Sleeping through the night?

LeAnn - posted on 11/06/2008

My baby is sleeping 5-6 hours a night. SHe just started doing that. I give her a bath every night (don't use soap every night or it will dry baby's skin) to help her relax. Then she's up for a while before I put her down. I nurse her in the side lying position before putting her down. I don't know if it's what I am doing that is working or if it's just that she's big wnough now that she doesn't have to nurse as often.

Mary - posted on 11/06/2008

HI everyone--my son (9/9/08) was sleeping from 8:30/9pm til 6-7am with just one feeding, but lately has been up more often. People say never wake a sleeping baby during the day--but when i let him go without a feeding he seems to be up more at night...although when we wake him in the evening, then has a hard time settling back down, and we've had a more restless baby from doing that. Which is better? Letting them sleep when they need to without waking them for a feeding, or stay on a schedule of 2-3 hours during the day, whether sleeping or not? Anyone think that by doing a schedule, that they eventually settle into it, or will i be creating more problems?

Clare - posted on 11/06/2008

I wish Hannah born 13th Sept when smaller slept from 8-2am then till about 7/8am not anymore now wakes every 4 hrs, Tried swaddling makes no difference

Sinead - posted on 11/06/2008

my baby was born on 20th sep. i try to keep her awake in the evening, even if she hasn't slept well in the day, she will go to sleep about 10 and not wake up until about 9, it does me the world of good, i do wake her up for 2 feeds otherwise she will wake up screaming. i hope this helps

Danielle - posted on 11/05/2008

My daughter was born on September 3rd and has been sleeping 7-9 hour a night for about 4 weeks now. It really made a difference to feed her right before bed.

Nahla - posted on 11/05/2008

I am amazed by what I've read, but a bit disappointed, because I must be doing something wrong. I am breastfeeding on demand, which is about every 2 hours during the day, but he still only sleeps one 3 hour stretch at night, then is up every 2 hours. I do put him in the crib, but then I get so tired that by 4am or so, I bring him to bed, breastfeed there, then let him fall asleep. He is still up about 4 times between 12am and 7am. I am not sure I can get him on a schedule...(?). He was born 9/10. We do have a nightlight on in his room all the time. Maybe that's the problem?

KIRSTIN - posted on 11/05/2008

My son was born Sept. 26, and he is awake from 7am to 9pm with usually only one 30 minute nap durning the day. I started this when he was 3 weeks old. I have found that if you get your baby on a schedule like I have done for mine he will sleep most of the night. My son sleeps from 9pm to usually 4 to 5am and then goes back to sleep till 7. He eats bout every 2 to 3 hours when he is awake then he dont take a bottle at bed time cause his last feeding is at 8pm. I have found that this works best. I also have a 5 year old that I did this with when he was 3 weeks old also. It also helps if you have a dark room for the baby to sleep in.. Mine sleeps in a my room with his crib as close to my bed as possible so when he does start to get fussy I put my hand in his crib and make noises to let him know that I am there and he is not alone. Try this. It should work

Gina - posted on 11/05/2008

I have found that keeping my daughter awake from 6 til 9 works. She will eat at 6 and then from then on I keep her awake until her 9 feeding. If her schedule changes it is always the time from the feeding before the bedtime feeding that you keep her awake.So those three hours for me maybe difficult but I get between 7 and 8 hours. Also, during the night I bottle feed in almost complete darkness, nursing didn't work as well for me during the night. So, we nurse every 3 hours during the day..and I wake her up for her three hour feedings during the day just because I want her to stay on schedule right now.

Amy - posted on 11/04/2008

Sarah: SWADDLE...i was very lax about it until Eliza really started getting colicky and fussy. A good friend gave me "the Happiest Baby on the Block" book...it talks about swaddling and WHY it works...the key is getting it done right so the arms don't flail around and get out of the swaddle. it was a life saver!!!!!

