Sleeping Through the Night - Killeen, TX

Try reading "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West, it really worked for me! She is also called the "Sleep Lady" and has a website www.sleeplady.com.
Good Luck! T.

I think that the baby isn't ready. I know it is hard but hang in there for a few more weeks and maybe she'll sleep through the night.

Hi Tracey! Well the only thing I can think of is to hire a sitter for alittle while so you can get some rest. I have three boys and one baby girl(2 months) so I know what exhausted is! Wishing you the best!

I am also a military wife. I have 3 kids all who were born within 3 1/2 years of eachother. My youngest has medical issues. I haven't slept a full night for 6 years. I'm not kidding. I think it comes with the territory. 5 weeks is pretty young to try to get your baby to sleep through the night. None of mine slept through until they were much older. At 5 weeks they are still hitting growth spurts and need the extra calories. I would definately NOT put cereal in her bottle. Not only is it a choking hazard, but introducing foods at too young of an age can cause allergies in the future. Maybe you should just get to bed earlier yourself and not worry about household issues as much. Sometimes other things need to be put on the back burner. Sleep when the baby sleeps. That isn't just a joke, it's very good advice. At 5 weeks post partum, your body is still healing and you still need as much rest as possible, and try not to do so much.

She's only 5 weeks. Maybe she is not ready yet. My son slept about 8 hours a night when he was 8 weeks old. It may take a few weeks. but when she wakes up in the middle of the night, give her about 5 minutes before you go get her. Sometimes they fall back asleep, but sometimes they really are hungry. If the crying keeps your other daughter awake, put a little fan in her room at night and it will block the noise. Some people have suggested cereal in the bottle. I DO NOT recommend that! She is too young for cereal and she is just on her own little schedule. Babywise by Gary Ezzo is a great book to help get them to sleep through the night FAST. It has worked for me and all my friends. I really hope this helps. So, my advice is to get the book and just do exactly what it says. Be patient and don't let the late night feedings stress you out. It is only for a small time. You can do it! Hope this helps!

I agree w/ the others - 5 weeks is too early. If your daughter is waking on her own to eat, then she needs to eat. Trying to change that could be detrimental to her health. I think that even the sleep experts say to wait until 4 months to try and get them to night wean and sleep through the night.

I once went thru needing to sleep after I had my second child. I was so miserable because I tried to do all the regular "jobs" of a stay at home mom.

You need to pick your battles and pick your jobs. You can't do everything and nor will you succeed at it. If you worry too much about everything, your baby will not sleep at night. She will feed off of your feelings and stay up even more. Change you and you will find she will become considerably easier to deal with.

Hi T.! I am a mother of 3 and can say that the only way that I survived the early months was to have the baby in bed with me. I would wake when the baby woke, nursed while in bed, and went back to sleep. It may sound nuts, but my kids slept in my bed with me until they were 2 1/2. I currently have a 6 month old in bed with me that still doesn't sleep through the night. I'm sure she will soon since she just started solids. Otherwise, I have no suggestions. Not one my children slept through the night until they were 4-6 months old. Some babies will sleep through the night at 5 weeks, but you just might have one that won't. Sorry my dear. ;) Good luck! :)

Hi T.! I have 6 month old twins, and my husband is also in the military. I know how you feel. I think when my babies were 5 weeks old, they had to be fed every hour. They dropped too much weight right after birth and one of them had a hard time picking it back up. I agree with some of the stuff said. Please don't give her cereal. I know some people swear by it, but it CAN give your baby an allergy. Not to mention an upset tummy because her tummy can't handle it yet. And an upset tummy will probibly just make her wake up more. Here are my suggestions. Every babys sleep patterns are different, but I know mine would sleep a lot in the early morning. They would wake up to eat then be right back down. Try to sleep with the baby. After you get your 5 year old off to school, lay down, even if its just on the couch. I would get up with the twins around 6am, feed them and change them, then we would go downstares, I would put them in the swing and bouncer (which saved my life a few times when they REFUSED to sleep in their crib) I would watch a little of the news and fall asleep. Then wake up for the next feeding, and when they took their second nap, is when I would shower. Also, I don't know what base you are on, but I know most of them have a family child care program. Before school care only for your 5 year old should be relitavely inexpensive. If you could find one close to you, maybe she could get the 5 year old fed and off to school. Some churches also do a moms day out. You can drop off the kids and go do whatever you need. In your case you could sleep. 5 weeks is too young to do any sleep program to get her to sleep through the night. Oh, your Dr may have some suggestions. Just remember, your body is still recovering from the amaizing feat of delivering a baby, there is only so much anyone can handle. You are welcome to e mail me if you have any questions or just need to vent. ____@____.com luck!
M.

