My son is seven months. Between two and four months, he was sleeping two 4 hour sessions so I would only have to feed him twice. Then, about a month ago, he actually slept through the night, about ten hours total, two nights in a row. But since then, he's up at least three or four times a night, at minimum. Regardless of what time I put him to sleep, he always wakes up about 10 pm and midnight. Then again, about 2 am and 4 a.m. I can usually rock him back to sleep at 10 p.m. and one other time...but lately, if I don't feed him, he will not stop crying. Not sure if I should just keep feeding him - since he only feeds for about 20 minutes. Or any suggestions?? Also, I should note that he still falls asleep while nursing. He's done that ever since he was a baby and I feel bad waking him up before putting him in his crib. Thank you!!
Definitely feed him; he is probably waking up because he is going through a growth spurt and needs the extra calories. Just remember, it won't last forever! Good luck.
My daughter (now 6 months) nursed herself to sleep and slept 8-10 hours a night until around 3.5 months. Now she wakes up 2-4 times a night for a feeding. At first I thought there was something wrong, something with her or me. I read the No Cry Sleep Solution and Dr. Ferber's book. I ended up sleep training her and not nursing her to sleep (when she first goes down). I was trying to cut down on the night time nursing but I started having supply issues and then I read that night time nursing can be critical to you milk supply. I now put her to sleep and go in every 5 mins if she cries, but if shes been asleep at least 2 hours, I feed her, burp her and then put her back in her crib, regardless if she's awake or not. Most times she curls up with her lovey and goes right to sleep.
So I would suggest having a regular bedtime and bedtime routine and feeding him whenever he wakes up in the night, he is probably growing or just needing more nursing sessions as he gets bigger. Good job and good luck!
When he wakes at 10pm , instead of rocking him back to sleep why not feed him? He may be going through a growth spurt and needs a feed , this may them eliminate the midnight waking , then you just have to deal with the 2am , and if you feed him at that point it could stop the 4am?
This is my son to a T and was about to post a question. I can't wait to see what you get.
BOTH of my kids did exactly the same thing. It is normal for that to happen between 5-7 months. I tried EVERYTHING and read all kinds of books, and the thing that finally worked with both kids was to not nurse them to sleep. What happens is that every time they roll over and wake up slightly, they expect you to come and nurse them back to sleep. What worked for us was to change our bedtime routine just slightly. I started singing to the child while nursing to keep them awake, and then would read 2-3 short stories, turn out the light and sing one final song while rocking and then put them down in the crib while slightly awake still.
It's AMAZING how it works. My son took a few nights to get used to this, but my daughter (now 11 months) took to it immediately and only woke up once to eat after I changed our routine. Even still, if she's really tired and falls asleep while nursing she'll wake up after only an hour and cry for me. A great book I love is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth. Good luck!
I nurse on demand for at least a year. Your son could be going through a growth spurt and needing to eat or teething and wanting nurse or fighting a cold and wanting to nurse.
Personally I think 7 months is too early to not let them dictate their schedule. Once they are on enough solids to get an idea of food and nutrition, I think its best to let them tell you what they need.
This could be his "6 month" growth spurt. If he is nursing for 20 minutes he's taking a full feeding which leads me to believe this is his growth spurt time. And that's a good thing. Means he's gearing up your body to meet his needs for these next few months. Follow his lead and he'll probably settle back into his routine in a week or so once he gets your production up. Just another one of the amazing parts of breastfeeding!
I never woke either of my exclusively breastfed babies up to put them back to sleep after night nursings. I took them off the breast and then immediately put my finger gently under their chin (trick from The No-Cry Sleep Solution) and they stayed right asleep when I put them down.
