What's Happened to my Angel??

Hi everyone,

I'm just wondering if this is all normal. Danielle used to sleep through the night no problems since about 6 weeks of age (she's almost 11 weeks now). She went to bed at 8pm and then woke up between 6 and 7am. She fed 3 hourly during the day except after her bath which is about 5pm then she would grizzle and want a feed every hour to an hour and a half. She normally takes 120-180mls per feed.

But now she's decided that she wants to go to sleep at 6.30pm, wake up during the night at various times but only once (ranges from 2am to 5am), then goes back to sleep until 7 to 9am. She's very grizzly during the day when she's awake, feeding at non-regular intervals (2-4 hours), sleeping more during the day (she only used to cat nap for about half an hour between feeds), taking between 100-240mls per feed and just not being like she used to be. She seems to be having a bit more reflux lately so could this be the problem? Or is it a growth spurt?

It pretty much all started on Saturday when I noticed she was more grizzly and wanted little feeds more often. She had her bath at 2pm as we were going out and leaving her at my Mum's. She was grizzly for her the whole afternoon and fell asleep at 6.30pm. I fed her and change her at 10pm thinking that 7am she would wake but it was 3am! She's been sleeping funny ever since that day. Did we throw her routine out and thats' why she's being funny. The reflux has really only started becoming slightly worse yesterday.

Can someone please tell me this is all normal and she will go back to her regular sleeping pattern soon.

I don't know that she will go back, but it sounds normal. Just as I feel like we're making progress, she goes and changes what she wants completely!
No real advice I know, but plenty of symapthy. :hug:

Kelly its hard to know, things get pretty confusing sometime with these wee little ones. I know that developmentally they go through changes at 12 weeksish... Some start to roll & there are other milestones that they can reach at that time which can cause them to be unsettled. Its also a time for a growth spurt too, which would cause her to wake more frequently.

Also they become more "aware" of their surroundings the older they get, so changes in routines can disrupt them. Depending on their personalities... Matilda is a very routinised girl who loves her routines, unfortunately DH & I are very "unroutined" people so we've had to learn how to fit together as a family...

Matilda was just starting to sleep for 3 hours at a time rather than 2 at 12 weeks and her sleep started settling just after then.

I don't have much advice but hopefully it won't last too long!

Babies can have growth spurts at 3-6 weeks and then again at around the 3 months mark, so it is possible that she is having a growth spurt combined with the reflux problems from the extra feeds. It is a catch 22 situation I know, but perseverance is the key. I don't think that having one day out of her regular habits would have affected her so much.

I found that Jenna actually started sleeping through better about this time - after her 12w growthspurt, but then about 1m later started waking again.
I think they just really like to keep you on your toes unfortunately. It may have been you were lucky with a bubby that slept through the first few weeks, and now has decided there are better things to do than sleep.
My suggestions would be to firstly treat it all like its a growth spurt, and feed on demand (not sure what you are doing at the moment, so I'm sorry if you already do ;) ). Try and live the next week out, and see what happens.
The other thing to remember is to make sure night is night for bubby. When you get up during the night keepthe noise to a minimum, and try not to do lights if you can. Avoid eye contact and no talking, and pretty soon bubs should learn that night time isn't actually all that much fun to wake up in!
I wouldn't have thought that one night would upset your routine too much, but anything is possible with these kids. Darn them!!

Good luck - I hope you go back to getting more sleep soon.

Em has been unsettled lately as well and we've just worked out that it is because he's teething! Like everyone else said persevere. They will chop and change and I always find myself looking back a week later going "Oh so that's why ** & ** happened lol" In hindsight everything is clear!

Hi Kelly ,

sounds like it could be a growth spurt. But I have to say the one thing I have learnt since having Kaitlyn is that no sleeping pattern is set in stone!. Try and grab catnaps while she is sleeping during the day .

I agree with the make sure night is night and day is day as well...we always used to change Kaitlyns nappy in the dark ( I became a professional at this!) and then fed her in the dark and she had no issues going straight back to sleep.