How long does your hubby have left in this deployment? Your baby probably wont start sleeping through the night for a couple more months, if your hubby gets home before then try to concentrate on when he gets home to help. I know exactly what you are going through though. I had my youngest while my husband was deployed so i had a newborn and a 3 year old on top of having sutra stitches and staples from a tubal. I wish i had more advice but i can honestly say i have been there and i remember how horrible it was. I wish you the best of luck. Just know that it wont last forever and soon youll be able to look back on it and be thankful its over!!!!!

I really don't think its fair to expect your 5 week old baby to sleep through the night already. And no amount of rice cereal in the bottle is really going to help. My son didn't start sleeping through until he was 12 weeks and he was formula fed, and my daughter (who is nearly 7 months) still gets up a couple of times a night to nurse.
Like someone else said, maybe you can get a relative to help you with the baby so you can get some rest, but w/ a newborn, you should have expected to not get much rest anyway.

I don't know about everyone else but my kids didn't start sleeping through the night until they were 5 or 6 months old...expecting a baby to sleep through the night at 5 weeks seems almost unrealistic. Since you're an Army wife I'm assuming that you have no family around but maybe you could ask a friend to keep the baby for you for a few hours during the day so that you could try to catch up on your sleep. I truly sympathize with you as I remember how tough it is when you're really tired and all you want is some sleep...hang in there though because it will get better :o)

I feel for you but I don't think you are going to get the baby to sleep the night at five weeks. My children didn't start sleeping thru the night until they were about four or five months. My youngest was finally sleeping thru night at 2 y/o and she still get up once in a while. My advice for you would be to enlist a relative or friend to come in one or two days in the week to get up with the baby and you can at least get one or two night of well deserved sleep. I know it must be so hard with your husband's deployment so don't be shy with your family and friends. I guess if you do't have any family or friends around maybe hire a nanny to come in one or two nights. Does this help any.... I wish you the best,
L.

Hi T.! First of all, I don't think that anyone on this board should be getting on your case like they are...how inconsiderate and rude!!! Most of these people have NO clue as to what we as military spouses sacrifice and go through while our husbands are deployed! However, I know how you feel, this is our third deployment right now. We have 5 kids, ages 13,11,7,2 and 7 months. My dh left (on his 2nd Iraq tour) when my 2 yr. old was 6 weeks old, so I hear ya about no sleep. However, I had him sleep in bed with me, but I was nursing (I did get more sleep this way.) If nursing isn't an option or her sleeping in your bed, then I would suggest what someone else said about taking naps during the day. I know it's hard, but maybe you shouldn't do as much housework for now, just the minimum amount(easier said than done.) It is important for you to get as much rest as possible right now, you are under a tremendous amount of stress and sleep deprivation will only make you feel worse. Good luck hon, and if you need to talk, email me: ____@____.com

You simply can not expect a 5 week old to sleep through the night. My suggestion is to sleep during the day when the baby sleeps and your son is at school.

Hi Tracey

Well I got the bad news from my son's Pedi Nurse, she said it can happen any where from 2 weeks to 2 1/2 years old before they sleep through the night.

Christian started at 3 months old, the night before I returned back to work I had a little talk to him about sleeping thru the night, well needless to say he slept till about 30 minutes before it was time for me to get up at 3:30am then the next night it was a little longer now he is sleeping up to 12 hours a night and I have been back to work for 2 weeks now. my other two started at different times...

