Fussy between 2 A.M. and 4:30 A.M.

Hi all! Have been reading the forum for awhile now and what a wealth of information. I am in need of some advice or help now based on your expertise. We have boy/girl twins born at 37 weeks and are now 10 weeks old. Both are starting to go down for bed about 8:30-9:00. They usually both wake up about 1:00 to eat and go back to sleep. Most nights my girl will sleep to 5:00, but my boy wakes up between 2:00-3:00 hungry and fussy. I feed and burp him, but he will not go back to sleep. He cries and acts very fussy like gas - but this only happens at night around this time. I usually cannot get him back to sleep until 4:30 or 5:00. Any suggestions?? What am I doing wrong??

 

QUOTE(leftfldr @ Dec 3 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]519181[/snapback]
Hi all! Have been reading the forum for awhile now and what a wealth of information. I am in need of some advice or help now based on your expertise. We have boy/girl twins born at 37 weeks and are now 10 weeks old. Both are starting to go down for bed about 8:30-9:00. They usually both wake up about 1:00 to eat and go back to sleep. Most nights my girl will sleep to 5:00, but my boy wakes up between 2:00-3:00 hungry and fussy. I feed and burp him, but he will not go back to sleep. He cries and acts very fussy like gas - but this only happens at night around this time. I usually cannot get him back to sleep until 4:30 or 5:00. Any suggestions?? What am I doing wrong??


I wish I could help. But I dont have a clue. One thing , are the dim lights too bright for him?

 

If he eats at one, is he hungry again at 2?? Maybe he gets an upset stomach from eating again so soon? Is it possible that he has gas from not burping well at the one o'clock feeding, that happened with my DS, he would fall back asleep before burping, then wake up later with an upset tummy. Also, maybe he is uncomfortable laying flat, could you try propping him up a bit or letting him sleep in his carseat or bouncy to see if that helps? I don't know that I would feed him at one and two, I would pick one or the other and see if that makes a difference.

 

I am just guessing that he is hungry again. He sometimes only eats about 2 - 2/12 oz at 1:00 (and then again sometimes 3 oz) so I figure he is hungry again, but maybe not?? He will only calm down though by sucking on the bottle. Maybe he is not burping enough at 1:00 - I can try that and see if it helps. They are both sleeping on boppy pillows right now as I cannot seem to get them transitioned into the crib yet - I thought I would get them sleeping mostly through the night first and then move them or is it better the other way?

 

I can't help you on the sleep transition thing as we are dealing with that too. Right now DD will almost sleep through the night (9p-4a) but only if she's laying in bed with me, I have gotten her out of my arms but not yet into her own crib. So if they sleep better in boppies I wouldn't mess with it. How did it go last night? My other thought is maybe just try to comfort him at one and then feed him at 2/2:30 when he wakes up??

 

First you aren't doing anything wrong. Will he take a pacifier? If the sucking is soothing to him this might help. He might be waking up because he's wet (after eating at 1) or because he needs to burp again and then he gets fussy because he is tired and can't get back to sleep. Do you use gas drops (mylicon)?

 

You're not doing anything wrong!

Have you tried gas drops? They might help a lot. My babies also found a warm compress on the tummy very soothing. (We used tube socks filled with uncooked rice, microwaved for a minute.)

Also, if you're formula feeding, is there a chance that he needs a different formula?

Good luck. I hope this phase passes quickly!

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am hoping that it was a burping issue because last night was so much better. My husband takes the 9:00 P.M. - 1:00 A.M. shift and I think he was feeding DS then burping then letting him finish and then sleep without burping again (which I can't say that I blame him for trying since burping them normally wakes them up then hard to get back to sleep). I asked him to make sure he did last night. He didn't wake up again until 5:30!! I hope we are on the way to sleeping longer at night.

Do I just continue to let them sleep on boppies until they are sleeping through the night or is it easier to transition them now? They HATE being swaddled so not sure how the crib thing is going to go!

 

QUOTE(leftfldr @ Dec 4 2007, 11:53 AM) [snapback]520291[/snapback]
Thanks for all the suggestions. I am hoping that it was a burping issue because last night was so much better. My husband takes the 9:00 P.M. - 1:00 A.M. shift and I think he was feeding DS then burping then letting him finish and then sleep without burping again (which I can't say that I blame him for trying since burping them normally wakes them up then hard to get back to sleep). I asked him to make sure he did last night. He didn't wake up again until 5:30!! I hope we are on the way to sleeping longer at night.

Do I just continue to let them sleep on boppies until they are sleeping through the night or is it easier to transition them now? They HATE being swaddled so not sure how the crib thing is going to go!

You are still in what I call "survival mode" with twinfants, so I would do whatever works as far as getting yourself the most sleep! Emma slept in her swing for the first 3 months straight...all night! And Jake slept with me!