Help with My Sons Sleeping Habits.

My baby done that so i started getting in the floor with her and we played and did all the motion stuff and she took a nap in the morn then in the afternoon. She finally started sleeping thru the night. I had toys that would light up and play music. She needed a schdule. I think its best. She is now taking one nap and sleeps thru the night. We just have the prob that i sleep in the room with her. So when i break myself of that we should be good...
Good luck..

completely normal... just go with it and don't try to "train him" into a schedule. He knows what his sleep needs are.

Please don't force him to cry it out to try and get him to sleep. Just follow his cues and you will all be happier.

I don't know what I would've done without the following two books! They have been invaluable!
Dr. Sears - The Baby Book
Dr. Sears - The Baby Sleep Book

I HIGHLY recommend these books! Good luck!

Don't forget that he is only 3 months old. He will get better over time. But they need their sleep. If he needs to sleep let him. If you are a stay at home mom then there should be no real problem. If you are working then the sleep deprivation may be a problem but we all have to go through it to get to the child that sleeps all night long on their own.

Read BabyWise by Ezzo to get him sleeping through the night.

I have a 3 1/2 year that didn't sleep all night until he was a year and an 8 month old that still wakes up 2-3 times a night. Sorry but it's normal. Just give it time. He will sleep all night when he is ready.

When my children were that young and beginning to not sleep at night I found an old wind up (Big Ben - type) Alarm clock and wound it up, wrapped a towel around it to slightly muffle the ticking and placed it against the baby bed. This resembles the mother's heartbeat from the womb. Don't vacuum in the afternoon, do that in the morning when he is awake. The drone of it will put him to sleep. Keep him where he can see the TV or a ceiling fan. The changing colors on the screen could facinate him or the movement of the fan could keep him entertained. Take him outside mid afternoon, the sunlight can give him a bit of energy and help him stay awake. Good luck.

I purchased this book (http://www.sleepsense.net/) when my daughter was 4 months old. Its very easy to read and I was able to read enough in one day to begin working on implementing it the same day I bought the book. Its expensive, but it worked so it was worth every penny to me! I didn't want to do any kind of sleep training until my baby was at least 4 months old but they do tell you in the book what to do for babies younger, I just chose not to.

My son was also a big sleeper during the day, but also slept well at night. I used the book Baby Wise (which I know has mixed reviews) but it worked well for us. It allows for lots of daytime naps but with structure. I was clueless and needed a strict schedule to follow until I figured it all out, but the most important part is the Eat, wake, sleep pattern. Good luck!

Hi T.,
On Being Baby Wise is a very good book that focuses on sleeping habits. I recommend you read it and follow the advice. A friend of mine had her infant sleeping all night at 8 weeks! I read the book when my baby was born but failed to follow the advice. Yikes, don't I wish I had as my daughter is 21 months old now and there are only a handful of nights that she has not woken up crying at some point! The best advice I can give you about the cat-naps is to set a schedule. You can decide, based on your day now, when your son needs a nap. He might still need a morning, noon, and afternoon nap. Try not to let him get a nap in too late in the day. If it is not time for his nap try going outside, taking a bath, or some tummy time when he gets drowsy. Does he have a crib, or bassinett that he usually sleeps in? If so, be sure he naps there too, that will help him associate that place with sleep. And one more bit of advice I was given is this, "This too shall pass". Meaning, every stage of your baby's life is just that, a stage. Be ready for seemingly constant sleeping, eating, and playing habit changes! Good luck and congratulations on your beautiful son!

Hi, It might help to keep the baby woke during the day. Try developing a schdule that will works for your family. my baby is 7months and playing soothing music and dimming the lights @ bed time helps my baby relax.

