Sleeping Through the Night

ILHAMANGGAI - posted on 07/28/2009

All babies are different. Need to be patient and hang in there. It is tiring but it is worth it.

Sarah - posted on 07/28/2009

What I did with this is not feed her for a few hours before bedtime and then when she's so tired she can't think plus extremely hungry. At this pound you will know because she'll be attacking your shirt and trying to rip it off!! lol. I fed her and then put her to bed. She would wake up once in the night to be fed and then fall back asleep. Good luck!!

Stephanie - posted on 07/28/2009

my little man is 10 weeks & sleeping for 6 hours at night. I swaddle him as well but it seems like he's growing out of it. He becomes fussy & stirs a lot during the night perhaps your daughter is growing out of the swaddling technique too & thats why she isn't sleeping well?

Marie - posted on 07/28/2009

Oh, and making sure she takes good naps during the day is important too. My baby doesn't sleep well if we miss any of her naps and she gets very cranky and whiny.

Marie - posted on 07/28/2009

I am breastfeeding. At her 4 month check-up, the pediatrician said that she did not have a physical need to eat in he middle of the night anymore. He told me, if it was possible, to put her in her own room. He said that she senses me in the room and cries for me for attention. He also told me to establish a routine, like dinner (solids), playtime, bath, nursing, then bed. He said that if she cries, soothe her (but don't feed or pick her up) and then leave the room. If she cries again, he said to stay out of the room until I couldn't stand it anymore, then soothe her again. I followed his advise and it got better. My friend also breastfed her 4 kids and co-sleeps with them, well the 2 oldest are in their own rooms, but the 4 and 2 year olds are still with them. She said they don't sleep well at all and she wishes that she had put them in her own room when they were younger. Every child is different though. Try different things until you find out what works for you and your baby. Keep in mind, babies change alot and what works at first, may not work later and you will have to adjust your methods again. Hope I was able to help and good luck.

Stephanie - posted on 07/27/2009

My son is 5 months old and still doesnt sleep throught the night for me. The worst part it trying to get him to sleep. Once he is asleep though, he will sleep for about 5 hour incriments, then he will wake up every 3 hours after that until I wake him up for good. Its a hassle but my pediatrition told me that it is normal for breastfed babies to wake up for feedings more often. I was told that as they get older, they will sleep for longer periods of time. And so far, he seems to be following that. It was hard for the first 4 1/2 months, but it gets better.

Michelle - posted on 07/27/2009

I highly recommend a book called "The sleepeasy solution" which gives you simple tips and a great method for getting your child to sleep through the night. My son is 6 months old and we started with the book's method last week, and we are almost there. It is written by 2 Dr's and it has really really worked for us.

I am still breastfeeding, but also feed him bottled occasionally (as I want to start weaning him off the breast) and I agree that the temperament of the child and individual sleep patterns come into play, but this book seems to address that- it also helps you schedule naps better to get your child used to falling asleep. They say you can start as early as 4 months. Go online and check out the reviews- You won't be sorry!

Good luck, and sweet dreams.

Cindy - posted on 07/26/2009

I think it has more to do with the baby's temperament & individual sleep patterns than breastfeeding. I have breastfed all 4 of mine on demand & they have all had different sleep paterns. No2 was the biggest nightmare, waking every 40mins to 1 hr night and day for 12mths (I nearly needed to be committed! LOL) this last one (4 1/2 weeks old) has slept from 9pm til 5am since we brought him home from hospital. But it can all change at any time & in your case can all get better at any time. I suggest you explore the different theories on settling & try ones that fit with your parenting philosophy. But take solice from the fact that this won't last forever!

Nyoka - posted on 07/26/2009

my son used to sleep good during the day but not so good during the night.. the midwife told me to try a technique that screwed everything up majorly and he started not wanted to sleep at all. it didnt take much to get back into a routine but when i was breastfeeding he slept for about 2 - 3 hours then wake for a feed.. now hes on formula at 4 1/2 months ive had 2 nights in a row where he sleeps right through! he would normally wake once about 3 in the morning for a feed before he slet right through!

Cindy - posted on 07/26/2009

I was blessed with two kids that slept well. My oldest was formula fed, and started sleeping through the night at 2 weeks. My baby is breastfed, and he started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks. The only time that their sleep patterns turned for the worst was during growth spurts and sickness. It depends on the baby, not necessarily the method that you feed them.

Rebecca - posted on 07/25/2009

All babies are different and I dont think that there is anything you can do to change their sleeping pattern, expecially when they are very small. I EBF. I bf my son till a yr and from about 7 weeks on he was sleeping 7hrs at night now at 2 1/2 he goes to bed at 730 and gets up at 8am, with my daughter (who is 11 weeks) she is EBF and since we came home from the hospital she sleeps from 1030-630am. Now dont ask me how I get them to sleep, friends of mine have, I dont know why they do but they just always have.....No cereal, no real routine, no formula, I just nurse them, swaddle, and put them to bed and they sleep. I have friends who have given cereal or formula and their kids are 2 1/2 as well and have never slept good they are all just different. But as one mom mentioned it is the "norm" for a baby to wake every 2-3hrs at night and what one person considers sleeping through the night may not be to another. I just hope that all moms get some good sleep soon, and that it will be the oposite once they are teenagers because we will be complaining that they sleep too much!

