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Attachment Parenting
Frequent Night Waking...STILL
Hi ladies! My DD has STTN maybe once in her whole life. She is a little over 6 months and is still waking every 2-3 hours to nurse. Every.night. I am exhausted to say the least. I am totally against CIO, and I really believe it would not work in our situation, anyway because the longer I wait to get up and comfort her, the more awake she becomes and the longer it takes her to get back to sleep. She is not waking to play, just nurse/comfort. I have taken her into our bed the past 3 nights because as soon after I put her down she would fall back asleep but wake and fuss about 30 minutes later. Bed sharing works ok, but I really don't sleep as well with her in our bed. She is still in the pack n play in our room. We have tried the crib and it did not make a difference on how she slept at all, and it's just easier for me to nurse her when she's in our room. Any thoughts on this? Do some babies just continue to wake a lot? I am not a huge fan of sleeping "methods" either as I feel like at this age, she is waking for a reason. She did go through a few stages of only waking twice a night and sleeping long stretches so I have hope that maybe this will get better?! I kinda just want to know that I am not alone! Any of you experience this? At what age did your LO start to sleep longer stretches? Thanks!!
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Re: Frequent Night Waking...STILL
Yes, DD still nurses every 2-3 hours day and night. She eats almost no solids and is close to 30 pounds. I think she needs the calories, plus, some nights her teeth are bothering her. Bed sharing is the only way that I am a functional human being. I go to bed early (usually 9-10) and sleep in with her until she gets up, around 7. If it's been an especially difficult night and she gets up early, DH will get up with her so I can sleep a little more.
I did not want to do CIO, I tried it one night and it was torture for everyone and I just decided it was not for me. It took a few weeks of bed sharing for me to sleep well, but now I sleep pretty good with her in bed.
I attend an AP group and it seems like most babies, if given the chance to nurse when they please, will continue to want to nurse at night. I think you are correct that CIO does not work for some babies. On my month board, there was someone posting that their baby still cries every night for half an hour or more when going to bed.
He still hasn't.
Call me in 6 months and I'll try to have some sympathy for you. I've even got him to the point that he's not eating 10 pm - 3 am, and it hasn't helped the wakings at all.
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I have heard that some kids never do. I was just wondering if the stretches at least got a bit longer ever. I wasn't looking for sympathy, just wondering if other mamas experienced the same thing. I have a feeling our DD will be one of those that never STTN, either.
At 6 months old my babies were definitely still waking multiple times a night to eat (and they were formula fed) - neither my pedi nor I thought much of it. Its tiring for sure, but age-appropriate.
My older daughter started STTN at 12 months old and my youngest just recently started STTN at nearly 18 months old.
ETA: to answer your question about longer stretches - by about 9 months both my girls dropped to 2 feedings a night which was much more manageable (it was around 11pm and 3am). The STTN didnt require any method, it just came one day when they were ready. Hang in there, one day she will sleep
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Thank you!! I get tired of hearing from moms who think I am crazy for not letting her CIO or use a "method." I think it's, as you said, age-appropriate as well, there are a lot of moms who think it's not. Thanks for your input!
DS just STTN for the first time ever a couple nights ago. He does not have a compatible personality for CIO (sounds similar to your DD). We have bed shared his whole life. We have recently put a full size mattress on the floor next to our bed and I lay there with him until he is asleep. He seems to be adjusting well. We have mostly night weaned, except for when he is super miserable from teething or sick. He was waking every 2-3 hours for most of the first year.
DS is 15 months old and we moved him to a mattress to start transitioning him out of our bed for new baby on the way.
This is a really good idea. I am thisclose to giving up even trying to put her back in her bed after her first waking. She goes to sleep for the night in her own bed after nursing just fine, but after that it's every 2-3 hours, more if she isn't in our bed.
This probably won't be comforting, but DS only STTN after he turned 2... we did finally nightwean after DS2 was born b/c I didn't adjust well to night nursing them both!! DH started sleeping with him in his own bed. He still wakes up several times at night about 3-4 nights/week; He often wakes more than the baby! It truly is "every baby is different" when it comes to sleep!
ETA: He did go longer stretches around 7 mo, but went back to shorter stretches at 8 mo. and then longer again at 15 mo. He just didn't/doesn't adjust well to changes (teething, growth spurts, developmental leaps, etc always cause him to wake up more).
This may not be comforting at all. My older one still doesn't STTN. He does go longer stretches. I want to say he was down to 2 night wakings at 12 months and just 1 by 18 months. This last month or so he's been doing well. He either wakes at 3ish, nurses back to sleep and then sleeps in until at least 7 if not 8, OR he doesn't wake at all but wakes for the day at 6. I'm not sure yet which I prefer but it's nice to have some STTN.
As a comparison my daughter has been STTN since 2.5 weeks with no major differences in parenting on our parts. I also don't believe in CIO or any method, I just go with what is helping us all get the most sleep possible.
You baby sounds very normal. DS woke to nurse every 2 hours from 7 months to 12 months. During the day he was a happy, health, thriving little boy and DH and I were tired but managing so it wasn't a "problem". He still does not STTN, and we still see it as tiring but normal. Wisdom from Kellymom...
https://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/sleep/
https://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/sleepstudies/
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