If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

What is your routine and are you BF or FF? (my DS 15 weeks today)

I feel like im going crazy because my DS sleeps about a 5 hours stretch then gets up to eat but stays up for an hour to even 2 hours and then only goes back down for 2-3 hours.

This was hard for me when i was home but now that I am back at work its even harder.

We tried putting him to bed earlier because people told me it would help but not much changed, then people said since im EBF i should try a formula bottle at night so I reluctantly tried and that first night he gave me a 7 hour stretch but it seemed to have been a fluke because we tried it for a week and he was back to his 5 hours stretch.

I know each baby is different but its getting so hard and now my DH switches with me and giveshim pumped bottles some nights so i can get some sleep for work but its been even harder on him bc he jsut doesnt handle it well. I felt so bad last night my DS got up at 1:30am and stayed up till 4:30am and my DH has to be out of the house by 7:30am for work. he is so tired today.

Message edited 2/11/2010 1:48:42 PM.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

I def feel the formula helped me.. I breast feed but I have always since day one FF that last bottle at night and its always more oz than she gets during the day.. My suggestion is when she starts to wake up before she is fully awake you need to dream feed her.. grab her stick her next to you on your bed abd BF on your side and she should be on her side.. make sure she is not being smothered so tilt her head back so you can fully see her nose. Then you can get some rest she will not be awake and you can transfer her back in the crib or just push her over so she is not near you and go back to sleep.. I HTH..

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

How are you feeding him? You take him out of his crib-are the lights low? Do you speak or stimulate him at all? At his age he should have his days and nights figured out. Could he be starting teething? Buy a bottle of Hyland's teething tablets and after his bottle or BF give him two and put him back in his crib. What does he do if you just feed him and put him back in his crib? cry?

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

out of curiosity do u keep the room dark when he wakes up.... i change the diaper an feed by nightlight and he doesnt wake up as much

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

FF (BF first two months)

At about 6:30, she gets a bath (every other night), then into her PJ's, sleepsack, read a book to her, classical music cd is on (same one every night), then lights off, music is still playing. We used to rock her too, but now we just lay her down on her belly. She can roll back and forth, but when she couldn't we put her on belly and used an angelcare monitor. She sleeps from 7pm to 7am. She started doing this at about 8 weeks, right before that she would wake around 12/1am for a bottle, but then dropped that feeding.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

Posted by dilb712

I def feel the formula helped me.. I breast feed but I have always since day one FF that last bottle at night and its always more oz than she gets during the day.. My suggestion is when she starts to wake up before she is fully awake you need to dream feed her.. grab her stick her next to you on your bed abd BF on your side and she should be on her side.. make sure she is not being smothered so tilt her head back so you can fully see her nose. Then you can get some rest she will not be awake and you can transfer her back in the crib or just push her over so she is not near you and go back to sleep.. I HTH..

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

I would try the formula bottle at night again, going down a little earlier...it might take a few days of adjusting, but maybe he'll get it after a few days. Remember though, every baby is different.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

My DS is 12 wks and has been sleeping a solid 8 hrs since about 6 wks old.
I am BFing. I feed him last around 8 and then its immediately to bed. He doesnt wake again til 4:30am. During the day though, he eats every 2 hrs. So i think he is able to store all these calories from the day so he can go long stretches at night. I hope it never changes.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

Posted by dnj925

Posted by dilb712

I def feel the formula helped me.. I breast feed but I have always since day one FF that last bottle at night and its always more oz than she gets during the day.. My suggestion is when she starts to wake up before she is fully awake you need to dream feed her.. grab her stick her next to you on your bed abd BF on your side and she should be on her side.. make sure she is not being smothered so tilt her head back so you can fully see her nose. Then you can get some rest she will not be awake and you can transfer her back in the crib or just push her over so she is not near you and go back to sleep.. I HTH..

so waking them before they wake you will keep them in sleep mode and you think they will go right back down?

Message edited 2/11/2010 4:32:25 PM.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

My DS just started STTN at about 17 weeks. Every baby is different. Until then, he was waking every night between 3-4AM for a bottle. NOw he goes 12 hours if we don't have to get up for work.

Don't try CIO, he's way too young. I think I saw that you have a bedtime routine and that's good. My DS still falls asleep in my arms after a bottle (usually) and that's fine with me.

It's important that you not stimulate your DS too much when he wakes at night. If possible, try not taking him to another room to feed him. Keep it dark and quiet and don't talk to him. If he can't fall asleep on his own, try rocking him and shushing him until he falls asleep. It will be a start. Sleep time was difficult for me around this time, he started waking 2-3 times a night. If you put him in his crib, let him fuss a bit but get him when he cries. My Ped said to put DS in his crib drowsy so he learned to self-soothe.

I don't think him eating in the middle of the night is a problem (i thought that BF babies tend to wake once a night until about 5 months since they digest BM quickly) but him staying awake is. Hopefully some of the tips you are getting work.

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

It's completely normal for him to not be STTN yet, but he shouldn't be up for several hours. I completely understand how you feel going back to work and still waking up to nurse several times per night. DS was EBF and didn't STTN until 7 months. He usually fell asleep after nursing for about 10 minutes though.

He's way too young to CIO. Have you tried rocking him? What about swaddling and even putting some soothing sounds on? Definitely make sure you're not stimulating him. Do you get him as soon as he starts crying?

Re: If your child is STTN or at least 8-12 hours staright...

DS only started STTN at 5 months old. My bedtime routine was at 4 I fed dinner. At 5 I nursed. 5:30 was bath time and at 6pm was a bottle. (This was my routine then)