Gina Ford: 4 months sleep regression or growth spurt?

notanewuser

roses wrote: »

Gina fords definition of sleeping through the night is until 5/6am for breast fed babies so guess this is how it's going to stay until he's established on solids

Unlikely, given teething is likely to start disrupting everything before then.

bylromarha

roses wrote: »

I just thought I would post an update on this. Last week I started giving him a bottle of formula at 11pm instead of breast milk. Every night he sleeps through until 5/6am, has some more milk then goes back to bed again for another 2 hours!

I am so pleased and I feel so much better now i am getting a bit more sleep. He also doesn't seem to have a problem breast feeding in the day anymore so perhaps my milk supply was low due to me being so tired.

My DH gives him his bottle and I express, and give him the expressed milk the next day as a top up.

Gina fords definition of sleeping through the night is until 5/6am for breast fed babies so guess this is how it's going to stay until he's established on solids

Well done you. And well done baby Roses :T:T:T:T

katiechoc_2

notanewuser wrote: »

Unlikely, given teething is likely to start disrupting everything before then.

My thoughts were similar . My LO went from sleeping through til 7am to waking at 5am for a fortnight or so for no apparent reason, and is now back to waking up at 6.30/7am. Again for no apparent reason, he's just an awkward monkey sometimes

Seriously though, glad you've got a bit more sorted out roses, hope it continues!

notanewuser

katiechoc wrote: »

My thoughts were similar . My LO went from sleeping through til 7am to waking at 5am for a fortnight or so for no apparent reason, and is now back to waking up at 6.30/7am. Again for no apparent reason, he's just an awkward monkey sometimes

Seriously though, glad you've got a bit more sorted out roses, hope it continues!

Probably a Wonder Week.

Babies don't need reasons (nor timetables for that matter!).

debsue

You produce the hormone prolactin at night therefore you should breastfeed your baby in the night to maintain the milk

roses

debsue wrote: »

You produce the hormone prolactin at night therefore you should breastfeed your baby in the night to maintain the milk

Not a particularly helpful response when the reason I posted this thread was because I was absolutely exhausted and my milk supply was affected because of it.

notanewuser

roses wrote: »

Not a particularly helpful response when the reason I posted this thread was because I was absolutely exhausted and my milk supply was affected because of it.

Yes, but biologically it's the night feeds that tell your body how much milk to produce. Dropping those will reduce your supply more than dropping a daytime feed. Exhaustion is not a good thing, but it might be worth looking to rest (ie sleep) during the day rather than all night.

DevilsAdvocate1

roses wrote: »

Not a particularly helpful response when the reason I posted this thread was because I was absolutely exhausted and my milk supply was affected because of it.

The thing is, biologically, by dropping the night feeds you could find you have to top up more and more with formula during the day. In a short time you could find you are mainly formula feeding.

This is fine if its what you plan to do, but I have spoken to some very upset mums who had no intention to stop breastfeeding but have had to due to their milk supply dropping off. I have to add that in every single case the mum was following Gina Ford from shortly after birth.

I found with my own children (I have 3) that they all slept very well for the first 4 months or so. However, after this age their sleep was not very good. Partly due to illnesses due to colds, teething and just generally being more aware of the world.

On a positive note, after 10 years of broken nights I can now survive on very little sleep and even when I go to bed for an early night I find I just wake up earlier the next day!

fluffnutter

roses wrote: »

I just thought I would post an update on this. Last week I started giving him a bottle of formula at 11pm instead of breast milk. Every night he sleeps through until 5/6am, has some more milk then goes back to bed again for another 2 hours!

I am so pleased and I feel so much better now i am getting a bit more sleep. He also doesn't seem to have a problem breast feeding in the day anymore so perhaps my milk supply was low due to me being so tired.

My DH gives him his bottle and I express, and give him the expressed milk the next day as a top up.

Gina fords definition of sleeping through the night is until 5/6am for breast fed babies so guess this is how it's going to stay until he's established on solids

Really glad to hear you're feeling more human - sleep deprivation's an awful thing. But I hate to be the bearer of bad news... solids might not make much difference. My baby's 10 months, eating three meals a day and still waking throughout the night Some babies sleep well, some don't and it's the luck of the draw which flavour you get.

And I still think Gina Ford's a clueless waste of space...

notanewuser

fluffnutter wrote: »

Really glad to hear you're feeling more human - sleep deprivation's an awful thing. But I hate to be the bearer of bad news... solids might not make much difference. My baby's 10 months, eating three meals a day and still waking throughout the night Some babies sleep well, some don't and it's the luck of the draw which flavour you get.

And I still think Gina Ford's a clueless waste of space...

Thats true. I was a "good sleeper" (doesnt mean i didnt wake at night, i just didnt make a fuss). My sister didn't sleep through until she started school. :eek: