My son began sleeping thru the night at around 5 months of age. He used to get up once or twice and sometimes went back to sleep on his own or sometimes i patted his back to put him to sleep. In the past 3 days he has started to wake up at around 3 am and only goes back to sleep after I nurse him. He keeps crying until the time I nurse him no mater what else i do. He is otherwise a very healthy baby and has gained weight well since his birth and is very active during the day. Has anyone gone thru something similar?
2006-10-16 04:34:42 · 12 answers · asked by ManavMommie 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
He might be going through a growth spurt and he might just be hungry and need to be "topped off". You might (if possible) feed him more solid foods earlier in the afternoon and then again closer to bedtime. Rice cereal helps their little stomachs feel fuller longer. If he is still hungry and wants to eat in the middle of the night, you might want to try giving him a bottle of water so that he will not get used to nursing in the middle of the night. Also, if he does not have a pacifier now, I would highly recommend NOT giving him one now. I am STILL trying to break my 2 year old from his. All 3 of my kids would do this right before they grew a couple of inches. This sounds pretty normal to me. Once he is done growing the waking should stop.
2006-10-16 04:59:36 · answer #1 · answered by Mum to 3 cute kids 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My son is 10m and we've experienced the same thing. It seems the teething really messed the sleep schedule up. If there are symptoms of teething like runny nose and excessive drooling my wife or I will comfort him back to sleep if there are frequent wake ups. The tricky part is getting him to sleep long stretches when he's not teething. We let him cry it out so he learns how to go to sleep on his own (after we've rocked him to sleep or near-sleep initially). He's very good now and going to sleep on his own and sleeps a 5 or 6 hour stretch, my wife nurses, then another 5 or 6 hours. Friends' babies have longer stretches of sleep, though :( ,but he wakes up happy and playful.
2006-10-16 12:15:15 · answer #2 · answered by JB 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i am going through this same thing right now and my daughter is 10 months. i feed her until she is stuffed at her last feeding (cereal and then nursing after wards) , she gets her diaper changed right before going to bed, and she still wakes up at 3am to be "topped off" no matter how i try to get her to go back to sleep without it. i know that right now she is teething, so it could be related to that, or as i have read it could be separation anxiety which starts around 8 months. it's a good night when she goes to bed at bed time and sleeps until my husband gets up for work at 4:30 because he will get her and bring her into bed, and i nurse while 1/2 awake. i will put her back into her bed when she is asleep and i have fully woken up which is at about 5am.
2006-10-16 12:12:57 · answer #3 · answered by amesanita1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this happened to us as well, turned out my daughter needed more solid foods and less milk, not just at dinner time or bed time, but all through the day. She started getting breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks and milk throughout the day and a bottle before bed and she started sleeping through nights again. Good luck.
2006-10-16 11:54:28 · answer #4 · answered by proudest_mom 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your son is probably hitting one of his growth spurts and needs some extra food during the night. I'm sure he will do his growing and then sleep like an angel again! Good Luck!
2006-10-16 11:54:50 · answer #5 · answered by amberroose 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a developmental thing. Most babies are sleeping through the night by 4-6mths then waking again around 8-10mths. I HIGHLY recommend the book, "No cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. She will help you get your baby sleeping through again.
2006-10-16 11:41:46 · answer #6 · answered by nangari 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am going through the same thing with my 8 month old. I don't know what her deal is. She has slept the whole night through since she was a month old and now she wakes me up three or four times a night. If you finally find out an answer please tell me. My email address is lilmama020906@yahoo.com
2006-10-16 16:47:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
TRY GIVING HIM A PASSY WHEN HE WAKES, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN A CHILD HAS STARTED TO SLEEP ALL NIGHT THEN STARTS TO WAKE AGAIN ALL THEY WANT IS THE COMFORT OF KNOWING THAT YOU ARE THERE. WALK TO THE SIDE OF THE CRIB AND PAT OR RUB THERE BACK LETTING THEM KNOW YOUR THERE AND THAT SHOULD HELP. THE NURSEING IS HIS WAY OF GETTING COMFORT. HICH IS WHY A PASSY MAY WORK BETTER THAN GETTING HIM UP JUST TO GAIN COMFORT FROM SUKCING WHICH IS A BABYS NATURAL WAY OF OBTAINING COMFORT
2006-10-16 11:43:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Along with growing at an incredible pace, so is his appetite. Thicken up his formula or breast milk with some single grain cereal before bed. It really sounds like he is waking up simply because he is hungry.
2006-10-16 11:45:45 · answer #9 · answered by shaman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is completely normal. your munchkin is growing, and is going through his tummy-full of milk, and is simply hungry. i had the same problem. i would reccomend expressing breastmilk and adding some infant's rice cereal to the milk, mix and shake well, and feed him that. the rice is more filling, and it takes longer to digest, so you get to sleep better, and he feels full so he sleeps better.
this is normal! wait until 2 years old, and you can't get him to hold still for ANY meal. life is too busy for these guys.
2006-10-16 11:48:30 · answer #10 · answered by morrigann266 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