Moving to own room while still night feeding

[123456kent]

My dd is 5 months. Was sleeping ‘well’ by my standards i.e still having 1-2 feeds a night but I was satisfied with the level of sleep I was getting. Recently that has gone to sh*t and mostly nights are just rubbish. We have multiple wake ups, 3 feeds last night (unusual), dummy popping out all night, and super early wake ups around 5.30am.
Has anyone benefited from moving baby to their own room during this regression time?
She’s never slept in there.
Am I just making life more difficult for myself?
Where do you feed baby when they wake in the night hungry in another room?
She doesn’t wake crying, she just makes noise and I am extremely sensitive to it and so jump right in there to avoid her eyes opening and then being awake for ages. I get to her just as she is stirring. Last night I was out of bed probably 8 times over the her basket.
I’m tired. I don’t feel well and I would like a miracle cure please, thanks!!

[QueenAravisOfArchenland]

I kept doing occasional night feeds for some time after baby in own room.

I either took him back to bed with me briefly or did them in the nursery armchair.

[LyricalGangster]

Will a double bed fit in her room? That way when she wakes you can just go in with her, feed and doze off with her.

[FATEdestiny]

Am I just making life more difficult for myself?

Yes

Why the rush? Chill out and wait a few months. Once night weaned the transaction is much easier.

Why get up and traipse across the landing every time baby wakes when you could just lean over the cot without moving from under your duvet?

My 4 childen were night weaned and started sleeping through inconsistently from 6-9 months. Therefore moved to own room when reliably sleeping through around 9-12 months. I don't have the energy to be walking between room in the night send neither do I want a child sleeping in my bed.

[FullLaundryBasket]

We put baby in own room with monitor on lowest setting from about 5 months, I found it was enough to hear proper cries but it didnt pick up all the annoying little grunts etc so I slept much better. I was still feeding once through the night,just on the chair in baby's room but got annoyed with that so started doing an 11pm dreamfeed instead and baby slept till 5-6am. Now I've stopped the dreamfeed and baby sleeps till 5-7am. If it's a wake up before 630 I bring him in with me for cuddles and he goes back to sleep. If it's 6.30-7am I just get up. Gets his first bottle at 7am.

[FullLaundryBasket]

Also just to add the reason I think it worked is that he got time to self settle back to sleep as I didn't hear all the grunts and little noises and try to feed him, so he just self settles back to sleep. If he stirred when in our room I'd assume hunger or rush to resettle so he didn't wake DH since DH needed his sleep as has a long commute.

[StarDanced]

We moved DS into his own room at 6months and he was still night feeding. I slept better as previously I would wake with every npise and when he turned over. However it did make the feeds so much harder as I had to fully wake up, walk to another room, feed, get him back to sleep and then go back to bed. Definitely felt like I was getting less rest. We had to move him as he had learnt to sit up in his next to me crib. If you have the option of waiting I would suggest it

[DrWhy]

We moved DS to his own room at about 5.5 months as he and I were waking each other and he was outgrowing the next to me. We bought a nursing chair and I fed him in that, he was still up around 3 times a night so I’d spend 40 mins 3x a night sitting in the chair, I was shattered. We finally night weaned off breastfeeding at just over 12 months, at 18 months he still wakes between 1 and 6 times a night, 2 or 3 is usual. Moving him out wasn’t a magic cure and actually now on a bad night we bring him in to cosleep with one of us as we both get more sleep that way.

[123456kent]

Thanks all. Still unsure what to do... there’s nothing pressing us to move her out space wise, she is still fitting fine into her crib. But I do wonder if I am reacting to her snuffly noises too quickly and not letting her self settle. I’m so worried about her waking up properly and taking hours to go back down- like in the first 6 weeks.
I would love to not listen to white noise on loud all night. And would love to go and lie in bed early watching tv. But would not love to be feeding in the night on a cold chair in her room!!
I suppose the timing isn’t right yet....
Who knows when she will night wean. Feels like forever away right now!

[Oly5]

She’s only 5 months old.. frequent wakings and feedings are still going to happen for a while yet. I feel your pain.. I didn’t sleep a wink with my almost 5 month old last night! But it’s not forever..

[rubyroot]

Why are you going over to her every time she opens her eyes?

Is there a reason?

My baby is a lot younger but sometimes he wakes in the night, makes a few weird noises, I ignore him and he goes back to sleep again.

RESULT

Maybe your baby wouldn't, but why go over each time- am I missing something?

[123456kent]

I do it to avoid her fully waking up. I have tried leaving her but it escalates and then it’s a lot harder to get her back to sleep. I do probably get it wrong sometimes, but when she was younger she was only feeding once, so I was getting it right. Now she is older and waking more it’s leaving me wondering is shecactually hungry? Shoukd I be feeeding her? If we leave her now, on e eyes are open, thats it - rasberries, chatting away, she’s wide awake

[Brittanyspears]

At 6 Months we moved baby into her own room and did sleep training. I still went in twice a night to BF but it meant she self settled at 7pm. Make it cozy for you in her room when you move her. Heating, pillows on chair or bed etc. It feels never ending now but give it another month and things will get better. Hang in there!

