Any Suggestions on How to Get My Baby to Sleep Through the Night?

I wish i had some suggestions. I would love to hear other peoples suggestions too. My 15 month old still doesn't sleep through the night. gets up ususally twice to eat and some other times just for a pacifier and a pat on the back. i would love to hear other thoughts on S.'s and mine problem. stacie.
SAHM with a 3 year old and 15 month old

This may have already been posted, but my browser crashed so I don't know...
Try the Miracle Blanket, or other receiving blankets to swaddle. The baby won't startle himself awake because this arms will be held tightly against his sides. This works well for us (2.5 month old daughter). The baby should wake gradually, and less often!

Hi S.,
I have a four month old who also was sleeping awesome at night and now has RSV. Last night she was up every hour. I am so sleep deprived!!! I asked her doctor yesterday when I can train her (have her cry a bit) to sleep with out getting breast fed and he said not until 6 months. I just wanted to let you know you were not alone in this and to hang in there. I have two other daughters (age 11 and 9) and they are awesome sleepers, so I know my four month old will be too (someday!!). I just keep saying "this too shall pass" and that gets me through most anything! Good luck!

Ugh, I'm sure all of us new moms have dealt with this kind of thing at some point. It is very hard on YOU! I agree with what many other postings said about "training" your son to sleep through the night again. I had to do this at one point or another with all three of my girls (now 4yrs, almost 3 and 6 mo). Instead of automatically picking them up when they cried in the night, we'd try other things to soothe them back and would only nurse if they were WIDE awake and crying. If they were just fussing a bit, we'd let it go and often times they'd fall back asleep on their own. At 4 mo, I think it is ok to let them cry a bit too, but I know that can be very hard on you... hard to listen to. But I also did what another person suggested... let them cry for a few minutes, then go in and reassure that all is ok without picking them up. Then let him go a few minutes longer before re-entering the room. It took just a few days for us to train our babies to soothe themselves back to sleep. I think @ 4 mo, a lot of babies can make it through the night w/o nursing... mine did much younger... about 10 wks. With a little effort on your part you'll have your son re-trained in no time. It should make you feel good that he WAS going through the night before... he most certainly can again, he just needs to get used to NOT nursing in the night again. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

Hi S.
When my children were that age and didn't sleep I used to put a little rice baby cereal in their bottle. about a tespoon will do so it can still come out of the nipple. This made them feel less hungry during the nite.
D.

I've found that you have to "re-train" your baby to fall asleep without the help from you. With our son we went through our bedtime routine and then put him down drowsy but awake. He would cry but we would let him cry for 5 minutes before we went in. When we went in it was just a very brief amount of time just to assure him that all was ok (don't pick him up). then we would leave the room again. After another 5 minutes we would go back in. Then we would wait 10 minutes in between, then 15 minutes. The first night it took about 45 minutes for him to fall asleep, the next night an hour. But by the third night he was going to sleep in 20 minutes. It only got better from there. All of this is explained in a book called Sleeping Through the Night by Jodi Mindell. I highly recommend this book, it has been the best thing that I have do as a parent, so far! Good luck!

It's normal and healthy for a 4 month old to wake that many times a night. Are you co-sleeping? It will allow baby to nurse without really disturbing your sleep.

I LOATHE the book "Baby Whisperer". Honestly it's cruel and very anti-attachment.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution is a much gentler book.

Have you tried the book "The Baby Whisperer, Solves All Your Problems" by Tracy Hogg? It's an amazing book and speaks to scenarios exactly like the one you mentioned. I started reading the book when my soon was 8 months old, my only regret is that I didn't hear about this book sooner! I would recommend this book to any mother with confidence, it's worked for me and a few friends like a charm and is so easy. I've even bought it for two shower gifts. The hardest part is finding time to read, but I promise you will be so worth it. Good luck, I hope this helps.

S., what worked for us was giving her a large feeding right before putting her to bed. We both breastfeed and supplement with formula, so we'd give formula as the last feeding, since it takes longer to digest. Also, we'd dim the lights about an hour before putting her to bed and try to stay quiet. It's working for us, hope it will help you as well.

Dear S.
I dont want to tell you what to do but if he still wake up every 2-4 hours at night put 1/2 teapoon of baby cereal in his milk {we use to call that pablum] and see if he gonna sleep longer maybe your milk is not enought I'm 66 years ofld and that what we use to do with our baby then increase a little at the time and you'll see he'll go all night no regret. GOOD LUCK C.

