For those without sleep through the night unicorns

Wino411 · December 2014

How old is your LO? And how often do you feed them in the motn?

N's 2 months today and we're still at 3 bottles a night (around 1-2, 3-4, 6-7). I'm seriously starting to confuse myself with all the crap I'm reading (everything says something different). Something I read said we should only be at 1 bottle a night by now. Which would be nice especially since I have to hold him upright for 30 mins after each feeding. Between feeding, holding & changing, the whole process takes an entire hour. So if he wakes up at 1am, I don't get him back down into his RnP until 2am, and he's right back up to eat at 3am, leaving me 1 hour to sleep but of course after being up for a whole hour, I'm lucky if I can fall back to sleep at all and get about 30 mins. After 2 months of this, I am BEYOND exhausted and I'm back to work now so I need to be able to function at the least. I thought I'd be getting more stretches of sleep from him by now! Am I doing something wrong? Any tips or suggestions on how to get him to sleep more/eat less or do I just have to wait it out?

staryb · December 2014

I EBF at night. I used to be up 2 or 3 times for 1-2 hours at a time for MOTN feedings. Now DD is a unicorn and sleeps 5-7 hours at a time and falls asleep within 30 minutes if she wakes up to feed at all. This started at about 9 weeks. I have no real answer for how this happened, one day it just clicked for her. The only thing I've done differently is that I only change her diaper MOTN if she poops as diaper changes really wake her up. Our "bedtime routine" is just BFing in the dark with her swaddled in a halo sleepsack. I've also been working harder at getting her to nap more during the day so she won't be overtired and I think that has helped.

Wino411 · December 2014

MrsCunningham22 said:

I EBF at night so I am a bit different but I wanted to ask you do you have to change every time? Is it poo or just pee? If it is just pee try not changing him, this might help him stay drowsy while eating and then what I do is that I hold her swaddled belly up against my chest as if I was her bed but she still is a on an incline so that way she has a bit of time "upright" before going back to bed.

I hold her for a little bit maybe 10 mins max, a good MOTN feeding for us is less than 20 mins. I can sometimes do it in 10 if she nurses fast, which she usually does. Also I do not burp at night unless I see her being uncomfortable, I give her gas drops right before her going to bed and it works wonders.

I hope it gets better for you!

Thankfully now he just pees in the motn. I've tried skipping some diaper changes but he pees so much that if I skip a change, he's SOAKED and has peed through his onsie and pjs by the next feeding... UGH!

TheFutureMrs.O · December 2014

I EBF and she wakes up 2-3x a night. She goes down at 8/9pm. Weve been doing a dream feed around 10/11 - not sure weather to count this as a wake time. Then she'll be up usually around 3 and again around 5/6. Sometimes she skips the 3 and will wake at 5 - those nights are the best! Baby is 11 weeks. She eats for 20-30 min or so these days but she also has to be held upright for about 20-30 min afterwards for her reflux. If she wakes at 3, hubby holds her upright at 5 so I can try to go right back to sleep after. Alot of times at night, it hurts her to lay flat so as soon as I put her down in PNP she wakes up and I'll be up another hour trying to get her to sleep. I have no real advice but to say your not alone.

ajh1230 · December 2014

You are definitely not alone! LO is 8.5 weeks old and she will sleep a 3.5-4 stretch and then two 1-2 hour stretches but she will NOT sleep flat in her PNP or crib. I went today and bought a RNP im praying that's the answer!

ETA: she is EBF and won't take a pacifier but would use my nipple as one all night if I'd let her.

[Deleted User] · December 2014

You're not alone! Most nights DS goes to sleep between 11-12. He will wake up between 1-2, then again at 3:30-4:30. We've had a few longer stretches, but nothing consistent.

He's EBF, and will nurse 6-10 minutes when he wakes up. We've started only changing poopy diapers, and that seems to help him sleep longer. He hates being swaddled and still sleeps in the RNP in our room. He's 9 weeks. I need to transition him into the crib in his room eventually, but sleep.

vrj0522 · December 2014

Depending on when we go to bed, DD is up only once at 4 am, or twice, at 2 am and then at 6 am. When babies are this young, there is little you can do to prevent them from waking up at night but here are a couple of things I suggest… make sure that she doesn't take naps in the day longer than 2-3 hours; and make sure that she is eating enough in the day since sometimes they make up for their lack of daytime food at night. Also, is baby over 13-14 lbs? Usually, although not always, when they get up to a higher weight, they start sleeping better. Other than those things, I don't know that there is much more you can do but give it time. Sorry you are still sleeping so little, lady!

aander6 · December 2014

My LO has been waking up pretty much every hour lately. So I am no help. My DD was a sleep unicorn so I don't understand what is up with him. Sometimes he wants to eat sometimes he just needs to be comforted back to sleep but I have NO idea what to do other then keep taking it one hour/day at a time until I can sleep train in a couple of months.

