sleepless nights

Ashleigh - posted on 11/17/2008

I feel for you. Cooper, my little guy had colic at first, so rarely slept. He grew out of the colic but still would never sleep, waking up every single hour in the night to nurse! I finally got fed up, and got a book called the Sleep Sense Program. It was a miracle, he sleeps 12 hours a night now, and 2 two and a half hour naps a day! It was really hard at first, because it is letting your baby cry it out, but you are able to stay in the room with them if you feel the need to. I didn't stay in the room because i felt it was harder on him. I find the biggest thing is not to give in and to have a routine! He has a bath every night at 6:30pm, then I nurse him, read a story, say a prayer and say goodnight to some items in his room. Do you give him a soother? Because you should stop giving him that in the night too, because he needs to learn to fall asleep and stay alseep on his own. And he most definetly isn't hungry in the middle of the night if he's eating lots during the day! What i found that works really well is that I keep a blanket and a little stuffed toy in his crib, but they can only stay in the crib (I bring them with me if we go to someone's house etc.) When he sees those items he knows that it's time for sleep and he does really well. At first, he would cry for about 40 minutes to 60 minutes, but now he cries for maybe 10 minutes, not even. He sleeps from about 7, 7:30pm to 7, 7:30am! If you need more info just message me, and good luck :)

Claire - posted on 11/13/2008

I have a similar thing my daughter is 6 1/2 months old, she oten wakes in the middle of the night and thinks it's play time and starts squiling and playing in her cot, i often just ignore her hoping she goes back to sleep but then she starts grizzling so i get up wrap her tightly give her a dummy and she is ussually bak to sleep it works most nights i dont eed her in the middle of the night as i know she doesn't need it.

Sonja - posted on 11/13/2008

I went through the same thing. Baby was sleeping through the night until 6 1/2 months. Then started waking 4 times a night. I tried the 'cry it out' method this week. She now sleeps 6 hours straight but then wakes for a feeding. She's also teething big time and will wake up 4 hours later and stay awake and chew on her blanket for an hour....making a lot of moaning sounds. I feel so bad for her and sometimes go in and feed her again to help calm her down. Is that ok? When 'should' they start sleeping 11-12 hours straight without needing a feeding?

Katia - posted on 11/13/2008

you can't force a baby to sleep... when he's ready to sleep throught the night he will ;o)
don't worry about that...

Jennifer - posted on 11/13/2008

Jennifer, I am in the same boat! We have a 2 1/2 year old running around as well as an active little dog, so during the day our little one is constantly whipping her head around to watch them instead of nursing really well. But during the night she nurses great and that's probably why she wakes up. I also noticed our little girl's stomach makes sounds when I'm nursing her at night and she always does her #2 thing shortly after she gets up so I wonder if her tummy wakes her up! When my husband's home I do take her in her room for nursings during the day and she does better those nights...

Erica - posted on 11/12/2008

Okay so OUCH! That must hurt! I remember Grady doing this recently, but I don't have constant distraction like you do so I would def try the bottle. I supplement 1-2 feeds/day to free my hands up a little, but that is just me--never nurse less than 4x/day (or pump) in order to maintain adeq. supply.

I would give 1/2 bottle or one breast and the food and then the rest of the liquid. Remember the main source of the nutrition is the milk, not the food. Remember it should go: Feedtime, waketime, sleeptime so that a full nap is taken and the baby doens't need the bottle or breast to sleep. He should be getting 4-6 feeding/day.

At 8-9-10 pm -whatever is your last feeding,offer one bottle at bed time and then down to sleep.

If he wakes before 5 am, then check the diaper and rock him back to sleep. He will fight you hard the first night or two. Be sure to set your mind to your goal beforehand and don't resort to feeding in the middle of the night. You know he had plenty during the day. If you get frustrated, put him down and walk out until you calm down and start over. I promise it only takes a few nights of this.

As for the amount in a bottle? If you use a pump, it will dispense however much your breasts produce in one sitting. Grady is now 7 months and take 5-6 oz/feeding, but all babies are diff. Use your head and think logically here--only you know your baby.

I do have to say, when they are teething, nursing in the middle of the night doens't help the pain and can start a bad habit. Been there! Now on the few nights when he does wake up bcs of his teeth, I hush him back ot sleep and sometimes put 3 of those tinyhomeopathic teething tablets under his tongue with his pacifier. It distracts him enough to calm him down.

