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another thread on sleep training...advice needed!

coffeeandbookscoffeeandbooks member
edited September 2013 in May 2013 Moms
I know there are other threads on this, but I am really struggling with the lack of sleep and looking for some advice on my particular sleep situation.

LO goes down easy, naps ok, but wakes frequently in the night sometimes every 1.5 to 2 hours sometimes even more frequently!  What can I do to decrease the number of night wakings?  I need a plan.   Frankly, my husband and I are at each others throats from the lack of sleep.  It sucks.

Details on LO:

 He is of average weight.  He is bottle fed. He is fed on demand all day.  Eats about 2-4oz every two to three hours.  (most typically 3.5 ounces about every 2.5 hours, but he will take a larger feeding 6-7 ounces sometimes more just before sleeping.)  When he is done eating...he is done and won't take anymore.

 Naps every two hours during the day. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00pm and wakes generally between 6:30 and 7:00am for the day.  Night time routine includes going into dim room and being cuddled for 15 minutes before sleep and we offer him a last bottle, put him down and we will let him fuss 5 to 10 minutes.  Some nights he sleeps after the ten minutes of fussing other times he doesn't and then we give him a little more bottle.  The night wakings start between 8:30 and 9 and continue for the night.   He is hungry when he wakes in the night...he sucks pretty ferociously than is out...no comfort sucking.  He never fully rouses so he goes to sleep right after his quick feed so he wakes in the morning well rested and smily but my husband and I don't go back to sleep as easily as him.

The other issue is that LO has a breathing issue (tracheamalacia) that is made worse by crying.

So leaving him to cry to the point of hysterics seems terrible.  Our rule has been if he cries down to let him be, but if he continues to cry up (increasing intensity to go to him.)




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Re: another thread on sleep training...advice needed!

  • john5111john5111 member
    Could you try to feed him more less often?  When my Lo started to eat more and about every 4 hours is when he would start sleeping through the night better.  My LO is quite the chunk but eats way more than this..he averages about 7-8oz every 4 hours.  We also do rice cereal too.  Have you started cereal before bed at all? That might help make them stay fuller?

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  • coffeeandbookscoffeeandbooks member
    Thanks john5111, 

    my instinct was definitely to try to get him to eat more less often but he only eats to the point of fullness and then when I try to feed him more he cries and pushes the bottle away.

     I have tried holding him out too to at least three hours...but his little body starts to shake he gets so hungry...so I have gone back to on demand.

    I think I will try to be more consistent with giving him rice cereal because while he won't suck if he is "full" he will take the spoon.
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  • HZ2012HZ2012 member
    It sounds like he's more of a snacker, which my LO used to be. He eventually started eating more, which held him over longer, and we were able to give bigger bottles, less often. He now eats 6-8 oz/4-5x a day and sttn.
    Could you try distracting him to help make a longer stretch? I know it's hard to do, but maybe take him to a park or something where there's lots to look at? Also, after he's finished with a few oz, try again in 15-20 mins to give him more, sometimes my LO will take more after he's burped and digested a bit.
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  • jedimindtrickjedimindtrick member
    Ditto PP. My pedi suggested I leave 5 oz bottles for LO while at work and that's breast milk. I know they often eat more volume of formula than BM. I would also try to up the amount at each feeding. Sounds like he's in a habit of snacking around the clock. Maybe by upping daytime calories he won't need it at night.
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  • coffeeandbookscoffeeandbooks member
    you guys are right, he is a snacker.  I tried to break him of it, but had one bad incident where I ignored his hunger cues and then he totally lost it and he was pretty inconsolable.

    But I think I need to push through with it.   My mom said I was eating every four hours from day one, so I guess if I could handle it as a day year old my LO can handle it at four months.


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