We've sleep trained our LO (4.5m) since she was taking forever to put down, but I'm not going to night wean her quite yet. I was curious for those mamas who have sleep trained and still kept the night feedings - do you determine the wake-up time for the night feeding or do you just wait for LO to cry? The book I'm using recommends to set the feeding time, but LO is all over the place sometimes (especially since we have been traveling). Any thoughts?
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I'm not sure, I am interested in this as well. It seems like it would make more sense to let them wake up on their own for a feeding, but if the book is saying otherwise, then I'm not sure.
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With both of my boys I woke up between 3:30AM and 4AM to nurse them and both didn't have problems falling back sleep. I turned on a small light and kept it quiet. I think at first they used to wake me but not for long. Then I started to wake them. I just night weaned my youngest (8 months) two night ago w/o any problems.
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I would set a cut-off time...so usually for a 4.5 month old, the cutoff would be 5-6 hours after their last feed. If she wakes before then just use whatever your sleep training strategy is for bedtime. It's normal for a baby that age to have 1-2 nightfeeds.
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We sleep-trained LO when she was 3.5 months but I kept her night feedings. When we sleep-trained, it wasn't to get her to sleep the whole night, but to get her to self-soothe and get longer stretches of sleep. From 4-6 months, she woke twice per night (midnight and 4am) with the occasional 6am (I would nurse her and she'd sleep for another 1.5 hours). From 6-8 months she was consistent at two night feeds. From 8-10 months she just had one night feed (anywhere between 2-4am). Finally, at 10 months, she just started sleeping through the night (12+ hours) on her own. Her bedtime has always been around 6pm. She is 17 months old now and still has a 5:30-6pm bedtime and gets 12-13 hours of sleep at night.
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Thanks for the info! She usually only gets up once and dream feeds seem ineffective for her, so I decided to scrap that and feed her at 1:30, but then she would wake up at 5. So I've just been letting her dictate when she wants to eat. But the cutoff time sounds like a good idea! Her last feeding is usually around 7 so I'll set it at around midnight/1 am. Though sometimes she'll go until 4 am!
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how many night feedings are you keeping? i would keep the one at 4am which is when most babies wake up because they have a strong shift in their sleep cycle. but if they are waking up more than twice, i think that is probably too many and you might want to cio for those wakings.
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@Mrs.Bee - for a week I've just let her dictate how many she wants and it's usually been one. If its been at least 5 hours since her last feeding, I'll feed her. If it hasn't, I see if she puts herself back to sleep. She's gone 9 hour stretches sometimes but I want to be responsive to her changing needs. She starts daycare in January and I have a feeling she'll change her night time feeds then!
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I am curious as to why you would wake up your LO if he or she is sleeping through the night to feed?
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When sleep training I decided that if she woke before 5 hours I'd let her cry. After that and I'd nurse her. And at least 3 hours had to pass before I'd nurse again.
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9 comments