I also read in a baby book and if I find I'll attach a link if they have one, but babies should not be put on a schedule, like napping and feeding at a young age, parents mostly do it for the convience of their lifestyle.

Each baby is different can't rush it..

Good luck..
D.

Wish I could help but I still cant get my 7 month olds to sleep thru the night.
TiffanyT.

Babies just have to learn to sleep at night. She probably has her days and nights confused. It is just a process you have to go through. Cereal in the bottle does not help them sleep through the night, and given at too young of an age may actually be upsetting her stomach. The best thing that you can do is stick to a routine and be consistent with what time you lay her down to bed and stuff. She will learn, but she is still VERY little right now. In all honesty, a baby her age isn't supposed to be sleeping through the night. She should wake up for a bottle and diaper changes at least once or twice. Hang in there! My 6 month old is breast fed and I still feed him twice a night. Babies just have to learn to sleep at night.

I recieved the DVD "The happiest Baby on the Block"!!! If you have Not seen it. Go out and Get it!!! Rent it. Either way I think Every Mom Needs to watch this DVD!! Even if its not your first Child!!! You really should check it out.

M.

You really can't expect your baby to establish a pattern already. Your baby needs all the sleep it gets and it needs to be fed around the clock. Who ever told you it was ok to put cereal in the bottle is crazy!!!!!!!!!! Your baby can develop sooooooo many allergies because it is waaayyyyy too young to introduce it- mind you it is a choking hazard. They haven't developed the muscles to swallow food yet. Afterall this is life with a newborn. Just try to be patient and strong and it will pass before you know it. Good luck.

Hi T.,
I can sympathize with you. I am the mother of three beautiful children. Luckily, they are older now--my baby is four so I no longer have to deal with a baby not sleeping. My suggestion would definately be to put the baby in the bed with you--I worked full time when my children were little, so I did not have the option of taking naps during the day. I also breast fed which helped a whole lot because you just stay in bed and feed the baby. Please, never put cereal in the bottle...it could choke her. Any doctor will tell you that, and I have worked and studied children for over 15 years. Do not try and introduce any cereal until four months of age, and please do it with a spoon. I am not trying to get on your case...but please understand it can be very dangerous. Alot of mothers will tell you that putting cereal in the bottle will fill the baby up and make them sleep better, but that is not true...It does not digest any slower than the formula. If she is still hungry then up the ounces at each feeding. Anyway, if you have anymore questions, feel free to email me offline at ____@____.com. I also have my own inhome daycare now, so I am still pretty up to date on baby issues : )

Breastfeed and co-sleep. Do it for a couple of weeks and pulling your shirt up without waking up will be second nature. Then you get to sleep (well) until your 5 week old gets to the point of crawling or rolling.

I have never understood how mommies of more than one child do it any other way.

good luck.
S.

I was in the same situation but my oldest was 2 1/2. You can't expect a 5 week old to sleep through the night. What I did was put the baby in bed with me and he seemed to sleep much better and I was more rested during the day. I also had to just put down the housework for a while and sleep during the day to catch up. I only had to do that for a couple of weeks, then just with him sleeping with me was enough sleep. That didn't last very long. He learned how to sleep at night and it wasn't long before he was in his crib in his room. It's just at the beginning you need to get sleep whenever and however you can. I am sorry you are having to do this without help, I know it is hard. Just make sure to make sleep and being with your kids the top priority because sleep deprevation can lead to other things that you don't want to experience. Hope this helps and remember, this part doesn't last very long at all. It seems like it will never end, but it will very soon!

Co-sleep. It worked for me with all three kids. Don't use heavy blankets, and push the bed up against the wall. Then place the baby on a tightly-tucked sheet between you and the wall. Don't bother with a shirt. Lay on your side with your baby facing you. The baby can nurse throughout the night, and you won't even have to fully wake up.

This also establishes a pleasant night time arrangement for the baby that they adapt to quickly. All three of mine started really looking forward to going to bed, went to sleep quickly, and were very contented. They even seem to potty less at night than other kids their age...my son, now two, stopped pottying at night after his first month of life. My daughter, only four months old, usually only potties once or twice during the eight hours that we are in bed together. The trick is to change them as soon as they start to stir - never let them get used to sleeping in their own pee.

The pottying bit is just bonus, though. Not having to get out of bed to feed baby is GREAT, and the best part of all is the sweet, quiet bonding time that takes place when you co-sleep. Try it and see.

T., Your situation brings back memories of my babies, who are now 21 and 18.
with my first baby i put her on rice cerial in her milk at 8 days old. she weighed almost 10 pounds and milk alone was not filling her up. in 4 oz of milk i would put 2-3 teaspoons of rice cerial and every other week i would increase it by 1/2 a teaspoon, but did not let it get thick. then when she was 2 months i started adding 2 teaspoons of baby applesauce to her cerial. I always gave her the cerial after we had a busy play time, warm bath and story time. that way i knew she would be worn out and tired. she started sleeping all night at 41/2 wks.
now when my son was born he was almost 9 pounds and the night we brought him home i put him on cerial just as i did his sister, and he slept all night from then on. Neither one of my kids have any allergies of any kind and had no problems, but you do need to watch your baby closely to make sure she is tolorating the cerial.
If she likes sleeping in her car seat, then I would bring it in and let her sleep in it as long as she will. If she likes her swing, let her sleep in it if she will. some babies also like to listen to soft classical music, it calms them down and relaxes them.
Another thing to keep in mind, babies know or sence what is going on. If you are upset or aggitated she's gonna know. at 6 days old my daughter knew her father was going back to Turkey and could sence that i was upset that he had to leave us so soon. she cried for days just as i did, but once i calmed down, she did as well.
also, as my grandma always told me, as long as the baby is fed, has a clean diaper on and in no pain (you can tell a regular cry from a painful cry) let her cry. Eventually she'll learn that crying isn't always going to get her a bottle or held and there is nothing wrong with letting a little one cry themselves to sleep. Grandma had 15 kids so i always took her advice.
Good luck, I hope you find something that works.

I hate to tell you this, but 5 week old babies do not generally sleep through the night, no matter what you do!!! I know you are exhausted, I went through a similar situation recently. But, babies that little need to eat more often and just don't sleep all night yet. The best advice I can give is to sleep when the baby sleeps during the day and when your 5 yr old is at school.

I know this is very hard for you, just remember she will start sleeping longer soon.

When my girls were about 6 weeks old, I started feeding them cereal, in a bottle, before bed. I know they tell you not to start them on cereal that soon; but, it helps them stay full, longer, and they tend to sleep better, at night. I would give them about 2-3 tablespoons of cereal in 4 ounces of formula or breastmilk. As they got older, I would increase the amount they got (ie: 3 months = 6 ounces of formula). Make sure that you get the orange nipples that have the larger cross-cut. Use Gerber Oatmeal.

I have two kids and neither of them slept through the night at that young age. Mine were closer to 9 months when they actually slept through the night. If you are breastfeeding have you considered co-sleeping and just letting the baby nurse while you sleep? It helped me get a bit more sleep when my son was an infant.

I think 5 weeks is too young to do a form of sleep training or Cry-it-out (even though I am sure some people swear by it) I always waited until the babies were 4 months old before trying to get them to sleep on their own. AT 5 weeks they are still learning to trust that their demands are being met, and they will go through periods of sleeping less/more...

I recomend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Baby"...it was my lifesaver when establishing a routine for my children.

Hi T.. Been there, doing that. I have a 4 1/2 yo, 19 mo and a 3 mo. Try keeping the baby in bright light during the day and ensure that the lights are out and minimal noise at night. I got my little girl on a night routine and just wing it during the day and she has pretty much settled down and wants one bottle overnight. Feed her when ya'll eat, try to get her onto your schedule. I hope you get some sleep. Good luck.