2Mth Old Not Sleeping Through the Night

Babies can sleep thru the night at 2 months...both of mine did. They always slept in their own crib/room, swaddled tight in a swaddler, cool, dark room with a humidifier going for white noise. I started this from day one so they never had to transition since it was all they knew. I also read Babywise and followed the wake, eat, play, sleep pattern. I know people will criticize but both of my girls are happy, bright & healthy and champion sleepers, and I am a well rested mama. Can't argue with results.

She's only 2 months old she's in what's called the 4th Trimester.
She's not going to sleep through the night. I'm not sure how your older child slept but it's actually very unusual for a 2 month old to go for more than 2-3 hrs at a time w/o eating.

Is she getting burped good enough? Wimpering after she's been fed could indicate a tummy ache. Do you swaddle her? Have you tried letting her tummy sleep? yes I know a common no no but it was the only way my oldest would sleep and reflux babies are told to be put to sleep on their tummies.

Try " No cry sleep solution " by Elizabeth Pantley.
Don't follow babywise. It's been shown to produce babies that are under weight and diagnoised with a Failure to Thrive.
Please refer to the link below before choosing " Babywise"
http://www.ezzo.info/index.htm

I also breastfed and coslept with my daughter. She didn't start sleeping through the night until she was 15 months old. She was waking up every 2-3 hours to eat until she was about 6 months. Some babies are good sleepers and some just aren't. Mine wasn't and it sounds like your baby isn't either. You just have to find ways to rest the best you can. Since you cosleep, do you nurse her while lying down? That always helped me. I could rest a little while she ate.

Also, a lot of people say to change the diapers after they eat, but I always changed her first. She would usually calm down when I fed her, but if I undressed her and changed her diaper, she would get upset again.

Also, are you living with a husband or partner? If you are, get him to help. I would always pump before I went to bed (mostly because it kept me from leaking at night) so I would have extra milk. I would freeze all of it but 2-3oz. He usually woke up at 5 to go to work, but we had a rule that any time after 4:30 that she wakes up, he needs to go heat up a breast milk bottle and he did that feeding. That way, say she wakes up at 2:00am, then wants fed again at 4:30, then again at 7:00, you get to sleep 5 straight hours. Since we have the typical household where he is the main provider, he was still well rested for his job since I got up the rest of the night.

unfortunately, this is totally normal. fortunately, you will get through it. It's tough w/ the second because you can't sleep during the day with the baby b/c you have another child. hang in there... I would also not recommend stopping breastfeeding and moving her out of your room at the same time. It may be too much change and separation for her at once. I might try making the move to the room 1st or vice versa. Hang in there...

I agree with Rebecca G. Both of my kids actually slept 12 straight hours the first week home from the hospital and did that until they were almost 3! I know...I'm so lucky! BUT...the best advice I EVER got was to NOT rock them to sleep, put them in their OWN crib in their room and put them to bed AWAKE. I did this from day one and I have the best sleepers EVER! (they are now almost 11 and 8). That being said, those first few days home, my son would wake up every nite about 1:30 for a feeding and go back to sleep. I was like WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM???? I called the doc and after laughing at me, said to try a pacifier. I'm against them and my dtr didn't need one. Well, after a couple of nights of getting up ONCE, I tried it and he slept straight thru! So maybe try that. Otherwise, I'm not sure...good luck to you!

What Faith H said!!

I respectfully disagree that co-sleeping is not the problem. I think it may very well be your issue, actually. Some babies really can't have any kind of stimulation/interaction or it will keep them awake. I'd put her in her own crib, in her own room, and put her to bed EARLY (like 6pm, I know that sounds crazy, but humor me - it really works). If she wakes during the night and is screaming her head off, then by all means feed her. If she's waking up and making noise, scooting around in her crib, etc, leave her alone. If she's crying because she's bored, leave her alone. She will fall back asleep. I know it's hard to lay there and not respond when you hear that she's awake (and it's impossible when she's laying a foot from you and can see you), but if she's in her own room, watch the clock and give her 15 minutes. She will most likely quiet down on her own. They do go through a sleep stage where they are almost awake, and may even make noise, but if you leave them alone they'll quiet back down. If you go pick them up and mess with them, they will wake up completely and then you're totally screwed.

So, that's my two cents - got my LO sleeping through the night by a month old. If you want to read more about the details, check out "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo. It was a lifesaver for me. Hopefully it will help you, too!

Have you tried swaddling? The tighter the better - it makes them feel safe. My friend taught me this trick at 11 weeks and my daughter moved into her crib in one night. We were cosleeping before that and I nursed to 41/2 mos. It was a godsend for me. She swaddled until about 4 mos and then started sleeping freely. Before swaddle I couldn't put my daughter down in her crib for more than 10 mins at a time.

Sounds like she has her days and nights mixed up still. Try making the house very bright and light filled during the day, with some noise and then quiet and dark when it is close to bed time.

Here's some info from Dr. Pruett and a link with more details that might help on the sleep issue:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2010/01/09/...

Children’s sleep issues are among the more challenging developmental stages for parents to master.  But biology is on the parents’ side in this one, because sleep patterns mature over time just like other developmental skills.

* Polls tell us that one-third of American children and their parents sleep together some or most of the time before children start school. Co-sleeping varies hugely by culture and ethnicity. So think about what you want to do, and discuss the pros and cons with your pediatrician.
* Make sure your crib is safe (locking rails), that your older child’s ‘big bed’ has side rails, and if you are co-sleeping, that there is plenty of room.

The previous posts have some good advice but I disagree about keeping up your baby during the day. Overtiring a baby does not make her sleep more. It just makes a cranky baby.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is a great book to learn about sleep patterns of babies at different ages.

