Tell me about your middle of the night routine...

acia · October 2009

DD usually wakes up once a night, and I've always changed her diaper, then fed her, then tried to get her back to sleep by rocking/swaddling/soothing etc. This process from beginning to end is usually about an hour. The diaper change always wakes her up completely (and sometimes gets her fussing or crying), and I'm just realizing that maybe it's not necessary. We use cloth diapers so I always thought I should change her, but if she's not bothered I'm thinking it might cut down how long it takes her to get back to sleep. So...

...a couple questions:

1. How long are you usually awake with LO when you're up in the middle of the night or very early morning?

2. Do you do a diaper change before a feeding?

3. Is there anything else to make middle of the night wakings shorter for both of us?

annibes · October 2009

I change him first, then nurse. He usually goes right back down (I usually have to stay up for the day, though). I don't really talk to him, and I keep the room dark and quiet. I snuggle with him for a bit before I pit him back to bed, and it all takes from 30-45 minutes. Sometimes longer if I feel like cuddling instead of getting ready for class.

katlizabeth · October 2009

We still wake up 1-2 times. We are up 10-15 minute (correction, I am up that long with him, he stays awake longer when I set him in his crib and then I go back to bed and stay awake listening to him kick or coo). If it's about time to nurse, I'll nurse him, otherwise, dh goes in to change him. I do not change before I feed him unless he's leaked out. He wakes up and lets us know when he needs to be changed!

Corinneallyson · October 2009

When Savi woke during the night, here is how it used to go:

Sleep at 10pm, wake at 3am, no diaper change, BF back to sleep, wake at 6am BF, change diaper, BF other side, back to sleep.

I used to change her at 3am thinking it necessary too...then I stopped doing that, realizing at some point she'd sleep through the night and not get a diaper change, and I think it helped her to start STTN. Good luck!

scarlett2288 · October 2009

sometimes i'm up for 20 min, sometimes 1 hour. IMO you can't really put a time limit on it b/c every night is different from the next. more often than not, we do diaper changes before nursing that way he is kind of alert if he needs to eat... he typically dozes off while i nurse him. however, recently i have been doing something new... if his diaper isn't too dirty i skip the diaper change... and nurse him in the side-lying position... so far, it reduces the time we're both awake... from btwn 10-15 min. but i don't like making that a habit b/c i have issues with him wearing a dirty diaper for too long... i only do it when i desperately need sleep.

mrs_rodney · October 2009

DD gets up once in the middle of the night. I don't change her anymore, because, like you said, it wakes her up and makes it harder to get her back to sleep. I haven't ever had problems with diaper rash or the wet diaper bothering her yet, so I am going with this for now! I just feed her and she falls back to sleep. I will rock her a little longer sometimes, just to make sure she out, but then put her back down. Its generally a 15 minute thing.

babynurse08 · October 2009

My DS wakes up two to three times a night ( usually 1,3,5) I never change his diaper unless I hear him poop...I've learned it wakes him up and he thinks its the start of the day. I dont talk to him and I keep the light dim, he eats on one side for about 10-15min and then its back to bed for him, pumping time for me ( on the side he didnt feed) and then back to bed. DH usually does the 5am feed with 4oz BM.

emathis2 · October 2009

I just stopped doing diaper changes unless its poop. I use cloth also and its been fine. If he wakes up its usually very early morning 4-6 am and I just keep the lights off, use a nightlight, diaper (if poop) and then nurse and put back in crib. He puts himself to sleep. Usually 20-40 minutes but sometimes it takes longer. I try to make sure he knows its nighttime by not talking to him etc. and it works pretty well because he goes right back to sleep

amhough · October 2009

Max wakes up usually twice. What I've found works best is to feed him half his bottle (he's FF), change his diaper, feed the other half and then back to bed.

If we feed half first, then he doesn't get as antsy for food during the diaper change and goes back down easier. The other thing I've found is that i absolutley CANNOT have the TV on while feeding him. I think the flickering light is too stimulating, and he takes FOREVER to go back to sleep. Since he sleeps in the PNP in our room I only turn on the bathroom light so it's still very dim, and I do the diaper change in his room with only the hall light on.

ETA: This usally takes half an hour, or so. If he's having a hard time burping sometimes its a little longer. Also, I always change his diaper when he wakes, because we use cloth too, and if I don't change it it sometimes starts to wick onto his clothes, and then he ends up awake an extra time.

