My daughter is 3 months old. She had been sleeping really well. Anywhere from 9 or 10 until 4 or 5. I don't know what happened, but she started sleeping like a newborn again. Now she's waking much more frequently. Sometimes every 1-2 hours, but never sleeps more than 3 hours. I was thinking it's growth spurt, but I'm not sure.
When she wakes around 1 or 2 I feed her and she cries out about 45 minutes later. I've wound up pulling her in bed with me because I'm so tired, but this is not ideal. It's almost as if because I'm right there, she wakes to nurse every hour. It's not that she wakes up or cries hysterically, but she cries out with her eyes closed so I nurse her. I really, really don't want to get in that habit, but I'm afraid it's too late.
Ultimately, We'd like her to sleep in her crib in her room. She's a P'n'P in our room right now. I'm not expecting a miracle of her sleeping through the night, but I'd like to get back to at least 5 hours. I know she can do it at this age.
How do you make the transition? Do I have to start letting her CIO for a few minutes? I will always feed her if she's hungry, but I'm ready to start a new sleep schedule. I completely realize it's not exactly about what I want, but I thought I'd ask for suggestions.
She is swaddled and pretty exclusively BF. We've tried formula, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Thanks!
my daughter has been doing the same thing. We co-sleep though. My concern is really just getting her to sleep through the night. What gives? At least I'm not the only one :-D Which makes me think maybe it is a growth thing
We started by having our son nap in his crib. Then we just moved him one night - thinking it would be terrible. Magically, it was so much better. We didn't hear all of the little noises that he made that I would normally respond to - and he managed to put himself back to sleep after most of them. When he actually woke up enough to cry it was loud enough that we heard him and I could go in and BF him.
I would suggest a couple things.
1. Try and get her to bed earlier - this is good for so many reasons, but shoot for around 7 PM. You will be able to reclaim your evenings and feel like an adult again. She will be more well-rested during the day and will be awake for more of it.
2. If she was making it from 10 - 5 before then she is not "hungry" in the middle of the night. Send your husband in to comfort her instead. He doesn't have boobs and she won't expect a meal from him. But, if she wakes at one of her usual meal times you go in and feed her.
3. Whether you or your husband go in, give her a few minutes (3-5) to settle herself before you come running. You may be surprised at how often you can just roll right over and fall asleep.
4. If she's crying but is clearly not awake - especially if this is just a couple hours after you put her down - try not to disturb her - you'll probably just wake her up more than she is. Give her a few minutes (at least 3, no more than 10) to figure it out. Our son does this periodically and you almost have to get him to "snap out of it" - because he's not actually awake.
When she cries with her eyes closed does she ever fall back asleep with like 10-15 minutes? I know its painful to listen to and your first instinct is to pick her up (that, and it freaked me out the first few times it happened), but sometimes my son will do that. If he doesn't fall asleep in about 10-15 minutes, I go through the whole routine of rubbing his back, checking the diaper, burping him, and if none of that works, I feed him. Sometimes a good burp is all they need. I don't think feeding her formula would make a difference. Hope that helps a little.
S.
J.,
You have been lucky. My son didn't start sleeping that long until he was almost a year old.
He did sleep in our room (co-sleeper) until about 4 months. At that time I started noticing that my movements and any sounds (husband snoring) would disturb his sleep and he would want to nurse - whether it had been 5 minutes or 3 hours. We also started with naps in his crib in his room and he took to it right away. By the end of the week he slept in his crib at night as well. (He still woke up every 3 - 4 hours, but at least I could count on 3 hours at a time). The other thing I learned was not to go in at a whimper - they do cry in their sleep and I would just wake him up when I went in and I was then stuck. I have really never let him cry for more than 10 minutes. I more listened for an escalation in volume or distress and went in when it seemed that he was no longer self-soothing.
He also hated to be swaddled by this time and was more comfortable propped on his side (I checked with his ped for this and she said it was ok.)
Good luck!
Babies go through a growth spurt at 10 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 mths, and 12 mths. So, that is probably were you are at. It should only last a few days to a week if that is it. Just go with it and it should end soon.