Watch for sleep cues to avoid being overtired (1-2 hours wake time, this changes with the baby's age) and to start the naptime routine.
Have a routine. Change diaper. Read books. Darken room. Use white noise machine. hum lullabye. Put baby down in crib when drowsy but awake. She will need to learn how to self soothe this way. Do whatever is takes to calm and soothe her. Use pacifier. gently rub her back. gently tap her butt.

When you switch to a crib, you may want to start with 1 nap first which is easier because of the shorter sleep time. Then gradually add another naptime in the crib and then add in night time sleep. I slept in the nursery during this transition more so for my own peace of mind.

This is completely unsolcitied advice. Once you get the crib training and sleep training accomplished, you may want to consider continuing breastfeeding. After 3 months, it gets very routine. Baby latches on like a champ. Your milk supply stabilizes. Plus, you burn a trillion calories :) I went back to work and pumped 3 times a day and nursed as much as I could. It is just another option to consider.

Good luck

I nursed my daughter and at 2 months the breast milk was not enough, so my doctor suggested 1 tablespoon of rice cereal.

my second child (a girl) would not sleep at night. i remember for about the first month i would hold her on the couch and she would sleep on my chest. it really freaked me out because i was very worried i was going to drop her. so i really wasnt sleeping well but better than nothing. also durring the day the older one would keep her up while he was playing. she would start to fall asleep and her brother would make a loud noise and startle her. i felt so bad for her i would lay her in the crib, turn her white noise on, and give her about fifteen mins to fall asleep. it usually worked. she now sleeps all through the night from4 months. its great. every once in a while she will wake up at a random hour. i feed,burp, and back to bed. both of my kids sleep with white noise. i also found that my daughter sleeps better in long footed p.j.'s not heavy winter ones but the same material that onesies are made of. her room gets cold and if its only a onesie her legs and arms get cold and i belive that is what wakes her.

My pedi said it takes 3 months or so for them to adjust their days and nights. With my second sometimes I would prop up on a couple pillows and lay him on my chest and just snooze. I would also snooze while he ate, which takes like 45min at that age. Just hold onto the hope that soon she will sleep more. You could always put her in a little vibrating chair or a baby swing, I have heard of people doing that and they were able to get much better sleep. Hang in there, and do your best to go to bed when your little ones do at night, that way you can get a few hrs in before the baby wakes up. Good luck girl!!

I havent read all your responses, but my daugher was this same way. She wouldnt go to bed at night and then would be up often and i was exhausted also. I have a 3 year old and went back to work after 7 weeks. I started reading healthy sleep habits happy child, and around 2 months i started putting her down earlier. They say to watch for tired signs and put them down then. If they get over tired it is very hard to get them to sleep good. So i started putting her down by 7 after giving her her bottle at 6:30 and let her lay there. If she cried i would calm her down and then leave. It took about 2 weeks, but she was falling asleep on her own and sleeping till like midnight. get up eat and put her back down till like 2:30 and then i would lay by her. She is now 4 months old and she is sleeping on her own by 7 or so and most nights sleeps till between midnight and 2:30 and then goes back to sleep. Some night in her pack and play and some nights by me, but it has gotten a lot better and less stressful at bedtime. Im so glad i stuck to a routine and got her sleeping on her own. I hope she stays this way, but you never know. Sleep promotes sleep so maybe try putting her down earlier and stick to a routine. She will get there. She is young yet. I also put cereal in my babys bottle at night and have for a good month or so now. She loves it!! Good luck and i hope you get some sleep soon! Im finally able to get about 6 hours give or take of broken sleep a night and im ok with that. Im usually only up 1 sometimes twice a night now, but its getting better for the most part. I just keep thinking it wont be like this forever. Before you know it she will be sleeping through the night and growing way to fast! Oh, they also both sleep with a noise maker in the room to.

Oh, I feel for you. Reading your post reminds me of how very difficult those times were. My advice is to make an attempt to keep her up during the day a little more. She might be one of those babies who doesn't need quite as much sleep and it sounds like she doesn't have her "schedule" figured out just yet. If you have to take her out and about (and carry her around, rather than push her in a stroller) try that. It's hard with a 4 year old when you don't have both hands, I know. Run her a little more and see if that helps over the next week. In the meantime, pump and prepare a bottle and then beg your hubby to take her when she wakes up tonight AND let you sleep in too. You need at least one good night sleep! We shouldn't have to beg but I always felt guilty since I nursed and my kids didn't take bottles well. It was much harder for him to get things done. :)

Don't jump straight to get her at night- make sure she's really awake first. We all go through sleep cycles and have partial wakenings - for adults it's about every 90 minutes, but babies don't have their sleep cycles regulated yet, so it might be less or more for her. Adults are generally able to roll over and go back to sleep, but babies sometimes whimper or move around a bit. That doesn't mean she's fully awake. I would get her when she does this during the day, though. It's easier to wake up between cycles.

My pediatrician suggested that we mix a small bit of rice cereal mixed with breast milk in a bottle only before bed, and it would help our daughter to sleep through the night.

Good luck, and I hope it gets better.

I co-slept with my daughter at night time for the first two months BUT like for you my daughter would not sleep very long at night.

Finally I tired a bassinet next to our bed (with in arms reach so I could easily feed her), that seemed to fix our sleeping issues. I chalked it up to her being a light sleeper, me being a light sleeper and it seemed that since the milk supply was right there she could smell me and either wanted to play or eat all night (so moving her to her own sleep spot that was still within arms reach, she seemed to sleep longer at night, not by much but I got at least 6 hrs of sleep).

We also used a nuk which my daughter loved so if you are open to that maybe try a nuk so she can sooth her self to sleep. As another mom mentioned that putting baby down to be still semi-awake could be helpful if struggling with sleeping patterns.

Hope you get the much needed sleep soon!