SLEEPING ???

Elizabeth - posted on 12/15/2008

My daughter was born the 1st of may. She is now eating her baby foods, like sweet potatoes, squash, peas, applesause, and other fruits and veggies. She also has her rice and oatmeal too. Im not always sure the food is the probelm though b/c my baby tends to get up once a night, and not even for food. I just rub her head and redirect her to let her no its time to sleep. I read that if the baby at this age is getting up in the middle of the night there is no way they are hungry. You let them cry and if they keep crying just rock them back to sleep or play soft music. after an hour if that doesnt work then give them a very small amount of milk just so soothe them but dont give them too much b/c then you are just keeping the baby in the routine of getting up to eat. It works, I went through it.

Jenni - posted on 12/15/2008

Here I was talking about how my son has been getting better at sleeping through the night recently and the past couple nights he has been up multiple times. I am hoping this is just a phase that will pass and it may just be due to teething but I am ready to drop. (so forgive me if this doesn't make sense). He was up three times last night screaming. he didn't have a fever and when I did attempt to feed him he never took the whole bottle so I'm not sure what his deal is. God willing he will get some sleep tonight... I'm not sure if I can have another sleepless night.

Elise - posted on 12/14/2008

It's common for a breastfed baby to nurse during the night until they wean.
My dd is almost 7 months and she still wakes every 2-3 hours to nurse. :)

Morgan - posted on 12/12/2008

My son was born May 29, I am sooo lucky, he goes to bed around 10 pm, but sleeps til 9, is awake for about an hour and then naps til 11. He has been doing this since he was 2 months old. I have made the mistake of letting him sleep before he has his bottle right before bed, then he will get up around 7 to eat and go right back to sleep. I guess I got lucky...

Racheal - posted on 12/11/2008

My baby able to sleep through the night at 8 weeks. I think it helped that the doctor had us put a little rice cereal in her night bottle.

Barbara - posted on 12/11/2008

Good day sleep is important, like someone already mentioned. Days like yesterday, where we had to run around and her naps got totally screwed up lead to a horrific night. Of course, even when we're home I can't guarantee she'll sleep longer than 25 minutes. Some babies, like mine, just don't sleep. We will sometimes get an 8 hour block, but usually she's up 2-3 times. She was getting 2-3 tbsp of solids at night, but it didn't help and I was wondering if it actually gave her an upset tummy, so we've switched to giving it to her at lunch. She'll nurse 6 times a day, and usually 2-3 times at night.

Bobbie - posted on 12/11/2008

Also when my daughter was getting to many solids during the day she would excessively wake at night to nurse cause she was not getting enough milk during the day. As for what another poster said please do not switch to formula just to get more sleep. Formula feed babies "sleep" better due to the fact that formula feed babies are more likely to be overfed and go into a food coma so to speak. Breastfed babies can and do sleep through the night. She is waking up so much to tell you something. Have you checked the temp at night? She may to cold or to warm. My daughter is cutting teeth right now and is waking more at night due to that. Breastfeeding.com is really a great site you should really heck it out. Not only do you get advice from other mother but a lot of the moms on there just happen to be Lactation consultants.

Shannon - posted on 12/10/2008

The thing that worked for both my sons was the consistant feeding schedule. It trained his body to be hungry when his feeding times. Ive also heard that some babies have a hard time sleeping at night if they are not getting enough food during the day. Something about their body trying to make up for the nutrients they lost during the day. My kids have been on a schedule pretty much since the day they were born and my 9 year old slept through the night at 2 months and my newest may baby slept through the night at 3 months.

I would suggest giving her last feeding some breastmilk and some solids. Whether its cereal or veggies. Breastmilk does digest the fastest so it will make her hungrier sooner than the solids.. so it might hold her longer through the night. Another suggestion would be that when she wakes up in the middle of the night.. just rock her and put her down without feeding her. That will slowly teach her that night is for sleeping and her body will realize it's ok to not get food in the middle of the night.

Anyways, hope those lil things help a lil.

Bobbie - posted on 12/10/2008

Go to breastfeeding.com sign up and ask this on their forums. They can give you the best advice for your breastfed baby.

Jacqui - posted on 12/10/2008

Hi all,

I was given a awesome book, its called BABY SECRETS by Jo Tantum and Barbara Want! (great names..LOL) Anyway its a lovely book wiht quick Tips to most baby issues. Its refreshing becasue most baby books are soooo looong winded, this one is quick fire to the point, very much like a dictionary!..

My Girl was born on 31 May and we were also desperate for a good nights sleep. We followed the tip in the book to start weaning your baby off bottles/boob at night and it works! SHe only wakes for her 'twilight' feed at 11 and then sleeps all the way to 6;30 the next morning!

I did read that its Vital for babies to start sleeping throught from 6 months so we took this as a vital thing to do for our babys development!...

Get this book its awesome and full of all sorts of handy baby tip!...

good luck!

PS: i dont mean to offend anybody but im finding that breast fed babies are really difficutl to get to sleep throught the night!..In my opinion bottle feeding is best for bubs!

