How do you put your baby to sleep?

Amy - posted on 07/30/2010

get a new Dr.! That baby is hungry, feed him! My 5 1/2 month old still feeds 2 times during the night, because she has a tiny tummy and is hungry! See the Peacefull Parent Facebook or web page for more good info!

Samar - posted on 07/30/2010

my twins are almost 6 months, and one sleeps all night long and the other one wakes up once around 5 am for a bottle, i give him a warm bottle and he goes right back to sleep while drinking, i started them on baby ceral and gerber baby foods, i would feed him the ceral before bed and that keeps him full and a nice bath relaxes him and when i do that they both sleep all night until the morning... breast milk is lighter than formula try giving him very watery ceral and with time get it thicker.

Michelle - posted on 07/21/2010

I recently read a book Sheyne Rowleys Dream Baby Guide and it helped me heaps. It goes into nutrition, play time, routine, swaddling and clear lines of communication. You could prob get it from the library or its in most book stores try some of the methods she suggests, worked for me and cant hurt.

Avie - posted on 07/20/2010

hey are our babies twins from different parents. mine is just like yours.

Juanita - posted on 07/20/2010

At 16 weeks my baby boy was waking up 6 times a night and during the day he never finishes a bottle. I started giving him rice cerial in the morning for 4 weeks, then butternut or sweet patato at about 3 in thr afternoon. He only wakes up 3 times during the night now.

Katrina - posted on 07/20/2010

My baby boyv is 5 months i started a bedtime routine when he was 2months...bath time at 8:00pm then bottle and then he falls asleep till 6:30 am...the odd time he will wake up in the night, usually during growing spurts i will feed him, sometimes he just wants to be held and cuddled for a little.

Michelle - posted on 07/20/2010

What I've tried doing is BFing my 5 1/2 month to sleep. But then during the night wakings - giving formula. This has reduced the night wakings to 2, from more than 4 times a night!

Kelly - posted on 07/20/2010

My son is almost 6 months, at around 630pm I give him a bath, at 7pm he has cereal and a bottle, plays till around 9ish goes to sleep.....then I wake him up between 11:00-11:30 change his bum, give him a bottle and hes usually sleeping by 12am. My son sleeps till 9-10am next morning he wakes up in the middle of night but puts himself back to sleep doesn't cry or anything just coos..thats all. My son weighs about 21lbs..and he eats 1 tbsp 2X a day and 36oz of formula. 15-17tsp of rice in a bottle..seems way to much....and I was told never to put it in a bottle. maybe you are not feeding enough in the day and thats why they still wake up throughout the night, or maybe its just become habit...or maybe because you are nursing him to sleep its become a sleep association..he associates feeding with sleeping..so in order for him to go back to sleep he needs a feed....I would try and get him out of that soon..your baby also needs to learn how to self soothe...so instead of running right to him as soon as he starts crying or making noise, just let him do it for a bit....if he is screaming bad go to crib (don't pick him up right away) and try to soothe him whether its a soother, or his mobile or whatever rub his tummy/back whatever...babies are good manipulators and if they know that "when i cry, mom comes and picks me up or feeds me or whatever" they will continue to do it. Just an idea!

Vanessa - posted on 07/19/2010

i give my 5 month old baby cereal. but she's on formula since u nurse u can add some breast milk to the cereal i add formula and i give it to her once a day beteen 1 and 3 until she doesnt want anymore.i feed my baby 7oz now at around ten everynight and put her to sleep i rock her laying sideways and pat her but while she has a pacifier and she falls right asleep. and she doesnt wake up unitl 7 or 8 and she eats and falls back asleep til about 9 and after that shes up mst of the day and takes short 20 to 30 minute naps so shes tired at night and sleeps throughthe night in her crib.

Esther - posted on 07/19/2010

my daughter gets ceareal at breakfast lunch and dinner and brestfeeds about every 3 hrs, she will breastfeed right before bed at 10pm and sleeps until 4am sometimes until 7am, i had to put a pillow under a comforter and wrap the comforter around the mattres to make it feel like my bed. than she snuggles with herlittle silky blankie.

