Doing nothing, does it improve?

[luey]

DS is a shocking sleeper. Ican be up to him 2 hourly overnight. On the odd occassion he has slept about 6 hours but not often. It looked like we were improving for a while but has all gone pear shaped again. I do have the book 'no cry sleep solutions' I jsut need to start doing some of the stuff. I do use a dummy and I do find it useful. DS loves it and it does help him to settle. I have started wrapping him again and patting and often that gets him to sleep. Sometimes he will self settle, it depends though. He has 8 teeth already and I am sure there are more on the way. DS still has night feeds (2-5, maybe water too). It isn't just a comfort thing, he seems hungry. Normally he will have 3 meals of solids a day plus 1-2snacks.

My question is, If I do nothing about his sleep will it improve by itself? Will he drop the night feeds himself or do I have to be pro-active here. I do try water and sometimes he will settle after sometimes he won't. Then he gets a feed. He often still wakes after 2 hours if he has a feed.

I geess I am looking for some hope that it will improve and if I do nothing it may be ok too.

[Arimeh]

Hmmm... dunno about the feeding part, we stopped feeding DS at night at around 7/8 months? But he dropped those feeds himself. We would wake him up at 10 and he started getting too cranky when we did it so we stopped doing it.

BUT. He's hardly ever slept through solidly - always wakes up having to be resettled. And he is 2 in a couple of weeks time.

So... um.. dunno? lol

[SweetPea]

My DS seemed to go through exactly what you describe at around 8 months (I was also pregnant and didn't know it at the time, so that may have contributed to his frequent feeding overnight if my supply had dropped). As soon as I found out I was pregnant (at 8 weeks) we started to drop the night feeds, DH took over for me overnight so I could sleep, he eventually worked out he wouldn't get feed overnight and didn't wake to feed, but did wake and need to be resettled, it's only been in the last couple of weeks that he has actually been sleeping through the night, I hope it lasts! So I guess we did need to be a bit pro active about it, it was hard to not feed him when I knew that was what he wanted, but it all sorted itself out and he continued to feed till he weaned at 16 months. I hope things improve for you soon!

[LuluHB]

I wouldn't start dropping night feeds unless it is by your DS's choice. DD#2 feeds when she wants to so if I were to drop her night feeds all that would happen is she would end up cranky and even more disturbed through lack of food.

It does get better though, and I honestly think the best way is to let your child take the lead. You have said you have had periods where he sleeps through so take heart that he CAN do it. Babies go through such huge development in the first 12 months. Don't worry - he'll get the hang of sleeping soon. And don't think your baby is doing anything "wrong" because everybody else's child is supposedly sleeping through. He is still so young.

I don't use dummies so I'm not talking from personal experience, but friends that do have said they find that while they're good to get their babies to sleep, if their bub drops the dummy during the night then bubs needs to be given the dummy back and resettled. I don't know if this could be part of your DS's disturbed sleep pattern? If it is, maybe try to wean him off the dummy - might take longer to get him to sleep initially but if it stops him waking unsettled then it could be worth it.

[blackduckies]

Talk to your maternal health nurse about feeding at night, they don't really need it. You will find that once they realize it's not happening they will stop wanting it, seems harsh but you need to get rest also, you will find it's just a habit.

My oldest 3 have been shocking sleepers, it does get better eventually....Do you co-sleep? Maybe that would help??? Believe me it gets a better night s sleep for you and them and they get to an age where they want there own space. Our current co-sleep arrangement is a cot right next to our bed. Just a thought!!!!

[kelebek]

Gotta love these boys huh Luey, I just wanted to let you know D still doesn't sleep well & I just follow his lead. I stopped wrapping about 6 months cause it's just getting too hot here (he often kicks the sheets off), we don't use a dummy & I still rock him most nights. He is often in bed by 8.30 & asleep by 9.30, he isn't waking up after 30 mins like he use to, it is often 3 hours until he wakes up next which doesn't sound like much but is huge for him. He will wake up another 1 or 2 times but it has settled.
Now that I have said this he will probably start waking more I know it's frustrating but I have always found the quickest way to get him to resettle is to feed him (sorry I can't remember if you are still bf or not so don't know if ff is different or not) which means I get back to sleep quicker as well. Yes I do co-sleep atm but I would still resettle this way as it means I would get back into bed quicker but this is my choice for a number of reasons.
So to answer you question in such a long winded way I have never really actively tried to get him to sleep and he isn't waking up so much, instead of every 2 hours, it's usually 3/4 hours.
HTH