We started sleeping training this week with Baby B. We're going to try a modified Baby Sleep Solution. Our first step is getting him on 4 feedings in a 12 hour period (8am-8pm) for a total of 24oz. It's not hard to get him to take some larger bottles (5-6oz) in the morning but the evening we are really struggling. As of right now his meals should be 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm. Any time after about 1pm he can only go about 3 hours without needing food. Anyone else trying to space out feedings in an effort to sleep train?
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we continued to feed charlie every 3 hours in the daytime well after we sleep trained. it didn't affect his ability to sleep 12 hours at night at 4 1/2 months. i know some sources tell you to try to get babies on a 4 hour schedule, but we never did. perhaps you could try keeping him on a 3 hour schedule and see if it works for you too? i think the most important thing is to make sure that he gets enough calories in the daytime to make up for the calories he'll drop at night.
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i was never able to get my daughter on a 4 hour schedule either. she would not drink more than 6 oz at a time so was always hungry by 3 hours. it also didn't affect her night time sleep. she slept 11 hours by 8 weeks.
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To be perfectly honest, I didn't know people recommended getting baby on a 4-hour feeding schedule so I just went by my baby's cues and fed on demand. My son (8.5 months) only drinks 5 oz. at a time and eats every 3 hours from 6am to 6pm. When we sleep trained at 6 months he was doing the same thing and I just cut out his middle-of-the-night nursing and instead let him use a pacifier if he wanted to fulfill his comfort sucking need. When we sleep trained he was starving first thing in the morning so he took 6 oz. feedings for his first two feedings of the day but that only lasted about 2 weeks before he got used to it and went back to 5 oz per feeding.
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This is kind of off topic, but when you sleep train a baby do you try to keep him/her up more during the day? I know babies tend to get sleepy right after eating even during the day - is there a magical time you need to engage the baby during the day to ensure they can still sleep for long stretches at night when you are ready to start sleep training?
My LO hasn't arrived yet, but my friends daughter naps very well during the day (eats, sleeps, diaper, repeat) but will be up from 12-4/5am fussing. She's only 9 weeks old, so maybe she is too young and schedule is reversed? Just looking for some advice for her... and for myself when LO arrives in a few months.
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@elisat: Actually, the rule of thumb I've heard is "sleep begets sleep" so I wouldn't suggest keeping baby up more to try to get them to sleep longer. At 9 weeks baby should be awake for up to 2 hours at a time. It is too early, in my opinion, to start sleep training until they are out of the newborn phase. Once out of the newborn phase (0-3 months) you may want to try engaging baby after feedings for a short while and maybe adjust feedings to be a bit earlier than usual so baby isn't already tired when the feeding comes along.
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charlie only took 4 oz bottles for a very long time. babies don't really need bigger bottles as they get older unless they're getting formula. breastmilk changes in consistency to be fattier as your baby gets older, so they get full on the same amount of milk as when they were younger.
@elisat - let me find this great chart that geekinheels posted about ideal awake times at different ages. olive had her days and nights mixed up too and they started getting better this past week.
i wouldn't try to keep her up at this age, and she is too young to begin sleep training. there are things your friend can do... make noise in the daytime, keep the lights on, play. then at night keep it very quiet and dark so that baby realizes that night is for sleep.
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Eli is not sleep trained yet.. he is only 11 weeks old.. but he has been sleeping through the night for a week now... (last night he went from 6:10pm to 6:50am). In terms of daytime feeding, every day is a bit different depending on his nap schedule... since I try to follow a wake, eat, play, nap schedule... so he can be feeding every 2.5hrs or every 4 hrs or anywhere in between. I just make sure he gets enough calories for his weight... he is almost 14lbs now and he eats about 31oz per day... Eli does seem to be hungrier in the early evening before his bedtime as well so I tend to feed him more often in the early evening.
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Thanks everyone! I think you're all onto something about the 4 hour feedings. Feeding him (we're on formula) on demand but not less than 3 hr. stretches seems to be a total norm around here, and works too! He's getting enough formula per day so that's not an issue and one would assume/hope that as he gets older (he's 8 weeks right now) he'll be stretching out his own feeding times. I would think that would be especially true when solids come into play.
Good to know feeding doesn't really = sleeping. How I would love to kick his 2am feeding and his 4am fussy (no food @ 4am) and get him not to want a bottle then at 6! So much to look forward to
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Wow, @MrsBee & @Andrea, you ladies give me hope, hearing that your babies sleep 11 - 12 hours a night!! I am terrified of endless sleepless nights, haha!
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Anyone have any good ideas also on how to get him to sleep in his crib...like actually on his mattress? I know it's totally common for a baby to like to sleep in a swing, or in our case his vibrating bouncer, it's annoying. He has only been successful a few times with sleeping on the mattress (we put the bouncer in the crib at night). I'd love for him (obviously) to sleep on the mattress every night. I'm not totally sold on naps in cribs since we're on the go so much.
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@Venice4504 - do you think that maybe he likes the incline on the swing or bouncer? I noticed that when my daughter was a newborn so I put some rolled up towels underneath one side of the crib mattress to create a slight incline. She then started to sleep in her crib with no issues and we kept the towels there for months!
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@venice, how is your LO's sleep now?
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He's doing a lot better! We went cold turkey on the removal of the bouncy in the crib combined with an earlier bedtime (~7:30) and a little routine. He did really well and at first would only sleep until around 1am and then I would have to take him back into our bed but each night he did better and better. Now we are at 7:30-2:30/3 then a bottle and then he restless sleeps in his crib again until around 5:30 when he comes into our bed until a 7amish bottle.
Now we just need to work on him sleeping better after his night bottle and getting him to do a longer stretch to get rid of that bottle.
He's sleeping though a lot better not being in that bouncy chair...he's even outgrowing it in length so it's not even an option.
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Oh that is soooo good to hear! I'm so glad that he's doing longer stretches on his own. Seems like he'll get there in no time!
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Thanks! One can only hope! He's got his 4 month check up at the beginning on January so I think I might talk to the doc about solids to see if we can get his tummy a little fuller at night...I mean the kid might reject them anyways at this age but it's worth to at least talk about it.
A lot of that night bottle I think is just routine now too...he's just used to it more than maybe he needs it.
Or perhaps I'm grasping at straws and he's got his own agenda!
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our motto was "keep him full all day, he'll sleep longer at night", and it worked! But of course our baby loved sleep so others' experiences might be different.
as for the crib, we always put him down for real naps and night sleep in a bassinet or crib. we'd shake it sometimes until he fell asleep, or pat his side, and slowly remove ourselves by patting/shaking less and less until it was none.
He took 1-2 naps a day in a bouncy chair, swing, carseat, or stroller.
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@ Tina- We do our naps either on the couch or in the stroller (I just plan errands at that time that don't involve in and out of the car) and he does really well with naps. Never had a problem on that one...he's just a little stinker between 3-7am
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@venice4504: hehe... you don't start your day at 3am???
I remember a time when I thought maybe my life would be very different because my new morning was 4am. Don't worry!! Just keep working hard at it... they all learn eventually! These days we have to rouse RJ at 7:15am so we can drop him off and get to work relatively on time!!
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Haha! Yes, I just have to keep telling myself that he's not even 4 months yet.
I remember a time when I thought maybe my life would be very different because my new morning was 4am. Don't worry!! Just keep working hard at it... they all learn eventually! These days we have to rouse RJ at 7:15am so we can drop him off and get to work relatively on time!!
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