Hello everyone! I know that the point at which a baby finally sleeps through the night can vary depending on the baby, their habits, size, etc., but I wanted to find out what other moms with babies similar in age to my youngest have to say! My 5.5 month old is still waking up once a night to have a bottle. She was not premature, she is eating solids twice a day now, and she weighs about 18 lbs.! I just don't know if we are enabling her by feeding her, meaning, could she be getting used to it and could she be waking up just because she has come to expect the bottle, not because she needs it? She goes right back to sleep after the bottle and she is sucking it down, so she seems hungry to me. I know she will eventually get it in her own time, but I'm a little concerned and just want to be sure that we're not making the habit continue. This is my second child but my older daughter was sleeping through well before this point. Thank you for your help!!
My twins were sleeping through the night from 4 months and know other babies who started at this time as well. I believe bottlefed babies are capable of going all night without food starting at 4 months. Breastfed babies cannot do it until later. Maybe you can wean her off the bottle by slowly decreasing the amount you give her.
HI L.,
I have four girls and all of them started sleeping through the night at 3 months. About a month later they started waking again in the middle of the night and it was my third child that I realized that she was teething. They will eventually get back on pattern of sleeping through. My suggestion is to leave all lights off in her room. Go check on her but do not pick her up. This may take a few nights of consistancy. Just lay her back down with a pacifier or her blanket or both and tell her it
is night night time. Go out and close the door. She may scream but she will cry herself back to sleep. Honestly this is the best purscription for this problem. I know about juggling mom, wife, kids, job, house cleaner, doctor.. definitely is very overwelming at times. Hang in there. Feel free to contact me anytime. ____@____.com
Personally I do not think a 5 mo. old baby needs to eat in the middle of the night. But if they get used to doing it, they want and expect it. I have a 2 1/2mo. old baby who is sleeping through the night. My other two slept through just as early. I know this could be just luck (and believe me... I'm VERY thankful) but after the first few weeks of her life, when she would wake in the middle of the night, my husband or I would try soothing her back to sleep without feeding her. Sometimes she could not be comforted in which case I would feed her, but other times she just needed/wanted the pacifier, or to be snuggled/rocked and she'd fall back asleep for another hour or two. Eventually she was only waking once a night and only for the pacifier. I did not automatically feed her, but tried EVEYRTHING else first, knowing that the ultimate goal was to get her to sleep through the night. I agree with one of the other responses that said the older they get, the harder it is to break a habit. I'd try to get her off the bottle in the middle of the night asap. It may be hard, but it'll be worth it b/c then you'll all be getting more sleep. GOOD LUCK!!!
Ok, a lot of people have presented some very misleading information here, unfortunately.
A baby who is still waking to nurse at 5-6 months at night is completely normal and completely healthy. Their tummies are still very small at this point, and it is more nutritionally sound for them to eat many small meals over a period of 24 hours.
She will let you know when she is ready to be night weaned. There is no evidence to suggest that night-weaning before the first birthday is ever a good idea.
Hey L.,
My daughter is almost 8 months old and I am going through the same thing. She is nursing once a night still and has gone week long stretches once or twice of sleeping 8 hours straight, so I know she's capable. I've let her cry it out a bunch of times(15-30 min.) and it only worked once. She also goes right back to sleep after eating. I wish I could be more help. I just wanted to let you know that your not alone.
Steph
At this point you should stop the middle of the night feeding. They don't need it at 5 months. She should be able to go through the night without eating, but it sounds like its gotten to be a habit. In order to change this habit, without too much stress. Start out tonight giving her 1 oz less than last night and keep reducing it by an oz each night. In a few days she will be only eating an ounce, although she may still be used to being comforted back to sleep. Then you can have a similar strategy by holding her and comforting her back to sleep, but not sound asleep and then put her back in her crib. Each night hold her a little less and eventually you won't need to pick her up and then she should figure out how to soothe herself back to sleep. Believe me you want to get this habit broken sooner rather thanlater. The older they are the harder it is to break a habit and the harder it is to teach them to self soothe. Good Luck!!!
I have 3 kids mysef and they are all great sleepers. My daughter who is now 16 months old started sleeping through the night at 6 months old - occasionally waking up once every couple weeks or so. My feeling is that if you hold and play with your baby all day when it's time to go to bed they really should be able to sleep through the night. If the baby cries let her. She probably will only for a few minutes and will go back to sleep. This may happen for a few nights but then she will sleep through the night and a few nights of a little crying is worth the baby getting a good night sleep and you. Mom's need a good night sleep too.
My son is 12 months old and still wakes up once or twice a night. I stopped nursing him just a few weeks ago and for a few nights after he didn't wake up. But now he is back to his usual 3 am screaming fit, I blame teething. I just give him a bottle and he goes back to sleep. I don't mind too much. Gives me another chance to hold him and smell him and rock him. I know it gets terribly frustrating but they are only this small for a short time. They do eventually sleep all night. Never heard of a college student waking mom up in the middle of the night (most moms of college students wish they would)! It's just another part of the mommy job.
Hi L. - happy thanksgiving. Does the baby use a pacifier at all? You could try breaking her of the bottle at night a few different ways. Try the pacifier, put water in the bottle instead of formula, let him/her cry it out, or try putting less amounts of formula every night. Sometimes its the sucking sensation they like/need. My daughter used to fall back to sleep as soon as the nipple hit her mouth! lol. It'll take time, good luck!
L. - married fulltime working mom w/ 2 girls, 3 & 6
Hi, I would guess its habit. try switching to water at night instead of formula and it wouldn't hurt to discuss it with the pedi.
good luck.
my 16 month old didn't sleep through the night till just before (like the week before) he turned 1. He would wake up and get a bottle and go back to bed. If I didn't give him the bottle, even just 5 ounces, he would scream. I stopped nursing him at 6 months thinking that was part of the cause, but it was 6 more months before he slept through the night. My 4 year old didn't till he was about 8.5 months either.
Now I can't get him out of my room though...he still sleeps in the crib in my room. When we tried to move him in with his brother, he would wake up screaming. I figure sleeping through the night in my room is better than having him up. ha ha hah..oh well. The second one always harder I think.
Good luck
Oh my goodness, when you find out could you please let me know (: I have a 9 1/2 month old who still wakes up a couple times a night even though he is eating solid foods like a horse during the day.
if your not even 6 month old is only waking once a night and going right back to sleep, count your lucky stars sister! its perfectly normal, better than normal at that, and you obviously got very lucky with your first born. My (now 20 month old) nursed until 15 months and woke anywhere from 8 to 12 times a night. My 5 year old has finally just learned to roll over and go back to sleep instead of waking me when she "cant sleep". So once again, for a 6 month old infant to only only be up once a night is quite incredible to me, and dont push your luck, because things can still change and you can be up 5 times. Take what good luck you have, dont "complain" about you good fortune in sleeping babies and go with the flow. Having babies is all about NOT sleeping, for most of us anyways!
Let me add my two cents here......... I think a 5.5 mo old waking for 1 bottle during the night, and going right back to bed is heaven!!!! What time is the bottle at? Right at half time 1am, or closer to the evening, or 4am? Just make sure you give her the last bottle as close to bedtime as possible. If she isnt awakening in a screaming fit, give her a few min and see if she falls back to sleep on her own. Best of luck
