STTN Advice PLEASE!!

JnnClemens · August 2013

I am up for any suggestions/advice to help LO start sleeping through the night. Unfortunately I had to have a c-section and LO nursery is up a large flight of stairs. As a result he slept downstairs in our living room in his Fisher Price Rock N Play while I slept on the couch. This was not a fun two weeks! When I finally did transition upstairs to my bedroom I kept LO sleeping in his Rock N Play. At 2 months we transitioned to the crib no problem. LO is strictly BF and typically wakes every 3 hrs to eat. There have been times when he sleeps 4-5 hr stretches but nothing consistent. At bedtime I change him out of his day clothes into a sleeper. We do not swaddle him because he gets so overheated. He usually falls asleep around 7:30-8 and wakes again around 10:30-11 to eat. After that he will be up around 3 and again between 5-6. He sleeps with his pacifier but often wakes when it falls out. I am open to any suggestions to help him sleep longer.

JnnClemens · August 2013

LO is 14w tomorrow.

jayro10 · August 2013

My 11 week old is exactly the same. I don't anticipate that she will STTN anytime soon. The longest she's ever gone is 6 hours but almost always, it's 4-5 hours, feeding, then about every 2 hours till she's up for the day around 8am. She is EBF as well.

helenkayj · August 2013

Yep. I'm in the same boat.

NDarya · August 2013

The same here. My LO is 16 weeks old and his max stretch so far 5 hours which happens rarely. In most cases it's 3-4 hours.

LaxMOM44 · August 2013

I will start this by saying my LO does not sleep through the night and feeds every 2 hrs, so I am no expert. However from what I understand in they get more food during the day they will need less at night. Try sneaking in some cluster feeding effort bed. We started feeding, then bath, then pjs, books, cuddles and then another little feed. I also dream feed about an hour later if I can and that gets me a longer stretch. The final advice I can give you is give H the monitor. Men seem to be able to wait longer before they go in. Perhaps waiting for the next commercial lol. Anyways I find that when we wait a bit she sometimes will settle back down. That's the only way I've gotten any long stretches from her. GL and remember that some babies just can't eat enough to sttn yet. It will happen eventually.

JnnClemens · August 2013

Wow! You guys just made me feel A LOT better. I am so jealous of all the postings that say their baby is STTN. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself!!

christinaw2011 · August 2013

My only advice I have us that if your baby is not crying don't go and pick him up. This worked for us. He wakes up at night yells out and grunts a little and this happens for about 30 minutes he is wide awake but unless he is crying I leave him alone and he will usually go back to sleep.

ordinary1 · August 2013

At night, do you feed off one side or both?

strawny0807 · August 2013

So I don't have that much advice since my LO doesn't STTN and she is formula fed but in regards to the swaddle, can your LO just sleep in a onesie and then be swaddled? Our LO hated the swaddle and is a very hot baby as well. Our pediatrician said to put her in a onesie, crank up the A/C and swaddle her anyway. We consistently get 5.5-6.5 hour stretches when she's swaddled tightly.

Our doc also said DD won't sleep through the night until she eats roughly 24-28 oz. during the day. We're up to about 17-20 oz now (we've had feeding issues and she's now on Nutramigen for allergies). I will say, the more she has increased her intake during the day, the better she sleeps. She was eating only 8-12 oz. during the day before we switched formulas for allergies. Hoping it's only a few more weeks before she STTN.

Best of luck to you!!

JnnClemens · August 2013

He feeds off both sides.

jgiraldo1120 · August 2013

No advice here but my LO is EFF and she will not sttn and we have the same issue with the paci!!! She's also 14 weeks! The paci falling out keeps me up most of the nights! When u get a solution please post it cause i'm in the same boat as you! good luck!

bumpuser8130818 · August 2013

I second what pp said about cluster feeding. In addition to our nightly bed time routine, which seems to have helped DS sttn, I start cluster feeding around 5:30 or so. For about 3 hours he nurses like every 45min or hour. If I don't, such as when we are out somewhere or if he takes a long nap at that time, then he will wake up about 5 hours in vs 8 or 9+. He still sleeps in his RnP next to me though so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I guess I will see when we transition him!

tee18 · August 2013

We do swaddle our big 13 week old. I think it really helps him sleep. We live in a warm climate so if its hot we do just put him in a onesie and then swaddle. We use the large size swaddleme blankets. I think they have a lighter fabric than others out there. On the lower half, there is only one layer, instead of multiple layers if you were to swaddle with a regular blanket.