Elizabeth - posted on 07/19/2010

I know its mean but let them cry. Also do a bath-feed-bed routine and after a few nights he'll learn that this is whats going to happen from now on. The 1st night i tried it took 3hrs of my wee man crying but as the nights went on it took half hr less of crying. He's now 5 months and is spoon feed and has been sleeping through from 9-7 then he gets a morning bottle and goes back till 10/11 which is a help so i can get things done! Do you give a dummy??? If so then i would give it to him at night when he wakes but try not to lift him. I know it sounds so mean but the less you lift him the more he'll realise its night and he has to sleep. Hope some of my routine helps :) x

Sofie - posted on 07/19/2010

I have a 5 and a half month greedy boy, he qwas awful when i was breastfeeding, he woke up every half an hour, i started to pump out 8oz a go but it still wasnt enough. He has been on hungry baby formula from 3 1/2 weeks old. I was and still am devastated but it's what was best for him. He now has baby fruity porridge in the mornings at 6-6.30am with a 6oz bottle, then a 7oz bottle at 10.30. Then a jar of baby food dinner at about 3pm also with a bottle, then a pudding jar of baby food between 7 and 8pm. Sometimes if he's on a good day he'll have 5oz before bed about 10pm!!

Our routine is a nap after luch till about 5 or 6pm, then play time for as long as he likes, then dinner, then more play! he likes a massage and a cuddle about 15mins before bed then i put him into his cot with his muslin and he talks himself to sleep bless him.

I know it must be so hard for you cos a lot of this advice is about bottle feeding. I hope I helped a little bit.

Just thought i'd tell you that being full and cuddled is my baby's favourite way to be settled. x x

Michele - posted on 07/18/2010

I have five months old twin girls and they both sleep through the night. They are both on formula and solids and are doing great. I give the girls their bath between 7 and 730pm feed them and they are usually sleep by 830pm until about 4 am.

Nichola - posted on 07/18/2010

My daughter is 5 months old 2moro. She has her last bottle between 7pm/8pm. Once shes had it I put her in her cot in her own room and she usually goes straight to sleep. She sleeps all night and gets up about 7am/8am

Cassandra - posted on 07/18/2010

My daughter is five months old and was a preemie. She was sleeping through the night and now she goes to bed around 8 but wakes up at around 2-3 for a bottle. If I stay up later and wake her up at 10-11 for a bottle before I go to bed she doesn't wake up until the morning. She won't eat more than 4-5 ounces at a time. She does eat cereal now. If I put it in her bottle she won't eat it. I have to swaddle her still and feed her then give her a pacifier and once she's asleep I put her down. Although... I just put her down for a nap just wrapped up after her bottle and she fussed herself to sleep. She just started rolling over onto her tummy yesturday so I don't know if that's more comfy for her.

Michelle - posted on 07/17/2010

My baby will be 5 months next week and i used to have the same problem. She used to sleep through the night 9-10 hours, and then suddenly stopped. She would BF to sleep and sometimes wake up multiple times from 1-5am. So I started sleep training. I changed so that during the day, I only feed her after waking from a nap and when she's sleepy, I rock her to sleep, either in the swing or the rocking chair. Then at night around 7-8 when she's sleepy, I will let her nurse, but then switch to rocking to get her drowsy. After she is drowsy, I put her in her crib to fall asleep the rest of the way. I've been working at it a week and now she's sleeping through he night, occasionally waking up only 1 time to eat. She also is starting to fall asleep on her own with less rocking.

Jayme-Lee - posted on 07/17/2010

my son is 5 months old today. I was exclusively b/f up until i started introducing solids about 3 weeks ago. he used to sleep 12 hours when he was about 7 wks old. after his vaccinations that changed. he now wakes once or twice through the night wanting a feed.
i bath from 5 - 5.30pm
feed from 5.30 - 6pm. he always falls asleep on the boob.
he generally goes to sleep for anywhere from 5 - 7.5hrs.
10 min feed.
sleeps for 3.5 - 4.5 hours.

i would love for him to sleep longer more for my own sanity but i guess i still have it better than some mums. i tried a bottle of formula one night because the night prior i was up every 1.5hours with him. the formula made no difference to his length of sleep