Rainey - posted on 07/25/2009

I am still breastfeeding my 18 month old. We did eventually night wean but that was well after a year. My babies slept fine until they started teething. Everytime you think they are getting it down they get a new tooth or hit a growth spurt.

Emily - posted on 07/25/2009

I highly reccommend Dr. Weissbluth's book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - it saved us.

Your baby's sleep change probably has more to do with becoming more aware of the world around her and interested in visiting you in the middle of the night than with anything else. It's got nothing to do with breastmilk and she doesn't need cereal in her bottle, she's too little and it's a choking hazard. Exclusive breastfeeding is what she needs at her age.

Morgan - posted on 07/25/2009

i breastfeed and at about 8 i give my 3 month old a bath feed her cereal then breast feed again and she is always asleep before 9 and usually sleeps till 1 or so......but every baby is different.

Teresa - posted on 07/25/2009

I should have added that my twins were fed on a 3 hour feeding schedule and my son was (and still is) fed on demand. I think it makes a HUGE difference (generally speaking) in a child's sleep habits. I wish I could've/would've had my son on a schedule, but my life was insane when he was born since I had just become a single mom and he also had reflux which screwed us up a bit.

Teresa - posted on 07/25/2009

I think it has a little to do w/ the parenting (NOT an insult) and a lot to do w/ the child. At 3 months my twins were only waking once through a 12 hour night. At 6 months they slept through for about a month. Then they were waking once or twice a night from 7-14 months before they started sleeping through.



My son, on the other hand, is 16 months now and the longest he's ever slept is 8.5 hours. He is usually up 2-3 times in a 10-11 hour night! I fully admit that some of that is my fault, but I also think a lot of it is him.

Julia - posted on 07/25/2009

If you are feeding her at irregular intervals then her metabolisim can't stabalise thus her hunger cycles are erratic and she will wake up lots because she will want to feed....a common downside to demand feeding. Babies sleep patterns are effected and mum and baby get tired! Breast feeding has nothing to do with a baby that does not sleep well...it all has to do with the health of the baby and mother, the size of the baby and the way you bring up your child.



I suggest having a read of Becoming Babywise... take from it what you want and see if it works for you I used their methods and none of my babies failed to thrive like a lot of people will say it will do. Use common sence ,as you do as a parent anyway, and I'm sure you will be a lot happier with a content and sleeping baby!

Melissa - posted on 07/25/2009

We breastfeed as well. She has been sleeping 12 hours straight every night since 5 months. The key with nursing is to try putting baby back to sleep in the middle of the night without nursing. I started noticing that my LO would wake up in the middle of the night out of habit not hunger (if you think about our bodies, if you eat at the same time everyday, the next day your body will want to eat at the same time the next day). Carissa eats every 2-3 hours during the day and nothing between 8pm and 8am because she is sleeping.
Aside from feeding, putting her to bed at night in her crib on her own helped a lot too.
What we ended up doing that has worked fantastically is this:
We have our routine in place (bath, book, nursing) and then we give her a binky, turn on a lullaby CD we have for her and lay her in her bed.
We started off by standing by her crib,patting her back and staying right there until she went to sleep (try not to pick her up or talk to her a whole lot). The first night took 45 min but we did it for every nap and bed time and she started getting the hang of it. After about a week of doing it that way, instead of standing by her we sat in the rocking chair. After a while of that, I would stand by the door so she couldn't really see me. Once she started going to sleep without needing me at all, I started sneaking out after laying her down. Now I lay her in there, tell her "Nite nite" and leave the room. Most nights she goes right to sleep. Others she throws her pacifiers out and fusses. We can tell if it sounds like she is not settling herself, and then we go back in there to reposition her in bed, give her a pacifier and leave again. It takes a lot of patience and work, but it can be done! :) Hang in there! :)

Jessica - posted on 07/25/2009

My little girl is 10.5 months and has JUST started sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. She is breastfed and we co-sleep and just this week she's been settling herself more and sleeping longer. I mean there were a few nights here and there where she'd sleep 5 hours, but they were few and far between. Let me tell you, I'm very excited she is finally getting the hang of sleeping longer! As far as I can tell I haven't been doing anything differently, so hopefully she is just at that milestone!

Erin - posted on 07/25/2009

Every baby is so different. I have breastfed both of my children (still BFing my daughter).My son didn't sleep through the night until close to 9 months, and even then, sleeping through the night was really only 6 hours or so. He is almost 2 now and he sleeps about 12 hours per night.

My daughter is 3 1/2 months and she (usually) sleeps through the night, from about 8:30PM-6:30AM. Every once in a while she wakes up a couple hours earlier, eats and returns to sleep.

Do you work outside your home? Some babies will wake up and just want to be with their mom if she is not around during the day. They know they can get your undivided attention in the middle of the night. Make sure you feed her every 3-4 hours during the day too...that can really help them sleep longer at night.

