Jazz is a SHOCKING night sleeper. She'll wake at least 3 times a night, and settled only by the boob.
She started sleeping through at about 4-6 weeks old then stopped at 3 months, and since then has only slept for 5 hours at a time at the most. Usually it's 2-4 hours. I know that they need to feed more often being so little, and at first I thought it was a growth spurt but its really wearing on me.
I've tried rocking, patting, 'shhhhh'ing, walking and and down the hall, she co-sleeps with us so generally Shel gets the ****s with her whinging/crying and I end up just bfing her to shut them both up! I've tried getting Shel on board with nights on her days off but its totally useless. She doesn't see the point in her getting up to give her EBM if I can just bf her without so much fuss (ie. warming the bottle etc). I've tried to say that I need to sleep, so she says sleep during the day? She really doesn't get that during the day when she's asleep is ME time, plus I struggle to sleep during the day despite how tired I can get, and I wouldn't get more than 2 hours anyway! So I need something... anything!... else...
Unfortunately, Jazz didn't come with a FAQ and trouble-shooting guide so does anyone have any suggestions? IS THIS NORMAL!?!?!?! Is it ok that I settle her with the boob? Are there any other things I can try to get her to sleep for a little bit longer?
Hey Leash,
I don't think there's anything wrong with feeding back to sleep, especially if it is what works to help you get back to sleep sooner! Jake is 1 now and I still bf him overnight to get him back to sleep, he won't settle for anything else with me and DH doesn't get up to him either (he does have athritis which tends to become a bit more painful some nights) so I say do what you gotta do babe!
Do you wrap Jazz?? I found that at an early age I stopped wrapping Izzy but then I had tweddle come to help me with her sleeping and they told me to stop using the grobags and start wrapping her again. She now sleeps all night from around 8pm to 6:30am and during the days I usually get 3 naps of 45 mins to 1 1/2 depending on how tired she is.
Thinking of you and just remember this isn't going to last she will sleep through eventually.
Leash - I know EXACTLY what you are going through.
When Natty was 5 months and waking 3-4 times / night (between 7pm-ish and 6-7am-ish) I rang Tressillian and asked if that was normal. They said for some babes, yes. Perfectly normal. And going on anecdotal evidence from around here, there are lots of babies who are the same. And they just start sleeping longer when they are ready to.
Natty only settled with the boob also. I think that's also a pretty common thing for BF bubs.
Unfortunately for us, things didn't get better. By the time she was 7 months, she was waking 1-2 hourly and I could no longer cope with it. (DH was no help to me either.)
I read a lot and asked a lot of questions and decided to night-wean. It was very difficult, very lonely and there was lots of crying from both Natty and myself. But at that point, I felt confident that she was developmentally ready for it.
I am so sorry - I'm not meaning to scare you! What I wanted to recommend was that you have a think about which way you'd like to go. On one hand, if you are co-sleeping, whipping a boob out for a feed overnight is probably the quickest and easiest possible way you can get more sleep. There are loads of people on here who will say that has worked wonderfully well for their families and their children did eventually learn to sleep on their own without any problems and importantly without tears.
For us, it wasn't an option, and so we did elements of CC/teaching-to-sleep, which was hard, but Natty immediately responded and I managed to get a full nights' sleep within a week of starting to night-wean. It involved lots of tears, and I am unsure as to whether I have affected her mental health by doing it. For me, it was my only choice and it did achieve a desired result. (Although it wasn't perfect from then on - she still occasionally wakes overnight, but nowhere near as bad as she was.)
OK, I think that's probably enough to go on for now! Sorry to blab on for so long. I wish you all the very best for whatever way you decide to go.
Last edited by Snacks; January 8th, 2009 at 11:11 AM.
Hey chick, read this and thought god that sounds like me atm...glad im not the only one to BF to sleep, for a while i decided i wasnt going to do it and tried other ways but it just made life so difficult and unpleasant for her, me and DH that i decided if it works and it makes her happy then what the hell!!
As for the night waking....DD is still not good! hopeing it will pass soon!
dont know what to suggest re: Shel, i think its hard for the partner to get it sometimes, they can help abit more!! Even though when DH is at work i do the night stuff and early morning, on days off its different, sometimes we need a ''day off'' or just an hours lie in or walk to the shops on our own!!
Hope it gets better soon....as i dont have the answers!! Prob just the age!? Interesting what Ayapi said about wrapping, i stopped wrapping a few weeks ago cause i wazs up ever few hours to re-wrap her and have been wondering if it has something to do with it!
beckoes - If you are having that problem there is a wrap called kiddopotamus you can buy them at Toys r us or baby bunting and they are wonderful. They have Velcro on it and the little ones are kept snug and can't unwrap themselves. We have a few and I love them as does Izzy.
Ava is EXACTLY the same. Was sleeping through from around 3 weeks, then she hit 3 months then overnight she stopped sleeping through. It slowly got worse and worse to the point she was waking every hour from 1:30. ATM what we are finding that works is putting her to sleep on her side, some reason she sleeps much better. Only wakes up twice which is a HUGE improvement from before. I can handle 2 times a night.
A thought though...Jazz is co-sleeping and you are still bf. She would be able to smell your milk. I know you are still happy to co-sleep but you might have a up-hill battle if you want to stop feeding her to sleep at night.
Hope things get better for you soon. I know how draining no sleep can be.
2013 BellyBelly RAK Recipient.
Night waking at 5 months, and settling...
so does anyone have any suggestions? IS THIS NORMAL!?!?!?! Is it ok that I settle her with the boob? Are there any other things I can try to get her to sleep for a little bit longer?
Leash - I know EXACTLY what you are going through.
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