Sleeping Through the Night

[Jill]

HI! I am trying to get my son to sleep in his crib at night. He has been in bed with my DH and I but it not working for us. He naps in his crib and seems to like it there but at night he will only sleep for about 2 hours at a time. Any suggestions? He is 10 weeks old and I am breastfeeding only.

[~Tara~]

At 10 weeks old he is waking every 2 hours because he NEEDS to eat every 2 hours, plain and simple. Keep the baby in your bed or put him in the crib if you choose, but either way...get up and feed that baby every two hours!
It's ridiculous to expect a 2 month old to sleep through the night. Even more so an exclusively breastfed baby. Breastfed babies nurse more frequently because the milk is better digested and used more quickly. Thus needing a 'refill' more often.
My kids have all nursed about every 2 hours, around the clock up til 8 months at the earliest (I may start getting 3 or 4 hr stretches from time to time at that age) but closer to a year. I feed on demand.

[Jill]

Thanks. I read that at this point I should be trying to space out his night feedings. Being a first time mom, I am learning and I just want to do what's right for my son. Of course I get up and feed him when he cries. I love our night feedings-it is a great bonding time! There is so much mixed up information out there about things like this.

[~Tara~]

Ah, don't listen to those baby book 'experts' ;)
Listen to your baby.


and my apologies if my first post sounded kinda 'snarky' I just reread it and thought it might have kinda sounded that way ... I wasn't trying to be rude, really :)


Anywho, trust your instincts, listen to your baby, follow his cues. He'll settle into a longer sleep pattern in his own time.

[breezykc2]

[quote="~Tara~"]At 10 weeks old he is waking every 2 hours because he NEEDS to eat every 2 hours, plain and simple. Keep the baby in your bed or put him in the crib if you choose, but either way...get up and feed that baby every two hours!


I wholeheartedly agree with Tara! ...Usually they do better at night when cereal is started as supplements at about 4 months...however sometimes it just isn't their thing to sleep through the night...mine didn't until 18 months! My 6 week old is on the same 2 to 3 hour feeding schedule as yours is...and I expect this for at least another month and my goal is to get a 4 hour gap between feedings by 3 to 4 months, but it's the kiddo's schedule that will dictate! Good luck! :D

[Jill]

did you co sleep? if so, were the babies really noisy at night? my son grunts and groans all night. i love co sleeping for the closeness and it is nice to feed him right away rather than in response to his cries. we (my dh and I) are having a hard time (especially my dh) because he isn't sleeping at all and he has to get up for work. any suggestions?

[~Tara~]

We have co-slept with all of ours, but they have each moved out when we weren't ALL sleeping well. For #1 that was at 6 months, the others would start their nights in their own bed around 8, 10 months. And note, that is only *starting* the night. Once they woke, I brought them to bed with me and they stayed there til it was time for us to get up. Sometimes they would be back in bed with me at 1am others 4am, then my little guy now, quickly jumped to sleeping all night...he's there from 9:30pm til 7am most days (he just turned 1yr)

If they still didn't sleep well once starting in their bed, then coming to my bed, I would get up and put them back in their bed. I'm just 'lazy' and would rather only get up once hehe But, if the baby's not sleeping well, we're all not sleeping well, so, what's the point in making us all suffer by keeping him in my bed, right?

Mine weren't noisy, they just toss and turn, nurse almost constantly, but not nursing well...not going back to sleep well. And hogging the bed!! LOL Who knew a 6 month old could take up so much space LOL My eldest was awful about turning sideways in bed, head in one parent, feet in the other. Then he felt that he was touching something so would kick and make it worse.

[breezykc2]

we co-slept with our first until 1 year and are co-sleeping with our new infant....they never made noise, but they do move around! If they are particulary active....I always keep a bassinet next to our bed so that we can put them in that after they fall asleep and still be 6 inches from me when they are sick or upset or just really restless. That seems to help us all at times. My infant now seems to sleep fine in it now as long as I swaddle him well and slightly incline the mattress. That's also an idea...when they gurgle a lot or are noisy breathing at night, it could be that lying flat is not good for their particular system...we put a quilt in the middle of the bed and a small flat pillow under where his head goes and incline his upper body so it helps digestion and breathing....you might try that!

[Jill]

Propping him up is a great idea. He loves to sleep on his stomach but i will only let him nap like that so I can keep a close eye on him. Maybe propping him will help. Sometimes he will sleep on his side. The doctor reccommended that. I never knew someone so little could be so noisy. Sometimes he even wakes himself up pooping!!! (he is a little man)! I have been putting in the crib for the "1st shift" and then bringing him to my bed for the rest of the night. Thanks for the ideas!