The Big Little Baby Sleep Thread

[RozeePozee 10]

I don't take it personally. We make our own parenting choices and I'm in no position to judge what others do. I'm in a fortunate position where, as a full time mother with a partner who is around some of the day, I can afford to be a little brain dead through lack of sleep. If I was still working in my old job, I may have been forced into making different choices.

[Camrat78 10]

Thank goodness it's not just me!!!!

 

Babycamrat is 11 months now and goes down fairly easily at 7pm, but he's started waking around midnight and te only way to get him to go to sleep is a bottle. He'll then go till about half 5, but this morning it was half 4 absolutley screaming. I really didn't want to give him a bottle (after all it was only 4 hours since his last one), but again it was the only way to get him to sleep

[duckweed 10]

My middle son always had trouble sleeping. Still does and he's 15 years old now. He was breastfed up to 12 months. He wasn't fond of a dummy but he did like a bottle of water at night which I gradually changed to one of those trainer cups that doesn't spill. I found sometimes he woke up and just didn't want to go back but if he had toys he could play with, he would play with them and then go back to sleep or if early morning play quietly till the rest of the house got up. What do you do if you can't sleep? Not all children need the same amount of sleep. I have 3 children nearly grown up now and they all had different sleep patterns.

[finoni9 10]

Don't know if anyone else has suggested it - have you tried letting him sleep in his own room - my son magically starting sleeping through when he went to his own room - he stirred once the first night and I left him to it and after a minute he went back to sleep and slept through from then on - he was 6 months old.

 

Controlled crying is definitely worth trying - I did this wih my son when he was a bit older (around 2) and started to wake at night.

[angelbeast 10]

My 7 month old darling has been pretty amazing and started sleeping through from the tender age of 3 months. I know i risk getting no help or sympathy at admitting to this miracle of nature, however, here goes....!

 

Just last week she has started waking at 12-1 am ish and then again at 4-5 am ish, very loudly requesting milk, not a cry or scream, more of a yell. She is on 3 good solids meals a day plus a morning bottle and a bedtime bottle that we wake her for at 10pm after putting her down to sleep at about 630ish.

 

So what's going on? I find it hard to believe she could be hungry but it seems she is, although she never finishes these bottles. Her teeth could be an issue but we don't see any sign of her being in discomfort from them, nothing obvious at the moment. Another idea could be trapped wind as she has vegetarian food and can be farty but seems good at farting!

 

i'm at my wits end and beginning to rethink my choice to get going and try for another right now!

 

any ideas would be gratefully recieved

xxx

[cosywolf 10]

Hi Angelbeast...welcome to the reality that is the fact that nearly everything babies and toddlers do is no more than a stage, be it good or bad - just when you think you're settled in for the ride...they change something

 

It could be teething, it could be hunger, it could be that now she's looking around, life is so much more interesting and she'd rather be living it than sleeping:D

 

If you're positive that she's getting enough to eat through the day, my main sggestion would be to make sure she has as much milk as she wants just before bed, and have a bottle with water in it for when she wakes up in the night. When she wakes up, leave the lights off, don't talk to her, in other words, do nothing interesting at all, lol. Offer her the water only, nothing more interesting than that.

If she cries, you have a couple of choices...if you stay, make it boring. Sit quietly not looking at her, preferably not right next to her. If you go, come back in only to comfort her to calmness, preferably just with your presence but without speaking.

 

In case you haven't guessed, this is about training them to understand that night time is for sleeping, not playing, and no matter what the provocation, you are not going to give in and play.

Even if it turns out to be teething, or hunger and you think she needs milk, etc, I always find this the best way to deal with anything a night, just doing it with boring efficiency so that they never get the idea that night is for anything but sleep.

It isn't immediate, sorry...but sounds like you've had plenty of rest in preparation

[SamMT 10]

My daughter has followed pretty much the same pattern, and having slept well from an early age (with some hard work involved) she then started waking when she got a bit older. I tried the same techniques which got her sleeping through well in the first place but to no avail- she was genuinely starving. It was just a phase, presumably a growth spurt and it passed.

