What Am I Doing Wrong????

I would try not giving her the bottle at 11pm, get to bed a little earlier, and just count on giving her the bottle around 3am. waking once a night at 7 mo. sounds normal to me!

Try putting cereal, or even meat, in her last bottle. She may be waking up because she is hungry. If so, a full tummy will be the answer.

I tried the "dream feed" with my son who is now 6 months old and even though he would sleep through that feeding, he would also wake up at 3am every night. So, I just quit doing the 11pm feed because if he was going to wake up anyway, then I would just feed him then. Turns out, he was waking up just enough at the 11pm feed to interrupt his sleep cycle. Once I stopped the 11pm feeding, he started sleeping through the night off and on. Now, he sleeps through the night all the time (knock on wood...don't want to jinx myself!). He sleeps from 8pm-6am roughly. I would try skipping the 11pm feeding and make sure she gets a big bottle (as much as you can give her with her disorder) and maybe some solids at around 6:30-7. I know you said it's hard to keep her awake...I understand that, but maybe if you can squeeze one more nap in, even if it's a short one, to get her to go to bed at around 8-9pm, she's more likely to make it all night at that point. Maybe if you skip the 11pm feed, you can get yourself in bed a little earlier (haha) so that you'll be better rested for the 3am one. Wish I had some better advice for you. We've been in the same boat until recently, so I feel your pain. She'll get there eventually!

A baby needs to be parented to sleep. There is nothing wrong with rocking her if she needs it. It is also not unusual for a 7 month old to still wake once at night. All babies are different, so what worked for your 3 year old may not work for other babies. It is very unusual for a 3 month old to STTN, so you got lucky with your first.

If it were me I would quietly go in, do not rouse her, do not talk, do not play, and quietly rock. I am unfamiliar with her condition, so I don't know if giving her a bottle at this time would be appropriate, but perhaps she needs something. Perhaps talk to your pedi about it. Maybe the "dream bottle" at 11 is unnecessary and she needs to eat that at 3.

Thre is absolutely nothing wrong with helping babies sleep. I always rocked my children and nursed them to sleep and they eventually learned to fall asleep on their own - never ever crying. I know many experts say you should put them to bed awake, but perhaps it's just not working for her at 3 AM. She's trying to tell you she needs something, mama. Try to listen to her.

It sounds like our 7 months olds are on the same schedule. I was going to post today but when I saw your post I was so happy to see another mom in the same boat. I gave up the 11pm feeding because he would wake up no matter what around 2-3.

When you are up at 2-3 keep in mind another mom is with you! Stay strong and know that you are doing you best.

From what I understand of Galactosemia your child cannot tolerate milk based products. Have you tried giving her some rice before bedtime? Rice is usually a well tolerated food. I can understand your frustation my daughter is almost two and still doesn't alway sleep through the night. And I can understand how hard it is to have your husband away. My husband is military and deploys for six months at a time and I work 24 on 48 off as an EMT. So sleep is very precious and I tend to get irritated if mine gets interrupted. I would discuss this with your pediatrician and see if they have any suggestions. There really isn't a whole lot of information on her condition, but bear in mind that she now has her own special needs and she is not going to develope a "normal" sleep schedule if her body is out of whack. Best of luck to you, I can only hope it gets better.

I'm not familiar with Galactosemia... So hats off to you for dealing with that.

My motto is 'Hungry children will not sleep.' To me, it reminds me of when my daughter would wake up hungry. Not sure if you can add rice cereal to her 11pm bottle to help carry her through the night or not...?

If she were going through a growth spurt and waking up hungry at 3am, does her Galactosemia allow her to get a bottle then? Could you give her a smaller bottle at 11 and the rest of it at 3am?

Just some ideas. Hope it helps!

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Baby sleep issues are stressful and each kid is different. My second had heart problems/surgery. She was stuck at a 2 or 3 am feeding for a long time, probably until she was 9 months, maybe 10.

