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Any tips on getting baby to sleep after night feeds?

As the title says really my little boy (3 weeks old) wakes every 3 hours or so in the night to feed. The problem is that once fed (we're having to bottle feed as my milk supply was rubbish) and changed he takes another hour to settle enough that I can get him in his moses basket to sleep. That means that the whole process takes 1.5hrs to 1.75hrs and he'll then be awake 1.5-2hrs later to start the process again. It's really tiring me out especially as he's pretty active during the day and is often so difficult to settle that i'm not able to catch up on any sleep at all in the daytime.

Does anyone have a similar experience or have any tips to help him settle quicker?

Thanks x

Replies

  • Hi,

    We had trouble with our little boy settling in the cot after a night feed & sometimes to settle to begin with but he would settle on us. We tried putting a hot water bottle in his 'spot' to war it up before putting him to bed & putting it there during night feeds & it seems to have worked. Unfortunately his sister decided it was her turn to not settle after a feed last night!

    At night, do you keep the room fairly dark? As that's another thing that is supposed to help.
  • I would suggest changing him before the feed if at all possible? TO be honest I have always jsut been lucky with Logan that he has always had a good distinction between day and night. I suppsoe its the same as what most people say - make a very clear difference between day and night.
    Good luck!
  • We change before the feed, keep the lights off/low, hot water bottle in his moses basket which all seem to work and he tends to grumble for a while but soon drops off.

    Good luck
  • We've been having this problem too, I don't mind so much when its around 6am but hate it at 2-3am. I asked the mw about it today when she came by, she suggested during the day waking him up for a bit every 2-3 hours and making sure he has bigger feeds in the day too. She said that if they have slightly less than normal at each feed it builds up over the day and so they'll be hungrier at night and wake up more. Can only give it a go!
  • Plumduff- I was wondering if he was really hungry. We've only switched to formula in the last few days and I was told to be careful not to overfeed on formula as it can lead to obesity so i've tried to be careful how much he has. Do you formula feed, if so how much/ often is normal (or is there no such thing?!).
  • I've been combination feeding him, with formula he will normally have between 3-4oz which the mw said was fine for his age/weight. What we've done today is wake him up and make sure he finishes a bottle if he falls asleep again after only having say 2oz. Couldn't tell you how much he has when I bf though.
  • Our nights are very hit and miss with the little lady! Sometimes she settles and sleeps really quickly after a middle of the night feed...others we go round and round in circles with feeding, sleeping, waking soon after, feeding again etc!

    I defo think i'm going to try changing the nappy first...we tend to scoop her out of the crib and let her latch on straight away THEN i do her nappy which obviously disturbs her (and she hates it at the best of times) so she feeds again...

    ...last night we settled her in her crib after a feed around 9pm then came downstairs with the monitor. We'd warmed the crib with a hot water bottle and had a dim light and that did seem to settle her until she wanted her before midnight feed...

    ...she will eventually settle from 1am - 4.30 on a good night but won't settle sometimes again til about 6am!!!

    We'll get there girls ;\)

    Love SF xxx
  • I swaddle Mali from about 10pm so she's wrapped tight and she seems to sleep really well this way. i dont do it in the day i let her have her arms free so she learns the difference. I also try not to let her go more than 3.5-4hrs between feeds in the day (usually takes 3.5 ounces) so she has enough to go through the night. At the moment she sleeps for 6hrs at night, we've had the odd 7hrs and even one 9hr!
    Hope you get lo to settle soon xx
  • Sorry to GC but I just wanted to comment...

    MrsBinks - ignore whoever told you to be careful how much formula you feed your baby; babies cannot overfeed and they will only eat when hungry - you can't restrict food from a growing baby, they need it!

    Our little girl ate a good 25% more than the 'recommended' amounts on the side of the formula and she just happens to be a big baby, I was worried about the amount she was eating but various health visitors said you really shouldn't try to restrict a babies food, especially one so young.

    You may find if he eats more during the day he'll sleep more at night - I find it noticeable that when Sophie eats less during the day she'll wake up more at night.

    I found keeping the lights low, not talking to her at all and generally keeping any stimulation to an absolute minimum helped her go back to sleep quickly afterwards, she's 8 weeks now and since I started doing that (from about 3/4 weeks) she has gone back to sleep almost instantly after a night feed. xx
  • Just to say after trying the new routine last night it seemed to work pretty well. There was a bit of a struggle before midnight where he would fall asleep but wake up within 5 minutes of being put in his basket. He woke up every 2 hours or so but fell asleep straight after his feeds image.

    The only thing that is disruptive is he is SO noisy when he sleeps! All we hear from him are squeaks, grunts, whimpers and stuff. Anyone else have a baby who doesn't sleep peacefully?
  • We've got Teddy into quite a good night time routine, he goes down around 10pm and then wakes every 3-4hrs for a feed. He's 5 weeks today and I'd say in the past week and a half he's definitely settled into the nightime routine more and goes straight back to sleep after his feed.
    He's even falling asleep once I've put him back into his moses basket, which I thought was a massive achievemement!

    Plumduff, my baby is also a noisy sleeping baby. He sounds like he's trying to clear his throat constantly and like you said, grunts, whimpers and coughs....... I've panicked a couple of times and checked on him but he's always got his eyes closed and seems content enough.

    I'm in the process now of trying to get into a daytime routine and have started it this morning, I've put Teddy down for a nap, which he wouldn't normally have so early, and all I can hear is little whimpers coming from upstairs.

    (*Must stay strong and not pick him up*) image

    I'm sure you'll manage to sort LO out Mrs Binks, stick with it. I would echo what others have said about dim light, no noise, no talking.
    It becomes quite regimental actually, but I think it's definitely the best way to get the routine started, good luck honey. Teddy is now full on whinging........bugger! :roll:

    KM x
  • KM we are also trying to get him into a daytime routine - it was going well but I think he has reflux which has all of a sudden got worse so the routine has gone completely out the window lol. Going to the doctors today so hoping once Logan is feeling a bit better we can get him back into a routine. He had started going 5 hours in the night! But not anymore image
  • Hi I made it over here......yey.

    We def think putting a hot water bottle in the crib between night feeds is the best tip we were given.

    Ava is 12 days now. She's good as gold in the day but does struggle with going back in her carrycot between 10 and 2.

    We're getting a bit less fuss each night though.

    MrsBB
  • Must be the Oct babies. Going thru the same thing. Does anyone have a baby who's hands and feet are always cold? I put sock and gloves on all the time, I think this my issue at night.

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