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Monday, October 6, 2014

Getting Baby to sleep 10-12 hours



By the time baby is 12 weeks old, he/she should be able to sleep 10-12 hours at night without a feeding! WOW! What a gift to the tired parent!

I kept the dream feed for Hunter until he was 4 months old. He was going to bed at 8pm, dream feed at 10pm, and waking up at 6:30. I cut the dream feed out at 16 weeks because his night time sleep started to become affected. Once I cut the dream feed, he slept straight through the night without the need for that extra snack.

Here are some ways to ensure baby is set up for a LONG night sleep:

1) Set the mood.

Establish a bedtime routine and make the room comfortable for sleeping.  You wouldn't be able to have a good nights rest If you went straight from a party to your bed right?? What about if your room was bright and hot or loud and freezing cold?? Your baby needs to wind down too. And they need to have a cozy place to spend their night.

What we do:
7:30 pm rolls around and we head up or take a bath. Next we put on some baby powder and rub his tummy and legs a bit to relax him. He has an overnight diaper we use (LUVS, it's a game changer) and a sleeping gown. I also still swaddle the trunk of his body. He could sleep without it but his legs go crazy when he sleeps I wanted to make sure they don't get stuck through the crib slats. I turn on his humidifier and white noise sound machine.
 This is the BEST one I have found, we have one in our room as well! CLICK to get yours (you won't be sorry, they travel well too!) …Ok now back to it, I then pick him up and rock him for 2-3 minutes. This time will very from baby to baby, any longer for us and Hunter will start to fall asleep. Putting him down in his crib while he's awake ensures he can put himself to sleep. I place him in his crib, say a prayer, and kiss that cute forehead. Depending on how tired he is he may play for 10 minutes before he sleeps but usually within 5 minutes he's asleep for a good 10 -11 hours.

2) Make sure belly is full!

This is not just important right before baby goes to bed, but throughout the day. If baby is not getting the amount of food necessary in a 24 hour period, his sleep will be disrupted.

What we do:
It was crucial that Hunter had a full belly each night. Hunter started waking early (around 4:30am) hungry, so I knew he needed more food throughout the day. (this was when my milk supply was going low so we supplemented). He started waking early again around 5 months so we started him on some solids, and he's back to sleeping all night.

3) Be consistent

Theres a lot I can write here about being consistent in getting baby to sleep all night. Mainly it is to ensure baby can put himself BACK to sleep once he wakes. Since babies go through so many sleep transitions throughout the night, this is a crucial skill baby must develop to be able to sleep throughout the night without mommy or daddy helping them get back to sleep. I say be consistent here because this is not only for night time sleep, but naps as well. A baby that is rocked back to sleep at naps, will most likely not be able to sleep throughout the night because they will expect their favorite person (you) to come in and rock them every time they wake.

What we do:
If Hunter wakes crying, I always wait and assess. What time is it? What type of cry is it? Is this out of habit? (waking at same time) or is this a new thing? If it's new, or a different cry I always go in and check him. If its out of habit or seems like he is just fussy, I give him the magic 10 minutes. He usually goes back to sleep 90% of the time within 10 minutes. (When he's crying its the longest 10 minutes EVER but if he goes back to sleep within that time frame I know he was just transitioning in his sleep) If after 10 minutes he is still upset, I go in and check him, settle him down for a few minutes, then put him back down while he is still awake.

4) Be on Time


It is crucial for baby to have the same FIRST and LAST feeding of the day. This helps them establish their schedules, which in turn helps them sleep until the desired morning wake time. Pick a time that you want baby to wake in the morning, then schedule the last feeding 11-12 hours before that time. 

What we do:

Hunters last feeding of the day is at 6:45am, his first feed of the day is 6:30am. We make sure to stay within a 20 minute window of flexibility with the time of the first feeding and time of the last feeding.

5) Reevaluate when needed


If you are following the steps above and baby is still not sleeping through the night, or not sleeping at least 9/10 hours then its time to reevaluate what you're doing. Go through it with a fine-toothed comb! How are the feedings? Is baby getting enough sleep during the day? Is it time to start solids? Is baby getting enough stimulation throughout the day (daylight, playtime, not overstimulated by the TV)? Do you need to drop the dream feed? Is baby getting too much sleep during the day? 

What we do:
When Hunter began waking again in the night we had to cry it out. It was tough but I knew he wasn't hungry, sick just wanted to be held. He eventually would fall asleep and within a few days he only fussed a minute or so when he woke up. They are smart little ones and they learn quickly its time to sleep! We also had to drop the dream feed around 17 weeks old because it was affecting his sleep. 