Crystal - posted on 07/17/2010

Maybe he isnt getting enough milk or its not as rich as it use to be for him. try suplomemting formula and see if that helps. I have a 5 month onld too and he is a healthy eater. he needs to start the solids thing, but we will have to see. For bed he is starting to go to bed at 830-9 and is waking up once a night. he use to be waking up 4-5 time, but just in the last 2 weeks he has started to wake up once. Because he has a healthy appitite i have swithed him to the fast flow nipple and 8 oz bottles. he eats 6-8 8oz bottles a day.. bigger babies seem to need more than we think and ever since i have been feeding him more he has been sleeping much better for me

Ashley - posted on 07/17/2010

My daughter is 5 1/2 months now and she'd been sleeping through the night for months. We started putting cereal in her bottle around 3 months just for her bedtime feeding and her first feeding in the morning. She sleeps from 8-6 but was doing that even before the cereal.. We just give it to her to help fill her up a bit so she isnt starving when she wakes up in the morning. She is also getting cereal and fruit spoon fed for breakfast, and then 1/2 a jar of fruit for dinner, then she gets her walk, then bath time, then bottle, then we still usully just rock her, or cuddle with her to put her to sleep and then she's out for the night. She has been waking up a bit more the past 2 weeks since she not eat as much as she used to since she's teething. So then she will wake up some now, but we just go in and rub her back and give her bck her paci (she sleeps on her side now) and then she goes back to sleep. But generally babies start sleeping better once they start sleeping on their tummies when they are ready. I used to work at a preschool in the infant room and noticed the differance in most of the babies when they start rolling over to sleep on their tummies. But ONLY when they physically roll themselves over in their crib to sleep.. not just because they roll over when they play..

Kristi - posted on 07/16/2010

My daughter is 5 months old and has been sleeping through the night since 2 months....she has always had rice cereal in her bottle since she was 3 days old so for solids we started with apple sauce and for bed time i usually dont let her go down for a nap anytime after 5 or 6 this way she is good and tired at 9 we get a bath n a bottle and she usually goes to sleep with no problem and stays asleep until either 7 or 8 hope this helps

Camille - posted on 07/16/2010

I may be alone in this but my hubby works nights so we keep late hours. Baby girl usually gets sleepy around 9. I will nurse her, sometimes we wake her up for a bath but I don't use johnson johnson cuz its full of weird stuff. She passes out for the ngiht around 12. Then she either goes in her crib or she sleeps on daddys lap while he plays video games and he brings her to me to nurse around 5am. When we put her in her crib she wakes up after about an hour but in our bed she sleeps til about 9 or 10 then I bf and back to sleep. She and daddy sleep another couple hours and I leave a bottle bedside for them when she wakes up hungry. Its zany but it works for us.

Kelly - posted on 07/15/2010

My son is now almost 5 months old. Since about 2 months he has been sleeping through the night. We keep our bedtime routine very consistent, and if we don't start it in time he gets very cranky! We started him on rice cereal at 3 months just at bedtime and gradually added a morning feeding with cereal and have also thickened it. We have also started adding fruits and vegetables. He only gets one new food a week to be sure there is no allergic reaction. Our bedtime routine starts anytime between 7-7:30 and is as follows:
-change diaper and put on pajamas
-minimum 5 ounce bottle of expressed breast milk
-rice cereal mixed with fruit or veggies
-top-off with more milk if needed
-wash face and hands from feeding
-turn on lullaby CD
-Lay in crib with pacifier and snuggly

With this routine he is usually asleep by 8 and will sleep until at least 6 most nights. If it is bath night we do that first, then start the bedtime routine. I only give a bath 2 nights a week-anymore than that and he has serious skin issues. Hopefully this helps! We have been very lucky! Good luck to you!

Jodi - posted on 07/15/2010

Well Mija goes down at 7:30 (after a bottle of formula, she does have 2 comp feeds a day and the breast milk I give her is expressed first, she never got latching down) and she will sleep right through from anywhere between 9:30 and 11:30. (yep without waking)... She only has 2 x 30 minute naps during the day though..

