Baby Sleep - Chebanse,IL

Mine were a bit better sleepers but it helps to give the night time feedings in a dimly lit room (just a night light) and just do a change and feeding then put them back to bed (have a bottle prepared and in the fridge so you can just grab it and warm it). Also you could try waking up the baby to have a feeding just before you go to bed (works better if they have been asleep at least 90 minutes or more). Mine would take a bottle while half asleep and I could just put them back to bed without even a diaper change. Instead of cereal in the bottle you can cluster the evening feedings by making them a little closer together so the baby is fuller to sleep longer. Those are the tricks I used. I hope some of them work for you.

he needs to be fed on-demand, 24/7. Even at night. A hungry baby will wake. He is only 2 months old. At 3 months old, he will hit a growth-spurt... and at these times, a baby needs to be fed more since they are growing and get hungrier and need more feedings.

A 2 month old, does not sleep all night. Adding cereal is not always helpful and could cause more problems because a baby this age does NOT have a fully developed digestive system yet.....

Do not keep him up during the day... an infant needs to nap. If you keep him awake during they day, a baby/child gets OVER-tired and an over-tired baby actually sleeps worse, and cannot sleep well and they have a HARDER time falling asleep and they wake more.

all the best,
Susan

I know how tired you are!
But the reality is... unless you opt for letting your baby cry at night- which is extremely disapproved by basically every medical association, pediatrician association, developmental specialists, ect....
You won't have a baby sleeping more than that until he/she is ready. I have a daughter with an immature digestive system and up until she was 6 months old, she slept 2-3 hours at night. At six months she slept 5-6, and now at 10, sleeps 7-8 and on a blue moon, all night! I understand your pain!

If you keep your baby up during the day, you are going to run the risk of having an overstimulated baby that might sleep even worse at night. So, I would advise you to try to sync your toddler's and newborn's nap during the day, so you can also catch up on some zzz's... Don't take that time to clean or cook like I did! SLEEP!

Also, unless my baby was having signs of a growth spurt, I would not let her nap more than 2 hrs straight during the day so she wouldn't mix up her days and nights. Even if she was up for 10-15 mins, and then back asleep, that helped her set that habit- day is for awake, night is for sleep.

On a side note, cereal in baby's bottles is linked with higher obesity rates. You might find yourself having bigger problems down the road...

Smile! Before you know it, you'll be celebrating your baby's first year and he/she will be sleeping very well at night! Definitely more than 2-3 hours straight!

that is a lot of sleep for a 2 month old! do you know it is DANGEROUS when they fall into a deeper sleep than that? some SIDS occurs when kids fall into too deep of a sleep pattern and forget to breathe...your child will sleep soon. and cereal at this age is NOT a good idea. that has been proven to be a myth and in the end may be making your babies tummy hurt causing her to wake more. its is obviously not working so stop that please. I dont want to go into the science of why we shouldnt feed food to an infant under six months but i am sure you can google it if you need to know. Good luck to you

I'm somewhat recently out of the current stage you are going through. I'm a first time mom and the first 6 months were the hardest thing I've done. Or at least that's what it feels like. At 2 months your child is still feeding on demand especially if you are nursing. I know you hear this all the time, but ALWAYS sleep when the baby sleeps if you can. I know you have a toddler now as well maybe you can somehow align nap times so you all can sleep. I was lucky and was able to call on the in-laws when I was to tired. They would come over and help out while I napped. I still would nurse every 2-3 hours, but would be able to lay back down for another short nap or shower if needed. Friends are always willing to come by and help to. We didn't establish an actual schedule until our little one was 4 months. According to Dr. Spock and What to Expect these are books that help me get through many situations. Take advantage of the days your spouse is home to get some sleep to. I always looked forward to Friday knowing my husband would be home on the weekend to help.
I hope this was helpful.

L.

That's unfortunately quite normal, I have had 4 and they all did that for quite a while, I would hold off on the cereal, he only needs breastmilk or formula right now. Keeping him up during the day can actually make it worse if he gets over tired. The book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child is very good for understanding a child's need for sleep and how to help them get it. Here's hoping you get some sleep soon, I am right there with you :).