A QUIEN PUEDE INTERESAR:
Querida S. la presente es para:1]Darle Gracias a Dios pq tengo la oportunidad de poder ayudar a otras personas.2]Darte las gracias a ti por depositar tu confianza en mi.
Cuando uno tiene el cuidado de un bebé debe de ser muy responsable.¿PQ? Cualquier cosa que se haga sin pensar en el bienesstar del bebé puede perjudicarlo en vez de dejarle algo que lo pueda beneficiar. Si puedes que este a tu alcance no dejes tu bebé con alguien que no tenga seguridad ni te pueda ofrecer garantias.Que Dios Hoy y Siempre te llene de ricas y abundantes bendiciones.
SHALOM,
mimi.

Hi S.! It seems like forever that I dealt with some of these issues with my own two little ones! Basically, it takes about a week (yes, and sometimes that feels like forever when you are sleep deprived) to break the new "bad" habit. All you were doing was comforting your sweet little one while he was sick, but now it's time to get back on schedule and set you both off on a good night sleep. Seems like your baby has found it very easy to be comforted back to sleep by you when he wakes in the middle of the night. A little fussing brings Mommy to the rescue with nursing! I'm not one for recommending the "let them cry it out" routine, because it important that they feel secure. However, instead of nursing when you hear the baby cry/fuss - you'd have to use other methods of soothing. I've used a bottle with water (even though I was nursing) and/or a pacifier. This is a controversial issue... many don't recommend using either a bottle or a pacifier if you are nursing. The whole "nipple confussion" thing. However, different methods work for different people. The pacifier worked for both of my angels. My first eventually chose her thumb (which is also controversial) and my second chose the paci. Although, we really should have broken him of the paci much sooner than we did. A week of 2-3 wakings in the night with a 1 1/2 yr old toddler searching for a lost paci under the crib was enough to persuade us, finally. Above all, it takes a lot of patience. Like anything else we have to teach our children... they need to be helped to learn to soothe themselves back to sleep without out help. Amazing, they even need to be taught a sense of independence even at such a young sweet age. It's good for them. We also employed swaddling with our second child. He was prone to waking himself up with his arms/hands. I hope this helps. I see that you have older children as well. Did you have this issue with them? If you have any other questions, I can recommend a couple of books that really helped us with different issues. Let me know!

Hi S.,
I recommend co-sleeping. It's how I get enough sleep to function to take care of my other children during the day. I'm expecting my seventh, so I can't afford to be constantly sleep deprived each time I have a new baby. When a baby is sick, they will nurse constantly. However, if they're in bed with you, you can rest and actually sleep while they nurse. The baby likes being next to you too. You have a sixth sense about the baby being next to you too. I usually wake up a minute or two before the baby does. It's remarkable! When they baby starts to stir, you can latch him on before he fully awakes and you can close your eyes. When I tried nursing out of bed, the nursing would make me so tired (from the prolactin released, as well as the late hour) I was afraid I was going to fall asleep and drop the baby. Your baby may be nursing at night like he did when he was sick because he has just fallen into that feeding habit. Try to "stock him up" by nursing a lot before you go to bed. I'll do that while my husband and I talk or watch TV or read before going to bed.
Dr. Sears has two good books on co-sleeping: Nightime Parenting and The Sleep Book. There's also two other good books called Three in the Bed by Deborah Jackson and The Family Bed by Tine Thevenin. Hope this helps!

I agree with trying the No Cry Sleep Solution. It's very helpful.

Hi S. K,
I know its Hard to listen to your baby crying .. as others have suggested let him cry for a few minutes rather than pick him up. He will develop the habit of waking up often if he gets accustomed to being pick up as soon as cries. He knows your voice so .. I'll even take it bit further to tell you to try or talk/sing to him from a distant - a two-way monitor works well for this. (use your judgement here .. it make arouse him more.)Also swaddle him or tuck his blanket in the side of his crib so he snugged.
I had a problem with my 2 1/2 years old waking up several time at nights. I couldn't get him to stay in his bed in for his nap - then it all changed after I started using a warmer ..slightly heavier blanket.
Even when protest taking a nap once I have him under his blanket ..he'll fall to sleep and stay asleep.
You know him best ...do your best (also if you have to nurse him do it with the least amount of light and do not play with him.) It help with my middle child - when I hung one of blouse over the side of her crib ....something about the mommy's smell- making her feel that I'm close.
All the best ... it will get better.

