How well does/did your baby sleep at night?

[starbox]

Sorry I can't be any help, because my two-year-old son still Why ? I have not a single clue. I have done and not done everything that I have been suggeted to do by either other Moms & my ped. NOTHING has worked. We have tried moving bedtime back & shortening nap time no success. We have tried letting him stay in bed he will strip the bed then sing and yell until everyone is up. You name it I have tried it. I have not had a full night sleep in about 2 1/2 years. I keep praying he will grow out of it. I keep saying maybe after this or after that. So now I am hoping that once his molars come in and he is done teething for a bit maybe we can get him sleeping through.

So I too would love any you all may have!

TIA

I went through this with DS(now 10) - turned out he needed his tonsils and adneoids removed. He probably woke up 5-20 times a night. Literally.

He had surgery at age 4 and immediately slept through the night, ate (getting him to eat was also a struggle) and his behavior improved. He had airway blockage and was waking up so much because he could not breathe. I had no idea, because he never got strep throat and I thought that strep was the symptom of bad tonsils.

 

[laughinplace199]

OP, is your DS getting enough sleep during the day? My DS had his 4 month check up today. I was describing his nightly wakings to the ped and he said it sounds like baby is overtired. He definitely hasn't been napping as well or as much lately because I've been trying to get him to nap in his crib instead of my arms, the bouncy seat, etc. So, I think I'm going to let him nap where and when he wants to (within reason) for now and gradually try to work toward a structured nap time in the crib by 6 mos.

P.S. Yesterday, we let DS sleep in our arms a lot during the day and he slept much better in the crib at night.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I have always had the best of luck with putting them on a routine. I say routine and not schedule because it's not based on a clock. The one I use come from the Babywise book. Sleep Eat Awake. So when they first wake up in the morning, feed them, let him have an awake time and then a naptime and then startover from there. When you feed him, give him as much as you can get him to eat. That way you will know that he's getting enough to eat during the day and shouldn't need to eat at night.

I think when he is waking up at night, he may be hungry because he's not getting enough during the day to hold him over through the night, but it could also be that he doesn't know how to comfort himself and go back to sleep without sucking on a bottle. So if you follow the routine it will get him used to knowing when it's time to eat and when it's time to sleep. It will also reinsure you that he's getting enough during the day and that he doesn't need to eat at night.
I hope that helps. I just kind of summed up the book, there is more to it and I really recommend reading it. It made a world of difference for me. My first DS was a nightmare from the time we brought him home until he was 18mo. I used this method for the next two and they both slept through the night from 2mo and on.

 

[jodifla]

Other than a few times, like teething and when we moved, DS was slept through the night from 6 weeks.

I used The Contented Little Baby Book which has recommended schedules for each age of development. We found our DS slipped naturally into the routine, which was devised by a English baby nanny based on her 20 plus years of experience.

One woman's version of "Cry It Out" is another woman's sleep training. We gave our son the skills to sleep through the night on his own, and we're all the happier for it.

We had a lot of friends who had kids our son's age, but none had the discipline to sleep train their kid. They took the easy way out, and so baby, mom and dad were all miserable in the morning...for years!

 

[ohiominnie]

Dh (pediatrician) did a podcast recently about sleep issues.
http://www.pediascribe.com/podcast/20070129/pediacast-26-bottles-bedtime-school-stool-347-404-5437/

He's gotten some feedback...some good (praising the method of sleep training from a mom who tried it and it worked wonders for her child) and some bad (promoting attachment parenting) ...

his response to the feedback was that what works for one family doesn't necessarily work for another. for example, i wouldn't have made a good co-sleeping, baby wearing, getting up 6 times at night kinda mom. I was a working mom when my babies were young and I do not do well with sleep deprivation. I could not handle babies not sleeping. Another mom who functions better on less sleep and/or doesn't work out of the home might be able to handle multiple wakings at night.
HTH.

