Is it possible to get my 6 week old to sleep more than 2 hours at night.
Thank you guys so much for your help. I have been swaddling him since he was about 2 weeks old. I'm guessing he is maybe going through a growth spurt. We he was born he weighed 7 5 and at his 1 month check up just last week he weighs 11 11! BIG BOY. I was breastfeeding for the first 2 weeks. He is now on formula.
What things are you trying to do to help? If you read through these questions and answers you'll find so many great ideas for ways to help. You can swaddle the baby, buy white noise makers, play music, do baby massage, get a formula that has a little cereal already mixed into it and the possibilities are practically endless.
Suzi
It's normal for a baby that young to wake up frequently. They may be building up to go through a growth spurt and need the extra nutrition. It also may depend on whether you are nursing or formula feeding. If you are working and nursing you may not be eating properly and might consider supplimenting with formula. Whatever you do you should not give the baby any cereal at this time. If possible you may be able to have someone else give the baby a bottle of formula for one feeding so that you may get a little more sleep.
I don't think it's unusual for a baby to wake up every two hours at this age although it is very rough on you. Both my children went thru growth spurts at about 6 wks and would want to nurse almost every hour. If you breastfeed, they do tend to wake up more often because it is easier to digest. One thing that I found that helped, was making sure they didn't fall back asleep to soon while feeding in the middle of the night. I would tickle their feet a little, or do something that kept them eating until they got enough to last them a while. I know it is tempting to put them back in bed if they fall asleep quickly before finishing their feeding, but you'll only be up sooner. Another trick I did was to wake them to eat right before I went to bed, about 10:30. That way I wasn't getting up an hour or so after I laid down. I know lots of people who try giving cereal, but this isn't recommended until your baby is 4 mo old. Hope this helps, and if not, remember that it won't last forever.
Are you by chance breastfeeding? I had that problem with my daughter and it was because I wasn't producing as much as she wanted to eat. She was waking up because she was hungry. I began to supplement with a bottle after nursing and she began to sleep longer.
I can totally sympathize with you. My son wasn't a great sleep for the first several weeks either. The good news is that it gets better. One thing that did help him sleep was swaddling him tightly and then putting him in his swing, slightly on his side (with a rolled up burp rag against his back) and then starting the swing. He would fall asleep pretty easily. Once he fell asleep we would turn the swing off that way he wasn't relying on the motion to stay asleep. (Our swing reclined so he wasn't sitting up). The first night we did that he slept 5 hrs! I can't tell you how great I felt the next day, like a new woman. =) He averaged about 5-8 hrs in his swing. We were so grateful. When he was 9 weeks old we started putting him in his crib at night because we didn't want him to rely on the swing as a sleep prop. His sleep did drop to about 4 1/2 to 6 hrs but we thought that was still great. Good luck. Also, I found Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West to be the most helpful book when it came to sleep training. You're doing a great job by the way. Keep up the good work.
I highly recommend the BabyWise books. My pediatrician gave them to me with my second child and wished I had them with my first child. The book might give you some solutions to your sleepless child. My second child didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 2 1/2 and still wakes up occasionally.
Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber is a great book that helped our son sleep through the night.
My pediatrician told me to feed my daughter every 2-2 1/2 hours during the day so she would get her calories in and sleep longer at night. this has helped. I notice if I let her sleep too much during the day and/or go more than 3 hours between feedings she wakes up more at night. Hope this helps!
If you are breastfeeding...it is normal for them to nurse every two hours esp. at night. Also at six weeks babies have a growth spurt. Also if you are bf dont supplement with formula.
Over the next few weeks you will start to notice your little one sleeping longer at night. Some babies don't sleep through the night until 6 plus months. It really depends on the baby. With that said, my 6 month old daughter sleeps from 10pm - 3am Feeds then sleeps from 330am - 10am.
I cannot tell you that I did this, but know someone who did it with 3 children and it worked on all 3. My son was already past this stage when I met this mother. Her doctor told her, that if the baby is crying in the night, like it wants to eat, DO NOT feed the baby milk in any form. He said to give ONLY water in the night, period! The baby may fight it at first, but if the baby is truly hungry it WILL drink the water. If not, you're going to have a fussy baby for a couple of nights, but if you are diligent and only give water every single time without fail, and the baby figures out it is not going to get milk within 2-3 nights you should have a sleeping baby. This is supposed to straighten out their sleep pattern AND they will eat better during the day. And just think, when the baby is crying and you don't know if you can hold out thru the cries, water is not going to hurt the baby.....the baby is just telling you it wants something different. Kind of like us getting salad, but wanting chocolate. I do hope this works for you. I remember those sleepless nights feeling like the "edge" was not far away from you. You will look back fondly of this time believe it or not!
