Tips on extending the night stretch?

[sairama]

Our 7.5 week old has had a consistent routine for the past 10 days. We put him to bed at 8:30pm after our ritual (nurse-bath-story-nurse) and dream feed him at 11pm. He then wakes between 3 and 3:30am, and then after a feed and a diaper change, goes back to sleep (with a shhh/pat) until 6am.

Is there anything we can try to extend the 3am mark?

Thank you!

[15milner]

Congratulations on your new baby.

All I can say is WOW what a great baby you have there.  At 7 weeks I was up every 2-3 hours during the night, as will be a great number of babies this age.  I personally don't think there is anything you can or indeed should do to extend the night stretch. I wouldn't even think to suggest at this young age if a feed is at a regular time that it could be a habitual feed.  If he's hungry then feed him.  I could almost set a clock to Matthew waking 3hourly during the night to feed, I never once considered that he was waking for anything other than hunger.  I figured that it wasn't right or fair to either wait and see if he'd resettle (he never did) afterall  it took longer for him to go back to sleep after that night feed as he was more agitated and wider awake.  It gave me better quality of sleep too as I wasn't lying awake for a while seeing if he'd go back to sleep.  It was for my survival too.   You are heading for a growth spurt that may throw this feeding schedule out with some more frequent feeding requirements. 

i know it's hard when they are so little and you are feeling sleep deprived.  You are both so new at this, but you are doing great.  In time, your baby will naturally stretch out this time, at the moment his little tummy needs something to keep him going during the night - a 7 hour stretch with no feed is a long time between 11pm-6am. 

Alex

[sairama]

Thank you so much! We think he is the best baby, but we are biased. After reading Secrets, and how she got textbooks to sleep through the night so early, I felt a bit like I wasn't successful in helping him sleep. (Mine is a cross between grumpy and textbook.)

He eats from 3am to 3:25am, and then it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour to get him resettled. But, that's part of the program! He's on an aggressive growth track. He has gone from 6 lbs 7 ounces (6 lbs 1 ounce when we brought him home) to almost 12 lbs already. He eats ALL the time (every 2 hours) and we are happy to feed him.

We try to make sure he gets good, solid naps during the day. That seems to help him not get overtired and hard to put to bed.

Is week 12 a magical week? Lots of people talk about that as the time when they sleep longer...

[Colin Macs Mom]

No kidding, at 7.5 weeks that's absolutely fantastic!!!    I am so jealous!! We were nowhere near that when my DS was 7.5 weeks.

Don't know if I would call week 12 magical as a rule, but some people do find improvement around then. Every LO is different though!

[Fenella]

if it is working so well don't try to change anything.  your lo sounds right on track to sleep thru at a good age.