Annalyn - posted on 07/24/2009

It could be a growth spurt! Or maybe she's starting to teeth or she's reached a new developmental milestone. Sometimes babies will just be too 'excited' to sleep when they learn something new. Just a thought. Good luck!

Angel - posted on 07/24/2009

I breastfeed only my son the first 3 months and he was up every 2-3 hours. Then I started giving him a bottle before I would put him to bed and he would sleep 4-5 hours. He's almost 9 months now and he goes to bed at 7:30 gets up and 11:30 then up at 4 and then up at 7. He's getting only formula now and is eating baby food too. Every kid is different. My other son is 4 now and when he was 9 months old he was sleeping though the night. Hang in there it will get easier!!

Emily - posted on 07/24/2009

I'm not sure how it would cause dehydration, because its all based on feeding them more during the day, and doing so causes the baby to realize the difference between day and night. But if she were to wake at night I wouldnt just not feed her because its night, if she needs to eat then I'll feed her... Its all about doing whats best for them.

During the first two weeks it says to feed whenever for however long, so I'm not sure how it would cause FTT. My daughter weights 14.5lbs at 3 months, and was born 7.8... so shes doing amazing. She just eats six oz at a time instead of three here and two here. (I know this because of weight pre and post feedings)

I'm not saying to follow someone elses lead 100%, that isn't want being a parent is about. I took what info I found in babywise and kinda made my own thing. We don't eat at set times like it says, and a lot of over things we do different... but eating every 3 hours instead of 4 has cut out her night feedings.

I will say the first time I read babywise I wanted to throw it because the way it puts things makes it sound like your a bad parent if you do this or that.. but after trying some of the tips I got from the book, I think its a great way to get ideas and figure out what works for you. Also, I think because of lack of sleep, I would have been more likely to stop breastfeeding when she didn't sleep through the night.

Everyone has there own Ideas though I guess

Minnie - posted on 07/24/2009

A baby's sleep patterns are going to change constantly all the way through toddlerhood. Don't base her physiological needs on what she used to do. Her needs will change.

It is a complete myth that cereal in a bottle will help an infant sleep. In fact, long deep stretches of sleep increase the risk of SIDS.





And really, consider what you're saying....you breastfeed, and you heard that that is the cause of an infant not sleeping for long stretches without needing you... breastfeeding is the NORMAL way to feed an infant- it's the standard by which we must compare everything to. It is NORMAL for an infant to wake every couple of hours. Formula companies and cereal companies have not improved on nature's system.



I'm sure I'm going to get slammed for this, and have in the past, because staunch advocates of this book tend to defend it ferociously, but Babywise has been condemned by the AAP and has been the cause of dehydration, FTT and an early end to so many breastfeeding relationships. Yes, before anyone bites my head off, I have personally read it, and it's bunk. Sorry.

Emily - posted on 07/24/2009

oh and it also says that around 4-5 months there is something called a 45 min. intruder. It says that babys who have been sleeping great will suddenly wake up 45 min. after you put them down. And they say its just a phase and to let them talk and be awake and they will but themselves back to sleep.



It says not all babies get it, and since Maddies not that age yet I'm hopping I get lucky and she doesnt do that, lol.

Emily - posted on 07/24/2009

I breastfeed only, my daughters 3 1/2 months and asleeps 8+ hours a night, then wakes to eat and sleeps for another 3. shes been doing it since a little before she was 2 months. Before she use to eat every 4 hours, and I read babywise and it made all the difference!!! It tells you all about how to get them to sleep at night. One part of it is not letting them go over 3 hours without a feeding. I was letting her eat, then sleep, then we would get up to play...well according to babywise thats a big no no! You have to Feed, Play Then sleep. Shes such a happy baby now that we do that! and at night I lay her in her crib and she falls asleep on her own :) (she does have her nights where she wants to cuddle and be rocked, but I LOVE that too, lol)



It sounds silly, but Babywise really helped. And I know a lot of other moms who read it and there babys sleep amazing too. A friend of mine had her two week old sleeping through the night because she did what it said!!

Gillian - posted on 07/24/2009

My fully BF baby slept from 3 weeks from 9pm till 6 am but my BF and bottle baby woke 3 or 4 times a night my fully bottle fed baby slept from 5 weeks from 8pm till 6 am so its totally child dependant and they do go through fussy stages after 6-9 months I will say waking is habit based but before that is needed.

Jennifer - posted on 07/24/2009

My guy is a little over 4 months old. He started sleeping almost 5 hours at a time for a few days, but he doesn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time now. I just feed him and hope one day he sleeps well again. He's only this age once!

Monica - posted on 07/24/2009

My little guy is two and he still wakes up two times a night to have water from a sippy cup. I think it might just be habit with him, but then again I have a one months old and she only wakes up two MAYBE three times so in my opinion it just depends on the baby. What helped my was that I expressed a bottle with a little more than what he usually drank and gave it to him right before bed time, and also I put him to bed when I went to bed every other night which cut down on my alone time but also gave me more sleep.

Jill - posted on 07/24/2009

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but neither of mine slept all night every night till close to age 2. They quit waking for hunger earlier than that, but teething really bothered them. Good luck!