April 2015 Moms

Bad sleep habits?

Can I just ask for those of u who have older children, did your children eventually learn to go back asleep themselves if they woke at night or have they continued to feed back to sleep. I'm just a ftm with a 9 month old baby boy who usually has to nurse back to sleep and I am just curious to know. I'm fed up thinking that I am giving him bad habits and sleep associations!!

Re: Bad sleep habits?

  • I have no advise just letting you know your not alone! Im a ftm as well and I'm stil up so much at night with my 8 month old and sometimes rocking will get him back to sleep but most of the time nursing will get him back to sleep quicker I give in so we both get some sleep! I'm almost positive I've done nothing but bad sleeping habits! But I can't let him cry alone so I just try to remind myself that these days will soon be over and to enjoy it now! Good luck momma!
  • babog1415babog1415 member
    edited January 2016
    Haha @alvarez7285 sounds exactly like me, feeding him and putting him in the bed with me gets him back to sleep quicker so I do that as well. He is actually a great little sleeper and I don't even fully wake up so I actually don't mind it at all but was just worried for the long term effects! There is no way I would do cry it out so I guess we'll just have to stick with it :D
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  • My baby always had to be frequently nursed back to sleep. When she was five months we gave cry-it-out a try, and to my surprise it worked like magic. It worked really fast, and SHOCKINGLY there wasn't much crying involved. She quickly started sleeping through the night with no wake-ups! 

    In the past I was always against cry-it-out but I would tell anyone even if you don't want to try it (of course you don't have to!) you should know that it isn't (always) as bad as it sounds! I did not have to listen to my baby cry for me all night while I waited for her to finally fall asleep. She fell asleep faster than I expected and the wake-ups happened less and less even after one night!
    "It's always better when we're together." -Jack Johnson
  • My son is 9 months old. I told my husband I would never do cry it out. Well after 6 nights of not getting any sleep and having to hold him all night my husband convinced me to try cry it out with a 30 minutes limit. The first night he cried 25 min then slept the rest of the night. The next night he woke up in the middle of the night and cried 15 min and went back to sleep. Last night was only 10 min. I still struggle with if I'm doing the right thing. I still nurse him to sleep initailly and if it is after 6 am I nurse him and bring him to bed with me and we get another hour or two.
  • I am having the same problem. My 9 month old son sleeps in bed with me and nurses to sleep. I feel like I am failing at this aspect of parenting. I know however as a ftm I am doing my best. We did attempt to cry it out but he cried for almost an hour and a half the first time and almost as long the second with no signs of giving up and I couldn't continue and that was around 6 months old. 
  • I have  a similar issue with my 11 month old son. He goes to bed early it is impossible to keep him up any later than 7pm. He will usually sleeps for 4 hours then he wakes up every hour to hour and a half until 5am. I have tried to let him cry it out but now I'm thinking I need to let him cry longer than 10 minutes. Like most of you I always wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I have tried everything from sound machines, bed time routine, nap routine, I'm starting to think he just hates to sleep. Praying it gets better. 
  • I have  a similar issue with my 11 month old son. He goes to bed early it is impossible to keep him up any later than 7pm. He will usually sleeps for 4 hours then he wakes up every hour to hour and a half until 5am. I have tried to let him cry it out but now I'm thinking I need to let him cry longer than 10 minutes. Like most of you I always wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I have tried everything from sound machines, bed time routine, nap routine, I'm starting to think he just hates to sleep. Praying it gets better. 
    I'm really sorry that sounds really hard. Is hiring a sleep consultant an option? Sounds like you'd benefit a lot.
    "It's always better when we're together." -Jack Johnson
  • I am the ftm to a 10 month old son and I am in the same boat as all of you. I have tried cry it out at different ages and it has not worked at all. The longest was an hour and a half. I agree about not getting caught up in what should be done but I too worry that I am ruining his future sleep habits. Ugh!! 
  • stephg86 said:
    One of the great bits of advice I once got from a sleep consultant, was that 'something is only a problem once you see it as a problem'. If you don't mind having Bub in bed with you, or feeding bub to sleep, then it's not a problem. Don't get too caught in what you 'should' be doing. Of course if it does get to a point where it is a problem for you, there's nothing wrong with getting some outside assistance.
    Lurker from J16*

    I couldn't agree with this more! My third baby was born 2 1/2 months ago and I feel like I have finally figured that out! I am SO MUCH LESS STRESSED and all I do differently is listen to my baby and do what works best for us. With my other two, I'm sorry to say, I was way too concerned with what I "should" be doing. That caused me nothing but endless worry that I wasn't doing things right and that I was creating bad habits etc. I say to each their own. If it feels horribly wrong to you, you may not be glad you did it. 
    I have EBF all three for a over a year with my previous two, and going strong with this one. I nursed to sleep almost every time with each child and I have great sleepers now! By about 1 year of age bedtime was fun and easy.  With my first two I worried endlessly that I would create a sleep monster, but that was not the case. With this one, I just do what feels right and what works for us. 
    So the only advice I can give is: trust your instincts, do what works best for you and baby, and don't worry about what everyone tells you you should be doing. Chances are..it will turn up roses in the end ❤️
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