A new record

Our beautiful, sunny, sweet, strapping lad woke up 15 times last night.  I think.  It might have been more but we have trouble counting now.

He goes to sleep beautifully.  His bedtime routine is so pleasant for all of us - he smiles, we smile, we sing, he gurgles, it's lovely - and I think it's really working.  We put him down drowsy, he goes straight to sleep and sleeps soundly for 3-4 hours in his bassinet.

And then it begins...  He tosses and turns, fussing in his sleep, every 20-30 minutes.  If you can manage to convince him to take a pacifier, he sucks for 10 seconds and goes to sleep without really ever waking up.  If you pick him up and rock him, he will also go back to sleep within a minute.  If I nurse him, he's not really hungry but he'll go back to sleep after a few slurps.  If you DON'T settle him, he eventually wakes himself up. He's not too hot or cold (definitely not feverish), as far as we can tell, and anyway the room temperature is the same as it was.  He doesn't seem to be in pain, just uncomfortable and unsettled.  He's got the same wearable blanket/swaddle as before, and NOT using it makes things worse, not better.  During the day he's happy and smiling and his naps have become quite predictable (and they are longer than 20-30 minutes!).  He's the picture of health and seems content.  If he's got gas, it's a mystery to us why it suddenly bothers him at night, but not during the day.

Maybe he hates sleeping on his back, or rather, it becomes uncomfortable for him after several hours.  When we put him in his bouncer (which doesn't bounce automatically, so the difference is just that he's at a slight angle and slightly more snuggled) he sleeps much better.  Sometimes we do that if we just can't get him to sleep in his bassinet or next to me by about 4 AM.  Maybe it's related to an upcoming motor milestone - he's grabbing things better and better, but hasn't yet got it nailed down. We desperately hope this is a phase (perhaps related to my return to work) that will end soon.