Basically, with my daughter, it came down to letting her cry it out. As a general rule we put her in there with the understanding that we wouldn't let her cry longer than 15 minutes before going back in. In the beginning it was just heart-wrenching, but after a few tries you start to recognize which cries mean she's just upseet that it's bedtime, and which ones mean she really isn't ready for bed (still hungry, immediately filled the diaper, whatever). Nowadays, my daughter just turned a year old and she'll usually go down at night with a little bit of a token whimper or cry, but then goes right to sleep.
Congrats on having a sleeper. We have one also and had a couple of rough patches. Here is what worked for us:
1) She may be ready to be unswaddled. Our little one started getting mad that she couldn't move and would wake herself up. Our Ped had us half swaddle her for a couple of nights. One arm out and then both arms out. If she sleeps better then try no swaddle and see what happens.
2) I know it might be hard, but try to move her to her crib in a differerent room. She may just be making noises in her sleep. Its amazing how they will put themselves back to sleep. We had our little one in our room (in her crib) until almost 5 months. She would wake up because we were moving around, coughing etc. She slept much better once she was used to her own room.
3) If co sleeping isn't for you, then don't feel pressured to do it. For it to work, everyone needs to want to do it and everyone needs to sleep okay together.
4) It could be teething or just off her schedule. We would have trouble after we traveled.
5) I wouldn't do the CIO method until after 4 or 5 months. We had a lot of luck with the ferber book and dr wiesbluths book.
If you have any questions, feel free to send a email Our little one is now 7 months and has been sleeping more or less 11-12hours since 4 months.
3 months is not usual for a BF baby to sleep for 5 hours. It does happen occasionally but rarely. Those mothers who are blessed with big sleepers get by with more sleep but most of us do not have it that good for several months into our babies lives. Usually at 6 months you may see longer hours but not 3. I hope you can hang in there and why so opposed to having your child near to you? I understand it may be more "ideal" for YOU but maybe its not for HER? If she's crying she's hungry. Breast milk goes right through their system that's why they wake up so much during the night. Good luck and hope you get some sleep!
Hi J.,
All babies are so different, but I will let you know what worked for my family. My breastfed baby was sleeping in bed with us every night at least 5-6 hours, and then started waking up more. I think it was because she wanted more room! We put her in her crib for naps for a few days and then just put her in at night. She slept really well. I think most cribs are bigger than a PnP, so you might try that. Also, have you tried unswaddling her? Our pediatrician suggested stopping at about 3 months. They have more control over arms and legs by that point, and may get a little angry when they can't move around. I know it is frustrating to go from sleep to no sleep (I mean for mom...) and I hope you find something that works... We also found that the earlier she went to bed, the longer she slept, and it was easier to put her down. Still works that way too! If we put her down at 8:30, she gets up before 7- put her down at 7 she sleeps until 7:30. Goofy little thing!!! Good luck!
E.
Hi J.,
Newborns go through tons of phases. I would make sure that she doensn't have gas, reflux or possibly an ear infection. All these things could make it very uncomfortable sleeping flat on the back during the night. My son went through the exact same thing, and had a terrible time, (still does at 3) sleeping throught the night. Also, crying it out really is the best solution, if everything else is fine. I know it seems mean, but truthfully, it's the only way they learn to sooth themselves to sleep. Also, feeding every hour is only creating a habit. Sheis old enough to sleep without being fed for atleast 5 hours. By four months it is ok to start some sort of sleep training.
I know it's unconventional, however, I started sleeping my son on his tummy and it really seemed to help. You also might want to try mylocon drops before bed. They helped me (atleast I thought they did.)
Best of luck,
Jolie
I would say you're daughter may even be teething and thats why its more difficult for her to make the transition. My daughter began teething at her age and was up constantly and totally changed her sleeping pattern out of nowhere.
My advice on the sleeping transition is hard but it will work. My son used to have to be rocked for months and when I decided it was enough (it would take me hours to put him down b/c everytime, I'd move to put him down he would wake up)I one night put him in the bed kissed him goodnight and left the room, it was the HARDEST thing b/c he cried in their for atleast a half hour and it made me want to cry but it worked and the next night he was fine. Like I said it was heartbreaking but sometimes a little crying won't hurt them. I'd check into her teething as well!
