How did you get your breastfed bub to sleep through the night?

[Willow]

DS is almost 10 months old and doesn't look like sleeping through any time soon He's never slept through the night EVER since birth.

Generally he has a feed at about 6-7pm before bed, then another at about 9.30-10pm before I go to bed, another at about 2am and then another at about 5-6am.

Up until now I've been pretty happy to just go with the flow and follow his lead, but at 10 months I seriously don't think he needs to be fed so often overnight!

I'm returning to work in a few weeks and while I generally don't feel too tired, I really think the time has come for us to both be getting more sleep than we are.

I know it's common for babies to feed overnight but I know plenty that don't too, especially at his age - so what am I doing wrong? I can't help but feel that me feeding him is encouraging his waking. I dropped DDs night feeds much earlier than this and she was sleeping through the night 12-13 hours solid by about 8-9 months.

Has anyone else found themselves in this predicament and managed to get bub to sleep through without ccing?

Co-sleeping is not the answer for us, DH is a smoker () a very heavy sleeper and I just don't sleep while DS is in bed with us anyway.

[Je$$_84]

Tiahna Has been sleeping through the night since 3 weeks but wasnt sleeping much during the day... She'd only have 10-15 min cat naps... feeding every 2 hours. She had a few days of waking again but noticed the more day sleep she got the less overnight sleep she needed. I find if she has a big sleep at about 10-12/1 pm then she has a smaller sleep at 3.30-5 then we start dinner, baths, play and booby then play while we eat dinner then booby and both kids to bed at 8-8.30. this way she'll sleep til 6.30-7am. maybe 1 wake up at about 4am but not usually... She still feeds every 2 hours like clock work though. if she's asleep she'll have 3 hours tops mostly only 2 hours though. So 2 2 hour sleeps and maybe a few cat naps thats it

[Aphrael]

I find it hard to sleep with my girls in the bed too, my DH is a heavy sleeper and likes to move. We have a kitten and she cops it enough as it is.

My kids are nearly 3 and 1 and a half and really dont sleep solid either. My DD1 is almost doing it, only wakes about once a night and my DD2 does too atm but it changes all the time.

My DD2 was bf till 15 months and always had a night feed. She still started waking at night when she weaned and I'd give her some yoghurt........She still wakes for it now.

I dont do CC or anything like that, I know my kids will start to sleep thru by age 4 so I'm not too fussed.

I hope you get the answer your after.

Cheers,

Beck

[PinkPalace]

We did it early. At 4 months i basically refused DD a over night BF.
She would have one at 9pm and then i wouldnt feed her until 6am
It took a week or 2 of her waking and screaming for it - she was in a routine of times too!

WOKE AT 4AM without fail every night for her feed!

and i would just say no, rock her to sleep or get DH to and then when it was daylight she got her BF.

It was a long transition but she has been sleeping through since

[Willow]

Thanks PP - I think I know that is the answer and is pretty much what I did with DD but I'm just really, really dreading it. I am happy to feed him at 10pm and again at 5/6am but I really want him to stop waking so often through the middle of the night. How long did it take before she started sleeping through? Was it just a week or two or did she still wake at 4am after that?

Aphrael - I guess the problem is I AM fussed by the thought of not getting a full nights sleep until he turns 4!

It's not only the sleep, I want my evenings back. I find I'm really reluctant to go out of an evening and leave him with DH because I know at some point he'll want to be fed.

Man this sucks...

[PinkPalace]

Willow - it was a good week - give or take a few days.
DH and i decided it was what we had to do and agreed it was going to be long nights but best in the long run.

They get in such a routine. when he realises if he wakes there will be no milk then eventually he will give up. And DD would take up to an hour to resettle without the feed.

She now only wakes over night if teething or sick

[Nai]

Willow, I did a similar thing to PP with DD at 7 months. I stopped feeding her overnight and just sat rocking her back to sleep when she woke at 3am. DP and I took turns at this and it took 3 nights for her to not wake so ours was a bit quicker. It did require both of us to be strong and work through it with her but it was 3 nights of sitting up for over an hour to get her back to sleep until she stopped waking.

[Bathsheba]

Willow, no advice just letting you know that all 3 of my children rarely slept through at 10 months either. I was happy to give BF's as needed... but I wasn't working. Sometimes I don't know how working mums do it!

[Willow]

I know what you mean Bath. If I wasn't returning to work I'd probably just keep plodding along like we are, but after a rough night last night for example, there's no way i'd be up at 6am and ready for a day of work. I've kind of reached the point where I want to encourage him to sleep longer stretches than he is for his own benefit too. It can't be very restful waking so often He has on rare occasions done 8 hour stretches but not for a while.

I think I will wait until he is totally over this cold and just get into that headspace, tell myself I'm going to have at least a week of very little sleep. I know DH will help out when he can but he has a 5 am start so the majority of it will be up to me.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, waiting until the cold has passed will really help. My babies all needed more BFing at night when they had a cold... and it really does help them get over it more quickly. Once the weather warms up a bit I expect my 2yo will sleep through more reliably too. It was 4'C here last night (we don't have the central heating on over night). Teething also plays a part in night wakefulness... oh the joys!!!