 

I went through a phase of thinking I must do something about it (I think we can get hung up about this sleeping through the night business) but actually it was fine once I accepted that a quick feed really wasnt the end of the world and that it would not be forever. She is now 10 months and has phases of sometimes waking when she is poorly or teething. Sometimes she just really wants milk and nothing else will do, and if I have tried everything else I feed her then we all get back to sleep. I dont worry that it is becoming some sort of habit as as soon as she is settled again she stops waking at night. All children go through phases of being more needy in various respects sometimes and as long as we can be there for them it tends to pass. As I definitely will not leave her to cry if she needs me, then I face the fact I need to get my lazy backside out of bed! I know its tiring but it wont be forever. Just when you think its never going to change it will

[tessashark 10]

Just a thought but 2 bottles a day doesn't seem very much, why not try giving her an extra bottle in the daytime to see if that helps?

I breastfeed so that's why I don't know whether two is enough but I do know that my son will wake much earlier or sometime in the night if he's not fed enough during the day even though he also eats well.

He tends to have (at least) 3 breast feeds and one bottle formula per day

[S.T.C. 10]

Aaah bless, I remember this stage well. I think they all go through it at some stage.. I was never a fan of controlled crying (more like uncontrolled cruelty in my opinion! ha)Here are some very simple tips that I have tried and they worked for me:

 

Hate to admit it, but I introduced a dummy at 6 months old! My little one starting waking up at silly o'clock and as soon as I gave him a dummy it bought me an extra couple of hours in bed! Bliss........

 

Once I established he'd got enough calories during the day, (on health visitor advice) I got cooled boiled water ready for night time drinks.

 

Stick to giving water through the night as it might be genuine thirst but make it quick and don't get the baby out of the cot. Give them the drink in the cot with the lights down very low. Then leave the room immediately.

 

Get a black-out blind as these summer mornings are waking us all up!

 

Be realistic - if you're putting your baby to bed very early, they're going to wake up very early (6.30 is early although all babies are individuals). The sleeping patterns start changing around now for your baby. (my son had 5 naps a day until he was 8 months old then he dropped it off to 3). 6.30 is a typical bedtime for a young baby but as they get older (in my experience), you need to delay the bedtime a little longer I'm afraid! She'll let you know though about that one I suppose!! She may well be exhausted and ready for bed at 6.30 but this will probably change soon enough and so will the sleepless nights in turn!

 

If all else fails, grin and bear it until the "phase" passes! I'm afraid disturbed sleep seems to be part of the job description from time to time. Good luck hun. xx

[SamMT 10]

Just a thought but 2 bottles a day doesn't seem very much, why not try giving her an extra bottle in the daytime to see if that helps?

I breastfeed so that's why I don't know whether two is enough but I do know that my son will wake much earlier or sometime in the night if he's not fed enough during the day even though he also eats well.

He tends to have (at least) 3 breast feeds and one bottle formula per day

 

Good point. At that age mine was on the suggested 7am, 2.30pm, 6.30pm and 10.30pm (though technically a bit old for this one!). Lack of milk consumption during the day could be a potential explanation.

[dizzybird77 10]

:help:Our newest addition is now 19weeks and to say that he's not a big fan of sleeping is an understatement!!!

I know that not all babies are sleeping through by this point and neither did our other two, but at least they would sleep in the day and I could catch a nap with them.

Babydizzy manages no more than 15 mins at a time (unless he's in the car/pram) and only 3 times a day.

He's ready for bed at 7pm and goes down for around 4hrs but then he's up every 2 hours through the night!!!

My OH is great, and tries to keep him downstairs with him from 9 till 12 so I can at least get a couple of hrs in but it's not enough!! He's breast fed and does not really like bottles even with expressed milk so it's me all night.

We've tried controlled crying and everything else we can think of but to no avail.

I'm thinking he's overtired but I really have no idea how to get him to sleep longer in the day, apart from trekking around with the pram or in the car, and there's only so many places you can go!!!

Any help/advice appreciated:help::help:

[Moon Maiden 10]

controlled crying is not going to work at 19weeks.

 

I haven't breastfed so probably not a huge help. Did you breastfeed your other two? I understand BF babies feed more regularly than FF babies?

 

When my 3 were over anxious at night I would use a bit of lavendar oil to calm them which helped alot. Just a drop onto the base sheet above their head. That or one of the lavendar bags.