Whatever it may be, I pray you find out and get the sleep you and your baby deserve! Hope this helps! Xoxo-B

24 comments:

  1. I love your blog! If you have any advice I would really appreciate it! I'm a first time mom to a baby boy just turned 8 months. He was colic and had a milk allergy. It took about 4 months until he was feeling better from his allergy and colic had passed. He wasn't on a specific schedule besides waking and falling asleep at night at the same time, was hard because of all the formula we were trying to find one he could have and colic. He wakes up once now most of the time around 3 am-ish for a feeding. He naps twice a day about 2.5 hours total. any tips for getting that extra feeding in throughout the day instead of at night? He's on a schedule which is a good one but he's missing that one feeding. I try to get as much solids in and formula as I can. Maybe it's out of habit? Although he seems hungry not fussy, he will have 5-6 oz. maybe it's he needs more solids which but if I give him solids first he won't have his bottle only 2-3 oz...he's doing great on his schedule and waking up once isn't terrible but I know he is capable of sleeping through the night. Any tips would be so helpful! Thank you!

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    1. But definitely make sure he is getting enough formula throughout the day which I believe is a minimum of 24 ounces, and check with your pediatrician of course before making any changes:) but yes that's what I would do slowly wean from that bottle in the middle the night, Mama needs her rest to!

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    2. Sorry these replies came out all scattered, see the first comment below for the first reply

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  2. Hi Maria! Thanks for following along and thanks for reaching out to me with this question! So to clarify he seems to be waking up around three in the morning to have about 5 ounces of formula? How much is he getting total during the day formula? And do you think he's having a good amount of solids? If he is having enough formula and solids then it seems like he might be waking out of habit (possibly a growth spurt but those don't last more than 1 to 2 weeks I believeI would try to slowly wean him from that middle of the night feeding start by giving him 4 1/2 to 5 ounces for a couple nights then go down to 3 1/2 to a couple nights etc. etc. and hopefully he will start just sleeping through

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  3. Hello. Thanks for your blog. So tired of reading the blogs that say every time your baby makes a tiny noise to go and hold them. My baby is now 5 months old and he has been sleeping through 12 hours a night since 3 months old. We did everything you have written about and it works. The only time we intervene is if he's cried for more than 10 minutes, and even then it's usually something simple like he's kicked the blankets off or his teething is sore. :) Nothing you have written is cruel to your baby as many claim - you're just listening to what your baby wants and providing them with secure and obvious boundaries and routines... :) a great example of how it doesn't all have to be baby-led, you can lead them towards sleeping well and being rested.

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    1. wow what an encouragement that was to read!!! Thanks for your support and so awesome to hear about your babe doing so well!!!! Keep it up momma!

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  4. My little one is 4 1/2 months old. He usually eats about 7:30, and is asleep by 8pm. He is still waking about 1-2am and again about 5am to eat. I always give him at least 10-15 minutes before I go in and check on him, and he always seems hungry (or at least will go back to sleep after I feed him). Is this normal for his age or should he be sleeping through? How do I know if he's really hungry or just fussing? And how can I establish a schedule that will have him waking and eating around 7am?

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  5. I try to follow this with my twin boys! I was wondering if you have a daytime schedule you could share? :)

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    1. I would love a daytime schedule as well! My problem is that my almost 5-month-old twin girls share a room, but they do have separate cribs. If one of them is crying long and loud enough, it wakes the other baby up. Then we have two fussy babies on our hands. We have been grabbing the crying baby to rock just so she doesn't wake up her sister. How do you do this with twins? They do sleep through the night, but it's sporadic at best.

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    2. Hello! Thanks for reaching out! Wow, twin girls! How wonderful what a blessing! I have not done extensive research on twins, baby wise has a good section on dealing with Twins. my recommendation for the room sharing would be to see if you had a white noise sound machine to help? I have linked one here for you that we use, and I love it!

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A2JBMRE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00A2JBMRE&linkCode=as2&tag=thelovlan-20&linkId=NQ6AAAODUZLP3IID

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  6. Hmmm . thank you the only thing I have read so far that actually hopefully will help . My son wakes up bout 4:30 ish too and his daddy's alarm goes off at 5:15 :( lol . So I guess more food during the day and before bed . Ima try a perfect schedule I guess . usually its the same time . sometimes off by like 30 to 45 mins but not always . if anymore advice please please help :)

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  7. Key words: supplement! Breastfed babies digest milk faster and get hungry sooner. Different rules I'm sure!