Cass

I have a very erratic sleeper on my hands and have had since Jackson's birth. He doesn't have a pattern, it changes every single day. I could never sleep when he slept when he was younger because he would wake after only 30 minutes or so, and then I would wake up all groggy and feel even less rested!!

If Danielle started a good sleeper I reckon she may go back to it, just testing the water IYKWIM to see what works for her

Do you guys think she could be like this because she's got an upset belly? I've got the "runs" (sorry!!) and she's being going twice a day a different colour than normal and really soft (sorry again!!). She seems a bit better this morning with a normal consistancy one but the different colour still but she did wake at 1.30am again and then at 6.45am.

Sorry if that was really gross but I'm just trying to figure out how I can help my little girl.

Do you think it could be something that you are eating that may not agree with her? Some foods can interfere with the BM and it can upset bubs. The range of foods is different for everyone, but if there is anything unusal or spicy (the common ones) that you've eaten lately?

I'm not BF - she's on formula - she has been for a good 8 weeks.

Der, OK then. Hmmm, It is possible she could have picked up whatever tummy bug you might have. How are you feeling, like are you really sick with it or is it only mild? How has she been so far today?

Me - I haven't eaten since last night and I don't know if I'm game to as everytime I've been eating it's been coming through almost straight away. I'll try some dry toast. I woke up yesterday with major heartburn (that's what I thought it was to start with) and everytime I ate that's what it felt like then I ran.
Danielle - she's gone once today already but it wasn't as runny as the past 2 days but it was a different colour than normal.

Kelly it could possible just be a change in routine as much you may hate to realise it. Em was sleeping through from about 10 till 6 and all all a sudden will go down at 9 but wake up twice during the night for a feed. And before the 10 - 6 routine there was another one... Just because she slept through at first doesn't mean she always will. BUT she could be having a growth spurt or just be a bit unsettled. Is she in any pain going twice a day? What colour is it lol?

She doesn't seem to be in any pain. She just grizzily most of the day at the moment when she used to be quite placid. She's pushing again now but seems OK. Just a red face because she's holding her breath when pushing. She's having bright mustard colour ones at the moment. She used to have brown/greeny ones before.

She's been a hungry little tike today. She's only had 75ml at 7am and I've just fed her again because she was really grizzly and she's taken another 175mls only an hour and a half later. She seems content right now but for how long I don't know.

If feeding her is settling her, just feed her whenever she's cranky. The upset tummy or poo change could be from the extra food.
I would have though mustard poos were good at this age, but then I dont know much about formula poos, so here's hoping!

Your daughter is so similar to mine it is not funny.
Except that my DD is 3 months tomorrow.
I have had the same problem with DD before.
Well your daughter could be going through a growth spurt.
I'm not saying anything to scare you here but if she is having the runs and only just vomiting again she possibly has a tummy bug but have her checked out because if it is a tummy bug and it's not treated if needed, it could be a gastric problem which needs antibiotics....won't go away by itself. It hasn't killed a baby in a long time but left untreated can be fatal.
HTH

Kristee-Lea - 21
Tarleha Maye - 29/06/06
Tying the knot 7th April
TTC March/April (unofficialy Jan onwards)

She hasn't really thrown up that much and today she hasn't at all. She's been quite good today. She's had a 2 hour sleep this morning and has just been sitting in her bouncer all over the house just watching what I'm donig. Hopefully the night goes just as well.

Thanks for all your words of encouragement. I feel so much better after what I hear from you guys.

Hi!

It sounds like she's just being a bubba to me!!! She's so little still and going through so many changes.

I know with Louis he didn't start sleeping through until 9 months! So up until then each night would bring something different. Since he has been "sleeping through" we've still had plenty of occasions when he has woken up through the night again.

I know it can be frustrating but the best thing to do is just go with the flow when they're this small.....

Well last night was a complete sleep through from 8.30pm to 7.15am so I'm not 100% sure what happened but she seemed more content yesterday during the day and got cranky at 5.30pm until she went to bed which was normal. We also gave her some 'Nuddy Time' at 6.30pm and then a bath so maybe that's the routine we need for a while. Who really knows.

Thanks everyone!!

Babies are so tricky aren't they ;) Certainly keep you on your toes! Hope you are feeling better with a full nights sleep.