DansWife7 · August 2013

My LOT is 14 weeks and is EBF as well, she has been (mostly) sttn since about 11 weeks. We didn't change a whole lot of what we were doing before, soI can't say for sure that these things made her sttn, but here are some things we do. And when I say mostly sttn, I mean she occasionally still wakes half way through the night. First off, I cluster feed about every hour from 5:00 on. I read that babies at this age should begin their nighttime sleep at around 6-8. So, we bathe her every night around 8 just after I've fed her. Then I get her dressed, feed again in a low lit room with soft music playing and IF she didn't fall asleep I rock her to sleep. We bought a halo sleep sack and I agree with pp that if your child is hot natured then put him in a onesie. Anyway when she's OUT I put her in her sleep sack and put her in her pack n play where she sleeps. Also when she is sleeping we have white noise playing. One thing I try to do when she's not in deep sleep yet is when I hear her rustling or grunting I go and pat her for a few seconds and she falls back asleep almost instantly. I KNOW this seems like an awful lot of work and effort (and it is) but fortunately I'm home at night and able to do this. Hth a little bit, sorry its so long!

ordinary1 · August 2013

Try feeding off one side longer. The hind milk is fattier and keeps baby full longer.

AllieAGame · August 2013

We didn't realize that our LO was actually STTN for a while because I mistook her REM sleep for being awake. She would grunt and twist and turn and make all kinds of noise, so I assumed she was hungry and fed her. One night I accidentally slept through her shenanigans and she slept 8 hours straight. Turns out, I was waking her up for unnecessary feedings in between her sleep cycles.

Not sure if this is your situation or not, but unless she is crying, try to see if she will put herself back to sleep. Our video monitor is worth it's weight in gold for this reason.

1and1is3 · August 2013

14 weeks was a growth spurt for Autumn and it lasted over a week. She was eating every three hours when she was going through it like your LO. If you think that might be the case then I would wait on efforts to get her to sttn. If not,I second cluster feeding and not picking her up unless she is crying. Good luck and I hope it happens for you soon!

pnutg · August 2013

I don't pick my son up out of his crib unless he's actually crying. He's also always swaddled. When its hot he only wears a diaper underneath. Last night he slept 8-6! But that was a first for us.

LaxMOM44 · August 2013

Oh so two more things. My LO hated being tightly swaddled but couldn't go without it, so I bought a halo sleep sack and sewed the arm holes shut. It provides enough space so that she doesn't over heat or freak out about her arms being held still, but it also solved our startle reflex wake ups. I can just unsew it when she's ready to be a big girl.

Second thing was the sprout app, or more accurately keeping tack of naps and feeds. I figured out her pattern and that helped us get longer naps and better night time sleep. Again my LO doesn't STTN, but these things helped us get a long stretch from her.

Lmehr · August 2013

My DD has slept through the night since she was 4 weeks and is EBF. I went by the baby whisper method. She eats every 3 hours till around her 6/7pm feeding and then I feed every 2 hours... So typical night I will feed at 6, 8, 10pm and then put her down. She sleeps till 7 am. Hope this helps!

Schell2013 · August 2013

You could already be doing this but I allow LO to eat on demand all day, usually is about 2 to 3 hours. I also only nurse off one breast until LO is done and latches off herself. They need to be getting lots of hind milk. I find in the evenings she nurses every hour to stock up before bed. I nurse her to sleep usually about a half an hour, again on one boob so I make sure she gets lots of hind milk to keep her full for longer. I do not stimulate her for 2 hours before bed and keep the house quite dark and fairly quiet. She has been STTN since 7 weeks. This seems to work for us but not all babies can drop feeds.

Mommy2CB · August 2013

We followed the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD and we swaddle our DS2 in his swing. He STTN

He is also EBF. They like to be swaddled tight as well as the movement from the swing. I will eventually move him to his crib (like I did with DS2 right around 4 mos) but I'm in no rush. GL!

JnnClemens · August 2013

Thank you for all the great tips! Since my post DS has been sleeping much better. I have tried a few things that seem to be working. 1st I have only been dressing him in a onsie. We do not have central air and I think he was getting too hot with his sleeper on. Next, I downloaded a white noise app and have that play all night long in his room. I also started cluster feeding. DS is also rolling and is able to make himself more comfortable by rolling onto his tummy to sleep. He recently found his thumb and no longer needs the aid of his pacifier to fall asleep. It's amazing what a few days can do in the world of a newborn. Thanks again for all your help I think it helped provide clarity and I was able to try some different techniques!!! Happy mommy! Last night DS slept from 8-11:00 then 11:30-6:30. MAJOR IMPROVEMENT!!!

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