Sleep patterns and routines

[Benandrewsmum]

Hi All. I have a 14 week old baby who up until a couple of weeks ago was an absolute angel....I am now convinced that somebody came and stole my baby through the night and left a devil child in his place!! He started sleeping right through the night (from about 9pm until 5 or 6am) at about 4 weeks of age and always settled himself to sleep when we put him down....you can imagine our joy as we patted ourselves on the back for being such exceptional parents!! About two weeks ago he started waking through the night....either for a feed or a giggle or to cry...or whatever else takes his fancy. Last night I was up 4 times!! HELP.....WHAT HAS GONE WRONG!!

I have also read lots and lots of info about routines....is he too young for a solid routine each day?? I am trying to make sure he has two sleeps (over an hour) a day but it is exhauting trying to get him to sleep in his cot through the day. And now that I have started forcing the issue with cot sleeps through the day it appears that he is starting to resist going down at night time as well!!!

I would love to hear routines that you guys use for babies of similar ages ie how many feeds, how many sleeps and for how long??

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Ben's mum

[drewid]

Hi there

You lucky thing having a bub who slept through the night so early on!! I can only imagine how nice that is (was!)

The basic rule of thumb that I have learnt is that if bub was previously sleeping through the night and starts waking up, its generally cos he's hungry. Especially if he usually sleeps right through, he might be having a growth spurt and needing more food, more frequently.

Some people take it as a sign to start on solids, but I personally think just adding an extra breastfeed (or bottle) is the better path to take when they are still so young.

My bub has always had lots of sleep during the day, and in lots of bursts. On average he would have about 4 sleeps a day, with at least 2 being an hour or more. I always followed his tired signs - i never forced him to sleep at certain times (despite my mum suggesting putting him into that sort of routine). I left him to figure out his own routine, and now at 5 1/2 months, he has a routine all of his own creation! Its lovely, we both know what is coming and are much happier for it.

I dont' think your bub is too young for a routine, but i would make sure its a flexible routine. I think the important thing is to do things in the same order each day...but not necessarily at the exact same time. I find its just easier for bub to know the order that things go - like feed, play, sleep or bath,feed sleep. There tends to be less agro.

I would probably try not to *force* the cot sleeping issue during the day, and let your bub decide which times of day (and what length of time) is good for a sleep. It tended to make my bub more settled, and happier to go to bed at the end of the day.

At around that age, my bub was feeding probably about every 3 1/2 hours, probably about 6 feeds in all. But that is breastfed, not sure if yours is bf or bottle fed? He also slept from about 8.30 - 6am, waking up once or twice for a feed. As he's gotten older, he has starting going to bed earlier (so about 12hrs sleep a night!) and only getting up once,sometimes not at all!!

Sorry for the length of my ramble - bit starved for conversation today!!!

Take care

[Benandrewsmum]

Thanks for that info Nicole, it is really good just to hear what someone else is doing?? Does your little one have all his sleeps through the day in his cot?? Ben seems to be happy sleeping in his rocker or our bed through the day, but as soon as I go near the cot he screams.....but I know he can't sleep in our bed through the day forever??

Cheers

Donna

[drewid]

Thanks for that info Nicole, it is really good just to hear what someone else is doing?? Does your little one have all his sleeps through the day in his cot?? Ben seems to be happy sleeping in his rocker or our bed through the day, but as soon as I go near the cot he screams.....but I know he can't sleep in our bed through the day forever??

Cheers

Donna

Hi!

I too love to hear what other people experience, esp with bubs near the same age. It is just a relief sometimes to know you aren't alone - especially as none of my friends have children!

Andrew does have all his sleeps in the cot nowadays (woo hoo!). However for about the first 2 months or so of his life he slept in the rocker in the lounge room. He really liked being able to sort of curl on his side and get cozy in it. However he soon grew too big to be comfy and thats when we moved to the cot (about a month after he was already sleeping in the cot at night). He has longer sleeps now that he is in the cot though, around an hour each time. When he was in the rocker it was usually many half hour solid sleeps and LOTS of little dozes!

Andrew has NEVER liked sleeping in our bed unfortunately (or fortunately!). Sometimes it'd be great - specially when he wakes up at 4 some mornings and i can't be stuffed trying to get him back to sleep in the cot! But he wont' have a bar of it. I think the only time he ever slept with me was in hospital!! I was soooo tired there and it was sohard getting in and out of bed that i used to keep him in bed with me wrapped up and tucked under my arm and cushioned in by pillows!!

[Aprilsmum]

Hi,

My little April is the same age at your little Ben and she started waking up through the night a few weeks ago, after having been sleeping through since 6 weeks of age (6.30pm - 6.00am). The first time she did it, I was so tired that I went in and offered her a feed and the next night she woke twice - so I fed her again. I also noticed that throughout the day she was taking very big feeds from me (I'm breastfeeding) - so I figured that she may have been having a growth spurt. I've heard that once they sleep through, and start waking again, that you should let them cry it out but I just couldn't. I followed my instincts and fed her, assuming that if it was a growth spurt that she would stop waking up herself - AND SHE DID! She only did it for four nights and now we have our dependable little girl back. If she had continued to wake through the night for a longer period then I would have concidered doing "control crying" because I think she would have only been waking out of habbit.

I too have had April on a routine. I also agree that it is very important with routines to be flexible and not too rigid. I beleive that this stresses you and the bub out. I also find that having her in a routine, allows me to make social plans for our outings.

April sleeps in her cot - she has done this since we brought her home from the hospital.

Hope this helps.
B :o

[Benandrewsmum]

Hi Aprilsmum

Thanks for your reply...just wondering if you could give me some info on the routine that you have April in ie feed and sleep times etc......I just seem to be really floundering with Ben...

Cheers

Donna :confused:

[Aprilsmum]

Hi Donna,

April is on a 3 hourly routine. She wakes up between 6am and 7am in the morning, and I calculate her day's feeding around whatever time she wakes up. In the instance that she is still asleep at 8am - I wake her up. (She only ever did this when she was very young). Basically we follow a Feed, Wake and then Sleep routine. If she wakes up at 6.30 then I feed her straight away. She then has playtime until she starts showing tired signals. If she doesn't show any tired signals after being awake for to a total of 1 1/2 hrs (including feeding) then I put her to bed. She "should" then sleep for 1 1/2 hrs - but usually only has 30 - 40 mins. If she does sleep 1 1/2 hrs then she will wake up in time for her next feed which will be 9.30am. When she wakes earlier, then I usually just play with her until her next feed is due. This routine is repeated throughout the day - with her last feeding being 6.30pm.

FLEXIBILITY
Like all routines, its important to know your baby - so if she show's hunger signals then I never hesitate to feed her early. This also applies to when she is tired. I try to stick to the times as best as possible, but there are occasions when we get a little off track - but we do manage to stay within half and hour either side of the times all day.

Her night routine is a little different. We choose to have her playtime (bath) before her feed - so that we can put her straight to bed after. She has her bath (with lots of kicking, splashing and books) at around 6pm (or half an hour either side) followed by a massage, then we dim the lights and turn the TV off and she has her feed and is then put to bed.

If I haven't answered your question enough then please let me know. The routine that I use is from a book called "On becoming baby wise". I read it before April was born so that we could start as early as possible with her. People always comment to us what a lovely and calm baby she is - I truly think that this is a reflection of the routine.

PS: If your bub is formula fed then a 4hr routine may suit him better! You'll be able to tell in time if 3hrs is too soon for him.

Good Luck,
B :o