T.,
There is lots of information about sleeping and babies first of all, I can only imagine how much advice you will be getting. I have two children and I am number 11 of 12 children so I was raised around a lot of babies. At three months old your baby should be sleeping a lot, they basically eat, sleep and poop, and do "cat nap all day long" The best advice I can give is make sure your son stays awake after eating for a little while, then sleeps wakes up to eat, stayes awake...you get the drill. Many books say this and I made the mistake on my first child and corrected on my second...don't feed your baby to sleep. This is a bad habbit, and later in Toddler life, it is not good for their teeth to have milk in bed.
In terms of the 6:00 am time, he is likely hungry, but just in case, give him a little time to see if he will get himself back to sleep before running in to him and picking him up. If your three month old is sleeping until 6:00 am I think that is pretty good! If you are breast feeding when they need to start eating more, they might eat more frequently for a little while, this gives them more nutrition and also increases your mild supply.
I quickly scanned the web and found this website:
http://www.sleepnet.com/infant.html
My only other advice, is enjoy your little guy, they are lovely and grow up way too fast:)

congrats!

Babies do sleep a lot, and frequently. You need to start helping him develop a good sleeping routine/pattern. At this age he should sleep 1-1 1/2 hours between feedings and about 6-8 hours at night (yes, it's possible, all 7 of my breastfed kids did).

Try reading one of the books: ON BECOMING BABYWISE, or PREPARATION FOR PARENTING. The second book comes from a Christian perspective, but uses the same system. They both have really good information and help you to feel less stressed about a newborn. It's a good blend of common sense, intuition about your child, and physical needs of your baby.

good luck and enjoy!

You may want to engage him in some acivities during the day. He does need to sleep a few hours in the dytime but the bulk of his sleep should be at night.
Place him on the floor so he can get some tummy time. Get down on the floor with him and sing and play with rattles and just keep him occupied. 2 or 3 naps are all he needs...

I remember when my fist son was born, he literally only slept 2 hours at a time, 24/7. It was havoc for my mind & body, I was breastfeeding & we couldn't afford a breast pump. Finally I switched him to formula. It apparently filled him up more because He started sleeping for 6 hours in the night. However he did end up being lactose intolerant & we gave him lactose free formula. On Hind sight I wonder if was allergic to my breast milk & that is what made him sleep so little.

Hi, have you tried a bath at night? I like Johnson's Bedtime, I have an 8 month old son and a 14 year-old daughter. My son did the cat-napping during the day also. Try interacting with him after feeding during the day for as long as he's interested. I also made sure that when my son was napping during the day, to do daily normal stuff...in other words I didn't tip-toe around the house, and since the weather is getting nice take him out during the day that's bound to let him know it's ''awake'' time! Hope this helps.

your son is only 3 months old, i wouldnt worry too much but now would be the time to start a pattern if u want him to have one. babys catch on to repetition. wake him up if u dont want him to sleep, do activities that would spark his interest and essentially wear him out for when u do want him to sleep. i know its nice to have some quiet time during the day for chores or mommy time or whatever but as u can see, theres a price that comes with it. heres to no more sleepless nights! good luck!

With both of my girls I did a modified form of the Babywise method. In the morning I would feed them, then try to keep them awake for at least thirty minutes to an hour. Then they would nap until their next feeding. We would do this all day until the last feeding at night. So the pattern goes: eat, awake time, then naptime. If they woke up in the night needing to eat I would feed them and then put them right back to sleep. It takes a while, but it seemed to help them organize their days and nights. Both of them slept through the night (11pm - 7am) by 4 months old. I know there are lots of other methods out there that work just as good. But this is what we did! Good luck!

I've been where you are! Three months is still a little young for a predictable and regular napping schedule. But you could start soon by putting him down to nap at the same time each day, in the same bed/crib, with the same routine, and be consistent. Eventually he will learn to expect the routine. You don't have to be a nazi about the schedule, but I think a routine helps.

A book that was a good resource for us was Dr. Marc Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," but don't let it *replace* your mothering instincts & knowledge of your little boy. Rather, take from the book what's helpful, then don't feel pressured to follow the whole book to the letter (wish someone had given me this advice). This is only one of many stages....enjoy your new little one!

