My 8 week son is still feeding in the night but then wakes again around 5.30am. Surely this is not hunger?
My son of 8 weeks is fed at 10.30pm and goes through until 3.45/4am. He will take 3-4ozs of formula then is settled back by 4.30am. For the last two nights he has woken screaming at 5.30/45am. What could be the reason for this waking? Surely he is not hungry? I manage to settle him with a dummy and cuddle and then have to wake him at 7am. Should I think abut settling him with water at 4am and seeing what happens then? I have also started to half swaddle him at the 7pm sleep. When should I half swaddle him for the rest of the night? When do you recommend a sleeping bag? My son takes 6ozs feeds at 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm and 10.30pm. He takes 3-4ozs at 5 and 6.15pm and also at 3.30am. He weighs 11lbs 1oz. He naps at 8.50-9.50am, 11.30-2pm and 4-4.15pm. He is settled at 6.30pm.
As your son settles back to sleep again when he wakes early you need to look at some cause other than hunger for his waking:
- If your son is still in a Moses basket he may be getting out of his swaddle and knocking his arms against the sides of the basket. Moving him into a cot will end this.
- If your son is already in a cot make sure he is firmly tucked in, using a stretched sheet secured down the sides of the cot with rolled towels, as he may startle himself awake.
- Make sure he is warm enough. If he is moving around and loosening his swaddle he may be becoming uncovered and so waking through being chilled. He may need a cotton sheet spread across him and secured down the sides of the basket to prevent him from stirring himself.
- Make sure that the room is fully darkened and it is not too cold. In the early mornings, before heating systems come on, the air temperature can drop several degrees. Use a digital type thermometer, which you may already have on your baby monitor, to check this or use a thermometer which shows the actual minimum and maximum temperatures in the room. These can be found in large high street chemists or good nursery stores.
Settling him back to sleep as quickly as you can is the right thing to do.
Now that your son is eight weeks it is a good idea to wean him off the need to be swaddled in the next week or so. As he already sleeps half swaddled at 7pm begin to use this method at the morning nap and then, after a few days, at lunchtime. Once he has got used to sleeping like this during the day you can half swaddle him at night. He then can be moved in to a light weight sleeping bag. See page 160 of The Contented Little Baby Book where this is explained. Choose a light weight bag of 0.5tog which will allow you to use a cotton sheet and light cotton blanket stretched across him lengthways and securely tucked in with out the risk of overheating.