Sleeping Tips

K. S.

There is one of two ways to help you make it through the night of sleep.

One if you are breast feeding you can switch to formula at night. This seems to fill them up a little more then breast milk. There is no harm on this because you are only doing this at night.

Now if you aren't breastfeeding and you are using formula, you might want to try to put just a little bit of cereal in the bottle to help them feel a little more satisfied as well.

Being on no sleep in not fun and we have all been there. Hope these suggestions help.

A. C. - Hanover, PA

Hi K.,

Your baby is probably in her growth spurt.

Here are some web sites:

http://slumbersounds.com/baby-bedtime-rituals-info.htm

www.storknet.com/guests/babymassage.htm

www.byebyecrybaby.com

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

She's just hungry,so you have to feed her. I would try to feed larger amounts during the day and to keep my boys awake, I would keep them loosely dressed so they weren't so comfy they would fall asleep, I would tickle them, use a washcloth, etc. This was told to us by our pediatrician. It's only temporary, just hang in there!

I agree with PP...there's really nothing you can do about it except feed her. She's going through a growth spurt and needs to eat more often. It'll pass in a couple weeks.

There is a growth spurt around 3 months-- you're just going to have to get through it. I bet in a couple of weeks, she's sleeping 4-5 hours a stretch. Sleep when she does, and just try to get through it!

It sucks! I remember! ;-)

Mine were on runny rice cereal at bedtime at that point. Kept their tummies full longer, no signs of allergies and my oldest is 18.

good luck.

Hi K. - The best advice my Dr gave me was to do semi-demand feeding during the day. So I fed Gabriella every 2 to 3 hours during the day so that she receives all of her nutrients then and at night she slept more. She's been sleeping thru night ever since she was 3 months old.

My friend Kathryn had triplet girls a week after I had Gabriella and her doctor told her to feed them in their diapers to keep them awake during feedings. She said it worked well

do you swaddle her. my 3 month old will sleep from 10 pm to 6 am, but just started to. i stopped getting him to feed in the midle of the night because my dr said he was just being greedy. he never missed it, just fell back asleep. he is also 17lbs now and takes 4-6 oz. last week he was getting up though, growth spurt. hopefully your baby will even out soon.

I always used to rub/play with my son's feet while he was eating to keep him awake a little longer!
How about some soft music/white noise at night in her room as well? Maybe some noises are waking her up and she realizes "Hey...I could EAT!" Worth a try...good luck!

She needs to eat more during the day, all day long. That's the trick. My step sister with 12 kids got them all to sleep thru by 3 months this way. You may think you're feeding her enough because she seems fine, but guaranteed, if offered and urged (don't worry, babies will never over eat, stuff her as full as you can), she'll drink a little more. Try squeezing a couple more feedings in during the day. After a few days, when she adjusts to being truly full, she will sleep longer, and probably all the way through very soon. Good luck!

She may be going through a growth spurt and needs the extra calories. (Cereal hardly has any, so won't help sleep longer) I use to tickle her shoulder to keep her awake and would have to do so repeatedly throughout the feeding. Undressing helped in the beginning too. She seemed to just feed all the time around 6 weeks and then at 3 months. It passed and she began sleeping through the night at 3 months. I fed her every three hours (give or take a half hour) during the day.
Hang in there, it won't be too long until those quiet shared moments are gone.