She is a big girl (8.5kgs at jsut under 5 months, but she is super tall too 69cm). She also eats every 3 hours during the day (About 8oz at a time)... So it all balances out...

I know im very lucky with her sleeping,, Though very fortunatly for me my son was exactly the same! Just wish he didnt think 5am was awake time these says *sigh*

Candace - posted on 07/15/2010

my lil girl is 5 months old. she doesnt seem to like to be cuddled all that much so when i put her to sleep at 7:30 - 8:00pm, i lay her down in her cot and turn the light off. Most of the time she lays there without making a sound and falls to sleep. but there are them nights where she will not settle so i play some music while shes laying in her cot in a dark room, and she settles right down and goes to sleep. she wakes up about 4am for a change and a bottle, then i just do the same thing again to put her to sleep and she does not wake up til about 8am

Jennifer - posted on 07/14/2010

my son is the exact same way! he's 20 pounds at least, 5 months old, sleeps with me, acts like he wants to eat solid food but when i give it to him he just chews it and spits it back out. ive tried baby food too. the only thing hes ever really eatin is a snow cone.

Stephanie - posted on 07/14/2010

My daughter is 4 1/2 months old and weighs around 15lbs, I started a routine from the day I brought her home around 8:00 pm I bathe her, lotion rub down to music and then I nurse her and when she is done she is still slightly awake, I put her in her crib and she has a soothing sounds bunny that plays and she falls asleep on her own, I recently started to give her some rice cereal around 6:30 pm in with our routine. When she turned 2 1/2 months old she began sleeping through the night, she still goes to bed around 8:30pm and then wakes between 7-8am. If she does wake in the middle of the night I keep it dark and don't talk to her and sometimes nurse her a few minutes or just pat her butt and she falls right back to sleep.

Michelle - posted on 07/14/2010

i have just read it alot in books and mags and from docs to not put it in the bottle but if it works for u maybe i should try it.LOL.

Emily - posted on 07/14/2010

my baby girl is almost 5 months old next week..she has been sleeping through the night since about 2 months old. I partially breast feed cause I have production problems, but nightly feedings are a ritual with me also. And to get my baby back to sleep, she likes to suck on her fingers or have her crib toy or mobile on. I say do trial and error and find out what works best for your son..that's what did it for me and my husband because every baby is different.

Michelle - posted on 07/13/2010

do not put rice cereal in the bottle

Michelle - posted on 07/13/2010

I have given chris rice cereal at night for his last meal and he seems to wake up at least 1 time, which isn't to bad. Don't change um or they wake up more. I started him on cereal at almost 4 months and i dont let him nap late in the afternoon keep him up til he is really ready to go sleep.

Melissa - posted on 07/13/2010

some babies are good sleepers and some are not. my first (ebf) did not sleep thru the night till she was 1 and i stopped bf and gave her whole milk. my newest lilttle one will be 5 months tomorrow (ebf also)and she goes to bed at 7 and wakes up at 12 and 4 and thats it. which is wonderful compared to my first. may not be the best news you hear but just know it does happen. does he sleep a lot during hte day ?? that is the only differ. i noticed in my 2 girls. my 1st used to sleep a lot during the day and awake a lot at night. my new little girl barely sleeps during the day but sleeps good at night. good luck.

Emily - posted on 07/13/2010

I have twins, and one (Noah) sleeps through the night, while the other (Daniel) wakes up once for feeding. We just started Noah on solids, rice cereal to begin with once a day and he seems to take it, but Daniel has shown no interest yet.

Chris - posted on 07/13/2010

Ah yes, mine is also waking up 4-6 times a night. This was helpful for me to see all the responses so thank you. My Dr does not want me starting solids yet but does want me to start stretching out the time between feeds (was still eating every 3 hrs) and only allowing her to eat twice a night. By the time she's 6 months he wants her to eat only once. Last night was the first night and she only ate twice but woke up 4 times otherwise screaming blue murder. I had to put her soother in and calm her down the old fashioned way - rocking. During the day she goes down for her nap all by herself but something about night time doesn't do it for her. The longest stretch she has every had was 5 hours and it was maybe a night here and there. Sorry I'm no help but I do feel your pain.

