Hi all,
My 3 month old never seems tired before 9.30pm-ish, and that has been really great for us as from 5 weeks old he was sleeping through from 10pm til at least 5am (this has recently changed to 4am and more recently 3am... as a side note, help!! What's going on?)

I just wondered, what time other peopleould be putting their babies of this age to bed? I feel as though if tried to put him down earlier he would be impossible o get to sleep and then wake earlier and more frequentlt during the night?

Also, my baby is quite diabolical throughout the evening from say 7pm onwards (yet not easily put to sleep - perhaps overtired?) and lately I have been letting him cluster feed so he spends the evening feeding and snoozing until finally he falls off to sleep properly and I put him down. However since I have started letting him do this he has been waking earlier and earlier in the 'morning'. I'm just wondering if this is because me milk supply is so low from all the feeding all evening je is not getting one big feed to full him up and last him through? At times by 9.30pm he will be sucking on my nipple forever before he even seems to get anything and seems very frustrated. Last night I tried to hold him off by a couple of hours so he could have a big feed before bed and this resulted in things being even worse - him waking up at 3am...

Also confused if his waking is even out of hunger or just because he is learning to do it now ...

Argh it's so hard... can't wait til he can talk and tell me exactly what he wants!!!!!! smile

Oh Honey I know how you feel!!!.. Every bub is different though, & there are no hard & fast times for sleeping... He could be having a growth spurt... Maybe try expressing some milk to top him up before bed... Also the hrs from 7pm onward could be his witching hour.. DD is 5.5 mths old & everytime I think I know her sleep pattern it changes, All I can say is have a consistent routine (i.e DD... Dinner @ 5pm, Bath straight after, playtime, bottle @ 7.30, then chill time with us until she goes to sleep, usually about 8.30ish) Its hard but eventually he will sort himself out!! Hope this helps a little bit...

Cluster feeds in the evening are totally normal. Try not to express for "top up" as this will just throw out the balance of the supply and demand that your baby is managing all on his own. There no "should be" about baby bedtimes, just follow your LOs queues when they're tired and they'll fall into their own pattern. My 3 mth old is cluster feeding late in the afternoon then sleeping for a few hours and spending an hour or so awake and then down for the night between 11-midnight. Tbh trying to mess with their natural routines just seems to be the beginning of other problems ime.

My twins were a little like this around 5 months (10 months now). I used to give them a bath around 5 - 6ish, then try to have quiet time (dull lighting, no TV)for the next hour or so. Then wrap & put into bed - easy in theory & it worked some nights but not others. I also found around 6 months they had a growth spurt which changed the game....maybe that's what's happening?

Don't know if this helps as i think all babies just sometimes have their own agenda! All my four children were totally different...

all my kids were a bit different but i agree with ruby gloom (as i often do smile ) all mine cluster fed in the evenings and were unsettled from about 5pm onwards.

DS2 is 3months atm too and hes definately cluster feeding and not finally settling for the night until close to 9pm or often later and sleeps until about 3, has a feed, back to sleep then wakes at about 6am. he still has 4 sleeps in the day, one cat nap in the morning and 3x 1.5hour sleeps with feeds upon waking.

it honestly sounds like your doing really well smile its normal for bubs to wake early in the mornings, and they often have growth spurts around 3 months that can make their feeds both day and night more frequent for a period of time, but it passes. and i definately wouldnt holf him off for his evening feed as the constant clustering relaxes them and calms them so when you finally do put them down theyre easier to settle, just be sure that they do some burps. ive also found a formula or EBM 'top up' at night to make things worse all my kids seemed to get sore tummys if i did this.

as i said i think your doing well, dont stress theyll change theyre patterns all the time xxx

Definately each baby is different smile My 15 wk old son goes down at 7pm...dream feed at 10 30 wakes around 4 for a feed then sleeps till 7am. It has been keeping a consistent routine to get him to this poit though...lol

My daughter was sleeping through the night at his age...and a couple of times when we have been somewhere or doing something and he hasnt gone down till 9 930ish he will sleep the whole night as well. However because he hasnt had his 12 hrs that night he is crankier during the day lol

My DD as i said slept through at this stage but went to bed a lot later and slept in till around the 9am mark...sounds great i know but have had trouble now that she is older and we have things we need to do in the mornings..she still prefers to stay up late then sleep in!! are finally starting to adjust her to an earlier bedtime..YAY!!

