Can babies have sleep disorders....seriously??

[Katet]

then you could at this age go cold-turkey on night feeds, or (slightly more gently) pick one or two times in the night you are willing to feed say 10pm (like a dream feed) then not before 5am and persist with resettling him at all other times.

I found with both boys, that the best way forward after 6mo was to say I would NEVER feed on the first wake up, so as the first wake up got later the later the feed got, my logic there was that by that age it would become more about hunger, also DH found it easier because the more noise was earlier in the night & he didn't get as much broken sleep & at say 10 or 11pm he was generally still awake anyway.

[1stimer]

Katherine.. men...I know right. I know he's definitely teething....like one is so close to being through I don't know how it isn't! I don't know how much he would want to help but  sure he'd be all for sleeping somewhere else. Maybe I should just manage until that tooth gets through? I just feel like at this age it's always going to be something. ..ugh. Nicole I do see your logic behind the reflux flares. Extra drool from teething could do it...I keep forgetting his reflux meds. I might bring them in the room so when he gets up I give them to him. He seems to be more unsettled layer night/early am and the resettles  for a good stretch around 4 or 5 (good stretch is 3 hrs lol). Kate I like the system you used...that way the harder to settle part was early in the pm so it's not such a pain.

Ugh... not sure where to start.

[1stimer]

Ok so I spoke to a lactation consultant. She's actually a good friend of the family but I always forget what she does for a living lol...anyways she was there with me when ds was in the NICU and she always checks in so I spoke to her last week and told her about ds waking and taking full feeds at night. She said it's not unusual since he's eating more solids during the day and is more Interested in getting down and moving during the day. She said he's making up for what he's not getting during the day which all makes sense bc during the day it is so hard for me to keep him focused when he nurses. She had to run into a pts room after we talked but I wanted to ask how I make up for that...should I try and feed him more often during the day? He goes 4 hrs in between nursing since he's on solids. Should I try and get an extra feed or 2 in? He usually feeds around 5 and then he wakes for the day around 7. He will usually have breakfast around 730. Should I maybe nurse him when he wakes up and then push breakfast out a little??

[jessmum46]

You can add in some extra nursing sessions for sure, he may not be keen though....I would try feeding with minimal distractions around, maybe in dark nursery just as he wakes?  But although I agree he could be making up calories at night, waking so frequently and needing the breast to settle says more of a prop to me. .. You may struggle to shift calories to the daytime until you remove opportunities to get them overnight really  . Is he getting some decent calorie-dense solids with fats, protein etc?

[1stimer]

Oh yes. ..He's getting a good mix in his solids. He's pretty much eating what we eat. If it's not something he can handle then I'll make him a little something different. Dsd is on spring break this week so I think next week when she is with her mom I'm gonna just try a semi cold turkey approach to night feedings. Dh can sleep in dsd room.

[ginger428]

Hi there... I'm glad you'll have a week with some support. I'm with Katherine that adding the sessions may need to be done concurrently with taking away the overnight ones.

I had to wean my son from multiple night feedings two main times, and I always added more nursing sessions during the day, about 2, while I removed  NF. Like you and Katherine mentioned, I nursed right after waking, then breakfast 45 or so mins later.   To prevent nurse-sleep associations, the added feeds were about an hour before any nap. I nursed in a dark room in the same spot.  It seemed to work for us.  Best wishes and hope you'll update that your DS is weaned! I'm working on dropping our last NF. It's been around forever. 

[1stimer]

Just wanted to update instead of starting a new thread. We are leaving ds in his crib in our room and we are staying in DSD room for the week to really crack down on sleep training. I was trying to do it gradually and stay in the room to sleep and let him fuss a bit and get up if needed but that hasn't worked. So tonight is the first night of him sleeping in a separate room. Ginger I know you mentioned on one of the million other threads that you recently did this and would walk me through so...advice? I know to listen for his mantra cry vs distressed cry but I will say he is a tough one. I think the next few nights will be rough. What should be MY goal for the first few nights? Im a softie with him and its hard for me to try and settle without nursing bc if I pick him up he will double over in my arms to get to my boobs lol. I know DH should try and help but hes up at 5 for work so I don't want to ask a lot of him.

[ginger428]

Yes, the first few nights will be incredibly difficult.  This is what I know, and is one of a few methods.  There are also great links on this forum for the Gradual Withdraw method or other methods.  Here's a timeline with no time limits on giving support...

(Btw, it's totally up to you if you want to try a no-cry method.  THey take a long time... I did it once and it worked for dropping a feed and getting him to sleep through the first part of the night, but it took almost 2 months).

If you do the stay-in-the room method, just get a chair to sit nearby and do pats or stroke on the head or bum just for a few seconds and use a sleepy phrase.  I was the same way... a big softie and wanted to pick up, but the key for us was NOT to get him out of the crib AT ALL.  And stay as long as it takes for him to go to sleep then leave. By the 2nd night, our DS was already sleeping better! Do this for every night waking, but do not get him out of the crib. (Your choice if you want to pick him up for a moment, but this usually had disastrous results for us and it seems like you will too).  Do this for the first 3 nights.  Our training took less time than anticipated because he had some skills already.  If you want to do a 2 week one, move your chair farther away every 4-5 days.

YOUR GOAL: Get him to self settle every time he wakes up. Soothe him and help him through it, but let him do the work in the crib. By the 3rd night, there should be some progress. REMEMBER that if you pick him up and nurse, your sleepless nights will continue indefinitely! If you hang in there for a few nights, there will be hope for great nights!

For us, being in the room upset our DS much much more. So I went in at the peak of his cries and as many times as needed and said the sleepy phrase. Mantra cry is very distinct, almost like a babble, or sometimes even a high screech babble/cry but intermittent with very short pauses.  DS changed it up once in a while.

Maybe on day 2 or 4, whichever falls on a weekend, DH can be the one in the chair so you can sleep. Then switch again? I wouldn't do day 3 or 5 as they can regress that night.

Let me know how it goes!!! Best wishes!!!

[ginger428]

To encourage you... our DS sttn for the first time in his entire life 2 weeks ago!!! And every night except one since! It can and will happen.

Besides some nap issues we are working on, he is finally having consolidated night sleep which makes me so happy!

You can do it!

[1stimer]

Thanks yall...about to go to bed for the night..fingers crossed.