Wino411 · December 2014

MrsCunningham22 said:

Wino411 said:

MrsCunningham22 said:

I EBF at night so I am a bit different but I wanted to ask you do you have to change every time? Is it poo or just pee? If it is just pee try not changing him, this might help him stay drowsy while eating and then what I do is that I hold her swaddled belly up against my chest as if I was her bed but she still is a on an incline so that way she has a bit of time "upright" before going back to bed.

I hold her for a little bit maybe 10 mins max, a good MOTN feeding for us is less than 20 mins. I can sometimes do it in 10 if she nurses fast, which she usually does. Also I do not burp at night unless I see her being uncomfortable, I give her gas drops right before her going to bed and it works wonders.

I hope it gets better for you!

Thankfully now he just pees in the motn. I've tried skipping some diaper changes but he pees so much that if I skip a change, he's SOAKED and has peed through his onsie and pjs by the next feeding... UGH!

Oh man that sucks is he a spitter or do you think you could set him down sooner than the half hour? Also maybe try another diaper brand/size?

I was keeping him upright for 15-20 mins but he would wake up screaming at 4am due to reflux (coincidentally he was only eating twice a night then) the past two weeks so I increased it to 30 mins at the same time as when he started zantac and the 4am freakout has been replaced with a feeding. Not sure if it's the zantac or extra 10 mins that caused the change. I might have to go back to 20 mins since those extra 10 mins are killing me!

victoria+james · December 2014

https://m.today.com/parents/exhausted-new-moms-hilarious-take-expert-sleep-advice-goes-viral-6C9559908

Wino411 · December 2014

victoria+james said:

https://m.today.com/parents/exhausted-new-moms-hilarious-take-expert-sleep-advice-goes-viral-6C9559908

OMG YES! That was pretty much all I saw at 4am! Hold baby upright for 20-30 mins, 30-60 mins, don't hold baby upright because they will get used to sleeping on you. Don't rock them to sleep or you'll never break the habit, newborns need to be rocked to sleep, put them in crib awake but drowsy. Burp baby after every few ounces, don't stop feeding to burp, oy vey!

lmtoth2 · December 2014

11 weeks old and FF. Bed around 7 then up to eat around 11, 2, 5 then sleep till 8. Our older son was a mess so this seems good to us

. He typically eats and goes right back to sleep.

Maggie6424 · December 2014

We're only ff as of Wednesday. He was getting half pumped milk before then. Sadly, we have no routine still at 7 weeks. We kind of just go on his cues. He is still only eating 2 to 3 ounces at a time. Also has reflux and is on nutramigen. He usually eats around 9 or 10, then again at 1-4 and at 7. It ranges from every 2 hours on the dot to as long as one 6 hour stretch that JUST happened the last two nights. We swaddle and keep the paci close. We also have him sleeping in the bouncer with the vibrate on most of the time.

bsquaredmsquared · December 2014

You are not alone

10 weeks and every night is different. On an average night, LO gets up either at 2 or 3 and then anywhere between 4 and 6. On a good night, he can be sleeping again within 1 hr. On a bad night, it can take us over 2 hrs. It's not that he is fussy but we change, then BF, then he might spit up if I put him in his bassinet or wet his diaper again so then we have to start all over again with changing and feeding.

A few random comments...
I pointed out to my husband that his snoring was startling LO. He then pointed out that my snoring was waking up LO. Haha... so maybe we are to blame.

I just realized today that LO is showing some signs of teething...not sure if this is actually happening and if so, if it is sabotaging sleep.

I've been trying not to swaddle LO's arms since this frustrates him but when I am exhausted after being up for 2 hrs, I swaddle his arms tightly and this helps his settle down.

I've been trying to reduce the brightness of any lights that are on at night to see when changing diapers.

We did get one unicorn night of 6 hrs. The only thing that we did differently was that we went to bed earlier. LO wet his last diaper when I was still up so I was able to change it and then go to sleep which meant that he probably did not go again in the MOTN. Pretty much once a diaper us wet, he is up.

bsquaredmsquared · December 2014

BTW... When I've run out of steam on a really challenging night, I ask my husband to take over even if it means supplementing with formula.

Wino411 · December 2014

theresat858 said:
Why do you have to hold him upright for 30 min? Could you put him down in the rock n play instead? We hold lo upright during the day but not at night.
I wouldn't say the number of wake ups is unusual, but it taking an hour is. I just feed lo and back to sleep we go. Dd1 ate at 2 am and 5 am (and 7) pretty consistently until 7 months.

Due to reflux, I have to hold him upright for so long after each feeding. Honestly I don't even think it's working. I can hold him for an hour and as soon as I lay him down to change his diaper he spits up. I've gotten used to keeping the burp cloth close to the changing table because I know it's coming.

ajh1230 · December 2014

Wino411 said:

theresat858 said:
Why do you have to hold him upright for 30 min? Could you put him down in the rock n play instead? We hold lo upright during the day but not at night.
I wouldn't say the number of wake ups is unusual, but it taking an hour is. I just feed lo and back to sleep we go. Dd1 ate at 2 am and 5 am (and 7) pretty consistently until 7 months.
Due to reflux, I have to hold him upright for so long after each feeding. Honestly I don't even think it's working. I can hold him for an hour and as soon as I lay him down to change his diaper he spits up. I've gotten used to keeping the burp cloth close to the changing table because I know it's coming.

