MOTN - do you wait for cries?

SomersIsles

No clue what to do! So LO usually sleeps no more than 4-4.5 hrs at a time at night. Well last night he slept about 5 hrs... And tonight 6 hours! However! His grunts came way earlier, at times when I normally would scoop him up.

He started grunting (sounds like he's trying to poop) at 2:50. I put his paci in and his grunts most subsided. 3:30 louder grunts but eyes still closed tight and just continued to suck on his paci. Grunts off and on. 4:15 louder grunts but eyes still shut. At this point I scooped him up because the grunts were LOUD... But his eyes suggested he was still asleep??

Should I have let him "sleep" or would you also have picked him up?

Do you wait for actual eye open cries? I'd hate to short change him sleep he is capable of... But those grunts could not be ignored. He also looked like Houdini trying to kick out of his swaddle ...

nblondheim

I also wait for the cries. Honestly, I don't even hear or wake up to the grunts or my kids just go straight to crying!

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

ProudMommy030614

I wait for the hand eating. Colton doesn't grunt during his 8+ hour stretch anymore.

mfarmer0811

It just depends. Sometimes LO fuss this whimper/grunt and is still asleep. This morning he was doing it but it sounded different, so I turned on a low light and looked, he was wide awake and smiling. So I got him up before he started crying cause I knew he wouldn't go back to sleep.

Maybe you could try putting one hand on him and gently rocking him side to side to see if he will settle.

jennbaylor12

My lo can also be a very loud sleeper and grunts a ton starting around 0330 or so. I now wait for the cries or almost cries - if I put the passy in and he settles, I know he's not hungry

nkrone08

I'm having the same exact MOTN issue as you. LO will whine/grunt off and on for up to three hours with her eyes shut before I get a real "hey come get me!" cry. I wasn't sure if this was normal but I have gotten up and fed her when the whining first starts and that has sometimes led to her vomiting a LOT, which is totally unlike her. So, I've stopped getting her at the first grunt/whine and will let her go but I just don't understand why she does this.

Sanibel21

Same boat. I'm still experimenting with when I respond to her. She was just actually making almost-cries but her eyes were shut. I got up to pee and since I've been back, she's been quiet.

SmittyPants

When the grunts get super loud and the kicky legs start, that's when I mix up a bottle because I know it'll be an all out cry soon. If I can get to him and give him the bottle before the all out cry, he'll drink it and go right back down.

CruiseGirl28

Cries. Well it's more of a whimper and I whisk her up. She makes a lot of grunting noises as she's trying to eat her hands. This isn't a hunger cue for us though as it's an all day occurrence.

This morning I had her bottle ready to go, and I was lying down listening to her noises. As soon as I heard her whimper, I said, "That's my cue." And jumped up.

coreyeliz

I don't wait for cries, but I wait for her eyes to be open no matter how loud the grunting is. I read that babies spend 50% of their sleep in REM, as opposed to an adult's 20%. I think that accounts for their light sleep, whimpering, giggling, grunting. So I let her get as much of that as she's going to until she's actually awake.

DRFleener

As someone who doesn't, YET, have a baby sleeping 27 hours every night...she can sing twinkle twinkle little star before I pick her up.

Eyes closed and no crying/whimpering, no matter the sound she stays in the crib. She always goes back to sleep but I know when she is hungry, there is no mistaking that sound.

bingbongsmama

I ignore grunts bc she does that a lot in her sleep. When I hear her making sucking noises (trying to eat her hands) that's when I know she's hungry and I'll feed her. .

kelley72

I wait for soft crying, I'm unfortunately a pretty light sleeper so we are about to move him to his crib out of our room.

DTNZ4Ever

Cries. DS is a huge grunter he even cries out when sleeping. So I wait for full out crying. Many times I've jumped up at the first cry out and get to his room and he is still I'm deep sleep.

LittlePigeon

I look in to see if her eyes are open and she is doing a lot of kicking. Once the kicking gets going that usual means she is going to be full on awake any minute. She is still only sleeping about 4 hours at a time... 10:30pm to 2;30/3am and then again 3/3:30 to 7/7:30am.

SomersIsles

Do these grunts subside as he gets older? For now it's fine because he's in the bassinet next to me so I can reach over and pop his paci in ... But when we move him across the hall that's going to be difficult

kare_bear_12

Cries but last night LO had pooped and boy did I hear it. I knew I had to change him and wake him up because he was sleeping still. I changed him as quickly as I could and put him right back to sleep thankfully! He had pooped through his diaper so glad I did that.

pepperedmoth

@SomersIsles‌ if LO is just going to br across the hall I'd leave both doors open and forget the monitor. Ideally you can then sleep through the grunts and wake only to cries. If you still wake up to grunts, try closing a door.

SurpriseAt39

Depends on the night, the sound of the ggrunting or crying and whether eyes are open or not.

For instance: last night he scream-cried. But he was asleep. He did wake himself up, but I picked him up and patted his back. He was asleep in less than a minute.

Usually his grunting is because of gas/poop. So if I feed him, he gets it out.

If he's crying he is fully awake and most likely hungry.