DarcyLongfellow · October 2009

I only change DD if she's poopy, which she never is. She's still sleeping in our bedroom, so I usually hear her when she first stirs before she's fully awake and crying. I pick her up and go into the living room where I leave a dim light on all night. I don't turn on any other lights or talk much at all. We just sit down and let her nurse. She's usually asleep within 10 to 15 minutes (she always falls asleep when she nurses). I hold her for another few minutes to make sure she's deeply asleep, then I go in and put her in her bed. Total time up is about 30 minutes or so. She sometimes wakes up when I'm setting her down -- she usually lies there content, staring at the baby crack machine's projection on the ceiling then falls back asleep.

Lesley0228 · October 2009

You are very lucky that your LO is only getting up once a night at that age. We were still at least twice at that point. Anyways, DD usually wakes up hungry around 3 or 4am and I just nurse her back to sleep. She was going back down in 15-20 minutes, but her sleep has been funky the last couple weeks and she fights it (even though shes obviously tired) so its now taking 45-60 minutes. I wait until she is all the way passed out before I lay her back down. I don't change her in the middle of the night because it makes her wake up more, but she has never leaked through. We use disposables though. I always keep it very dark and quiet when I am up with her.

daisy333 · October 2009

I get him up before he starts to cry so that he doesn't fully wake himself up. Feed for about 15 minutes and then back to bed usually asleep, or atleast very drowsy. I don't change his diaper unless it is poopy and full.

one_more_girl · October 2009

We cosleep. DD starts rooting around and I hook her up. She eats on one side for about 10 minutes and then falls back asleep, I put the boob away and go back to sleep too. Love it!

jolis_petits_bijoux · October 2009

How lucky that your LO is only getting up once a night at one month old! DS was getting up twice or more at that point. He gets up once a night now, around 4:30am.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

1. It could be as short as a half hour to as long as an hour. I'd say that 40 or 45 minutes is average for us.

2. As PP mentioned, I usually do it between sides (BF). I used to do it before I fed him back when he woke up more often, but now when he wakes up he's so starved that I like to feed him right away. Since the diaper change wakes him a bit, I change him in between sides. I have sometimes skipped the changing if his diaper felt mostly dry. But, he urinates so much between 4:30ish and 8:30ish when he wakes up for the day, he needs a dry (or close to it) diaper after his 4:30ish feeding, or he'll leak.

3. Don't remove LO from the nursery. Don't turn on any lights (or turn on only the bare minimum needed for you to change/feed/burp/rock LO). We have a dimmer switch in the nursery - I love it!

mfc2b4 · October 2009

I had the same routine when my lo was the same age as yours... i had to change the diaper ( i cd as well) each time b/c it was soaked, and b/c he pooped almost every feeding. starting at around 2 mo I was able to change my routine b/c lo stopped pooping all the time, and he started fitting into his bg pockets, which wicks away the wetness, and holds a lot more pee. unless he poos, i don't change him form 8pm to 6-7am. it is wonderful. each time i have to change his diapers, it takes forever to get him back to sleep...and he used to think that diaper change=playtime. it was so tiring.

mburkhe · October 2009

We keep the lights in her room off, but turn the hall light on to see what we are doing while changing her. Then I put a blanket on her and feed her. I dont talk to her at all because I want as little stimulation as possible.

Heather577 · October 2009

DH always does the night shift. Yay me! BUt I do know he changes the diaper first, then feeds. All in the dark. Her crib is in our room. She always goes right back to sleep after she eats.

rebus82 · October 2009

1. We get up pretty much every 3-4 hours like clockwork, and are up maybe 30 minutes total, though lately it's taken less time, maybe 15 minutes.?

2. Yes. DS is a champion piddler with a tiny bladder. We use cloth too and he is usually pretty wet (occasionally downright soaked) when I change him. If he hasn't been squirming (his "I'm wet" signal) then I do a quick finger in the top of the cover check and if he's dry I don't bother. Though that usually ends up meaning I have to change him an hour later.

3. I know in the beginning it took a loooong time to get DS back to sleep, and then as I got better at doing quick changes and having the bottle ready to go, he woke up less and less and eventually got to the point where he pretty much goes right back to sleep. My only suggestion is to have everything as ready to go as possible before you get her out of bed to start. Whether that means a bottle, your boob out, the diaper laid out, etc.?

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