First, here are few of my favorite recent pics
I bought this hat for him in Jersey. I LOVE it! I think it's so cute! I love how the green makes his blue eyes stand out! I wish I had the matching sweater!
And Calin loves his Bumbo! It makes him happy to sit like a big boy in his own little seat :)
So . . . can you help?
How do you get a baby to not take so many naps?
Calin eats about 5 times during the day (I'm working on stretching that out. It's way past time!!), and he takes about 1 hr - 1.5 hr naps about 1.5 after each feeding . I wouldn't mind it so much, but he's still waking up between 4-5 every night. Maybe if he took fewer naps during the day he would sleep better? But it's not like I put him down for 5-6 naps each day, he'll just fall asleep wherever he is. He starts to get fussy, then usually within about 5 min he's out. I've tried to keep him busy, but that doesn't do it. I've wondered if he just gets overstimulated during his awake hours, so I try to let him play without so many toys, etc. But that's even worse! If he's not doing something fun, he'll fall asleep even faster.
How do drop the middle of the night feeding so your baby sleeps continuously through the night?
For the past couple nights, we've been trying to let Calin fall back asleep on his own when he wakes up at night (since he's waking up at the same time each night, we're hoping it's just out of habit, not that he really needs to eat), but so far it hasn't worked. He doesn't stop crying! The first night he cried for 45 min (that seems way to long! We're not talking about little wimpers either), then I fed him and he went back to sleep for another 3.5 hours. Last night we let him cry for about 15 min, then I went in, picked him up for a few minutes, and he went back to sleep, but only for an hour. That time I fed him, and he slept another 3 hours. He's slept 8 hours without eating or waking before, so I'm sure he doesn't NEED to eat in the middle of the night. Babies his age can go 10-12 hours (usually 10 for breastfed babies). Man that would be nice! lol. I really don't mind feeding him once a night since it's fast and he goes right back to sleep, but I know it would be better for him (and us of course) if he would just learn how to sleep continuously through the night!
I know everyone has different opinions and advice, and different things work for different people. So what do you have? Any advise??
14 comments:
hi michaela! it's jill brooks - not sure if you remember me but my parents are ron and portia from the single's branch. i've been reading your blog for a while now and think calin is so handsome. you seem like such a happy mom with a good perspective when it comes to dealing with the adjustments of having a newborn. we just had our second girl, Callie, about the same time calin was born. it started out rough - she was very colicky- but by 8 weeks she was sleeping through the night. she's still not the easiest or perfect baby but there's definitely an improvement and i give credit to the book babywise, which we also used with our first baby who slept through the night at 6 weeks old. the book is a little hard core but if you follow the basic prinicple of it, i think it really helps! good luck!
hi michaela! it's jill brooks - not sure if you remember me but my parents are ron and portia from the single's branch. i've been reading your blog for a while now and think calin is so handsome. you seem like such a happy mom with a good perspective when it comes to dealing with the adjustments of having a newborn. we just had our second girl, Callie, about the same time calin was born. it started out rough - she was very colicky- but by 8 weeks she was sleeping through the night. she's still not the easiest or perfect baby but there's definitely an improvement and i give credit to the book babywise, which we also used with our first baby who slept through the night at 6 weeks old. the book is a little hard core but if you follow the basic prinicple of it, i think it really helps! good luck!
We did the cry it out approch. It took 3 nights with Jason, and 5 with Sierra. We just let them cry it out (3 hours for the first night with Sierra)and put in ear plugs. it broke my heart, but now they are great sleepers. Good luck with what ever you choose to do.
I'm having the same problem! Spence won't go to sleep until 1-2am...then he's up again between 4-5 to eat! Last week we tried keeping him up and playing with him a ton to wear him out...yeah, it didn't work at all! He would scream for 1-2 hours, whether he was laying down or we were holding him. I tried rocking him to sleep and he fought me like he didn't want me to hold him, but would scream harder if I put him down. I'm anxious to see what other people say from your blog! I'm sorry you have to go through it, but it makes me feel better I'm not the only one! We definitely need to break these precious boys and get some good sleep ourselves!
We did CIO with Madeline and James at around 12 months when I stopped breastfeeding them. From about 3 months on I did nurse them once during the night. I guess I just got used to it! ;) I did always have a musical mobile in the kids cribs and put it on every night they went to bed - I think they related that musical to going to sleep. So when they would wake during the night I would put that on & they would fall asleep.
As far as preventing him to nap so often, you could start scheduling his naps and putting him down at the same time everyday even if he's awake. Once my kids got into routines they usually had 1 morning and 1 afternoon nap each day.
Now that he sits in his Bumbo I bet he would enjoy watching Baby Einstein DVD's! Those always kept my babes mesmerized and awake!
