Sleeping though the night

[Baileyjaysmum]

Hi

I am new to this site and want to know if anyone can give me some advice. I am a first time mum to Bailey who is 4months old. I have been breastfeeding and comping him since he was 4 weeks old. From about three months he slept from 7pm to 3am but now wakes at 12noon, 2am and 3.30am. I am so exhausted and wondered whether I should just put him on the bottle. When should babies slept through? Any help would be appreciated.

Kristy and Bailey :confused:

[vickster]

Hi Kristy,

Welcome to The Bub Hub! This is a great forum for advice. I don't think there's a precedence for when babies should start to sleep through the night. My DD is 6.5mo and still wakes at 2am and 5am for feeds. :eek:

I have tried just about everything! I started introducing baby cereal at 4m - doesn't work. Roll-over feeds at 10-10.30pm, has just made things worse. We've got a cuddly, tried dummies, tried controlled settling/comforting etc. We even moved her into her own room ( I think DH and I were waking her when we went to bed).......... sometimes I think it's best to just go with the flow :cool:

Little Bailey could be going through a growth spurt too. Have a read through some of the threads on sleep/settling and controlled crying in this forum...some mums have some really good ideas on alternatives to try. You might find something that works for you and your bub.

Hope this helps a little and keep us posted.

[xkwzit]

Hi Kristy
I know that this is probably not what you wanted to hear, but many babies take some time before they sleep through. And even once they do, there are inevitable restless nights due to colds, teething, being too hot / cold ... the list goes on. Check to make sure baby hasn't got any other reason to wake - if you've thought of everything else, they are probably hungry.

Both my babies became more wakeful at around 6 months, this corresponds with them getting more interested in the world around them and less likely to feed well during the day, some of them like to catch up at night! Try not to get too worried, your baby may just be going through a wakeful phase. Everything changes v quickly when they are so little, nothing can be considered a "habit" yet. See how you go over the next few weeks before making any irreversable decisions :o .

Are you feeding when they wake or trying to settle without a feed? (I would try feeding, once I'd made sure that they weren't cold or teething). With both my girls, their increased wakefulness coincided with my return to work and after waiting a couple of weeks I then started gradually dropping breast feeds for formula. Putting them fully on a bottle won't guarantee sleeping through either (my girls still woke once at night until they had been on solids for a good couple of months).

Hang in there - it does pass really quickly (it just doesn't feel like it when your living through it!)

[onabreak]

My 5mth old daughter has been sleeping through for the last few weeks. She is being bottle feed and has nearly 2 bottles before going to bed for the night. It's like she likes to stock up on food so she doesn't have to wake. She might go to bed about 8pm and will wake at about 5.30am. I was worried the first night when she did it, but boy do I feel like a new person with normal sleep again.

I think you have to go with the flow and let the baby decided when he/she is ready to sleep through. I don' think it is something that you can force on a baby.

I am not sure if it has anything to do with my baby being a premmie at 30 weeks as she is a well trained baby when she came home from being in special care for 8 weeks.

[Baileyjaysmum]

Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I gave Bailey a bottle (usually breastfeed and comp) at morning tea and one before he went to bed (6.30pm) and he slept from 7pm to 5.30am which was heaven. I dont know if this was a once off but I am going to try this again and see how he goes tonight. Fingers crossed!

Kristy and Bailey :)

[Brenda]

Hi Kristy
My son Jack is nearly 6 months and has also started the frequent waking at night routine. I hoped it would pass initially but has now been going on for about 3 weeks. Last night was probably the worst. He went down at 7pm then woke at 10, 1, 3 & 5. I feel like such a wreck this morning :eek: When you say you gave Bailey bottles do you mean your giving him formula as well as breast feeds?

Let me know if this continues to work for you. I've been introducing Jack to solids and giving him his one solid meal a day at about 5.30pm but this obviously isnt helping.

Hope you get another good nights sleep tonight.

Brenda

[pinkandblue]

Hi Everyone

I'm new to this site.

Just thought I would let you know that my daughter is just on 2yrs old and still does not sleep through the night. I tried putting her on the bottle, giving her solids, putting her in our bed, I tried everything and it didnt work. I think some kids are good sleepers and others arent.

Good luck with everything you try, hopefully it will work for your kids.

Natalie

[WeThree]

hi my 4mth old has been waking up abit at night lately, whereas before she slept through, this seems to be quite normal and they usually have abit of a growth spurt around this age, dont worry to much about it i have found that they usually settle back into their usual routine after a few wks :)