I'm not familiar with galatosemia, but perhaps she just needs this 3 am bottle. Like someone said below, just give it to her without any fanfare and when she is ready she'll drop it. Probably suddenly one morning you'll wake up and realize you didn't get up for that bottle!

Trust me it will happen! Hang in there!

Mabye you could try putting her to bed a little earlier?

You are doing nothing wrong, like most mothers with sleep questions about their babies. I'm not sure why all you mothers of babies feel your child should/will sleep through the night just because they are 7 months old or eat solids or whatever. Babies just have their own schedule and they probably will not adhere to the one you wished they had until they are well over a year old. That's just the way it is - they are all individuals with different needs. You really can't solve the problem

Does she get a nice long walk in the morning sun (before 10 a.m.)? that will get her circadian rhythm under control. Her body will know to be up during the day and asleep during the night.

Hi V.-

Not to worry you, but my 13 month old still wakes up at 3:00 am for a bottle! He's my 3rd and each one had different sleep habits even though I tried to do the same thing with each one. I would take the advice of the previous poster and just forget the 11:00 bottle and just go with the 3:00 feeding. She'll outgrow it eventually, but fighting her schedule is probably wearing you out. If you just go with it and try to get yourself some more sleep earlier it will be less stressful on you.

Good Luck,
K.

If she is not waking up for the 11pm bottle, quit giving it to her. It sounds like she is hungry at 3am. At 7 months, sleeping through the night means about 5 hours, so she sounds like she's on track with that. Every child is different, so you can't go by what your son did. Also, the Galactosemia may affect how often and when she is hungry.

I think it sounds like you're doing everything right! You've got her on a good schedule, she's eating well & everything. I'd never heard of a dream bottle before, I'm going to try that out with my next baby! I guess the only thing you can do is stick with your program & eventually she will sleep all night. All babies are different, and since she has a metabolic issue, she may just need a little extra time before she sleeps thru the night. Hang in there. I know you are exhausted, but it sounds like you are doing everything you can. Best wishes.

When she wakes up at 3:00am, do not turn on the lights, do not speak with her, change her diaper as fast as possible, give her a quick bottle and put her down. She will get bored and not do this for much longer.

I would say you have a great schedule but you might need to adapt it to this child. Everyone is different. My 61/2 month old goes to bed around 9:30 and wakes up at 8:00. She sleeps pretty well but if I try to put her to bed earlier she's wakes up around midnight freaking out. It's a little weird, you would think she would just wake up earlier in the morning but she doesn't. Her napping schedule seems to be about the same as your daughters. It's the schedule that works for her. Your daughter is different that your other one. She has a different diet right? I would also feed her solids a little later too. My little one gets a solid food meal round 6:30 plus a bottle and then another bottle with cereal around 8-8:30. I call it topping her off for that one. I just let her eat till she's done.

I would also say, along with putting her to bed later and feeding her later, try not giving her the dream bottle. This might be causing her to wake up later on. Whether it be a gas bubble or just a wet diaper. Something isn't right there in her world.

Don't make all the changes all at once. Slowly increase her bed time so she has time to adjust. Think about how you would be if you suddenly were forced to bed around 3 hrs later and your feeding times were different. Increase it all 30 minutes each day till you get to the time you want to try. What's the worst thing that can happen if you try to change her schedule a little? She wakes up and you don't get enough sleep? That's already happening. Give a different schedule a try, don't give up after the first night, and find something that is a little more tailored to her and not your last daughter or yourself.

You'll find the way. Until then, hang in there!
Good luck,
Jen
http://www.mommysjoy.com

Skip the dream bottle. Her tummy might be overly full and she may be waking with gas. Let her wake when she is hungry. 5 hours of total rest is considered sleeping through the night. Growth spurts, developmental milestones, earaches, illness etc... are all other reasons she may be waking.

This too shall pass..

When my daughter was 7 months she went through this phase as well, but it was due to teething and a growth spurt. I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but you might want to consider speaking to your doctor as well.

