https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:20:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888355 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 21:20:26 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2888355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pachamama: surprisingly yes. My oldest was much easier to calm but my youngest is a tough one. He’s stubborn and always alert to everything so besides nursing it was hard to get him back down if he woke. And he is effing looooud. But basically you just sit and ignore them unless they get super ramped up. Bedtime was usually 10-15 mins of him futzing around and then asleep. The first few night wakes were horrible and he would take 1-1.5 hrs to fall back asleep. But then it clicked and it’s been good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888341 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 19:29:13 +0000 pachamama 2888341@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@muffinsmuffins: would he just.. fall asleep when you were in the room? Neither of my kids would ever do that, they escalate (at night). Little son can put himself back to sleep during nap #1. But if I was in the room he'd freak. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888329 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 17:01:57 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2888329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Same as above and we did the sleep lady shuffle with a sleep consultant at 7 months for this. We didn’t have as many wakes before midnight but 4-5 overnight was typical. We didn’t think he had a feed to sleep associate but he did and we had to break him of the paci as well. Changed up the bedtime routine to bath, bottle, story, book and not let him fall asleep eating, then we stayed in the room with him until he fell asleep. 3 nights beside the crib, 3 nights slightly away, 3 nights near the crib and then on the 10th night we left. Night wakes we waited 10 mins of crying then also sat in the room until he resettled. It worked eventually but it was definitely hard and he cried quite a bit but way worth it as he puts himself to sleep now and STTN most nights with one wake occasionally (he’s 9 mo now) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888322 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:25:17 +0000 pachamama 2888322@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Tionn3: that's a good perspective. I bought the Precious Sleep book because apparently my library doesn't have it and it's impossible to find used 😆 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888321 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:19:22 +0000 Tionn3 2888321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pachamama: I tried all the "gentle" sleep training methods first ( before doing Ferber) and what I learned is that there is no cry free method of sleep training no matter how "gentle" it is. Babies don't like change, and the way they protest it is by crying. The book I read had lots of gentle methods that you try first before doing graduated extinction (Ferber), and I tried all of them. By the time I did Ferber, I felt ok knowing that I really did try everything before letting him cry for increasing intervals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888318 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:12:26 +0000 pachamama 2888318@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@brownepiano: @SteelerGirl: @Tionn3: yeah, he just can't seem to fall asleep on his own. I know we have to cry it out or at least Ferber-ize him. I really don't want to, he gets really hysterical and will probably cry for hours. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888316 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 14:57:12 +0000 SteelerGirl 2888316@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is classic sleep association behavior. The quickest and easiest way to fix this problem is to let him cry it out. Honestly I would be surprised if you don't notice a complete change in behavior after only two nights, and sleeping through the night after four nights. It will happen that quickly. But you have to stand firm. Let him learn how to fall asleep on his own. It's a gift you are giving him that will serve him his whole life. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888315 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 14:51:44 +0000 jennlin821 2888315@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DD was similar around that age. She was still sleeping in our room, so I could hear her start to wake up. I would go over and pop her pacifier back in, and put my hand on her chest and whisper "Ssshhhhhh, shhhhh, shhhh", which would help her get into the next sleept phase without completely waking up. If she woke up a bit more, I would sing "Somewhere over the rainbow" which is what I always sang before I put her down for bed or nap.<br /> I remember it being an hourly process my hubby and I would split the night so that one person wasn't waking every hour.<br /> At her six month apt, the pediatrician said that moving her to her own room might help, which it did and we stopped the overnight feeds. </p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888306 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:39:05 +0000 Tionn3 2888306@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used the Ferber method at about 7 months old. It took a couple of weeks for 0 crying at bedtime, but it was a life saver. My son cried pretty hard for about the first 3 days at bedtime, but we saw improvements after the first night. He cried for 45 minutes the first night at bedtime and that was the worst of it. For a couple of weeks thereafter he would cry for a maximum of 15 minutes on a "bad" day, and 0 minutes on a good day. I think we were having problems with him going to sleep independently. He would wake up 1 hour after I put him down, and then again sometimes he would wake up at midnight/2am. He was already dropping middle of the night feedings at this point. I feel like that is important to mention, because sleep training is not meant for night weaning, it's meant for independent sleep. I will say though, if your child is on the way out of night feedings, then sleep training can help put that to an end. After we sleep trained, my son would wake up at 4am to eat and then go back to sleep till about 6/7am. This lasted till he was about 11/12 months old, and then I stopped the 4am feed. He started waking up earlier because of that, and it took a couple of weeks for him to readjust.</p> <p>I suggest you read the book Precious Little Sleep, it helped a lot with our sleep struggles, and it is a pretty easy read too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888303 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:14:47 +0000 brownepiano 2888303@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our first night of CIO was over an hour. But it worked. We just set a time (I think it is 1.5 hours) that we were willing to let him be and thankfully he fell asleep before then. It only took one time. Does sounds like he thinks 7 is nap and not bedtime. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888269 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:34:28 +0000 mdf106 2888269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It sounds like he thinks the early part of the night is a nap, and bedtime is midnight. My oldest son was similar, and what worked best was accepting that he was sleeping 8 hours with a midnight bedtime. Then I gradually moved bedtime earlier, by putting him down earlier by 15 minute intervals. Waking him earlier would also help, but I could never do that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888256 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 08:25:24 +0000 pachamama 2888256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cyoung: I wish my son would only fuss. I've let him fuss for 15 mins which turns into escalating crying.<br /> I feed at 7pm, soothe at his 8pm wake up (I never nurse after the 1st time) and dad does the 9, 10 and 11. We've reduced the bottle to 3oz. 😒 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888251 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 07:49:31 +0000 cyoung 2888251@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started CIO at 6 months with my son. However he barely cried. He would "fuss" for 10 minutes max and pass out. Maybe he does better with dad feeding him before bed. He probably associates you feeding him at bed time with comfort and just wants to play. By 6 months babies dont need to wake up and eat at night (not from a nutrition stand point. Babies are smart they start figuring out how to get mom and dad to give them what they want. Idk though that just my opinion. I could be wrong. I didnt breastfeed. My babies were formula fed and never had major sleep problems and slept the whole night before 6 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-waking-first-part-of-the-night#post-2888243 Thu, 20 Jun 2019 06:23:06 +0000 pachamama 2888243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(I've scoured the internet and books about this issue but maybe you guys can shed some light.)<br /> My 5 month old has an interesting habit of waking up frequently from 7 p.m. bedtime until midnight. I nurse him to sleep (bad!). I've tried to put him in drowsy and he absolutely freaks out. He wakes up and wails 3-4xs and DH usually caves and gives him a bottle around 10 or 11. (I'm EBF.) But THEN will sleep 8 hours on his own perfectly fine! Sometimes a feeding doesn't help at all so I don't think he's hungry. Maybe?<br /> We've tried an earlier bedtime, stuck to a very good nap schedule, holding off that dreamfeed, increasing feedings during the day, etc. I suspect he just can't fall asleep on his own and wakes up every sleep cycle. Isn't the first part of the night deep sleep? I don't get it.<br /> Should I offer formula before bedtime? CIO when he's 6 months? He really escalate when he cries. It's not like he fusses and then calms down...😭😭😭 Trying to avoid CIO but "teaching him to fall asleep on his own" otherwise is not working. </p>