Tuesday, October 27, 2009

when in the world...

do infants start sleeping through the night? And DO NOT comment with "Oh, my lil' one has slept 11 hours a night since I brought them home"! Ok, you can, but I will hate you.

I try to put Abby to bed as late as possible (10-11ish) right after I feed her, so I can get a longer stretch of sleep in a row. She will wake up anywhere between 3 and 7 am for a feeding. For a while she was sleeping until 5-7 am and now we are on the other end where she is waking up more towards 3 and 4 am. This is KILLING me on days I have to go to work. I am seriously a walking zombie on auto pilot. I am assuming it is a growth spurt.

I know all kids are different, but I am dying here! I would be interested to know when your children started sleeping through the night and what you think may have helped them to do so. Keep in mind I am breastfeeding...I know it seems formula fed kids are more full at bedtime and tend to sleep through the night.

I have also tried the rice cereal thing...it is a myth.

And I just put a humidifier in her room hoping the white noise may keep her asleep. Although, if she is anything like her mama she will get too attached and not be able to sleep without it. Jess hates I can't sleep without a fan.

Nothin' sweeter than a sleeping baby...especially one that sleeps through the dang night!!!

11 comments:

Veronica said...

I love all the pictures of Abby. I am informing you that Jasmine didn't sleep through the night until 11 months!! I was dying the whole time. Just have a bottle made and ready for when she wakes up and do a quick feed and put her back to bed. You and Jess MUST alternate nights to feed her, that is the only way I made it. As far as getting the milk out, you should try not to breast feed or pump all night so you can sleep!!

Meg B said...

Madie didn't sleep through the night till just a few months before Cash was born... well she started sleeping through the night, then went back to waking up- other people have had the same thing happen. Cash is recently sleeping a pretty solid 9 hours (so I'm told- I'm at work) but he is doing the formula thing- and the rice cereal helped him. Just think- in another 16 years you won't be able to sleep for other reasons- she'll be dating! Sorry, I'm not much positive information, but let's do Cocolito's!

Tori said...

Well Haydin has always been a good sleeper so I won't talk about her. Cohen on the other hand didn't sleep good until he was three. He would always come and get in bed with us and sleep there. I blame that for sleeping with him when he was an infant. It sounds like she is going on a growth spirt to me. My dr says that by six month an infant shouldn't need a night time feeding anymore. As you know every baby is different and that means go with the flow. And i'm sure you'll get back that much needed lack of sleep someday. What who am I kidding. Just give yourself a pat on the back for all the great things your doing for Abby. Be proud of yourself.

The Happening Hills said...

I don't know what you have tried so far, but when we started swaddling Sadie it made a HUGE difference, we have tried a fan/music in the background, formula at night before bed and nothing worked as well as the swaddle. We have also been giving Sadie a bath right before bed time because she loves her baths and she splashes until she wears her self out. So if you haven't tried it already try to wear her out before bed and her last feeding. Good Luck!

PS My lil one still doesn't sleep through the night consistently. So if you figure it out let me know!

Heather said...

I had the same problem with Brielle....she was terrible sleeper until just recently...but one thing I did was notice she always woke up at the same time every night and wanted to eat, so for about a week I let her cry it out for a little bit each night, for instance she woke up at 2:30 like clock work, so the first night I let her cry for about 15 min then the second night I waited about 30 min, and I increased the time each night until she was finally sleeping longer stretches for me, its hard at first to hear them cry it out, but I needed my sanity TOO! I really didn't try this until she was about 5-6 months old, and I feel I waited to long to start getting her to sleep through the night, because as they get older it gets harder and harder! Also, a lot of my girlfriends have told me who breasfed that they nursed exclusivley through the day but gave a bottle at night and they found that worked really well.

Me in a nut shell said...

So my kiddos don't sleep through until they are 8 months plus! And Kenton was a 4 am bottle until he was 1 ughhhh, your body is always tired....

Try putting rice cereal in your formula or formula in your breast milk, it is thicker and doesn't digest as fast, so then if she is still waking up, you know it is habitual, not because she is hungry...

Amanda&Wade said...

ok I know you don't wanna hear it... but my girls have both slept through the night by 3 months old... I have a secret and I SWEAR by it! Read: Babywise. I don't do everything the book says, mostly just the part about feed/wake-time/nap. During the day feed her every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, after you feed her, keep her awake for at least an hour, than put her to bed for a nap... then repeat. Kamree on this schedule slept through the night at 10 weeks and Alyssa at 7 weeks. The other thing... let her cry it out sometimes, they need to learn to fall asleep on their own without help of something else... this will help when she wakes up in the night to be able to put herself back to sleep without needing to eat. I hope this helps..... You NEED sleep!! Love ya, let me know if you have any questions k.

Wanderingfamilies said...

Good luck with this one...I figure that in 4 years, we will all be sleeping well! Ansley was a night sleeper, but not a napper. Maizy on the other hand is a GREAT napper, lousy night sleeper...rice cereal doesn't work. Swaddling does (we finally started swaddling Ansley when she was about 3 months and that really made a difference - at least a 6 hour stretch). Oh, and remember that "sleeping through the night" is considered to be 6 hours...not my idea of sleeping through the night. Another tip: the lactation consultant told me that I should express some milk (I already have a ton this time around) and have Kurt give Maizy a bottle at night so I can get a longer stretch of sleep, at least on the weekends, if not more often...hope this helps! Also read "Healthy Sleep Habits: Happy Child" - great book. I have always wanted to read Babywise - I've heard GREAT things about it!

Lindsey S. said...

I would read healthy sleep habits happy child. I loved it.

I finally Had to start letting Bailey cry it out at 9 months. It sucked big time and I hated every moment but it totally worked. Within a couple days she was falling asleep on her own. Now she goes to bed at 7 pm wakes up at 10pm I feed her she sleeps until about 5 or 6 and then I feed her again. Then she sleeps until about 7 or 8. So I wait to go to bed until I feed her after 10 and then I normally get a pretty good stretch. But many things can throw this off. RIght now she is waking up way more because she is teething and I feel too bad to just let her cry because I know she is in pain. So I go in. But that is just up to you. So right now she is not technically sleeping through the night. She is almost 1. So I need to get her back on schedule!

Lindsey S. said...

oh and don't put her to bed so late. Healthy sleep habits happy child will explain this but keeping them up later doesn't help them sleep longer. If they are too over tired they will actually sleep worse then if you would put them to bed earlier. If she isn't going down until 10 or 11 she probably isn't sleeping enough so she's over tired and can't get herself back to sleep because of it. Again bailey sleeps from 7 am to 7 pm. She does wake a few times to eat but thats 12 hours which babies need.

Niki and Jess said...

Ok, so I guess Abby's sleep habits are pretty normal after hearing all of your comments. She really only wakes up once during the night (between 2:30 and 7) and goes right back to sleep after for another few hours. I really shouldn't complain because it seems we are all in the same boat here...even those of you with 1 yr or older children! I guess you are right, Chamaine, maybe in another 4 yrs. we may get a decent full 8 hours of sleep! This too shall pass, right? Thanks for your comments and advice everyone!