Camille - posted on 07/13/2010

My Boys are 5 months old and having 1 bowl of solids between them per day, they are bottle fed and sleeping wonderfully. There bed time is around 7 to 7.30 most nites, there routine is a bottle around 4 to 5 then a play while we have dinner etc then around 6.30 they have another bottle, change there bum then bed, they go to bed awake, have a little grizzle then goes to sleep and are sleeping around 12 hours, if they try to get up at nite which isnt too often i will use the dummy to trick them going back to sleep which does the trick, naughty i know but with two 5 month olds and a 2 and 5 year old i need as much sleep as i can get. I dont incorperate baths with there nite time routine as its easier to give them one in the day.

Kristine - posted on 07/13/2010

My son is 5 months and 2 weeks old now. He doesn't wake up at night per say .. he may open his eyes and babble a bit around 2-3am, but he gets himself back to sleep. This has been his way since 3 months of age. He hasn't had a bottle during the night since just before turning 4 months old. He watches his Baby Einstein movie from 6:50-7:20pm approx, then he gets his bath, then pj's and last bottle at 7:45pm. He generally can't finish it because he's out like a light. When I put him in the crib he's already asleep. I think the baby movie and the bath really make his drowsy. Although he LOVES both.

Lotta - posted on 07/12/2010

Oh sorry I forgot to mention, every second evening I will give him a bath but every night I put maybe half a teaspoon of Farex (babyrice cereal) in his bottle.

Lotta - posted on 07/12/2010

my 4 and a half month old Kaden usually has his last bottle at 7.30pm but stays up playing until about 9 pm then I go tuck him into his cot nice and tight and he puts himself to sleep (no crying). He will usually sleep until at least 8.30 am so I am very lucky. Since he has been on solids he has been a lot more settled though he was 3.5 months when I started him on solids....

Jodene - posted on 07/12/2010

I bath then feed then put him down in his cot with a music box going and he slowly drifts off I try not to put him down asleep when he was younger so he would get used to going to sleep himself sometimes he will wake once so I feed him then put him back and just leave him to wriggle into a comfy position and he goes to sleep himself also when I bath him i use johnsons bedtime bath range works awsomly

Nicole - posted on 07/12/2010

evan is 5 months tomarrow and he goes to bed between 8 and 9. sometimes he wakes up at 11, 3:30 and 6, but some times he only wakes up around 3 and then 6. we feed then bathe, then read a few stories. normally he passes out in my arms but ive been trying to get him to fall asleep in his bed resently. i was feeding him at every waking but my dr told me that he is associating food w sleep. so now i slowly weened him to one feeding ath the 330 waking. the rest of the time i let him cry for a few to see if he will fall aseep but most of the time i just get up and hold him for about 10 minutes then hes back out. this is why im trying to get him to fall asleep in bed. i read that where they fall asleep most of the time is where they alwasy wan t to fall asleep. good luck

Heather - posted on 07/12/2010

wow !! unfortunately my breast milk dried up when i started BC pills....so now we are only doing formula. he goes down anywhere b/t 8-9pm & USUALLY gets up b/t 5-6am. sometimes he will get up around 1am for a bottle, but is right back down. we have started baby food.... i make my own. he usually takes b/t 2-4oz 2-3 times a day. if you want to stick with bf, maybe try pumping and giving him a bigger amount right before bed...maybe it'll hold him over longer. or try supplementing with a bottle of formula right before bed and see if that works for you. I hope this helps...good luck !!
~heather :)

Aisling - posted on 07/11/2010

joshua is 5 months now he has his pureed veg (DINNER) @ 5PM and bottle fed at around 6 then he plays on his floor gym for half hour and then i read to him about 8 pm nursery rhym books he would have a tiny nap @ 8:15 pm for 20 min & then between 8:40pm and 9pm i do tummy time with him he is then ready for his final feed @ 9:30 pm and sleeps through till 7:30am ...hope this helps a little .. BEST OF LUCK! JUST HAD JOSHUA WEIGHED TODAY HE IS NOW 17LB 4 OZ HE IS DOING SO WELL