Same her whether she burps or not and I hold her for 10 minutes or 30 minutes LO always spits up shortly after laying down and wakes herself up.

Maggie6424 · December 2014

A has reflux as well and the .7 zantac doesn't really seem to be helping. I can still hear the reflux, he still spits up a lot, and he still seems miserable at least during one feeding a day. Maybe see if your pedi has anything else you can try for it? I'm going to ask about prevacid.

shannonshare · December 2014

meagpt22 said:
DD is 2 months and FF. We've had some unicorn nights but that are not the normal. The normal is bed at 8-9..but takes longer to remain sleeping but is out cold by 9. Then she gets up once usually around 3-4 (last few nights have been sooner but thinking bc of less naps during the day). Then gets up again around 7. She gets about 6 4 oz bottles during the day. And the night time feed is also a 4 oz bottle.

I don't let her go more than 4 hours between feeds during the day and encourage naps after being up for 2 hours. I've found the longer naps at that frequency help with night time sleeping.

Also since doing a bed time routine things improved..at the fussy time at night she gets a bath (every night), PJs on, then around 8/8:30 she goes to her room and gets final bottle while swaddled and nights off. We also use a white noise machine and projection on ceiling.

Sorry one thing I recently read babys stomachs aren't physically able to STTN until they are over 11-13 pounds..once I heard this it made me feel better and not compare to other babies. Babies who STTN early were probably bigger babies to start.

Eta: TO add something

LO is 11 weeks, 3 days and weighs over 13 lbs now...she was born at 5 lbs, 14 oz...still not STTN. She typically wakes up twice before her wake up for the day.

angeltennis3 · December 2014

DD is FF and is like clockwork waking up once during the MOTN. She will sleep a 6ish hour stretch, wake up to eat and then do another 5ish hour stretch.

I do have to change her otherwise she will leak out of her diaper, but I rarely wipe her unless it's a poopy diaper, which helps keep her drowsy. I do everything I can to keep it as short as possible. We have cut out MOTN routine down from an hour to 20-25 minutes (if everything goes right).

ishknits · December 2014

I'll say that when I try to get DS to sleep before 11pm he won't sleep for a long period. He takes cat naps up until that time (maybe a 2-3 hr nap during the day if I'm lucky). I think not trying to put him down until that time helps him sleep longer.

I'm not advocating keeping him up or waking him up or anything but I know he only cat naps before 11pm (and therefore stays awake longer) so I don't try to put him to bed sooner. If I do it seems like he gets up every 2 or 3 hrs. When I wait til 11 he sleeps til 5 or 6. Then he's in and out of hr long naps til noon!

When I go back to work in jan I'm gonna have my BF put him to sleep with a bottle if he's still awake til 11. Id rather have him get a good nights sleep than try to get him to bed earlier. It always backfires.

Eta: he nurses at 11pm, then 6am, then 9am, then 11am. 8 wks old

andrieya · December 2014

I'm all googly eyed for all of you getting 4-6 hour stretches! We had a 4.5 hour stretch the other night and I was so thrilled. For the most part though, it's 2.5-3.

Wino411 · December 2014

Maggie6424 said:
A has reflux as well and the .7 zantac doesn't really seem to be helping. I can still hear the reflux, he still spits up a lot, and he still seems miserable at least during one feeding a day. Maybe see if your pedi has anything else you can try for it? I'm going to ask about prevacid.

So apparently the Zantac stopped working tonight! Ugh! Not sure if we need to up the dosage, ask for something stronger or switch formulas. And of course the ped office is closed and no one's answering the 24hr nurse's line.

ariel06 · December 2014

Wino411 said:

Maggie6424 said:
A has reflux as well and the .7 zantac doesn't really seem to be helping. I can still hear the reflux, he still spits up a lot, and he still seems miserable at least during one feeding a day. Maybe see if your pedi has anything else you can try for it? I'm going to ask about prevacid.
So apparently the Zantac stopped working tonight! Ugh! Not sure if we need to up the dosage, ask for something stronger or switch formulas. And of course the ped office is closed and no one's answering the 24hr nurse's line.

Dosages need to be adjusted frequently because of how fast they gain weight. We're up to 1.

shannonshare · December 2014

meagpt22 said:
@shannonshare‌ I'm sorry! I just felt better knowing that at first it's a physical thing and not something I'm not doing "right". It didn't mean though at that weight they'll just start STTN. My dtr just hit the 11 pound Mark and still gets up once with the rare STTN. Good luck..my theory is they have to do it at some point...or one can hope.

Yes, it does seem that they need to be somewhat big enough so their tummies can handle more sleep...haha, but some of the bigger ones still don't STTN. It will happen at some point for us all...hopefully sooner than later.

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