Your new textbox
NEEDED! Sleep Tips For Babies
- Rating: No Rating
My son is almost four months old and started off his little life as a fantastic sleeper. Not so much anymore! People seem shocked when they ask if he's sleeping through the night and I say No. I know that babies schedules vary widely but he barely makes it 4 hours in between feedings and recently won't stay asleep if I put him down! The doctor says to up his last feeding before I go to bed but that doesn't seem to be working either. I'm not looking for a solid 8 hours or anything but the 2.5 I get at a time is starting to turn me into an even bigger coffee addict than normal! Any tips, tricks, advice or suggestions?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by MommyWizdom on -
Hey there. Check out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I will change your life 'cause you'll be able to sleep again. Good luck! Tweet me if you want more tangible advice...
-
Permalink Reply by Expensive Mistakes and Cheap Thrills on -
there's a lot of sleep-related advice and information on my blog here.
-
Permalink Reply by geekmom on -
I'm sure you will hear a huge variety of advice but my feeling is that our culture puts way too much emphasis on babies 'sleeping through the night' like it's some kind of test of good parenting. Lots of babies sleep for longer periods of time when they're newborns, but then for various reasons (like teething, or a growth spurt, or just because they're busy learning so much so quickly in the first year that their brains are very active) they sleep for shorter periods of time. I don't think this means you have made a mistake or that there's anything "wrong" with the baby that needs fixing. Neither of mine slept "through the night" during their first year, and I didn't sweat over it; they are now 7 and 13 years old and sleep better than I do :-)
My advice is as much as possible, sleep when the baby sleeps. If this means you let the housework slide or don't spend as much time cooking or whatever, IMO getting as much sleep as humanly possible should be a top priority for anyone with a child under age 2 (or sometimes beyond that, LOL!). Parents who sleep more are better, and much happier people. Lots of times babies who object to being put down are quite happy to stay asleep if mom is lying down with them. I've seen so many women struggle with exhaustion because they are trying to 'get things done' while the baby is sleeping. If you aren't able to just lie down with him, maybe find a comfortable sling or baby carrier so you can tote him around while he's sleeping (this was a lifesaver with my two, neither of them was interested in napping once I put them down). I'd recommend reading "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" or Dr. Sears' "The Baby Sleep Book" as these authors explain biologically normal infant sleep patterns, and can help you figure out what techniques feel right to you and what you think might work for your son. I would also recommend Dr James McKenna's work; he is a researcher at Notre Dame who has done some amazing research on the way babies sleep and how help them sleep more but also minimize their risk of SIDS.
Anyway, good luck and enjoy every moment of these precious days with your little guy. Before you know it you'll turn around and he'll be off to school and you will wonder how the heck that happened so fast. :-)
-
Permalink Reply by Candes on -
Add one more book to check: The Sleep Lady method "Good Night Sleep Tight". I sleep trained my boys at or around 4 to 6 months. Personally, I've had great success with this gentle method.
One thing to keep in mind with each new milestone babies sleep patterns may change. Learning to roll over, teething etc..
-
Permalink Reply by geekmom on
-
Candes said:One thing to keep in mind with each new milestone babies sleep patterns may change. Learning to roll over, teething etc..
This is so true! They change so much over the first year in so many ways.
-
Permalink Reply by Kelly Hunt on -
I use a mobile on the crib that has a projector with light. When one of my little ones wakes up in the middle of the night I use the remote and turn it on. They usually fall back asleep while watching the lights on the ceiling.
My daughter has issues waking up while her twin brother snoozes for 10 hours. We started letting her wake up to eat, but we only fed her a 3 oz. bottle instead of 6. We didn't talk to her or make that time exciting. Then we put her straight back to bed (with the projector mobile on). After 6 months she hardly wakes up during the night. It is like she has slowly forgotten about that midnight snack.
-
Permalink Reply by Polkadot Patch Boutique on -
I second the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I was desperate when I found this book and it changed our lives. I also loved having my baby sleep with us.
-
Permalink Reply by LawGurl on -
WoW! I don't want to sound like a party pooper... But UmmMM! When I think of someone wanting advice... I am thinking that they want a little more insight than pulling a book off the old bookshelf and calling it advice...
Personally... my 4mo is sleeping rather well through the night... heck, he's slept through the night practically from day one, however, when my 10yr old was a baby... HA HA HA... whoa! we had to pull out all of the stops to get him to sleep... We tried the up the last feeding suggestion... we tried feed him then nurse him then give him a bath or a combo of all three number... we then tried the play with him until he got all tuckered out...
Personally, I think a combo approach needs to be taken... try all kinds of things until you come up with something that fits your baby's personality because basically, that's what you're dealing with... You're child may just be a night person and has used up all his sleep through the night passes on ya... smile...
The one thing you didn't mention is if you're nursing him or if he's on the bottle... I think that may have a little, not a lot to do with the situation and how you can approach your baby sleeping though the night... smile...
I hope I was able to help in some kind of way...
-
Permalink Reply by Mary on -
This is what I did with my son when he was born. He didn't sleep well in the begining soooooo
I didn't let him sleep during the day. He would take a nap but the rest of the day I would be playing with him, feeding him and interacting with him.
I added cereal to his formula...and I did it when he wasn't a month old yet.
I gave him baby food in his formula during the day (once he learned how to sit I offered the baby food in his spoon)
I added two drops of an anticolic syroup to his formula three times daily.
I changed his formula from Similac to Prosobee. (the doc didn't want me too but Prosobee worked better for him @ the end)
Even if he didn't have a diaper rash I would always apply a diaper ointment so he would feel fresh down there.
He started to sleep better as I was making these changes. I'm an RN but I've always believed in parenting newborns the old fashion way! I have two children and I raised both of them the same way. My first son couldn breastfeed b/c he didn't know how too but when my daughter was born two years after him, I got to pump some of my milk for him and although he was only two years old, he still remembers that his mommy had a booby for Ana and the other to pump milk for him. So if you breastfeed....do so during the day and feed formula before bedtime...that will make the trick faster since formula sustain them for longer periods of time.
-
Permalink Reply by Monica on
-
I don't have any advice but I sure am glad you asked this question. My son started that at 4 months and it just got worse. First it was waking up once a night and now he's 8 months.. he sleeps for about 3 hours then after that he's up every 2 hours until he gets up in the morning! Needless to say I'm really really tired!
I do have mine on a routine btw. He eats his solids, about 1/2 hour later he gets a bath and then he drinks 8 oz. And he only has 2 naps during the day, sometimes only 1 that equal about 3.5 hours total but I usually have to lay down w/ him.
To be honest I think my problem started when I breastfed him lying down in my bed. If I have another one I will not do that!
-
Permalink Reply by BuddynPumpkin on -
I think it is perfectly normal for a 4 month old to still be waking at night to eat. I don't know of many babies at that age that are sleeping through the night yet. That seems to happen more around 6 months I think. I agree with the posters that said to read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It changed our life.
- 1
- 2
Announce yourself!
Badge
© 2009 Created by Megan Calhoun
