11 week old kicking and squirming

[freescot]

I’ve been co sleeping with my 11 week old pretty much since birth and we were all sleeping quite well (about 2 wake ups on average each night) until recently. I used to sleep through his active sleeping most of the time but recently, as he’s gotten bigger, this has been hard work.

He’s a big boy and was born 10 lbs 3, now weighs 15 lbs. He’s developmentally ahead with the majority of milestones, particularly strength related, and had a strong kick from being in the womb.

Recently I’ve been waking up to him kicking me in the tummy (flaring up my c section scar) and nudging right up to me even when I try to move him away (which is cute but not when the kicking starts). Sometimes I’m thinking he must be hungry so I sit up and feed him and he falls straight to sleep but then the cycle restarts.

Sometimes I side feed but recently this has just ended up going on and on (and on) to the point we’re awake for over an hour in the middle of the night so I’ve stopped doing that. I wear nipple shields and it makes it difficult to let him be latched on/off as he pleases.
I’ve tried a dummy which he will use I n a carrier as he can hold it in pressed against me but in bed it just falls out. I’ve tried holding it in until he falls asleep which sometimes works but recently he just wakes back up again.

I guess my questions are:
1) is this just a phase or is it likely to get worse as he grows?
2) would it be worth trying him in his next to me crib?
3) if I don’t wake him and just keep creating a bit of distance, am I ignoring hunger cues (he doesn’t really cry to be fed anymore unless cues haven’t been responded to)
4) any other advice at all?

I love co sleeping but I also love (and need) sleep so I’m stuck on what to do

 

[craigbrickhill]

@freescot Is he being burped? Or does he have gas? This happened to me when my LO was that age. I tried mylicon drops for a while before his last night feed and before night feeds and it worked. It did pass though

 

[freescot]

@craigbrickhill Good point, I stopped burping him as much as a few weeks ago as he seemed to be bringing them up by himself but he does still seem to get some reflux. It does make sense as he often thinks he wants to feed more when he’s got a burp that needs bringing up. I’ll try getting some and burping him a bit before putting him down. Thank you!

 

[gpink]

@freescot I second the gas comment. My baby started kicking and flailing so much starting around that time, it was driving me crazy. I read that she may have to burp. Lo and behold, she would usually have a huge burp if I sat her upright and burped her. She has stopped for now (18w), but if she ever gets squirmy, I pick her up and put her upright in a froggy leg position and wait a min for any trapped air to shift.

Occasionally she still gets squirmy and has no gas, so I’ll kind of jiggle her when she in a side feed position as a rocking motion for 10min or so and slowly go lighter and lighter. It seems sometimes she needs whole body stimulation, like when you need to shake out after sitting a long time. This usually happens in the very early morning.

Also, I was having to do nipples shields at night and it SUCKED. Solidarity there. I figured it out side laying, but best thing I did was work on getting her to latch without them. It took about 3 weeks, but we don’t need them at all anymore.

 

[freescot]

@gpink This is good to know thanks! I’d thought of all the possibilities except this haha, it used to be really obvious when he had any sort of gas but not so much now. I often lay him to sleep on his side after a feed (I know you’re not supposed to) which sometimes helps a bit and I turn him back onto his back after a bit. I’ll try adding in the jiggling and a bit of burping, hopefully that will help!

Yes nipple shields are such a faff aren’t they, working on stopping them so fingers crossed we get there. Gives me hope that you were able to!