My son i a very happy,easygoing baby. QUite content to just hang out,my daughter was a VERY different story!! lol she barely slept through the day and was cranky all the time. My son shows the same behaviour now when he is OVERTIRED! I have a feeling i may have allowed her to be sleep deprived sad feel so guilty for it now! he only has 2 2hr sleeps through the day (9am,1pm) and an hours nap in the arvo but he quite happily has 2hrs of awake/play time between these. My daughter wasnt awake for long periods of time...just very often and wasnt happy for much of it. I personally have found it much easier having a routine to follow..i know when is around about due for a feed or sleep. Each day is a little different..sometimes he may want to go to bed a little earlier or feed more often but that basic routine is till in place...I LOVE it!

I do find that if we are busy and i dont get him down till a little late he is a lot harder to settle and stay sleeping..he will stir quite a bit. I am assuming it is because he is overtired as there are no such probs if i keep his usual time.

Sorry if I have really rambled on here but am so excited to have a happy baby who sleeps!! LOl It sounds like you are doing a fantastic job!GOod Luck smile

hi its hard work seems like somedays are just good others not
we used a bottle at night making sure she had enough.
she is now four months old and we still have witching hours.
try to feed every 3 or 4 hours throughout the day.
and make sure dd gets alot of sleep.
our dd can have 5 hours sleep a day and still be very overtied by 7pm'
as soon as you see dd rubbing the eyes or yawning put into bed before gets overtied.
as for the waking could be hunger try to resettle with food.
big growth spurt at about 3 months hang in ther
I would express and see how much milk you are making it is lower in the evenings good luck
pp try infants friend for wind seems to work forus.

Thanks guys for all your very helpful responses! Soo good. Well my son went back to his normal night time sleeping however we moved him into a cot two nights ago and he's been waking up round 2 or 3am the last two nights - but hopefully this stops once he gets used to his new bed/room.

Mummy_from_home our boys are around the same age and your routine sounds great. I actually don't think I was letting my son sleep long enough!! I'd love to get him into bed about 7 or 7.30 and for him to have 10 - 12 hours sleep at night! I've noticed the nights he does he is so much more chirpier the next day! Just have to work to get him to sleep earlier before he gets overtired. Routine is good - we were getting into a good little routine a couple of weeks back with day sleeps / feeds but something happened and it's gone a bit out of whack.

Also I have been putting my son into bed once asleep for every sleep. Is 3 months too young to try and put him to bed awake - without using methods involving leaving him to cry?? What do you guys do?

Definately each baby is different smile My 15 wk old son goes down at 7pm...dream feed at 10 30 wakes around 4 for a feed then sleeps till 7am. It has been keeping a consistent routine to get him to this poit though...lol

My daughter was sleeping through the night at his age...and a couple of times when we have been somewhere or doing something and he hasnt gone down till 9 930ish he will sleep the whole night as well. However because he hasnt had his 12 hrs that night he is crankier during the day lol

My DD as i said slept through at this stage but went to bed a lot later and slept in till around the 9am mark...sounds great i know but have had trouble now that she is older and we have things we need to do in the mornings..she still prefers to stay up late then sleep in!! are finally starting to adjust her to an earlier bedtime..YAY!!