I would read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, happy baby" It is by a pediatrician sleep researcher and has similar info to Ferber's book who is also a children's sleep researcher. All the research suggests ensuring that baby is getting plenty of naps during the day. Don't allow a child that age to be awake for more than about 2 hours at a time - then encourage to nap. This will actually beget more sleeping at night. Don't add cereal to bottle. It is quite dangerous and can also promote obesity and it really doesn't work (as you can see). Feed baby before sleeping but don't overdo this. It looks like baby needs to learn to fall back to sleep. So when he wakes, let him whimper a bit and see if he can fall back off to sleep again. For a few nights this may be disruptive but after that it should be better for everyone. Good luck.

Hire some one to come over and let you sleep. They just have tto go through this stage, unfortunately. And with some kids it lasts a long time.

This is what worked for me with both of my boys, and how I had them both sleeping through the night at 1 month old. I always put them to bed at the same time every night (8 pm for us), and put them in their crib awake. If they fussed I would set a timer for 5 minutes, if they were still fussing after 5 was up I would go in and comfort, without picking them up or feeding them. Just rub their back or tummy and talk or sing softly. Once they were calm I would leave, and if they started to fuss I would put another 5 on the timer. Since I started before 1 month it came very natural to them, and I never had to go in more than once, in fact I only had to go in once a handful of times. since your baby is a little older it may take a few days for him to figure out how to self sooth. This method also works well at night. Our Doctor told us that night feedings are not necessary after the first 10 days of life, and that the only reason babies eat at night is because we train them to. When my boys would wake at night I would wait 5 minutes to go in, and I almost never had to go in, they would self sooth and go right back to sleep.

Good Luck!!! My son was not a good sleeper during the night. He is now 4 but took him till he was 2-3 years old to start sleeping threw the night.
In case it this would continue try a weighted blanket. I would not use it now he is to young. I started using it around 18 months. Mad a huge difference.
The doctor said it is very normal the weight on them is soothing.

Wish you all the best.

Hi B.,
It's important for him to sleep during the day. More sleep during the day equals a better rested baby and they will actually sleep more at night. If they get overtired they cry and crying keeps them up of course. Babies up to 4-5 months can not stay awake longer than about two hours before getting tired. I put my newborn down to nap every two hours during the day (but didn't let him sleep more than an hour or two). Sometimes he'd catnap for about a half hour, sometimes up to two hours. It may sound crazy but it totally worked. He was sleeping at night for 4-5 hours by two months. I didn't make this up, its from Dr. Weissbluth. He's a doctor in Chicago and wrote the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child." He totally explains the science behind infant sleep patterns.

good luck!

Hi B.

Congratulations on your new baby!

Couple of thoughts: one is that 2 months old is way too young to be introducing cereal or any kinds of solids. Their little digestive systems are not mature enough to handle it. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age, although some peds will let you add solids at 4 months. Generally speaking though, wait until 6 months before adding solids to his diet and even then it's not for nutrition as much as getting him used to different tastes and textures. Also, numerous studies have shown that adding cereal or solids at night doesn't help with sleep.

Another thought is that at 2 months old, your baby probably NEEDS to eat every 2-3 hours. It's perfectly normal, and this stage will pass. But right now he's very young and should be fed on demand.

My final thought is that as you teach/create the environment in which your child learns to sleep is that a well-rested baby will sleep better. If your baby is overtired (which will happen if you try and keep him up during the day) a hormone (I think it's a hormone) called cortisol will rush through his system, to help him keep going when he's fatigued, but it creates a vicious cycle and won't let him sleep later. At this age he shouldn't be awake for more than 2 hours at a time, and then needs to nap. Maybe even less time awake than that, babies are different.
His day sleep is VERY important for his developing body and brain.
But to help him start to differentiate between day and night sleep, at night when you feed him don't talk to him or play with him, keep the lights down as much as possible (just enough to help him latch, or to see enough to change his diaper). Soon he'll start to realize that day time is for playful interaction, and night time is for sleeping.
I highly recommend the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.

All the best to you! You'll get through this.