Help to get my son sleeping through the night....

Sharra

I'm pretty sure that at 7 months he should be able to go through the night without *needing* a feed.
My son was a horrendous sleeper, he used to wake 5 or 6 times a night. At 7 months we just couldn't cope anymore and had to do something quickly. We read in a baby magazine about leaving them to cry, it told us he would be sleeping through the night within 3 nights.
I know it may sound really harsh, and it was soooo difficult to do, but it worked. The first night he screamed for 2 hours - my OH had to sit with his back against our bedroom door to stop me going and picking him up. But - within 3 nights he was sleeping through the night.
Obviously we made sure he was safe

skintchick

OP, you've not said how you feel about Cry-It-Out/Controlled Crying, which is what people have suggested. If it doesn;t appeal (and it doesn;t to me) then look into the No Cry Sleep Solution which has lots of ideas for changing sleep habits without leaving baby to cry, even for a few minutes. It doesn;t mean they won;t cry at all, but you don;t leave them crying alone.

NCSS is a book and it's worth buying and reading if you don;t want to do CIO.

neneromanova

This is what I did for my DD at about 5 months and she slept right through. Give him a bottle at 10 or 11, just before you go to bed. This way his belly is full from 10/11 til about 7/8 then another feed then. This worked a treat for my little one. Then when I wanted her to not have the feed, I started making smaller and smaller bottles until she was only having 2oz then just stopped. She was fine with it. Now when I go to bed to check on her, she just wants a cuddle and back into bed, or sometimes she just sleeps through and doesn't hear me come in.

Good Luck

liz-paul

Hello again, sorry if I miss anyone.
1. We will give him one less blanket tonight (they don't go on til I go to bed) to see if he's too warm.
2. I'm not keen on the cry it out type things in general BUT I'm not disregarding them entirely as never say never is the main lesson I learnt with DS1! I will take a look at the NCSS stuff as well.
3. DS1 also had the 11pm 'dream feed' from when he was tiny but DS2 just won't take it! Even if you properly wake him up he just looks at you like er I'm not hungry now. He's always done that....
4. Does anyone think its possible that I'm not feeding him enough during the day? He has 3 solid meals which look pretty big to me & 3 7oz bottles (inc night time one). He is a really big baby though, at least the size of a 9mo.... Don't know how to squeeze more feeds in though esp as he still can't really manage any lump. He will take a rusk sometimes but I don't like to give him lots as they are jsut biscuits really.
Thanks again everyone, all comments appreciated & given me food for thought :-)

csh_2

liz-paul wrote: »

Hello again, sorry if I miss anyone.
1. We will give him one less blanket tonight (they don't go on til I go to bed) to see if he's too warm.
2. I'm not keen on the cry it out type things in general BUT I'm not disregarding them entirely as never say never is the main lesson I learnt with DS1! I will take a look at the NCSS stuff as well.
3. DS1 also had the 11pm 'dream feed' from when he was tiny but DS2 just won't take it! Even if you properly wake him up he just looks at you like er I'm not hungry now. He's always done that....
4. Does anyone think its possible that I'm not feeding him enough during the day? He has 3 solid meals which look pretty big to me & 3 7oz bottles (inc night time one). He is a really big baby though, at least the size of a 9mo.... Don't know how to squeeze more feeds in though esp as he still can't really manage any lump. He will take a rusk sometimes but I don't like to give him lots as they are jsut biscuits really.
Thanks again everyone, all comments appreciated & given me food for thought :-)

Do you make him a 7oz bottle and he takes it all or do you give him a 9oz bottle and he stops at 7?
I always make bottles up bigger than needed, a bit of a waste of milk admittedly but I'd rather know that he was full up.
Can you trying squezzing in a 4oz feed anywhere?

apples1

I think you are feeding him well during the day. He is clearly not hungry or he would take a bottle when you tried to give him a late night feed or dream feed. For a seven month old to have three large meals a day plus 21 oz of milk he is having more than most babies that age. He has learnt that he needs something to settle him back to sleep when he wakes in the night. You need to help him learn to do that for himself.

I don't agree with leaving a baby to cry for hours - or even one hour but TEN MINUTES is not the same thing. He will be getting love and cuddles every ten minutes - how can that be cruel? He needs to learn another way. You teach him this skill now and you'll all be better for it. It's hard enough being a parent without being a sleep starved one. You'll be a better Mummy during the day once he has learnt to settle himself without props.

You know he's not hungry yet you seem to be desperate for someone to tell you he is. You know he can't possibly be cold with a sleeping bag, fleece suit and six blankets but again you seem to be wanting someone to say he might be.

I understand that you would prefer an easy solution but as a sensible person you have already checked the "easy" things yourself. You came on here for help as your previous son was still waking in the night at 3 years old. Save yourself going through three years of it again and face three nights instead.

kindofagilr

liz-paul wrote: »

Hi, I appreciate & understand the concern but he is often cold (not just his hands). I know that you are not recommended to use blankets with a sleeping bag but in the winter I have always needed to with both boys. My nephew died from cot death & I have a good knowledge of cot death & the causes of & also safety guidelines. You are also supposed to have the babys room kept at a fairly constant temp (is it about 17, I can't remember off the top of my head) without having the heating on. This has never been possible for us in the winter. The last couple of weeks esp have been freezing, a glass of water in my bedroom in the middle of the night recently has been colder than if it had come out of our fridge.

Will think about the above routine but will not jump into it tonight. Thanks again everyone.

you can, see my post with the link, you can use a blanket and a sleeping bag