My son i a very happy,easygoing baby. QUite content to just hang out,my daughter was a VERY different story!! lol she barely slept through the day and was cranky all the time. My son shows the same behaviour now when he is OVERTIRED! I have a feeling i may have allowed her to be sleep deprived sad feel so guilty for it now! he only has 2 2hr sleeps through the day (9am,1pm) and an hours nap in the arvo but he quite happily has 2hrs of awake/play time between these. My daughter wasnt awake for long periods of time...just very often and wasnt happy for much of it. I personally have found it much easier having a routine to follow..i know when is around about due for a feed or sleep. Each day is a little different..sometimes he may want to go to bed a little earlier or feed more often but that basic routine is till in place...I LOVE it!

I do find that if we are busy and i dont get him down till a little late he is a lot harder to settle and stay sleeping..he will stir quite a bit. I am assuming it is because he is overtired as there are no such probs if i keep his usual time.

Sorry if I have really rambled on here but am so excited to have a happy baby who sleeps!! LOl It sounds like you are doing a fantastic job!GOod Luck smile

Thanks guys for all your very helpful responses! Soo good. Well my son went back to his normal night time sleeping however we moved him into a cot two nights ago and he's been waking up round 2 or 3am the last two nights - but hopefully this stops once he gets used to his new bed/room.

Mummy_from_home our boys are around the same age and your routine sounds great. I actually don't think I was letting my son sleep long enough!! I'd love to get him into bed about 7 or 7.30 and for him to have 10 - 12 hours sleep at night! I've noticed the nights he does he is so much more chirpier the next day! Just have to work to get him to sleep earlier before he gets overtired. Routine is good - we were getting into a good little routine a couple of weeks back with day sleeps / feeds but something happened and it's gone a bit out of whack.

Also I have been putting my son into bed once asleep for every sleep. Is 3 months too young to try and put him to bed awake - without using methods involving leaving him to cry?? What do you guys do?

Hi,
I have a 12 week old who goes through stages. I try put her to bed around 7pm (used to be 11pm - slowly wound it back) once she slept for 10 hours straight. Most times she sleeps form 7 until around midnight 1am occassionally she requires 2 feeds a night. I feed her while she is still pretty much asleep. Yes it is annoying sometimes to be up twice a night but as long as she goes straight back to sleep after her feed it's not so bad.

In answer to putting him down awake you can definately do that. I don't like to hear my baby cry. So I started at about six weeks patting her to sleep just when her eyes would do the heavy blinks I would put her in her cot. If she woke up and was grisly I would leave her in her cot and rub her belly in clockwise motion just for a minute and put dummy in and walk out of room. I would just repeat this until she was asleep. Now at bed time I wrap her and start patting her as I walk to her room and put her in bed. Occasionally she has a cry which sounds like a sheep. just mah then a minute later mah. I ignore this one but if there is any more than that I go in and put her dummy in and rub belly for a few secs and walk out so she knows we are still here.

Thanks heaps Vanessa - just feels like there's so much pressure to get your baby sleeping through the night it's so disappointing when they go backwards!! Good advice, thanks heaps!

Hi,
I have a 12 week old who goes through stages. I try put her to bed around 7pm (used to be 11pm - slowly wound it back) once she slept for 10 hours straight. Most times she sleeps form 7 until around midnight 1am occassionally she requires 2 feeds a night. I feed her while she is still pretty much asleep. Yes it is annoying sometimes to be up twice a night but as long as she goes straight back to sleep after her feed it's not so bad.

In answer to putting him down awake you can definately do that. I don't like to hear my baby cry. So I started at about six weeks patting her to sleep just when her eyes would do the heavy blinks I would put her in her cot. If she woke up and was grisly I would leave her in her cot and rub her belly in clockwise motion just for a minute and put dummy in and walk out of room. I would just repeat this until she was asleep. Now at bed time I wrap her and start patting her as I walk to her room and put her in bed. Occasionally she has a cry which sounds like a sheep. just mah then a minute later mah. I ignore this one but if there is any more than that I go in and put her dummy in and rub belly for a few secs and walk out so she knows we are still here.

It is disappointing but I find that each time Zara goes back to waking up more frequently she is usually growing.