light does get through. We just have regular curtains though so it's possible she's getting woken by the daylight. I'll keep an eye on her over the next few days and see how she does with the nights, since no two nights are the same with her yet - sometimes she sleeps for four hours, sometimes six!

One more question - would limiting her daytime naps help her sleeping at night? She loves her sleep and since she was born has been capable of going 3-4 hours at a stretch, even though she doesn't do it every day. I've been wondering whether it means she's less tired in the evening and doesn't sleep so well at night if she naps a lot during the day - and whether I should wake her up after a certain time? Trouble is of course when I see her sleeping so peacefully I don't have the heart to wake her up.....!