BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: margesimpson on May 28, 2010, 12:12:17 pm
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I am tired and finding it hard to think straight. Can someone please help me tweak my routine?
My baby boy is still not sleeping through the night. I found it really hard getting EASY to work from the start. From day one I was taking him out with kinda runs and activities for my 4yo. This resulted in no routine for awhile and cat napping, snacking, night waking and general insanity.
I now have him in a better routine and have used PU/PD for the last 2 months. He is now sleeping better during the day - 1-2 hours compared to 30-40mins before :)
He is still waking at night though. When he wakes I can usually settle him ok but he wakes 1-2 hours later. I eventually feed him and he takes a full bottle.
Here is our 'routine':
5-6 (or 4:30)am wake & bottle
Will sometimes go back to bed straight after his bottle.
7:30-8 brekky *maybe make brekky earlier?
10:30 small bottle if needed, nap
11:45 wake up
12-12:30 lunch
3:30 bottle, nap 1-1.5hr
5:00 dinner, bath
6:00 play, grumpy
6:30-8:00 bottle + bed I think he is OT by the end of the day as he is quite grumpy. I have been trying to hold off till 6:30 for his bottle but I think this is a mistake so maybe I will put him to bed earlier?
But then I worry he won't be hungry for his bottle so should I not worry about it?
It all feels a bit hopeless :-[
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Last night he woke at 11:30. I fed him a full bottle. He then woke at 1:30, 2, 2:30 etc
I did PU/PD or rather PD which eventually got him back to sleep till 7
I am still beside my self today trying to do the right thing to help him thru the night tonight. I would really love some help.
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Hi there, how many oz is he taking in those bottles? At 11 mths it might help to consolidate and aim for 3 bottles.
At 11 mths there is no physiological reason he should be eating at night, unless there is an underlying medical condition OR he's not getting enough in the day. So the feeding is becoming an association, it's habitual and he's learning that he can't go back to sleep without it. You are right in trying to resettle without the bottle.
Most LO's of this age are already into the 2-1 transition meaning they have dropped some day sleep but aren't quite ready for 1 nap, so they are in essence on 1.5 naps a day, a shorter AM nap and a longer PM nap for most, some do a long AM and then a shorter CN in the afternoon. A time is typically between 3 - 3.5 - 4 hrs.
It sounds like a lot is going on here, mainly that he has to learn to put himself to sleep and do some self-soothing when he wakes at night.
How often when he's waking at 5 does he go back to sleep? If he's waking that early you need a much earlier bedtime until you can iron out his napping and A time.
Have a read of these links, they can be helpful at this stage:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164031.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=163278.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52857.0 (this is targeted to BFing but has a lot of useful info to help get rid of night feeds)
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Hi ms!
Looks like we are on the same boat! Or at least similar boats!
Here's my query on the night wakings board, the replies might help you too as I have both NW and EW issues
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=171844.msg1929755#msg1929755
I've been working on a few things (its only been a couple of days!) but might help you too. I try to ensure that his day is not longer than 13 hours, and in that he has at least 3h or 3h15 hours of naps. So his first A is 3h15 or 3h30 (depending on how long it takes for him to go down), second A is 3h or lil shorter, and third A is close to 3h30. This has helped me cut the NW to only one at night. I have also tried to cut his MOTN (middle of the night) feed. I was giving him diluted formula for a few days (so he doesn't get too many calories at night), last two days I settled him without any milk (took a looooong time!), but my point is that if I can do it for a few more nights, hopefully that will break his association with feeding and sleeping. I also don't feed him in his cot anymore, or just before his naps - just to make sure he doesn't associate the bottle with falling asleep.
So to start with I would advice you to get his bedtime earlier (depending on when he woke up), as Wendy mentioned above. If my LO was up at 5:45AM, I try to get him down before 6:45PM latest. The second step is to get the nap and A times in order.
Also if he used to his bottle before bedtime, and you follow his routine, I think he will take the bottle even if it is early. My LO had dinner today at 5:30PM, and the bottle at 6:30PM, he finished all of 210 ml formula. Before this, I used to keep him up (he was OT and grumpy too by then) until 7:30PM and give his bottle. My only worry is if he will get terribly hungry at night and not settle without a MOTN feed..ah well, we'll see how it goes tonight!
All the best!
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Thanks so much for your responses. Last night he woke at 1, I fed him then he slept till 6:30am. Not ideal but at least he only woke the one time and we weren't up and down all night.
Wendy sometimes he only takes an oz or 2. I find the only feeds where he takes the whole bottle are the night feeds! I will try what you said and perhaps give him only 1 bottle during the day and see how that goes. Interesting about the 2-1 transition. He has only just started to have 2 good naps.
I will watch his A time doesn't get too long and I will definitely put him to bed earlier.
kk some great tips there thankyou!
After following the BW with my first I thought I had it all worked out lol
But my girl was an Angel baby, my boy is more of a Grumpy/Spirited. Such a difference! Maybe by his first birthday he will be sleeping through :)
Good luck