So ladies,......I wanted to know if you all had similar experiences with sleep in your infants......My 11 week old son seems to go through like a week of sleeping well (sleeping 9 to 3:30 or 4:00 then feeding and going back to sleep until 7:00) then he'll have several nights of being up several times for know explainable reason, I try to feed him and he eats for a minute, like an once at the most and is right back to sleep. I think sometimes it's gass that wakes him up but I just don't get it. I wish he would sleep well all the time or I could figure out what is different about the nights he doesn't sleep well! Have any of you experienced this? What did you do to help get more of those nights where they sleep better? I kind of remember the same thing happening with my ODS but just can't really remember what I did...I think he just grew out of it. Thanks for the help ladies!
Wow on the nights he sleeps well he sleeps GREAT!!! Are you nursing? Try to keep track of what you are eating that could make him gassy and not sleep well some nights.
Yep, sounds familiar! Took awhile for my son to settle into any sort of pattern. Then I thought I had figured it out, he would sleep through the night for 4 or 5 nights in a row, then everything would change and he'd be up three times the next. It's so hard to know what wakes them up, you never know, sometimes I don't think they even know what they need! I did find that when we had really busy days, he slept better. And my guy loved bath time before bed, that always seemed to help him sleep for longer stretches of time. He could also be cold, hot, hungry, just want mom.... so hard to know. :) But yes, my son grew out of it after awhile. Those first three to four months for me were just so hard.
L., Every day as babies and toddlers learn new things the brain is creating new pathways to hold this knowledge. Studies have shown that every night while they're sleeping the brain "retraces" these pathways to make them permanent. It's sort of solidifying and making that new knowledge stick. If you pay attention you'll start to notice that each time your baby is just about to reach a new goal - rolling, sitting, crawling, etc. - they will have more fitful sleep. Their little minds are still working!
Also, I have learned that children only release the chemical that stimulates growth while they're sleeping, so it is very important that they have a good sleep schedule that is consistent so that their bodies can grow.
I have 4 kids, and I know the trials of the night, but the best thing you can do is start early with teaching your child how to self-soothe and fall back asleep. Don't turn on lights, only whisper or softly hum, if they're not really awake just give them their pacifier/lovie and cover them up while rubbing their back rather than picking them up. If they're awake rock and soothe them gently. Often parents wake their kids up by picking them up or responding immediately when actually the child is just in a light portion of the sleep cycle and naturally make more noises and move around a bit. When this is happening it's just best to keep an ear on baby, but not interfere if there's nothing wrong.
Blessings on getting to know your little one's sleep cycles!
That look of the Holy Mother... The Madonna of the old masters paintings is a real life depiction. Borne of no sleep, too little sleep and the tough life of learning on the job to care for and raise a baby.
And didn't you get the packaged instructions with your baby saying they cry every day for three + years.
