4 months old who sometimes sleeps 10 hours and most night not....

[pupuce]

I knew that at some point I would have to work harder as a mum
My firsdt 2 children slept through 10PM to 7AM at 9 and 6 weeks and teh whole 12 hours EVERY night at 12 weeks or so!
This latest poppet.... did quite weel when she was 4 and 5 weeks old with regular stints of 5 or 6 hours.... but now.... I occasionally get 8 to 10 hours (only once 10 hours!) but most nights it's every 3 hours....

Have you been there... words of encouragement? Suggestions?
Thanks!

[pupuce]

..

[bossykate]

how did i miss this? congratulations

i'm sorry i can't offer any advice as my first (and probably only) two were like yours!

what does swmnbn have to say...?

[lorie]

whats your routine at the moment? x

[pupuce]

Who is swmnbn??

And of course for this one I chose not to rely on the book LOL
Nice to see you Bossykate!

[pupuce]

Well after having had 2 routine babies this one isn't... and it's great.... except for nights!
She does go down easily at 7PM and then it's variable.... worst case she wakes at 10PM and every 3 to 4 hours until 7AM and occasionally she foes down at 7 until 3 or 4AM which is great!!!!
Last night was 7, 11h30, 2 and 5!

[motherinferior]

Oh gawd, been there.

Massive encouragement, sweetie. It gets better. It really does.

[bossykate]

pupuce - swmnbn is the author of the book...

[pupuce]

MI... when does itet better??? When they're on solids ? Which is another 2 months for me...

I gather that much Bossy LOL

[motherinferior]

I think that some babies straighten it out themselves; but at least when they're bigger you can start thinking - if you're that way inclined - about you know tackling their sleeping a bit...

[pupuce]

I would hope she would sort herself out... her brother and sister as such amazing sleepers !!! I knew i'd pay the price one day LOL

[motherinferior]

DD1 was like that; suddenly at four months we cracked it together, because I stopped feeding her every time she rustled at night (in other words I waited for her actually to decide that she was hungry) and her body got the hang of it and she slept 12 hours a night thereafter (my breasts didn't adjust for ages though, ouch).

DD2 was a totally different kettle of fish.

[pupuce]

If my DD can sleep 10 hours... she must be able to do it more often...
" because I stopped feeding her every time she rustled at night (in other words I waited for her actually to decide that she was hungry)"
What do you call rustling? I feed her as she sort of cries... I have occasionally waited 5 to 10 mins and she didn't stop.. it's not major crying but it doesn't really stop...
I feed her it takes 7 mins... some of these feeds DO NOT look like they comr froma starving child and she goes right back down easily (she actually falls back to sleep on the breast within those 7 mins). So it is not hugely disruptive but waking every 3 hours is a tad tiring!!! especially as she can do 8 hours (about once a week).

[lulumama]

Hi Pupuce lovely to see you here

6 months seems to be a turning point for many babies, my nephew and best friends baby was like this, the frustrating thing is, you know they can , so why won;t they do it all the time !!

it does get better, and you will be fine , i'm sure you are an amazing mum ! x

[pupuce]

Hi Lulu

[motherinferior]

When I say rustled, I really do mean rustled. I'd got myself into a total tizz - I was sleeping so lightly I became aware of the upstairs neighbours' noisy sex life (arrggh, what you really want to know about when you've got a two month old). I waited for her to whimper and start crying; not meanly, but just because I realised that every time she stirred I was feeding her, and therefore only allowing myself to sleep very lightly indeeed.

[pupuce]

Well she did another 8 hour stretch last night... the night before I tried something new though.,... she did 7PM, 11PM and then 1 AM at which point I said to DH you go and settle her... and she stopped "crying" (not proper crying to begin with but not babbling either) within 7 mins and slept until 3 AM which I thought was a better gap than just 2 hours !

[motherinferior]

Pupuce, email me - I've got different email addresses for you - and I'll give you the details of someone I've just talked to for an article on sleep, who was quite lovely (Aloha has used her and recommended her to me) and might be worth investing in a phone consultation!

[hunkermunker]

If she's falling back to sleep after you bfeed her, why wouldn't you bfeed her? She's only little!

[margo1974]

My 3 month old is sleeping longer now she can find her thumb during the day although she is generally waking once in the middle of the night and then about 6 am.

As long as she gives you some rest during the day, it makes it much easier to cope

[pupuce]

Hunker - exactly... but my thinking was she clearly can do 8 or 10 hours without a feed so I wonder if others had that experience of having some nights like that and others were their baby woke every 3 hours...
I am very relaxed and I am not having a problem with it especially as I LOVE BF!

Margo - she is my 3rd so not much rest at all during the day... plus am at work too so.....

[hunkermunker]

But sometimes I can go AGES without a drink and some days I'm thirsty all day.

So I don't think that at 4mo you can say with any great reliability that because she can do something, she will always do it.

[Ilovemyboy]

Pupuce, I have a 4mth old too who wakes every 3 hours for a feed. The routine that you mentioned is exactly the same as DS'.

I have stopped looking for a solution tbh and just accept that he gets hungry in the night so I have to feed him. It is hard work and I pray for the day that I get a full night's sleep but I can't see it happening anytime soon.

The difference though between my baby and your baby is that my DS has never slept for longer than 4hrs in the night without needing to be fed. Maybe the times that your DD needs feeding more in the night she hasn't had enough through the daytime to keep her going through the night?

Are you demand feeding? It know it is hard to tell how much they are getting when bf. Like Hunker says your DD might be thirstier/hungrier on some days/nights than others.

Hope your little one starts sleeping through soon. I don't know about you (esp with your 3 children) but I am knackered...

[margo1974]

pupuce - no early evening rest? Thats crappy for you.

Yes my little one has had a few all night sleeps of 8 - 10 hours, once for a week on the go. I thought I'd cracked it. No chance!

Generally though, its quiet in here from about 8 pm - now she's stopped having her cranky 2 hours of an evening

[pupuce]

Well we had a 6 hour stretch last night... it is highly variable.
I certainly do "feeding according to needs" (new phraseology versus demand feeding... sorry I am a BF counsellor LOL)

I was just curious to hear of others experience... I would not let her cry or refuse to feed her or go to water or formula...
As I mentioned in my original post, I am confusded because the vast changes from one night to another and was curious to see how that evolved from others experience...

Margo, DS goes to bed at 9PM and me at 10.... so no real time out... I do have a nap a week on average but it's difficult as I have my own business but I do try... and my lack of sleep is not yet driving me to despair.

DD is a total joy so would not make a big deal of this sleep issue.

[pupuce]

And we had 7 hours last night... though it may well come back to 3 or 4 hours gap... I am very happy it's a sunny day