I understand he is only 3 months old bt if you can try to keep him up or not let him tak a late nap like around bed time. Then when you are ready to put him to bed ofr the night if i were you i would give him a bath and feed him well like some cereal in a milk bottle or some baby food or somethng kinda heavy so that he does like adults on thanksgiving and gets good and full and wants to go to sleep an sleep longer. I have 3 children and they are 6,5, and alnost 4 and i did them like that and they started sleeping thrugh the night in no time. After a while he will get used to it and just start automatically going to sleep at the same time and sleeping all night. Good luck!!!!!

T.,
I think your son's sleeping habits are pretty normal. About what time does your son go to bed? How many times does he get up during the night? I have a daughter that is about 5.5 months. She goes down between 8:00 and 9:00 pm. She sleeps till about 4:00 or 5:00, eats and them sleeps another couple of hours. When she was a little younger she would wake up more often throughout the night, but I began just giving a pacifier to her and she would go right back to sleep. I don't know how you feel about pacifiers. She then naps about three or four times all day long. I hope this helps.

B.

My daughter was absolutely perfect! She slept overnight from the start. When my son was born, however, he was nothing like her. He was a terror, and I say that with tons of love! He never slept all night and was sporadic throughout the day. He cried and cried. We actually pushed our bed against the wall and let him sleep in his carrier, placed on the bed. This is where he was comfortable and we left it at that. I would wake and feed him, then let him go back to sleep. Some moms will probably scold me on it, but as a mother, I didn't sleep anyway and watched over him most of the night. During the day, my daughter (who was about 3yrs.) would play and watch videos, just do her normal stuff, but without me. I would arm myself in the recliner and try to get him to sleep when it was time. I had to make him fit our schedule over time. We got him to eventually like his crib and he slept all night there. He usually awoke at 6-7am, which was fine, my husband was getting ready for work at that time. He had a mid morning nap and an afternoon nap, which at times were a struggle, but lasted a couple of hours each. I tried to keep him somewhat active in between and during feedings. He is now a very happy, active 7 year old and still hates to sleep! He's not a napper and will try to stay up late by being sneaky. But, when his body is tired, he will fall! =)
So, it's just going to be up to you to set the schedule and make everyone stick to it. Once he learns that routine, you won't be able to make adjustments to it. At his age, he may nap more often, but it'll change quickly as he's growing. It'll take some patience. And, when you look into those eyes, you see how much it's worth it!
Good luck Mom!

I am also the mother of a 3 month old son. If he is sleeping until 5 or 6 every morning that is really good! Mine goes to bed every night around 8 and we still get up around 3 for a feeding and then up at 6 for a few hours. He also catnaps throughout the day. There is no such thing as a "normal" sleeping pattern when babies are this young, you just have to tough it out - sorry! It does help a little to establish a routine though. Bathtime, feeding, bedtime.... I have an older son, 5 years old, so I knew what to expect this time around. I promise it does get better!

I am not sure what your habits are at the moment but you might try to really help him distinguish between night an day. It is not uncommon for a 3 month old to sleep throughout the day and to wake up for the day early but I would try something. If you try to deprive him of sleep you will not help him because he will have a more difficult time going to sleep because he is over tired and wound up. He is only 3 months old. What I suggest is to make it very clear when it is night time. When he wakes in the middle of the night do NOT turn on any lights, do NOT talk to him, do not play with him. Have a night light near the changing table so you can see what you are doing but that is the only light you turn on. When he wakes change him then feed him but do not interact with him. Put him back to bed. If you are turning on lights and talking he doesn't learn the difference between night and day. During the day, keep him out where there is stuff going on. He can sleep in a bouncy seat or even his carseat don't do this for every nap session sometimes he needs a "real" nap time so put him in the crib. When he is out with you, have some noise going and lights on. You could even vacuum. Even though he is still sleeping it's different than the night routine and it will help him figure out when it is day and when it is night. Trust me, I have four kids from 10 to 4yr old twins and I NEVER walked the floors at night unless they were sick. Good luck.