Since my daughter was about 5 weeks old she had been sleeping for 5-6 hours at a time, and by 2 months she was only waking up once in the night to eat, and sometimes even sleeping through the nightThis past week though she is waking up twice a night, and at 3am she is all smiles and it takes up to 2 hours to get her back to sleepI'm not sure if this is because she isn't getting enough to eat in the day (she's 17 1/2 pounds, and I'm breastfeeding and pumping at work.I think she's eating about 35 oz a day), or if it's a phase because she's so aware of her environment that she doesn't want to go back to sleep (or both)Does anyone have any experience with a problem like this or any suggestions?
At about 3-4 months, babies will often go through a growth spurt where they will eat more frequentlyIt's completely normal to start sleeping better around 6 weeks, then a couple months later start waking again at nightYou will find that you will experience periods of night-time waking throughout the first yearIf your baby still doesn't sleep all night by the end of the first year because you're getting up to feed her, that is usually the fault of the parentBut at this age, she sounds right on trackAlthough, she probably is big for her age (17-1/2 pounds at 3-1/2 months is pretty big-my 7 month old daughter is about 18-1/2 pounds and she's in the 90th percentile)Also, at this age, she does become more aware of her surroundings and the desire to see you and play with you can cause her to want to stay awake when she wakes at nightBabies, like all people, have sleep rhythms, and they have sleeping and waking cycles at nightMost of time, we just go back to sleep after briefly waking, but babies will often be hungry, need a diaper change, or just want to playTry darkening her room with room darkening shades (I've even covered my kids' windows with dark blankets, black garbage bags, and aluminum foil in an effort to get them to sleep better in a darker room)Try putting her to bed by about 7 pm (an earlier bedtime often helps them sleep longer at night-I don't know why other than it just improves the sleep cycle) Sleep issues are probably the biggest stressor, other than serious illnesses, that you experience with babies and young childrenAt least that's been my experience.