Sarah - posted on 11/04/2008

Thanks ladies!! I am definitely going to try some of the things that work for you! I am so guilty of letting him sleep with me too! He will sleep much longer if he is in bed with me.. but I know it is an unhealthy habit to start and hard to break. He usually falls asleep on me and I put him in the crib, but he wakes himself up after a short period of time... I've tried swaddling too.. but he doesn't seem to like that too much, or maybe I just give up to early. I've stuck to a pretty strict schedule today of eating and sleeping and just gave him his bath.. Time to see if any of that will make a difference tonight! Wish us luck!! :-)

Jenny - posted on 11/04/2008

Carter was born on 9-5-08. He just recently pulled an all nighter- he slept for 9 hours straight!! We have not had a replay just yet....lol but are hoping to eventually. I had been starting to sleep train him in his crib, but he got a cold and needed nose boogies suctioned throughout the night so I put him in the Safe and Secure sleeper (the best purchase I ever made!!) and he slept in bed with me. It is nice because it is made of hard plastic with a soft fabric coating so it is comfortable for them to sleep in, but I can't roll on him and he can't roll out of it. He sleeps for a mininum of 6-7 hours when he is in it. When he is in his crib for the night it is usually 4 hours. I find he sleeps longer when I let him fall alseep on my shoulder after feeding him. We snuggle for about 30 min. and then I put him in the bed. Another thing I noticed is that he sleeps longer the more I increase his formula intake. We also take him for walks in the house when he gets too fussy.

Megan - posted on 11/04/2008

It's been challenging, but the past two nights he slept for 5 hours! 10-3, I'll take it! We FF and he is gaining a ton of weight so I'm hoping soon he'll be sleeping through the night. But for now, only waking once at night is ok :)

Sheila - posted on 11/04/2008

Hey.My daughter was born sept 6 and she sleeps quite well. She normally goes down between 9 to 11 and sleep usually until about 5 or 6.I only bottle feed though.Like most people the same thing I keep her in the dark when I want her to sleep.Try talking in a low and soothing voice.

Kristina - posted on 11/04/2008

Yeah that seems to be our problem too... the cosleeping. Hes def spoiled rotten and hates being alone. As much as it can be annoying tho if youve read up on the cosleeping it can actually be a safer way for the baby to sleep as long as you do it right. Were working on breaking the habit by making him sleep in his crib during the day for naptime and well slowly work our way up to nighttime. Check out this website... explains all about the cosleeping and its actually pretty cool. www.cosleeping.org when you think about it our youngins are only a little over a month. We have plenty of time to get them use to sleeping in there own bed. I personally feel more comforable with the cosleeping until he can roll over and get himself out of any situation in his own crib that could cause sids.

Megan - posted on 11/04/2008

My babe was born the 24th of Sept and slept thru the night about a week after he was born, he sleeps with us and I think that is why, because the only time he does wake up is when he is alone in the night if he falls asleep in his swing or crib... but dont get into the habit of co-sleeping, we are already wishing we hadnt because he doesnt sleep more than 20 to 30 minutes by himself otherwise now... :(

Kristina - posted on 11/04/2008

The doctor told me so long as you feed your baby 3-4 hours during the day he should sleep at night. Works for us. We learned quick to let him pick his own schedule and just make sure hes always fed when hes suppose to be. We can get anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night.... depending on how much the baby sleeps.

Amy - posted on 11/04/2008

Eliza was born September 10th. She is going to sleep around 9pm and wakes up at 3am and then 6am. The 3am feeding is about 20 minutes, and she eats well, like she needs it. the 6am in the past few days seems to be turning unnecessary. She eats for a little bit and then falls back asleep after about 5-10 minutes. She then wakes up for the day about 7 or 8am. I would love to eliminate the 6am time. My husband got me a book called 12 hours of sleep in 12 weeks...i tried what it said, but Eliza really didn't respond well AT ALL. i had turned my well sleeping baby into a mess that wouldn't take naps anymore and made herself SO tired she COULDN'T sleep. We had to start all over again with the routine that had been working. Now she's all good. naps well and goes to bed pretty regularly. I hope that maybe I can start just calming her in her crib at 6am until she falls back asleep, and then eliminate her waking at 6am all together. Any ideas?

Michelle - posted on 11/04/2008

Mine was born 9 September and sleeps from 7pm- 3am and then feeds for 30mins and sleeps again til 7am....I feed 3 hourly during the day usually but am more of a demand feeder.

I found that once I started feeding on demand rather than waking her, she slept WAY better at night.

I also express and hubby gives her a bottle at 6pm every night after her bath...I think bathing her at the same time every night has also helped as she now knows that after that is bottle and then sleep...

Pauline - posted on 11/03/2008

Our's was born September 19th and now sleeps 7.5 hours (sleeping that much is amazing!!). What we did was we woke her every two hours during the day to eat and then at night, we go to bed around 9:30 and turn out all the lights and I just let her eat as much as she wants. At first she was falling asleep around midnight (very tired boobies) but now is starting to fall asleep at 10:30 to 11. I hope that helps! Good luck. (PS: my husband also walks with her in the dark when she's fussing and not eating and that seems to help calm her too. the key is to keep her in the dark)