I have a 2 1/2 year old so I've been through all the midnight and 3am feedings in the beginning, and the sleep training and CIO later on. But with my almost 6 month old-- it seems he's not even TRYING to sleep through the night! With my daughter, she was sleeping 6 hours at 4 months and then 8-10 hours at night at around 9 months! I do remember that I would have to let her CIO a few times around her 9 month mark, and she would soothe herself back to sleep... She sleeps like an angel now.
WIth my son though, he wakes up EVERY TWO hours during the night! I do the usual routine: change him, burp him, try soothing him or rocking him...nothing works! so as a last resort I nurse him back to sleep. He doesn't eat every 2 hours during the day (usually every 3 or 4 hours) so this is why it concerns me. I just want him to start sleeping at least A FEW HOURS at night!
I personally don't feel right trying to sleep train him yet or let him CIO. I just think he's still too young and just a baby who wants attention/comfort...
Any thoughts? Has this happened to you?
Thanks!
We sleep trained at 4 months and slept like logs.
But if you want to keep waking up every 2 hours, that's a choice too.
I wouldn't feed him at night, he doesn't need it. If he's getting his calories in during the day, there's absolutely no reason for it, you're just forming a bad habit.
At 5 1/2 months old, he's sort of on the cusp of what I would consider old enough to use CIO, but I would certainly start. Don't let him CIO for too long. Go in & pat his back now & then so he knows you're not totally abandoning him, but ultimately, he's old enough to be able to soothe himself. I don't relent much on this issue and my two daughters have slept 10-12 hours at night since they were only weeks old.
Hello M. W
Two of my three boys were poor sleepers. My first son woke every hour! I was a walking zombie. I ended up nursing him to sleep every night and I was so exhausted, he slept next to me with food on tap!
I also couldn't face control crying with him in those first six months. However, at the end of 12 months, I was totally exhausted and got expert help.
We attended a 'sleeping hospital' for two weeks. Nurses there said that he was the worst case they had seen! At the end of the stay, he was a good sleeper.... and he stayed that way until he worked out how to climb out of his cot!!
Our ped said 3 months or 12 lbs, whichever comes first and they no longer need to feed at night. As for sleep training, we used ferber. We did it sometime between 3 and 4.5 months. It worked for us.
You can keep doing what you are doing, and hope that he grows out of it on his own, or you can change your strategy. If CIO or sleep training isn't for you, and you don't want to nurse to sleep, try having dad, or some other care giver take him for several nights in a row. He will learn how to accept some comfort other than nursing.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
How much and how often does he eat during the day? He may need more calories during the day in order to get through the night.
If he's not hungry, then he's just in the habit of waking up. Try not getting him up; no light, no noise, just gently pat his back and try to help him get back to sleep like that.
If he is hungry, try feeding him more right before his last feeding before you go to bed - like around 11:00 or so. You might want to try some rice cereal. If he's really full, he might sleep 3 - 4 hours instead of only 2.