A. P.
www.dare2livenow.com

I used the Sleep Lady Shuffle initially to get my 5 mo. old to sleep through the night because she was waking 3-5 times/night after she had been sleeping through the night a month earlier. The philosophy behind it is not to nurse during the night, and have nursing associated with waking/feeding times rather than sleeping times. The first night was painful. She cried for 20 min. the first time she woke, 12 min. the second time she woke, 5 min. the third time and the then slept through the night on her own the next night and thereafter. She would occasionally wake up once during the night and I or my husband would just go in the room and sit with her until she went back to sleep.

I will say that this method worked great for night time, but eventually we had to switch methods because she got used to us sitting in the room with her and then when we'd leave she'd wake up and cry...so now we do a 5 min. in the room, 5 min. out until she goes to sleep- which at 13 months, is virtually non-existent. She no longer cries when I leave the room now. So, something must have worked!

Hi S.,
As a mother of 6, soon to be 7, we've experienced our share of sleep issues. I've found that until about 5 months, most of the babies didn't settle into a real schedule, and even then it took some training for most of them. The book that saved our sanity was called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He walks you through the whole process of getting and keeping your baby on a schedule. It was well worth the investment. Good luck. In my opinion, if you can survive the first six months of child number three, you can do anything!

Dear S., When your baby wakes up in the middle of the night, try going into his room, and reassuring him, rub his back, but do not pick him up,,it may be hard for a few nights but i believe this may help. Good Luck R.

Hi S.,

Would you be open to the idea of co-sleeping? I know for me I get the most sleep by being able to just roll over and nurse my 7mo right then and there. I had my daughter in a crib as a baby and it was the worst thing I ever did since I got very little sleep. Co-sleeping has been awesome ever since I trusted myself and knew I could do it. Hubby has been fine with it since this is such a short phase in their life and ours...

E. P.

Hi S.,
When my daughter was born we began a consistent nighttime ritual. It mostly began with a warm bath, a feeding and being swaddled. The "Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD saved our sanity. I loved it. It helped us with bedtime.
I finally realized that when I went in to check on her at night, she saw boobs--not me. She expected me to nurse her just by looking at me, even if I just wanted to change her diaper. Finallly, my husband would get up to check her diaper and he could swaddle her and put her back to bed without a problem. Of course, you will have to go through crying "I'm starving" spells and I urge you to set time limits to see if he can comfort himself and fall back asleep. But, before long the ritual will trigger the sleep patterns and he will understand that it is time to sleep-not eat. Use your instincts, too. Every baby is different and you know yours better than anyone. Good luck!

Hi S.. I have not had to deal with this yet, but I also have a 4 month old with colic so I have done a TON of research on sleep.

I would try swaddling your little guy again - it might make him sleep longer.

Each time he gets up, let him fuss a little bit longer, and after a few nights, some of those awakenings might merge into one if you keep buying time.

Also, have the baby's father try and soothe him. If you go and try to do it - he'll expect milk. This might also buy more time.

He might just be trying to soothe, so you can also try feeding him for less and less amounts of time, and then putting in a pacifier or your pinky for him to suck on.

Lastly - is he getting fed every 3 hours during the day? The more calories he gets during the day, the less he will need at night.

The book - No Cry Sleep Solution has some great tips on weaning babies off of nursing through the night.

Good luck! I am sleep deprived too and it stinks!

Hi I'm also a SAHM - First of all, giving him a sleep routine is great. Putting him down at about the same time, maybe a little bath(unless baby gets overly excited) and a little cream rub and a story ? - Consistently (is the key!!!) it doesn't have to be a long ritual, just a consistent one.
Remember baby's sleep patterns are altered during growth spurts and life changes and illnesses. The biggest factor (in your case) would be the breast feeding (which is TERRIFIC!!! - I applaud you!- You obviously know this is the best) since - breast milk is easily digested - this may be why baby wakes every couple of hours - Pediatricians will tell you that they don't need a night feeding after 3 months. Ultimately, you must do whatever your most comfortable with. Also, take into account every baby is different and baby may want to feel your warmth/need more of you. He was in much warmer (hearing your heartbeat) and darker environment only three months ago!!!!!!! So, If this fits your lifestyle, why not do it?
Do whatever feels right for you.
The other suggestion, is to let baby cry a few minutes and go in and comfort. Do this a few times waiting a few minutes more in between each time. In a few days, (usually three) he'll get the message that it isn't worth crying if you'll not get up and play or breast feed.
Be realistic with your goal for a good night's sleep - maybe have hubby get up sometimes and help?? - Some children have sleep problems well into toddlerhood.
Hope this helps, it worked for me. I got all these ideas from the Dr. Sears' book.
I'm also an RN. - Jeannie
Good luck.