[Tobily]

I got nuthin....my DS was in the same feeding pattern at that age, he's two next month and he still wakes at least once and usually twice overnight to feed.

He is showing signs of weaning in the last few weeks so I'm secretly hoping that over the next few months he will wean and start sleeping longer... I'm not overly optimistic though!

[mbear]

Hi Willow....my DD#3 for the last 5 nights has slept from 730pm - 8am.....i know i know, IM SO HAPPY. But back to your question...up till 5 nights ago i was getting up just once during the night to feed her.....usually after 4am. Nothing has really changed in the last few days, for her to sleep thru the night.....i really think it was just a matter of time - shes nearing the 12 month mark now.

I found we went thru 'blocks' of getting up.
7-8 months - 10pm feed, 1am feed, maybe a 5am feed.
8-9 months - 1am feed, 5am feed
10 months - 5am feed
11months - has slept thru for last 5 nights.....

For a few weeks there she was waking up at 4am on the dot - every night - i would give her a quick breastfeed and off to sleep she went, wouldnt hear from her again till after 7am. This was the 'habit' feed....i know she didnt need it, but like most of us do, it was quicker just to feed her for 7 mins, put her to sleep, then jump back into bed ourselves.

We introduced the dummy around 8-9 months.....i really believe the reason she was waking twice during the night (my other girls slept thru from 6 weeks and 3 months, respectively) - she wanted to suck.....she took to the dummy instantly (DH was against it at first)......i also introduced 'miffy' - a stuffed rabbit. YOu hear of separation anxiety etc at that age - so i thought if she had these things she would feel a bit 'safer' and reasurred, thus wouldnt need to scream out for me !!!! It seemed to have worked.....

I really feel for you going back to work, and still getting up to feed your little one. I really do just think its a matter of time. They get 'older and wiser' and realise they dont need the booby anymore.

Oh, one other thing - the 9pm - 1030pm feed, do you wake him for that? Could you not try to re-settle him rather than feeding him ?? I dunno, just thought its only 3hrs since his last feed......do you feel he is having a full feed at the bedtime feed (7ish)? i dont have answers, im just throwing some ideas around.......good luck hun....

[Liz]

How did you get your breastfed bub to sleep through the night?

I didn't/haven't. LOL. Even when I weaned DS off night feeds at 15 months (offered water for a while instead.. then it just became cuddles/co-sleeping), he still wakes and comes in to us. But like Bath, i don't work, so it hasn't phased me too much that my babies wake through the night. I firmly believe their feeds aren't habit.. it's been the best time for getting feeds in. Kayla still feeds regulalry through the night. When it's just a feed and we both go straight back to sleep, I can cope quite well. But when there's tummy pains or teething.. that kills me.. but that's going to happen whether they're weaned or not.

I know it's not what you want to hear. Sorry.

I hope you find something that works.

ETA: I also have a deep down fear that if night feeds went, that my babies would wean earlier than I'd like too. So I kinda like night feeds for that. But that's just me

[Kazmar]

Just time and patients (SP) Breast fed or not it depends on bubs weather or not they sleep. Dont listen to people when they blame bubs not sleeping on he/she being breast or formula All part of mummyhood. Annabelle did it all in her own time about 8months she stared sleeping through but we still have the occasional hiccup. But I kind of like those as she comes in with us for cuddles

[Gigi]

Night breastmilk contains some excellent things, so i am feeding on demand for nights (even at 21 months) - but i'm not going out to paid work each day, which is so different to your situation.

We always offer her the sippy cup of water first, but she refuses that and gives the sign for booby juice.

It sounds to me like you want to cut out ONE night feed, you are cool with the first and last feed, but want to stop the middle one.

How are you with expressing? Could you express one feed and let your DH do the middle one?

Have you approached your local ABA group for advice? My local group is 99% paid work mums, i bet they would have loads of ideas.

Good luck, listen to all the advice but in the end, you've got to do what is right for you and your family.

[Willow]

Thanks everyone...

Funny you mention ABA, I've just come home from our local meeting and had a chat with the girls there. Feeling much better about things again...I tend to go off on these "I need this baby to sleep through" tangents every few months but usually they manage to convince me that we're doing OK and it's all normal!

Would still like to work on dropping that middle feed but will wait until after he is well again. He's got a temp tonight but has been fine with DH until I got home at 10.30pm, he did wake but DH settled him quite easily.

Mbear - totally jealous but totally happy for you!!

[Kmn]

I find that how long my bub sleeps is directly related to how long he sucks for in the before-bed feed. An hour of sucking and he'll sleep through the night (1am-8am, he's a vampire baby). If he stops after 20-30 minutes then he'll want a feed at 5am instead. Try stuffing as much milk as you can in at the 9.30-10 feed (even if it means waking him up a bit more at the time), and see if that helps.

[Michelle71]

Willow - we are STILL waking multiple times through the night. And not for boobie anymore. Often it is water or milk (or just reassurance that the world is still all fine) if there is any left from the bedtime bottle but still at least 1-3 times a night. And when he is teething .......... it has been every hour lately

It is hard with work but it is a short time in their long life. It will get better and remember - you are doing a wonderful job. Some babies just don't sleep like others