14 week old eating like crazy and doesn't sleep!

[@llli*minigingerbread]

My 14 week old is suddenly eating like no tomorrow for the past week. He feeds every hour in the day and every 2 hours at night. He takes only extremely short naps in the day, half an hour maximum. So I can't really sleep when baby sleeps. Last night when he woke up for a feed I was so dizzy from exhaustion that I nearly dropped him (and myself). I thought he already had his growth spurt at 12 weeks when he fed every 45 min one day and then went back to normal. I dont know what's happening to him now. He used to have a 5hour stretch of sleep at night but it's gone now. Everyone is telling me to let dh give bottles at night but I'm reluctant because of fear of decreasing supply, and dh is working full time, I want him to rest too. I thought growth spurts do not last more than 3 days?
Lo is otherwise healthy but my physical state is really ****ty! I feel like its a never ending nightmare with no light at the end!
Oh, and I can't co sleep because Lo makes a lot of sounds in his sleep and I'm an extremely light sleeper. Can't do side-lying too no matter how I try.
Anyone went through similar experience? Now do you deal with extreme exhaustion?

[@llli*auderey]

Hi mama, sounds like you're having a tough time! You're right, the best thing to do is continue to nurse on demand. Maybe it's a growth spurt, maybe it's teething, whatever it is, a 14 week old's "wants" really are "needs". And the only constant is that everything changes, just when you finally have it down.

So - coping strategies - you've got to find a way to get more sleep, and this might take some creativity and some adjustment in your expectations. Even a half hour rest/nap is better than nothing. With DS, he would only sleep half an hour on his own, but on a chest or next to me or DH in bed, he'd go for an hour or two. DH took a LOT of naps that way with DS. So I'd encourage you to revisit that option.

My sleeping patterns changed completely when I had DS - I sleep much lighter now - but i think the reason is so that I am able to respond to him at night (we bed-share). In other words, light sleeping is what seems NORMAL to me as a mom of a young baby. As he gets older, more sturdy, sleeps longer, I find I am starting to sleep more deeply again. I coped by spending a lot of time in bed - starting at birth I would be in bed with DS for about 12 hours a nights - and 12 hours of interrupted light sleep was totally enough for me to feel rested. Yes, this means giving up evenings for awhile, but I needed to be rested for work, so for those months, that was the priority. Now around a year all of a sudden I can nurse him to sleep, then get up for an hour and do some housework or hang with DH, and go back to bed. It's amazing! But I still need more than 8 hours to feel rested.

Have you seen this side-lying tutorial?
http://mother-2-mother.com/tut-layingdown.htm

[@llli*minigingerbread]

Does teething mean nursing more? Lo is salivating more, and licks everything near his mouth, his fists and my shoulders included. I don't see any red and sore spots on his gums though. If its due to teething, how long will this last? I can't take this any longer!

[@llli*phi]

Yes, teething can lead to increased nursing. You can try giving a dose of ibuprofen or acetaminophen before bed and see if it helps at all. You might want to try to eat more (healthy stuff of course) if you are feeling dizzy; that can result from not getting enough nourishment.

I had to sit up, latch my son, then lay down with him latched for awhile to get side lying nursing down. After my son got used to it, I didn't need to sit up anymore. Can you play music or white noise at night to mask some of the noises hat our baby is making? Go to bed early and sneak in as many naps as possible.