[Cheekylittlenumber]

OP I'm having the same dilemma. My DD2 is almost 6 months and her night wakings are getting more frequent and she's more unsettled at night than ever. I'm going back to work in May so need to sort it asap. We've just moved house (staying at in laws while it's being painted) and we have DD1 who's 3.5yrs who climbs into our bed in the night and messes about. We thought we'd move them both together to share a room in the new house which DD1 is really excited about.

I think I'm picking DD2 up too quickly and not letting her self settle at all which is making her really ratty and tired. She's got a cold too so will wait till she's fully better before moving her into her room. It's going to be inconvenient at first getting up to see to her when she's in her own room but I think she's waking out of habit as he feeds for a moment or two in the night- not the same long substantial feeds as she did when she was smaller.

She went from sleeping for six hour chunks to waking every two hours at best. I'm wrecked!

People might say 'she'll sleep through when she's ready' but I think some babies need a bit of encouragement. My DH will offer her water for every other night waking and if she becomes really unsettled i'll feed her but the current set up isn't sustainable for me, and I don't think it's helping her either.

[TroubledLichen]

It’s really normal at that’s age for them to wake up, chat to themselves a bit and go back to sleep. If she’s feeding well in the day and previously did ok on 1 night feed then I think there’s a good chance you are getting her up unnecessarily. With DD, I started ignoring all the little squeaks around that age (basically anything that wasn’t crying) and she started sleeping through. Have you tried leaving her recently to see if she’ll resettle? Do go over and silently pop her dummy back in if it’s fallen out, just don’t get her up. And whilst usually I’d say don’t move her if she’s still feeding at night, in this instance I think you all might sleep better, especially her, if she was in her own room.

[Caterina99]

I moved both of mine into their own rooms before they were night weaned. I couldn’t sleep properly cos of all the noises they make.

My house isn’t that big, so the baby’s cot is only about 6 ft away from my bed even in her own room. But it’s nice to be able to close the door on an evening and be able to use our bedroom. At night I leave the doors open. I have a rocking chair in her room that I use for night feeds. I used to feed my eldest in bed but actually it really hurt my back, so I’ve done pretty much all night feeds in this chair anyway even when she was sleeping in our room, so it makes little difference to me

[fleetingthinker]

Keep in your room but buy earplugs. I made the mistake of moving my first out while night feeding and ended up sleeping on the floor for a year.

Second is still with me at 18 months and went through a waking period but I just shhhed back to sleep from the comfort of my own bed.

[LemonCurdLady]

I’ve just moved my almost 6 month old son into his own room. We had a Snuzpod linked onto the bed and he was rolling out of it into our bed (!) and then waking me up by scratching at my face. Also liked to sooth himself to sleep again by scratching at my face. If I put the sides of the Snuzpod up he would wake himself up by bashing his arms against the sides... i’m making him sound like a wild animal here, he is a very lively child!

Neither of us was getting a good nights sleep as I was so worried about him moving, and constantly being ‘petted’ by him for comfort. He was waking up every time I moved as well.

Anyway, his room is right next to ours so I started with daytime naps in the cot and then moved him in on a nighttime about a week ago. So far we are still waking for feeds 2-3 times a night. However I have made the chair nice and cosy with a throw handy so I can scrape it round my shoulders or whatever. Also have a little box to hand with several bottles of water, snacks and muslins.

I think that despite having to get out of bed fully i’m actually sleeping better in between feeds as I know he is safe, and can still hear him via the monitor - but don’t get up for every little snuggle.

I’ve also realised how good at settling himself he is... now he has the space to do so. He will hold onto a Muslin and play with the tag and drift off by himself which is amazing! It’s helped naps also.

Long essay there, I was so nervous about moving my little one though and a bit sad that he was going into his big cot. It’s been brilliant for us both though 😊

[BellyBean]

My dh couldn't sleep with dd in the room so we moved her at 5 months. It was tough, getting out of the warm bed across the hall.

I got a rocking chair and cosy blanket and that room gets colder so a plug in oil radiator.

More recently we've turned the monitor off. She cries loudly for feeding so I'm not disturbed by the snuffles.

Feeds down to usually 2 around 6 months and the handful of times it's once is creeping up...

[123456kent]

My mum has suggested putting her in there but turning off the monitor but I don’t think she has ever once cried in the night, so i don’t want to start that now. I think she has a long lead up to I’M HUNGRY, or I am extremely sensitive to it, because it hasn’t got to that, but if she was in there on her own it would. I am torn with what to do so in the absence of knowing the right thing I’m leaving as it is, her in our room.
When she does go in there I am dreading feeding sitting on a chair in the cold though, even with a blanket!! Nothing beats bed!

[Ceecee18]

We had this exact same situation with DD, from 5 months was waking twice and this gradually got worse. Put it down to sleep regression/teething/cold until it got to 4 wakes up a night. The day she turned 7 months we put her in her own room out of desperation and she has slept 11 hours every night since. Even removed the sleepyhead and it hasn't ruined it.

We think the noise of us moving around was disturbing here and like you suggested we were going to her too soon once she started to wake and disturbing her more. Also as she could see us when she woke she decided it was play time.

You could go with ear plugs and try not to go to her too soon (unless she cries) and then move into her own room at 6 months. But then sleep deprivation is torture and I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to try her in her own room sooner, especially if she's close to 6 months anyway.