It appears to me that you are doing everything right! With that being the case, perhaps you should talk to your pediatrician. Or hopefully, the moms here will hvae some other ideas.
good luck!

Hi V., I'm a 66 year old grandmother of 8. Your daughter is developing out of the baby into a toddler stage. If she takes 2 naps, averageing 2 to 2 1/2 hours during the day, and then you put her down at 6:30.....say she falls asleep between then and 7:30.....by the time she wakes up at 3 a.m., she has already slept an almost 8 hour night and the two short naps during the day. The normal average need for sleep is 8 to 9 hours a day. If you extend her playtime an hour or two, so that she is being put in her crib around 8 p.m., it's possible that she will begin sleeping until around 5:30 or 6 a.m. Invent ways to distract her so that she does not fall asleep too early, even if it means holding her or playing with her a bit while you watch TV, and I think you will find that she is soon sleeping better at night, giving you your rest as well. What works for one child does not necessarily work for another. Perhaps your older daughter was more physically active during her waking hours and needed more sleep than your infant does. Expecting your child to sleep more than she needs to is simply frustrating both of you. M. K

I would recomend stretching her 6:30 bottle to 7 or 7:30 and make sure it is a full large bottle. I am not sure what a "dream bottle" is but you might try skipping it and seeing what happens. Then when she wakes up at 3 in the morning don't give her formula, just give her water. She will soon learn it isn't worth waking up for and should hopefully start sleeping through the 3 am hour.

Every baby is different so I wouldn't stress so much about it she will adventually sleep through the night. I'd work on going to bed earlier and not do the 11 pm dream bottle that might be causing her to be to full. You may want to re consider that rocking her to sleep, this might help her to feel more cozy and secure. Then if she wakes up I'd then continue with the patting and massaging leaving her down in her bed. For the most part it sounds like your doing everything right. Like I said sleeping through the night is at different ages for each baby. Merry Christmas and good luck.

One thing you could try is feeding her the solid foods at a later time. Plus it sounds like she goes to bed a little early so it's almost like she gets a powernap right before bed. The schedule I used with my son was during the day he would get a 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap after lunch time usually around 1 then he would play until around 6 when it was time for dinner. He would have snacks every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day which helped to hold him over. We would do dinner with solids or baby food at around 7 then bath and bedtime was around 8. He would usually sleep through until around 6 to 6:30 and then would be ready to get up for breakfast. Somedays I would give him a small to med bottle when he woke up then do a breakfast around 7:30 or 8 ish. Make sure there is a lot of stimulation during the time she is awake from playing to learning. If she is pretty rested throughout the day she won't need to sleep as much.
Good Luck

Put some cereal in her dream bottle!!!

Sounds normal to me. My 7 month olds (I've had 4) didn't go to bed early, though. I fed them a snack and bottle at, I don't know, 7:00 or so, we played a bit, and then they went to bed. They all slept until 3:30-4 or so (close to 8 hours.) I kept the lights out, fed them, and put them back to bed. Of course then hubby was getting up at 4:30 so I didn't get any more sleep but this schedule worked really well.

Babies take a longer time to get into a deep sleep cycle and your 11 PM feeding might not be good for that (and just cause more grief for you.)

I did Babywise.

My daughter at 7 months old was on a 31/2 hours routine.

She slept thru the night starting at 8 weeks. She is now 11 months old and still now on a 4 hour routine. She wakes at 7:30 a.m., eats, plays and goes down for a nap at 9:30 till 11:30.

I have not given her a bottle or anything before she goes to sleep nor have I given her a late night bottle since she was 4 months. My daughter has been on a 3 meal a day with a few snacks in between since she was 6 months. The last meal she receives is at 6:30 p.m. which is dinner with us.

Also, her clock my be stuck. It takes a baby 4 days to adjust their internal clock. I would get your 3 yr old a sound machine and let your 7 month old cry it out. She should adjust on the 4th night if not sooner.