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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Help!! My friend has a b/f 5 month old who doesn't sleep more than 3 hrs. Any tips?

15 replies

muppetgirl · 12/12/2007 07:43

Hi, I hope you can help my lovely friend. She has a 5 month old boy she has exclusivlet b/f for most of that time but he ds will not sleep for more than 3 hrs at a time. As soon as she put him down he starts to cry and will not stop. He's always been a bit of a crying baby, wakes easily to even to a door closing. She is exhausted and doesn't want to give into the advice of 'well, just give him formula and all will be okay' She does give him a late night f/f at the weekends , her dh does this so she can have a break.

She has started weaning him and he loves his food. He has always been a hungry baby.

The lady at her baby group suggested giving him medised every night (this lady apparently does give her child medised every night to get them to sleep )and my friend was appalled at the thought!!!

Any ideas ladies???

I am out till the early afternoon now -school run and registering my own ds's birth so may not answer asap but are really looking forward to any ideas.

Many thanks
x

OP posts:

Report

mylittleponey · 12/12/2007 07:57

my dd1 never slept until I co-slept. Was wonderful as next to me she slept all night. Check the unicef website for booklet on co-sleeping www.babyfriendly.org.uk/items/research_detail.asp?item=28

JingleBelgoHoHoHo · 12/12/2007 08:01

congratulations on your ds's birth muppet girl!

As for your friend - I'm not surprised she was appalled by the medised suggestion

Other things she could try:
co sleeping as Mylittle peony says, but I realise this isn't for everyone;

What about baby massage or something to help relax him?

mylittleponey · 12/12/2007 08:03

drugging is a terrible thing - wonder what damage it causes.

JingleBelgoHoHoHo · 12/12/2007 08:06

even small doses of paracetamol regularly can cause liver problems. (I think madised contains paracetamol?)

Personally i don't like the idea of any sedative for children, especially one available over the counter. Far too open to abuse, as your friend experienced.

yogimum · 12/12/2007 08:08

Absolutely shocking at the medised suggestion. I second the co-sleeping but agree its not for everyone. A routine with some flexibilty especially at bedtime can help. I know of a 7 month old who is ff like this so thats a myth aswell.

bealcain · 12/12/2007 08:18

if you join the Sleep is for the weak thread - think it's about part 8 now, we're all sleep deprived mummies of varying ages of children, general advice and support thread. sorri can tdo links!

SofiaAmes · 12/12/2007 08:45

My ds (now 7 yrs) didn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time (day or night) until he was 6 months old. He was exclusively bf and we co-slept. At 6 months, I said, I've had enough and all in one week started solids, put him in his own bed and did cc. After 2 or 3 days of cc he started sleeping through the night and ever since has been a wonderful, solid sleeper who will sleep through world war three. (did have to occasionally redo cc after a cold or major time zone changes). Unfortunately my dd (now 5 yrs) who started out with sleeping 5 or 6 hours at at time, ended up being a terrible sleeper who is woken by anything and often gets up for no reason or nightmares or night terrors. All of this is to say that 5 months is too early to know what your child will end up being like. And adding solids before 6 months will not make a baby sleep through the night and medised on a regular basis is just dangerous.

liath · 12/12/2007 08:50

Unfortunately she might just have to ride it out. Me and a friend both had non-sleeping ds's the same age. Mine would be up feeding 4-5 times a night at 5 months and the only way I coped was by co-sleeping. My friend weaned early and it made no difference whatsoever. Ds did get a lot better between 5 and 6 months and I managed to get him into his cot in his own room but even now at 8 months he's up to feed once or twice a night and my friend's ds (who's now totally FF) is no better either.

CharlieAndLolasMummy · 12/12/2007 09:09

co sleeping

I know some people think it stores up problems etc (I disagree but hey), BUT from what you are saying she needs sleep now.

FWIW it is very normal for a 5 mo bf baby to sleep only 3 hours at a time. They vary a lot, but it is not indicative of later sleep issues or anything, mine were both worse and they sleep fine now (2 and 4). I think she needs a strategy to survive now, and co sleeping would be a good one.

yomellamoHelly · 12/12/2007 09:36

Agree with the other posters. It is the way some babies are. My two have been different in so many ways. Anyway ..... I think your friend's ds has learnt that he needs a full tummy to be able to sleep and I'd suggest he needs some help to learn to sleep without it. I'm not saying let him go hungry, but at five months my head is saying he really ought to be able to do at least one longish stretch. So I'd say pick a plan and follow through (I used Tracey Hoag's shush pat with both). It'll be tough to start, but the benefits will be huge.

muppetgirl · 12/12/2007 12:33

Thank you all for your advice. It's her 1st, her mil is a hv and she is one of 6 so she feels pressure from her mum too...

Will suggest co-sleeping and cc as she also is going back to work ( teacher) in march and really needs some sleep before then!

OP posts:

alicet · 13/12/2007 10:40

Hi Muppet,

My friend had a little boy like this. She used controlled crying and it worked a treat after only a couple of nights.

Agree with other posters that it seems to be normal for some los though...

I guess she will know whether she is more of a cc or co-sleeping person and try whichever works best for her.

juuule · 13/12/2007 10:54

Normal for some babies. They grow out of it eventually. It passes like everything else.

Tapster · 13/12/2007 20:10

Please don't use CC on such a small baby. My DD did not sleep between 3 and 6 months for longer than 3-4 hours despite being a good sleeper before then (exclusively BF). I never wanted to co-sleep. I got her to sleep through at 7.5months using gradual retreat but it did take one month for it to work. Solids is unlikely to help, but it can for some. FF won't necessarily work either. It will pass and unfortunatley its entirely normal. Can her DP take a few days off work and she sleeps and BF and does nothing else for a few days and he does everything else - then she can get some rest.

TheIceQueen · 13/12/2007 20:15

Co-sleeping - may or may not work - even if it's "for" you = we co-slept with DS1.....and it was sheer hell (as well as being wonderful - if that makes sense). It was lovely being able to just feed him without having to get up and faff around....but it was hell in that at 6 months he was still waking hourly, feeding/suckling for around 1hr, falling asleep attached to the breast, waking 1hr later all night, every night.

We did CC with him at 6 months but that was because we were absolutely desperate, even during the day I couldn't put him down at all I spent my entire days with him attached to me - as even when he wasn't feeding he wouldn't fall asleep.

TBH "only" sleeping 3hrs at a time at 5 months sounds ok to me......DS3 is 6 1/2 months, can usually go around 5-8hrs for the first "sleep" of the night - but all other sleeps are 2hrs MAX.

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