Stasia - posted on 12/09/2008

i ithink someone said it, but making sure she sleeps enough during the day is huge! it was the best advice someone gave me!!!

Miia - posted on 12/09/2008

my daughter is now 6 months and 2 weeks old and she sleeps almoust every night whit one feeding time.. now we start to have some night whithout it but just some. Maisa has sleep like this sins she was 5weeks old, but maybe its because we been feeding her whit bottle all the time. I never cant get enough milk in my breasts so we hav to do like this..
All the babyes are so diffrent and maybe good nigth sleeps start later whit your baby.

Silvia - posted on 12/09/2008

My was born 5/5/08 and similar thing!

Jenni - posted on 12/09/2008

I can completely relate. My son was born May 2 and he still has some struggles through the night. What has somewhat worked for us is to put him to bed around 7:30pm then get him up around 10:30 (like it or not and if he wakes up or not) we'll give him a bottle with rice in it. this typically keeps him asleep until 5:30ish which helps because that's when my husband is up. We did have some struggles earlier in keeping him asleep through the night. My theory (and it's only mine) is that when I would feed him in the middle of the night he got very used to eating so often so I stopped the midnightly feedings. If he cried I allowed him to cry for 5-10 minutes and if he didn't stop then I would take him out of the crib, swaddle him then hold him very tight so he couldn't squirm. This typically had him falling back asleep without a feeding. Now I say all this and two nights ago he was up most of the night, so I'm not sure there is any full proof solution.

Rachel - posted on 12/07/2008

Every baby is so different. My daughter Evelyn was also born may 4th, 2008 and she is pretty much sleeping through the night now. She goes to bed at 6:30 and usually wakes up between 5 and 6am (but we don't actually let her out of her crib until 6:15). I found the key to having her sleep better at night is for her to get enough sleep during the day...she usually has 3 naps a day and they total about 3 1/2 hours. I find if we have a crazy day and she gets less sleep then she tends to wake up earlier...like between 3 and 4 am. Food wise, she gets 5 bottles a day and I feed her semi solids 3 times a day. To be honest I find some days/nights are just better then others sometimes and I just tend to hope for the best :) Motherhood...its a mystery!

Renee - posted on 12/05/2008

My son was born on 5/2/08. He goes to bed around 9pm and will get up around 4am. He eats then goes back to sleep. Then up again around 8am, eats then goes back to bed until about 10am. He is basically up then for the rest of the day. Naps are MAYBE 30 minutes long, twice a day, three times if I am really lucky.

Amy Jo - posted on 12/04/2008

For me, it has helped having my son (born 5/25) on a regular feeding schedule. It has changed over the months, but now, he eats every 4 hours, 4 times a day. He has an 8 ounce bottle at each meal along with veggies at his first and last meal. He also does a lot better when I am consistent with his naps. He takes a couple hour nap in the morning and afternoon. I'm sure you've heard different suggestions, but I used the Babywise book and it was very helpful for us.

Janet - posted on 12/03/2008

Did we have the same baby LOL. My daughter was born on Memorial Day and she still wakes up 6-8 times a night and she won't take a bottle either. This is my 3rd child (have a 4yo and a 2yo) and I always thought moms who claimed this were doing something wrong LOL....I have now learned!!! Our daughter eats 3 meals a day and nurses 8 times a day (2x's during the night), she just wakes up every 2-3 hours all night long. And she will go 6 hours w/o taking a bottle. So we are starting a sippy cup. Forget the bottle, just one more thing to break her of later anyway. I also think that in our case part of the sleeping issue is that she loses her pacifier and can't roll yet, so she can't get it herself. SO I am thinkingof stopping hte pacifier. I have no solid answers, but wanted to let you know there is another mom out here with a non-sleeping bottle refusing baby.

Veronica - posted on 12/03/2008

I have twins, so maybe thats why they dont sleep through the night, but I am w/ you. I breastfeed and solids and they are both up every 4 hours! They were born two days before your daughter. I hear that every child is different and that one day it will just click- some say give it some more time, like until she is 9 months old and then try other things. If you haven't already, put a sound machine in there to drown out the noise- like ocean waves. Its very calming. I completely feel your frustration. I'm thinking mine will never be sleep trained b/c there are two to wake each other up- annoying. I am in much need of a good nights sleep. Hang in there- this wont last forever! :)

Tammara - posted on 12/03/2008

My son also does not sleep through the whole night. Sometimes he does but for the most part he will wake between 4-5am to eat and then sleep again. Our feeding schedule is cereal and a bottle in the morning, veggies and fruit for lunch & dinner, then about an hour after I give him a bottle. Food is supposed to teach them but most nutrition should still be coming from breast milk or formula. He will have another bottle before bed and I put 1 tablespoon of cereal in that bottle to fill him up, at least he sleeps a bit longer through the night, and like I said, sometimes he does sleep right through. Try cereal in a bottle with your breast milk at a nighttime feeding. after dinner...and I give him 3 teaspoons of food per serving.