CUTE CUTE Pictures of little Calin. We LOVE Bumbo's don't we! I'll e-mail you my suggestions on sleeping, all though take it or leave it. Ty is an angel baby who just(kind of) put himself on his own sleeping schedule and slept through the night himself... (yes we know how lucky we are)
Dear Baby Girl,
I never let any of my babies cry, including you. When you guys woke up in the middle of the night, I cuddled you, fed you, and put you back to bed and thanked God for any sleep I got. If the baby was waking up a lot, I just put the baby in bed with me and nursed on demand.
Yep. My children controlled me. I don't regret a minute of it, but most parents wouldn't do it like I did. I was (am) crazy! Good luck!
Love,
Your Mommy
Hey Kyla, We can't wait to see you guys and Calin looks so adorable we are excited to meet him. I am not a mother yet so I am no help for suggestions but it sounds like you are doing all the right things. In one of the health classes I took a baby's night was defined from midnight-five. So it sounds like he is sleeping through the night, just not your night lol. I would probably just feed him and start having him cry it out as he gets a bit older. But who know's you're the supermom :) Take care and travel safe!
First of all every baby is different and you have to find out what works best for you. I fed Dallin once during the night until he was about 6-7 months(I don't remember exactly). It was easier to feed him and let everyone fall back asleep, so we were only up for like 20 minutes instead of hours of him crying. I know that Dallin would wake hungry because I could hear his little tummy grumbling. Then when he was older I would make sure he had a good dinner of rice cereal and milk or even feed him right before bedtime to ensure he wouldn't be hungry at night and we didn't feel as bad about letting him cry a little bit until he fell back asleep. He gradually stopped waking up to eat and slept through the night.
I also agree about a schedule for the naps during the day. At 4 months when Dallin slept in his own room I would put him down in his bed for two naps during the day. He pretty much put himself on that schedule. Good Luck!!
I've heard babywise works for some people, but a lot of midwives feel it is a little too hard on new babies... I haven't read it but it has been recommended to me a few times. We're dealing with the same issue with my daughter. She's 6 months and I haven't had the heart to let her cry. For some reason I had an easier time letting a 12 month kid cry for a little while in his crib then a 2 month old when we were trying it out. I am trying a new method where you don't let the baby cry it out, but it's basically the same. You establish the difference for them between naps and bedtime by having a bedtime routine. Take half an hour (at least 10-15 mins) to calm them down and wind them down for the night. Sing, read scriptures, pray, read books, bath time, etc. Whatever you want to do. But you have to do the same thing every night, so the less "involved" it is the better - especially if you visit people a lot and might not have access to a bath, for example. Then during the night I've heard that if you pick them up and they normally nurse at 1 try to soothe them and get them to be happy until 1:30. Then the next week push it back to 2. Then 2:30, etc. That way they learn and can be better. Sometimes they just need to be soothed. My son is 2 and still wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night for a few weeks and then goes back to normal. Sometimes they just need some love from their parents, it isn't necessarily because they're hungry. Unless you're like my daughter-who still nurses 3 times during the night and doesn't go to sleep until 2 or 3. Yeah, she's insane. We're working on it. :) Good luck! I really liked the book Baby Whisperer. It seems like it would maybe be a little less "harsh" then babywise - but again, I've never read it.
I used Babywise (from Jill's recommendation) and it is basically a Eat, Play, Sleep pattern that you create. Let him play for 10-15min then sleep, and gradually increase the wake time.
If he is already doing that, then start your 2 naps a day routine and keep putting him down at the same time. (I do 10-12pm and 2-4pm naps) Then he goes to bed around 7:30pm for 12 hours.
He may cry the first few days but when mine cried I only went in to soothe him, lay him back down, but I never picked him up.
As far as cutting out the middle of the night feeding, do the same thing you've been doing. You are right he is waking up out of habit and just soothing him (but not feeding him) will get him used to staying asleep longer. It might take a little while, but he will catch on.
I think I just made sure mine had a clean diaper, and if you want to use a pacifier try that. If not just push through. Good luck, you are a great mom and already know what to do. :)
Oh and try feeding him at the same time intervals each day. *especially with the 2 nap schedule* so he knows when it's time to eat. When he is a little older and on some solid foods it gets easier to have a food schedule.
That first picture is so PRECIOUS!!
Just love him. He could have bigger problems then waking up at night. Dad
This is wierd...
Mom has the same problem with dad.
She could cut/paste that first paragraph and use it on HER blog!
She's got an old steel guitar hung over his bed for a mobile. He'll just lay there, fallin' asleep with the cutest little grin. Just Precious!!!
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