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    1. Yeah, with breastfed babies they tend to suckle more. I used breastfeeding as a way to put off fertility, so I did things like co-sleeping and night feedings. Just roll over and give the baby the boob and bam: both momma and baby sleep, lol. But for mothers who don't care about the contraceptive effects of ecological breastfeeding, they will have to follow different rules to have baby sleep through the night.

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  8. My son is 9 months and wakes almost every hr at night! I do breastfeed him, and I have enough but he is just too used to being fed on demand. I'm going to try this! Hopefully I can get him to sleep thru the night with your helpfull tips! So far everything I've tried doesn't work. Thank you!

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    1. Thanks for sharing your experience! Let me know how it works for you! I pray your little guy starts to get a good rhythm so you can get some rest!

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  9. Hi! I stumbled across this on pinterest and I'm hoping you see this! :) My son is 10.5 months old and I'm stumped. I didn't do this on purpose, but he nurses to sleep. He just ends up eating around 7 and he falls asleep and stays asleep from then on... he typically nurses once more for a "dream feed" as you describe, and then will wake up around 6am. He did that from about 4 mos till 6 mos, then started waking up once more around 2 am. He periodically will wake up more if he's having tummy issues or teething. I feel like he's just on the habit of waking up like that. Because he falls asleep nursing (which I can't keep him awake without him getting angry) I have never put him down awake. He's had reflux issues and a dairy intolerance so it's been tough and he needs soothing typically to sleep. He takes 2-3 naps throughout the day, usually an hour or less. I'm worried that I've missed the boat on making a good sleep routine! :( Any advice??

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  10. This is how most people in Europe get their babies to sleep. It literally makes me sick to my stomach reading other blogs about how cruel cio is and how babies need to be fed in demand 24-7, and every whimper needs to be attended to. That's not founded in sound scientific knowledge of child development! People proud of giving their babies serious sleep problems! Ludecrus. Loved reading this blog, breath of fresh air. All my babies have been sleeping through by 12 weeks. For some fantastic background reading, based on the latest scientific research, "The Sensational Baby Sleep Plan" builds on everything this blog says in more detail. Only parenting book I have ever read that references academic research!

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  11. Hi Tammi! Im sorry I am just getting back to you now! We had our new baby Feb 16 so we have been a little busy :) hows it going with your little guy? He's almost 1 now correct? Feel free to email me as well for a faster reply :)

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  12. I am so excited to try this out on my 4 month old. He wakes up twice a night still and he gets breast milk, formula, and I just started on some baby food.

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  13. I have been trying to get my 4 month old son to stay asleep when he goes to bed, I'm going to try this with him tonight. He wakes up 2 or 3 times a night he takes formula about 6 or 7oz at a time, breast milk ( I have a very low supply), and now I started giving him some baby food. When he wakes up at night he sometimes wants to eat and sometimes wants to be held

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  14. I'm so glad I found your blog! I have a 4 month old that wakes up 2-3 times a Night😖 . I breastfeed him, he also gets formula( due to low supply), and now I also started baby food just fruits right now. I'm going to try your steps starting tomorrow and I hope it helps 😁

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    1. Hey Rachel! How is it going since you have implemented some of these methods? I pray your little man is sleeping better and you are getting some much needed rest!!!

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  15. My daughter has doesn't typically sleep thru the night, or at least not 10 hours. We do have a great bedtime routine we stick to, and she is breastfed. She is 7 months now, and some nights she'll sleep 8 or 9 hours and some nights (like last night) she slept 5 and was back up and then slept another 4. We supliment during the day, and she eats very well! As much as 6 oz of food with 2 to 4 oz of formula at many meals. She naps maybe an hour at a time twice a day, so she's getting 10 to 11 hours of sleep total a day.

    My question to you is how do we get her to sleep more at night? Longer naps would be good, but one thing at a time. My oldest was never a sleeper. She still isn't at 17! Their father isn't a sleeper either, so I'm wondering if this is just a family trait?

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    1. Hi Laurinda! I have wondered that too, if the sleep trait is genetic. But I think all in all good training goes a long way! What happens in the night when she wakes? Does she just need to be soothed? or do you feed her? How long is she up? Also, what is your wake time between naps. Maybe she is getting overtired preventing her from napping longer than 1 hour at a time. Let me know :) Hope I can help!

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