 

[shelly3girls]

I don't really have any advice but DS stopped sleeping around 5 months when he started teething. Now at 8 months he is back to sleeping 10hrs straight. We are not doing anything different, the dr. said it was probably either teething or just a phase.

 

[annie1995]

My son slept throught the night for a good month or so, and now is back to waking up several times a night. I think he wants me nurse all night for comfort more then actual eating. I love it that he needs me, but I need sleep too. I can't figure out if it's his teeth bugging him, or if he has just gotten into some bad sleeping habits. He'll be 8 months on the 10th of March

 

[Grendalynn]

THANKS for all the great responces!! I am hoping that some sort of pattern will start to form so that I can at least plan my sleep deprevation accordingly. I think teething is part of the issue, or at least part of it, as well as a little cold that he has had lingering this winter.... runny nose and post nasaly stuff happening.... Time will tell.

I survived DS4 and DS7 and their horrible sleep issues, I can survive this. DH and I talked about it last night and agree that our kids are worth every sleepless night and we wouldnt trade it for the world - well, maybe for one or two nights...

 

[ChristmasEveTwins]

Not sure if your baby is too old for this, but I've had great success with following the tips in "Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp. Our 9-week-old twins are sleeping 5-6 hours straight most nights. They are exclusively breastfed and sleep in a co-sleeper next to us. Basically, we swaddle them really tight, give them a binky and they fall asleep. Honestly, the tight swaddle works like magic.

I haven't read it, but I have some friends who really liked "The No-cry sleep solution" book. Maybe your library would have it.

 

[waltskids]

Our son slept through the night (10 hours) for the first time when we were in Disney a few weeks ago. He has slept through ever since. Oddly enough, he still needed the 4:30 am feeding up until the trip, then he just slept after a day at the Magic Kingdom!! He is almost 4 months old now. If he wakes at night now, it's usually for a few minutes and then puts himself back to sleep. He is in his own crib now. We do swaddle him with the "Swaddle Me" blanket and that helps alot. We also read Dr. Karp's book and never realized a baby may want to be swaddled after a few weeks old so maybe give that a try.

 

[Grendalynn]

Our son slept through the night (10 hours) for the first time when we were in Disney a few weeks ago. He has slept through ever since. Oddly enough, he still needed the 4:30 am feeding up until the trip, then he just slept after a day at the Magic Kingdom!! He is almost 4 months old now. If he wakes at night now, it's usually for a few minutes and then puts himself back to sleep. He is in his own crib now. We do swaddle him with the "Swaddle Me" blanket and that helps alot. We also read Dr. Karp's book and never realized a baby may want to be swaddled after a few weeks old so maybe give that a try.

I may just have to plan an impromptu visit to WDW for DSs sake. However a book and a swaddle blanket will be cheaper! Thanks for the info!

 

[gabbysmom04]

My DS started sleeping through the night at 11 months. Now my DD 2.5 has started to wake up during the night!

 

[flipflop]

My triplets slept through the night at 2 months (gestationally adjusted b/c they were born 1.5 months early). We slowly rolled back and forward feeding times. At two months they got a bottle at 10 pm and woke up at 6 am. The first three nights were not easy - they woke up and cried. I literally set an egg timer for 15 minutes and not once were they still crying after 15 minutes. Do they still get up in the middle of night - of course, when they are sick or teething or can't find their blankets in the dark but with the exception of maybe 3 nights a month we get a full night's sleep - they now go down at 7 pm and get up at 7 am. I also think it helps that the trio has been on a consistent schedule since the second week they were in the NICU. Everyone feels differently about letting children cry and also about schedules and some kids don't respond to either. This worked for us.

I hope you get some rest soon.

 

[momto2girls]

I'm no help because my kids slept through the night early-- at 5 and 7 weeks. Once they started sleeping through the night (12 hours), they never had any problems sleeping through the night. I feel totally blessed because Mama needs her sleep.

I'm petrified that if I have a third child, the next one will not follow his/her siblings' pattern.

I hope you find something that works for you soon!