STTN question

spunkyprincessmande · July 2011

Micah is 8.5 months old. He started STTN when he was about 8 weeks old and did great until he was 4 months. Then, he was diagnosed with reflux and it took us about a month to get his meds right (the reflux really disrupted his sleep). Ever since then, he's not consistently slept through the night. He was probably STTN 2-3 times a week. The nights he woke up, my H would go in there, pop the paci in his mouth and he would fall right back asleep. For the past month or so he's been waking up every night and wanting to eat. He's also getting up earlier for the day (5:00ish).

Right now we're working on the Pantley method of putting him to sleep, where we put him down sooner and sooner so that eventually he can go down awake. Hopefully, this will help him fall back asleep on his own, but that could be in the distant future.

In general, I don't mind feeding him in the middle of the night. I feel like if he needs to eat, I should feed him. And he always goes right back to sleep so we're up for about 20 minutes total. But I'm exhausted, especially b/c he gets up so early. (DH is a HUGE help, he's always the one to go in and get him, in case he'll go back to sleep w/out eating, and he'll often take Micah first thing in the morning while he's getting ready for work so that I can sleep a little bit longer.)

My question is when did your kid(s) start consistently STTN? Should I be sleep training? What about the middle of the night feedings--will sleep training help with that? I wish that he came w/ some sort of manual so that I could know if I just let him CIO for 2 days he'd start consistently STTN for 10-12 hours. Then, I think I could do it! But any help or words of advice on this would really be appreciated.

cstyles · July 2011

My LO STTN from 6 weeks until 16 weeks, and hasn't done so since! Between reflux, ear infections, and asthma ... I'm not sure he'll EVER sleep through the night. We've had periods where he was up every 45 minutes (very long periods). I put him on a pretty strict sleep routine/schedule and since then he sleeps a TON better! We have never done CIO. He sleeps in his crib until 2 a.m. and then comes to bed with me. Sometimes he'll just nurse at 2 and sometimes he kind of nurses on and off until 7 (but I barely wake up to notice).

Everyone in my family has had supply issues, so I continue to nurse at night to keep up my supply.

I think the question is...how much is current sleep patterns effecting you, your family, and him? If the answer is greatly, then maybe it is time for some sleep training. If the answer is, we're OK with how things are...then I say roll with it!

It's not that uncommon for babies to continue to wake up at night.

Sorry for the rambling...I have a cold and and need to go to sleep Stick out tongue

erbear · July 2011

Kate was a crap sleeper as a baby but I fed her once a night when she woke up bc she was hungry. Around 8 months, I started to think she didn't need it anymore so I read Sleep Easy Solution and decided that I would night wean. That night, she stopped waking up to eat and has sttn (12 hours) ever since. Now if only dd2 would get the memo...

LouiseB2001 · July 2011

This sounds a bit like DD, she woke up every hour 4 months until 7-8 months and then gradually every second hour to 3 times per night. I remember thinking exactly the same: If I just knew CIO worked after 2 nights and that was it, then I would do it. But I read all the books and couldn't face the 'extinction methods'. In the end we started light sleep training around 9 months. We never let her cry more than 5 minutes. Basically after two months (but we traveled a lot then with time differences of up to 9 hours) she started only waking up once, 4 am where I fed her, and then magically, she started sleeping through the night at 13 months. She still wakes up occasionally and need a little hush or a hug and for example last night I went to feed her at 2 am when she woke up again. But 5 out of 7 days she sleeps through the night and I love it. I had been prepared to cut the 4 am feeding by sending in DH and hushing her back to sleep but it turned out to be unnecessary for us.

Is your DS rested at 5 am? The books say that you should decide when it is morning and they suggest 6 am, which we have also worked with. That means you should try to make him go back to sleep at 5 am and hopefully he will then continue on his own. I know that is easier said than done :-)

Hang in there, he will STTN eventually.

Angela814 · July 2011

My 5 yo sttn most night. I'd say it's about 50/50. Half of the time she climbs into our bed between 2-4am. I night weaned her at 26 months, and it had no effect on night wakings. I don't think CIO is right for our family, and I never did any sort of sleep training.

My 1 yo is up anywhere from 2-4x a night.

spunkyprincessmande · July 2011

I think you guys are probably right. Right now it works for our family. I don't like waking up to feed him in the middle of the night, but it doesn't honestly bother me all that much. I think I'm just more worried about what other people say he should be doing right now. And that he doesn't get enough hours total of sleep b/c this seems to be effecting his naps now, too.

WildcatPrincess · July 2011

DD STTN from 3 to 5 1/2 months, then it all went to h*ll - 4, 5, 6 night wakings, other times one waking that lasted 2, 3, 4 hours. I swear she was affected by every wonder week and milestone. Two days before her first birthday (when we planned on starting to night wean) she started STTN. She has had two 2-3 days stretches of night wakings since then that are teeth related, but goes back to sleep with meds and not nursing. It was like a flipping miracle occured. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

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