I bet you are a great mom and doing a great job--remember--everything they do is just a stage and you both will get through it!

Could this be any longer?

Jennifer - posted on 11/12/2008

PS if u are gonna tell me to go into a quiet room to feed her, i cant! the other two are 15 months and just under 3 years and i dont trust leaving them unattended for that amount of time!

Jennifer - posted on 11/12/2008

erica, so like i said in my above post, my daughter did exactly that...start waking up around 5 months...im thinking teething. also i started babysitting a little boy during the week and between him and my older daughter there is a lot of actvity going on while i am trying to nurse my baby. so she is very distracted and wanting to watch the kids play and turns her head and pulls off all the time. im thinking that she is waking up and wanting to nurse and is able to nurse better in the quiet dark, because she hasnt been able to have a real solid feed in the day. im having to nurse her off schedule in the day because she pulls off so much that im sure she isnt getting enough. how many times a day do u think should nurse her? she also eats baby cereal for break. fruit for lunch and veggie/meat combo for dinner. i try to nurse her after she wakes up in the AM and after both naps and before bed, but it seems like i am doing a lot more than that because of her distraction. with all this being said, do you think bottle feeding would regulate daytime feedings and in turn make her sleep the night? if so, how many ounces should she be drinking and how often. i didnt have the feeding issue with my older one, cause it was ALWAYS quiet when you just have one. 2 or 3 is totally different story!

Erica - posted on 11/12/2008

This is what I teach in my parenting classes :At 7 months, babies should def be sleeping 6-7 hours at the very least. Around 5mo, give or take, they can start waking up for no reason. If you give them a min or so they may settle right back down. There is no harm in letting them fuss for a short period of time. Then you can go in, reassure them and maybe try rocking them right back, It may take one or two nights of doing this, but feeding the baby starts a habit that really isn't neceessary IF your baby is eating well and gaining weight. But the general rule is always that once you can establish a decently predictable schedule for feedings during the day, the sleeppatterns generally follow suit. Whenever a baby wakes up crying hard it usually means they have not had enough sleep and something woke them or they are waking out of habit. Learning to settle himself is a key element that might be missing. At this age you can look into the Ferber method if you are comfortable with it, but try refusing food in the middle of the night and see if that helps. Babies at this age don't wake up bcs they are hungry, but usually out of habit. Hope this helps.

Jennifer - posted on 11/12/2008

carissa, you sound exactly like me! my older daughter did the same thing as yours and like you said, just go with the flow and they will stop eventually. also mahnaz, remember that at this age, teeth are really starting to terrorize them and nursing or bottles always is a great soothing device or if he takes a soother give him that if you dont want to get him in the habit of eating in the night...but i definately think cuddling them has no harm. my now 7 month old did the same thing, slept the night till 5.5 months and then started waking once up to three times a night and just last week cut her first teeth. so now it begins because i will definately be seeing some more teeth coming probably once a month or so (because so far she is following the exact pattern of my older daughter)...sleepless nights are beginning again, but once the first set of molars are through, there are only a few more and sleeping will start again...and then you might get lucky with nightmares and then night time potty training etc...so u never really get to sleep....haha! enjoy the quiet time and remember that you are not up alone with your baby...we are all probably sitting with ours at the same time as you somewhere!

Carissa - posted on 11/12/2008

My baby was sleeping through the night and then quit at about 6 months. I am just going with the flow and nursing him when he wakes up (it is only once or twice, and it is great cuddle time). I also don't pick him up immediately when he starts fussing, because sometimes he just fusses himself back to sleep (no crying, just fussing). I figure that by the time he's a year or so old, he'll be sleeping through the night on his own, so why worry?

Brandelle - posted on 11/12/2008

dont feel alone my baby boy is 6 months and two week he wakes up about five times in the night crying Im not to sure why or what the reason is but if i give him his bottle for maybe 1 min hes back out..He doesnt reallly have a bed time for no matter what hes always up every 2hrs about...Does your baby sleep much through the day?

Jennifer - posted on 11/12/2008

My little one is the same - my first was sleeping through the night practically right away! I'm not sure what you feed him, but have you tried giving him cereal before bed? Also, do you let him try to go back to sleep. My little girl will fuss for about 10-15 mins. sometimes at night and then soothe herself back to sleep. Good luck!