Nighttime sleep problem

[Chitowngirl]

My 4 mo old DD wakes every 2-3 hours at night. A typical night for us is bedtime for my 5 y/o at 7:30 or 8. Bedtime for her 15-20 after that. Then she wakes at 11:30, 2:30, and 4:30. I then have to be up at 5 to get ready for work. She is BF at night and bottle fed pumped milk at day care during the day. Between working and taking care her both kids I'm exhausted and at my wits end. I hear so many stories about kids her age sleeping 6-8 hour stretches and our current schedule makes me want to cry. Any suggestions as to how to get her to sleep even just a little longer? Thanks.


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[Philly Mom]

Sorry to say this but age. She is still very young. There just isn't a lot you can do. You can try not going in at first sound of fussiness to see if she calms down on her own. A four month old will often just wake more. I will say that when both my kids were 4 months to 1 year, they needed to be in bed by 7. Bath at 6:30/6:45. Anything later and it was not great. At 1, their bedtime naturally moved later. The 7-11 was my long stretch with DD2 and I tried to sleep part of it too.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

One of my kiddos slept fabulously from 7 weeks to 6 months. Then he sucked at sleeping until he was 18 months old. Like 1 in a million never endure the normal infant wake ups. It's really just par for the course. It's all about finding the tools that keep you save while understand that the little one is still going to wake up a bunch.


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[HannaAddict]

Time is really all that helps. No sleep book or training in the world really helps. Totally normal at that age. Sleep ebbs and flows, they can start sleeping for a stretch and then have the every 2 hour wake up. Growth spurts and developmental things are really happening during this phase and I do remember that we thought we were off easy as ours slept longer stretches at first, but then went to the every couple hours waking, nursing, back to sleep. It is hard, do the best you can and if you can go to bed early and squeeze out any extra sleep time for you after you get the kids down. Even if dishes are in the sink and stuff needs to get done, leave it for your husband and go sleep if you can. My friends who went back to work, also said theirs nursed and nursed at night and they thought they are catching up on mom and nursing time. Though I was at home all day and my three still woke up during that time frame 3 or 4 to 6-7 months to nurse and then sleep. I would try and sleep when they did during the day too, not an option at work I know. You have my sympathy, the sleep deprivation is the worst. It will get better though.


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[georgiegirl]

That’s completely age appropriate. Many infants do not sleep through the night. Eventually she will. It’s hard for mama though.


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[DualvansMommy]

I can say it’s totally age appropriate and suggest you go to bed same time as the oldest go to sleep too. It’s tempting to stay awake till your “normal” bedtime to catch up on the house, me time, watch tv but get some sleep as it is just a phase now. Hang in there momma.


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[Chitowngirl]

Thanks for the advice and commiseration.

My DH has been pushing to add cereal at night to help DD sleep longer. I am currently breast feeding so that would mean changing to a bottle at night which I am reluctant to do. I have also heard you should not do that before 6mo. I am going to discuss with the pediatrician at the next visit, but does anyone have any recs about this?


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[SnuggleBuggles]

One shouldn't add cereal to a bottle from what I remember- it's a choking hazard. You could do it separately with a spoon. But, it didn't help us at all with ds1. Ddidn't try with ds2.

[petesgirl]

Thanks for the advice and commiseration.

My DH has been pushing to add cereal at night to help DD sleep longer. I am currently breast feeding so that would mean changing to a bottle at night which I am reluctant to do. I have also heard you should not do that before 6mo. I am going to discuss with the pediatrician at the next visit, but does anyone have any recs about this?


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Before starting cereal (with a spoon) I would supplement with formula. But, that's a personal choice and may not necessarily help the sleep. When I read your post though, my first thought was wondering if the baby isn't getting enough to eat during the day and that's only because (1) my first two babies hated bottles so they wouldn't eat well while I was at work (reverse cycling) and (2) my supply dropped dramatically when I went back to work so even though I was nursing them at night it still wasn't enough.
If you added a bottle at night (even pumped milk) sometime would your DH be willing to get up once so you could get a longer stretch? Of course then you may run into supply problems too...

[HannaAddict]

Before starting cereal (with a spoon) I would supplement with formula. But, that's a personal choice and may not necessarily help the sleep. When I read your post though, my first thought was wondering if the baby isn't getting enough to eat during the day and that's only because (1) my first two babies hated bottles so they wouldn't eat well while I was at work (reverse cycling) and (2) my supply dropped dramatically when I went back to work so even though I was nursing them at night it still wasn't enough.
If you added a bottle at night (even pumped milk) sometime would your DH be willing to get up once so you could get a longer stretch? Of course then you may run into supply problems too...

Cereal is an old wive's tale and cereal has far fewer calories than breast milk. If you do a bottle of bm at night and can have your husband take a shift, that would work. My first one was fine with that but my second only wanted it straight from me. Pediatricians are a great resource but they are doctors and not sleep behaviorists and will have their own philosophies that are not medical in nature so keep that in mind and listen to your mama instincts about what your baby needs. It will get better, just takes time and there are no shortcuts or tricks that really make the sleep deprivation of new parenthood better!


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