Intro from me and help sought re: sleep
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Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
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Topic: Intro from me and help sought re: sleep
Posted By: Caro07
Subject: Intro from me and help sought re: sleep
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 9:20am
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Hi there
I am a first time mum with a 3 and a half month old wee boy. He used to be a wonderful night time sleeper but over the last month things have gone downhill. He used to go to bed at 7pm, wake for a feed at 3am and then straight back to sleep until 7am. Positively blissful  However (there had to be a but!) over the last few weeks we are almost back to newborn waking. He is up anywhere between two and four times a night, generally taking a feed each time. SOme of the wakeups are not hunger related but I resort to feeding as it is the quickest way to ensure we are both back in bed ASAP. I hoped it was a growth spurt initially but 4 weeks later I am guessing it isn't. I am kind of resigned to the fact that this is unlikely to resolve until he is onto solids which is at least another few weeks away (if I wean at 4 months which wasn't my ideal plan). He is a very tall boy (top of the chart at 68cm) but isn't huge weight wise (about 13lbs).
I guess I would like to hear if anyone else has gone through this and when it ended (and what changed to improve it). It is absolutely exhausting 
Look forward to hearing any advise and getting to know people on this site
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Replies:
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 9:55am
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Bubbas are great at making you t hink you have everything sorted and then changing it all up. Daniel went through several stages like this. Sleeping brilliantly then going back to 3hrly waking. I just rode it out. Solids didn't really help things much at all.
What helped us though was dream feeding. We dream fed Daniel at around 10:30pm which helped him sleep for longer. I got hubby to do this feed so that I could go to bed early and catch up on sleep. If you don't know: dream feeding is going into the room when they are asleep, picking them up and giving them a feed while they are still asleep or very drowsy and then popping them back down. It's a top up basically. Oh, I see you are in Palmy, have a look in the mums meet up threads we were planning a get together in a couple of weeks! |
Posted By: .Mel
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 10:05am
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Hi Caro welcome to Oh Baby! I agree with Stacey, definitely do the dream feed. Just make sure you don't wake him up.
------------- Mr Mellow (16) Miss Attitude (8) Destructa Kid (3) 
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Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 12:20pm
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Has he had any new milestones happen yet? I know when Jack was learning new things he would often go through as stage when he woke more often (not that he is a good sleeper anyway) such as when he learnt to crawl, sit up, started solids etc. Apparently they practice these new milestones in their REM sleep which can mean they wake more often. It might be something you have to rise out unfortunately
Good luck! ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: Caro07
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 2:29pm
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Thanks for your replies
I kind of knew I had to ride it out but hoped there might be an easy solution! The dream feeding scares me a little. I have never done it and am quite frightened of waking him up and making him worse. He hasn't learnt anything new in particular but in the last week or so he has become a lot more alert during the day. He has extended his wake up time from 1hr to up to 2 hrs now. I think it is just another 'phase'. Here's hoping we hit the 'sleeping through the night' phase soon 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 3:17pm
| Dream feeding is really easy if you are just quiet and relaxed. Once you have done it once you will wonder what you were worried about. We did it in the dark and he would always go back down and not hear a peep out of him |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 7:49pm
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I'd try dream feeding first, that is if he isn't already up for feeding past 9pm anyway (that's what Kryssi did).
I'd suggest toughing it out for two more weeks and if he still is powerful hungry, slowly introduce solids one at a time. -------------  |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 8:38pm
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Hi and welcome! and with that... I'll be the bearer of bad news.... It could be developmental. Don't take it ever as a given that cos they have slept thru that they will or are meant to or whatever. Sorry! He is still tiny, and his tummy is still small, and developmentally there is alot going on to keep the wee man awake, he is becomng aware of his surroundings, beginning to know if he cries you will feed him, lots of things. Not all babies sleep through, thats a myth for sure. Lots of us have big kids who still wake nightly as well (both mine do). Good luck! you should find the dream feed a real saviour, though and also make sure he is gettign lots of good lseep during hte day, the more they have, the more they want! ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: Caro07
Date Posted: 28 May 2008 at 9:46am
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Thanks for your replies! Last night wasn't so bad - only up twice then stirring from 6am. I have been thinking about dream feeds and think we might almost be doing that when he feeds. Although he wakes up to tell me he is hungry as soon as he latches on he closes his eyes and pretty much drifts off. I give him a quick wind and he is nearly always fast asleep on my shoulder and then I pop him back to bed. Some nights he is up as early as 10.30pm but think I might try dreamfeeding him if he isn't awake at this time. I will build up the courage to try this.
As for day sleeps that is a bit of a battle but I am trying really hard and just keep persevering. He will 'usually' take 3 x 40minute sleeps as a minimum throughout the day. I went to the family centre last week and they suggested swaddling which worked like a dream when he was there (slept for 2hr30mins, typical!). He hasn't quite repeated that again but he has had a couple of 1hr30mins sleeps. I know it is part and parcel of being a mum. Maybe if the day sleeps improve the night will take care of itself. It's funny isn't it, that the more sleep they get in the day the better they sleep at night. I feel it should be the other way around but know that it isn't
Thank you for all your replies - it seems like a really friendly place with some great advice 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 28 May 2008 at 10:39am
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If he sometimes wakes at 10:30ish, maybe if you try the dream feed try it at 10.. the point is to try and get them before they wake up. Sounds weird but with Daniel if you dream feed him he will drink a lot more than if he wakes up for food.
Isn't it typical that they sleep beautifully at the family centre. Daniel did the exact same thing 
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