Sleeping through
Just wondering when i can expect my baby to start sleeping for longer? He's quite good at night but the longest stretch we've had between feeds is 5 hours, and that was a one-off, it's normally more like 3-4.
He's only 7 weeks tomorrow, but i've seen elsewhere that babies a similar age are sleeping better, however could this be because they are bottle fed so are fuller longer? Ryan is exclusively breastfed.
xxx
He's only 7 weeks tomorrow, but i've seen elsewhere that babies a similar age are sleeping better, however could this be because they are bottle fed so are fuller longer? Ryan is exclusively breastfed.
xxx
0
Replies
we are 15 weeks in and DD sleeps 6:30 til 10 then 10:30 til about 3:30 then til about 6:30. this is our best so far although most of the ladies at my breastfeeding group with babies of similar age are getting between 9 and 11 solid hours i suppose i'm just unlucky to have 2 children that dont like to sleep through! every growth spurt for us has resulted in 2 hourly feeds at night hoping we are past that one!
In the day he mostly feeds 1-2 hourly so i guess he gets his calories in the daytime.
Back at 7 weeks he did a 4.5 hour stretch till midnight and then 3 hourly till the morning, so similar to your LO.
I think henry has done pretty well for saying he's been fully breast fed. I imagine a 12 hour stretch is a long way off - i think some dont do that till they are eating food, and probably 8-9 hours is most i can hope for. So apart from antisocial timings hes doing the right things. Hes never fed earlier than midnight for his first night feed so dont think we are going to be doing anything convenient like 10pm-7am! I think ill always be up in the later early hours but i can cope with him going through to 4/5am and i think, eventually (i hope) he'll get to the point he's doing this most nights. He goes straight back off afterwards to a more sane hour and because ive had a long stretch up until then it doesnt feel so bad. Plus if he goes this long i often wake before him with a boob that feels like it will explode!
I was awake though with very full boobs! x
xxx
sounds like you are heading the same way henry and i went, we were doing similar at 9 weeks, now at 12 weeks last 3 nights are 12 hour stretches! So it can happen! Next we'll have teeth and then increased hunger through getting bigger...I just feel like im constantly bf in the day (im not complaining due to the good nights) but if the night gets that way too i will think about weaning. Ive never faltered in my resolve to feed him myself but i think after christmas if he's still feeding hourly i will consider some solids. In the end i may need a bit of time occasionally to do things for more than half an hour without a screaming baby! Plus in the end it must be very wearing for henry to feel so hungry all the time!
he'll be 4 months at xmas and ideally id like to make 5...had a bad day today, crying round asda, had to feed him in asda cafe on my own then like an idiot could not find the car in the car park (i am a bit dumb so this is not uncommon, pre baby i just wandered round and found it) the screaming reached such a pitch i gave up and went in m and s and fed him in their cafe, without even buying anything !! found the car after, lol, but henry has just grizzled all day. I think its a combination of hunger and hating the car seat. But we can't go anywhere without him going in it and i have to get out daily now, henry still not really interested in toys and the days are long! I know i should treasure the time but am always willing him on. will be do nice when he can do a tiny bit more and be interested in things. I wonder if this might make him go a bit longer without feeding too.
Sorry for the rant! x
xxx
My LO is now 13.5weeks & tends to go to sleep around 8-9pm (we start getting him bathed, dressed etc about 7.15 but he often takes awhile to go off in his crib. He has been sleeping between 8 & 10 hours a night for the last week which I'm really happy with. We were struggling a few weeks back as he always wanted to nurse to sleep, would wake when put down in crib then work himself into such a state I'd end up feeding him back to sleep - this could repeat several times until tiredness got the better of him! In the end we decided to try him with a dummy on the occasions where he wouldn't drift off by himself & seemed to be getting worked up. This worked well & he started getting to sleep by 9pm instead of 11pm. Now he sometimes needs the dummy but other times he will play in his crib before drifting off by himself or a cuddle will do . Ideally I had hoped not to use a dummy but it's really helped and we try to remember to only give it as a last resort - however admit we have used it in situations where we're out & I can't physically feed him (i.e. the queue of tesco, on a short bus journey). Alfie, I'm a regular in our M&S cafe & if I needed to stop and feed him I would!
Tigerlily, prior to this recent increase in sleeping we were similar to yourselves with one or two feeds in the night.
Good luck
Linds
linds76 sounds like you're doing fab with your LO. I had the same problem with henry, he'd go down, open his eyes. The crying would start 5 mins later. I'd feed him and the cycle would continue. It only took a couple of nights of taking longer each time for him to give it up.One night i had to listen for 15 mins which was hard, i think thats the limit, but it worked. I would love to use a dummy! I dont think before you have a baby anyone really likes the idea of it, but i know if henry would take to it it would be so useful for the times im out with him and desperate. Henry has taken to thumb sucking and in a way that might be worse as when he's older i cant wean him off his thumb! He doesnt always have the coordination to get his thumb in though bless him.
xxx