I'd LOVE Some Sleep!! Any Ideas??

There is a book called HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD. It's a great sleep book. It helped me to get my kids sleeping through the night. They were 11 1/2 months and 10 months before they slept through the night and they had to cry in their crib for the first coupld of nights. It was rough, but it worked and now they're 4 1/2 yrs and 2 1/2 yrs and sleep great at night.

Hi K.,

My son is also 5 months old- close to 6. He did very close to the same thing. When I started to get frustrated enough by my lack of sleep that I was upset with him during the day because of it, I decided the routine needed to change. About a month ago I decided he was too old to wake up that often to eat. I would go in his room when he woke up, pick him up and comfort him for about 2 minutes until he wasn't crying and then set him gently back in bed and pat his back for a few seconds, walk out and close the door. (I slept on the couch right outside his door for the first few nights.) He would cry for 5-10 minutes and then go to sleep. Now he sleeps from about 10:00-5:00 and then goes back to sleep till 9. He also takes two 1 1/2- 2 hour naps during the day. If I'm still cranky I nap when he does.
Good luck,
A.

Hang in there it does get better. Neither of my kids slept through the night until 8 months. We still struggle with my daughter sleeping through the night. Have you tried the night time diapers, or going to a bigger size. We had that problem a lot with our son always being wet. Now we buy night time diapers and it hasn't happened since. I don't know if they have them in smaller sizes though.

Could you make it so his bedtime is a little later, like 9PM and give him a bottle right before that? If you did that maybe he would only wake up once during the night. If he does wake up at those odd times still I would try to just let him cry for a bit to see if he goes back to sleep. I would also try to cut out the bottle in the middle of the night so he will start sleeping through the night sometime soon, that is just my opinion though! I think that babies get into habits and routines, so he is probably just used to getting up at those times.

This is what I do with my son. At around 8pm we start to calm him down and give him a bath, we use the bedtime bathwash and then massage him with the bedtime lotion. Then we give him a bottle which is only about 4 oz, for a while I was putting Rice in his bottle to make it thicker but now he just takes his bottle normal (He gets rice now at lunch) then at around 9-10 he is out for the night...he wakes up at around 5-6 to eat 5 1/2 oz and then back to bed till 9. He is 3 months old and he has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old.
Are you breastfeeding or formula? If you are breastfeeding maybe his feeding before bed needs to be formula with rice to make him a little more full. I've read not to do this but It has helped me get him to sleep through the night and with his next day feedings!

I think rice cereal in the bottle works. They put it in a container much like formula and you can purchase a special nipple to accommodate the thickness. I have a friend whose 7 month old has always has rice in his bottle and sleeps very well. If this concerns you, try to give him a snack of baby food right before bed with a bottle. Some moms wait to increase food, but if he is waking up so often, his little body may require more. The idea of a larger size diaper may also work, but I still think that providing something more substantial may provide longer satisfaction between feedings. Good luck to you.

Try and give him a late nap and keep him up later. I have always worked out of the home, so I liked having Olivia up a little longer at night and it worked really well. She usually went down between 8:30 and 9 and then she slept through the night. She had 1 TBSP rice cereal and we used formula which I know some moms don't like, but she was always woke up from hunger once and wasn't satisfied until we used the rice cereal. She could take it off the spoon and she only got 1 tablespoon before bed.

His schedule isn't to bad to me sounds pretty close to my 17 month olds only difference is mine is up at 5 for the day and we don't have the 10:30 feeding, although that was his schedule at 5 months, to me sleeping in is 6:30 am. You could try putting him to bed later or you to bed earlier? But I know that that isn't always possible, I can assure you they do out grow it, be patient he learning all the skills he needs for later down the road. Sorry I have no real advice.

When my first child was 4 months I was going crazy with lack of sleep. Not only did she get up multiple times at night, but she started only napping for 15 minutes at a time. A friend lent me a copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It talks about sleep schedules for different age groups along with basic principles to apply to your specific child's needs. It really helped me to know at that age what to expect, when it was okay to let them cry it out, etc.

Hope that helps.

I'm assuming your son wakes at 10:30pm, 2:30am, 5am & 7am for the day. Naps at 9am for about an hour and again around 12:30pm for about 1 1/2 hours.

Well, it's a bit of both the "waiting it out" and trying some ideas. Here's my advice:

Try to keep him awake for his 9am nap and let him sleep the normal hour and a half around 12:30. If he falls asleep a little after 9am that's fine. The next day or two, try to keep him awake past the time he fell asleep before. Basically, it sounds like he still has his days & nights mixed up. Try to keep him awake as long as possible during the day. If your daughter does not nap the same time he does, simply let her play with him for awhile. It will keep him awake a bit longer during the day before he "passes out sleep". It worked for me! When you put him down at night, give him a cereal bottle that's heavy on the cereal. That should get him to sleep until he needs changing at 2:30am. Give him another cereal bottle if needed. If you are breast feeding, just add the cereal to the breast milk.

What does he eat for dinner before you lay him down? He should be into or just starting solid foods by now. So, if you haven't already give him something that will stick to his stomach like mashed potatoes, oatmeal, or rice along with a cereal bottle.

Also, he may just need to cry a bit. It's rough, but it works. He needs to learn how to get himself back to sleep without mom. Before you go and get him at night, wait a few minutes, then go in. Each day (or every couple of days) wait a little longer. Also, it may be time for a bigger diaper size.

Hope this helps. :)

Keep him up later in the evening. That always works! But, then he will get up earlier in the morning. It is up to you which is more important, your sleep at night or your peace with him in bed earlier in the evening!

IMO you have it good, 10:30-2:30 is 4 hours! Try to get to bed around 9. Don't let him fall asleep on you, put him in his bed.
Is he getting enough to eat, he should be on cereal now. Make sure he has a nice full tummy before you put him down at 7.

My daughter is 8-months old and has been sleeping thru the night for quite some time. Does he need to be fed at these times? Have you allowed him to cry a bit to see if he'll go back to sleep?

I guess I'm "tough" on my babies - b/c like you I need sleep too! They need to learn to put themselves to sleep - and sometimes 5-10 minutes (which feels like an eternity!) will help them learn.

If he's hungry - then I suggest feed him more at bedtime. Good luck.

I think you got some really helpful suggestions here... I wondered if daddy couldn't take the 2:30 wake up? Just a thought. I even have friends who take turns weekly so hubby gets one week of wake ups and mommy gets the next week- at least one of you is getting a full night sleep and no one is a permanant zombie. Good luck