my baby is still on a 2-3 hour schedule is it normal?

Question

my a baby is 2 months and i havent had no sleep always on a 2 hour schedule if im lucky 3. when or what can I do?

Answer 1

Hi my daughter is also 2 months and I'm bottle feeding. She is on 3 hour feeds. At her 3pm feed i keep her awake until her 6pm feed then bath her and she sleeps for 8-9 hours. Its hard keeping her awake for those 3 hours but its definitely worth it. Try it, i hope it works for you. PS: when i bath her after her last feed i bath her in Johnson's bed time bath lotion and it helps her sleep longer (it has lavender in it) Good luck!!

Answer 2

Yes......this is normal.......give it a few more weeks and more than likely your baby will start sleeping longer. My baby is 4 months and has been sleeping through the night since 3 months. Just remember though.....that sleeping through the night for a baby can be 6 to 8 hours. You may still need to give a feed during the night, but make it a smaller amount by 2 or 3 ounces. Keep things as dark and as quiet as possible while feeding and put them straight back down. They will probably fuss or be restless for a little at first......but give it about 10 minutes and they should be back to sleep.

Hang in there......it does get better.

Answer 3

My daughter is almost 7 months and she's eating anywhere between 2-3 hours. She wakes up once every night for 2-3 oz and then goes back to sleep to wake up after 3-4 hours of sleep. I have come to accept the fact that my baby doesn't sleep through the night like most and have learned to live with that.

I hope you are lucky to get a baby that can sleep through the night some day!!!

Answer 4

Not necessarily. Some babies are just hungrier than others. One of the first things you learn as a mother is to do what works. She won't be ready for solids until sometime between four and six months old and it's better to wait until almost six months. There's actually a lot of controversy about the baby whisperer technique. It totally did not work for mine. Go back to the three hour schedule and the heck with the book.

Answer 5

My son didn't sleep for longer than 2-3 hours until he was 12 months. He didn't consistently do so until about 16 months. Babies need a lot of food and a lot of human contact for proper development, some more than others.

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html
Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.

The above study is the definitive work on sleeping habits of (Australian) children to 38 months. The researchers surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate, over a one week period. The parents had to report on their child's sleeping habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to their perceptions of their child's sleep behavior.

What did they find?

* There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behavior.
* Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
* Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a surprising 11% under 3 months of age don't have a daytime sleep every day.
* Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
* Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
* Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child's sleep behavior.
* Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.

Although this study did not address breastfeeding, it is relevant because a lack of understanding of "normal" sleep patterns can lead to supplementing, early solids, belief there is not enough milk, etc. The authors claim it also leads to misdiagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) and overuse of sedative medication. A worrying 31% of 25-38 month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to settle. 27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one month.

Answer 6

This is common enough to be "normal". My son was on that schedule for close to a year. I would change him and my wife would breast feed, leaving me to return him to the crib at the end of feeding (her spine was cracked during delivery). It went on for a year before weaning and three years before he slept through the night. By the end, I was so tired that I actually slept through an earthquake but would wake instantly if he made any sound. If you looked up "zombie" in the dictionary, you found our pictures.

Answer 7

My daugther started sleeping through the night at 3 months..I know it's hard but in a few weeks you'll get a full night sleep and won't know what to do with your self..Congrats. on the baby..I'm pregnant with my second child and being told there's no heartbeat and I'm losing it..so cherish every moment!!

Answer 8

Is your baby breastfed? Maybe you could make sure she is getting enough hindmilk to keep her content for longer. If she gets only the foremilk, she is more likely to want to feed for longer.

If she is formula fed, I wouldn't have a clue. Sorry.