Kelly - posted on 07/11/2010

I have learned it's about the routine, not the times. My daughter wakes up more at night if she gets too overtired before bed, so a lot of times she takes a nap during our dinner, then wakes up about an hour- 1.5hrs b4 "bedtime" then we do the same routine every night. My husband will generally do a bottle of breast milk so he can cuddle with her, then bedtime around 9-10 (depends on her signs of tiredness). I would suggest letting him try and learn to put himself to sleep, that way he can learn to soothe himself in the night (learned that with my 1st). When your son is getting his bedtime feeding, let him get super drowsy, and then put him down for the night just b4 he gets all the way asleep eating. Ultimately... EVERY kid is different and what works for one is horrible for another. I learned with the 1st if you stop stressing and trying and follow the baby's cues and signs it's a lot less stressful and they figure it out without our help. Good luck!

Brittany - posted on 07/10/2010

my baby is 5 months old and i just give him a bath with the purple soothing bath and lay him down with a bottle and he sleeps from about 10 at night to 8 in the morning,

Sarah - posted on 07/10/2010

My son is 4 months and 2 weeks. Since the night he came home I started a routine with him. Around 8:30pm he will have his cereal (since 8 weeks) and then a bottle of about 2oz. I burp him, change him and sooth him for a few minutes. After that I lay him down and give him his Binky and he passes out within minutes.. So he goes to bed between 9-9:30pm every night. He'll wake up at about 4am for a feeding and go back to sleep until 8am eat and go back to sleep until 10am...

I think you should try him with a little bit of rice cereal mixed with your BM. My son went from waking up every 3 hours to just about sleeping through the night.. GL

Nickia - posted on 07/10/2010

Ma'Kel is 5 months and she's been sleeping all night since 2 months. I have 4 kids and they all slept through the night at the same age.

Marika - posted on 07/10/2010

I have the same problem with my 5 month old. How many times have you tried feeding him solids? I found it easier to start with the rice cereal first because I can use my breast milk mixed with it and it tasted more familiar to my daughter. Try mixing it to where it's almost drinkable that way it's a more familiar texture to and as he gets used to it you can add less milk to make it as thick or as thin as you want. My daughter loves the rice cereal now and from what I read from the other suggestions I'm going to feed it to her before bedtime because I think that's why she wakes so much during the night. Also try getting into a routine. I give my daughter a massage with the lavender lotion, then feed and then bedtime. Hope this helps you and good luck!

Brenda - posted on 07/10/2010

I swaddled my DS until he was 6 mos old, and then he slept in a sleep sack until he was about a year old. My doc was encouraging me to slowly introduce solids at 4 mos old. He took to it right away. Now my DD on the other hand has not. She is EBF, but will not take a bottle at all. So I can't start introducing solids in her milk, and she just gags when I spoon feed her.

Angie - posted on 07/10/2010

My Daughter is 5 months and she gets about a teaspoon of rice ceral in her bottles to help with reflux. I just get her to starte eating some cereal from a spoon 3 days ago. I have been adding a little extra cereal to her bottle before bed. She goes to bed around 10 -10:30 and usually gets up around 4:00 - 5:00 to eat again. Maybe you could pump some and add a little cereal to it before bed. When she does get up i go put her Binky in her mouth and stroke her cheek a little.

April - posted on 07/10/2010

For about a month now, I've been feeding my 5 month old daughter cereal with a little bit of fruit around 7 or 8pm. She then watches her baby Mozart DVD, bath, breast feed her and she usually gets put in bed (still awake) around 10pm. She will sleep about 5 hours straight through, then feeds (20min max) and goes back to sleep for another 3 or 4 :) I also feed her rice cereal in the morning.
YOU CAN DO IT

Andreina - posted on 07/10/2010

my daughter is 4 and half months and i exclusively breastfed, no cereal no formula!
Since she was born my routine is at 8pm she showers, then i feed her i swaddle her and place her in her crib! at first she would wake up ever 4 hours... and since she was about 2 months she sleeps from 8:30pm til 8:30am.