help need my 3 mth old to sleep through the night have i got a hope in hell?

[LoveMyGirls]

ok so last night was the 4th night in a row that i havent fed her in the night, trying to get her to eat more in the day and hopefully sleep through the night but im now absolutely exhausted can someone please tell me if i should quit trying for a while or if i've come this far i should carry it on?

The first night she slept from 11.30 - 6.30am (without any help from me, shes done this a few times)
2nd night she woke at 3.30am and i kept putting her dummy back in on and off until 6am when i fed her.
3rd night she woke at 5am and she fell back to sleep at 6.15am and then woke for a feed at 7.20am
4th night - she woke at 4.45am she fell back to sleep at 5.15am and woke to be fed at 5.50am (i gave in at this point because i was exhausted)

i have tried cuddling her, giving her fennel juice (which she doesnt like and wont entertain) i keep putting her dummy back in and putting her light show on. Am i evil for doing this should i give up or am i close to cracking it? gotta say this morning i didnt feel like id made any progress and im just putting us all through hell it would just be easier short term to feed her.

i have to get up at 7am so i cant sleep when she sleeps as dd1 is only 6 and needs me.

What shall i do?

At 3 months she will wake up in the night. Personally if it's quicker to feed her and pop her back to bed and she settles well I would do that.

A couple of years on Mumsnet have shown me unscientifically that babies go weird at 4 months. So even if you cracked it now, she is likely to have another weird stage.

So in short it's not worth it.

3 months is fairly early for sleeping through, and agree with Boby - even if she is now she probably won't be in a months time. It sounds as if you can get a decentish stretch and I would look at ways of making the feeding and putting back to bed as painless a process as possible.

agree

Ds slept through the night at 13 weeks.
He is now 23 months and has done it every night, even through teething & everything else.

From week 1 - wk 12 he was on a rough Gina Ford routine and woke up at 10.30pm and 2.30am, on th dot, for a feed, and was then asleep again within two minutes.

During week 13 he naturally dropped one of his feeds.
Then went to sleeping through.

So, your dd has occasionally slept through - well, yippee for that, atleast.

On the other nights, I just wondered, why are you witholding milk, why trying to pacify her with a dummy etc, and keeping yorself up all night ?

If she is only waking up once, give her milk. And then you all can go straight back to bed !!!
She has already showns signs of sleeping through, thus I predict that she will drop this last feed, VERY SOON, of her own accord, Naturally.

But that is just my own personal opinion and suggestion. You don't have to follow any of my suggestions.
What does your heart tell you ?

Lovemygirls, I agree with those that say 3 months maybe too young for dd to sleep through. All babies differ.

The reason why I say that is that DS1 slept through at 6 weeks old (10.30pm until 7am). Thought DS2 would do the same. However, he didn't do it until he was 3 months old and then he did 7pm until 7am (???) No rhyme nor reason for why they differed. Both were on a loose GF routine.

Good luck whatever course of action you take. I am somone who loves her sleep so I do sympathise

do you do a dream feed??

Most mothers would want their children to sleep through at 3 mths.

Many children do.
Many children don't.

There are many, many threads discussing this.
Why is it that some children do and other siblings, of the same parents, don't - it's a mystery !!!

But if your child is sleeping through some nights and only waking once for one milk feed on the other nights, then that's not bad - I'm mean for a sleep deprived mother - and we all understand that - that's just about do'able, right ?

Agree with comments made. And not that surprised that she didn't like fennel juice!
Why fennel? I thought babies that young only 'liked' milk?

Golly, I'm doing at least two and sometimes three feeds at night and ds is nearly five months! But honestly, we get far more sleep than we would if I just left him to cry himself off to sleep. He needs it. Three months is just too young lovemygirls, I honestly don't think you can force it.

Feed her when she wakes. She is only three months old and she clearly needs the feed. her needs will vary with growth spurts, and you may well find that if you had fed her at 3.30 am she (and you) would have slept right through until morning which has to be less exhausting than fannying around with dummies all night. A hungry baby won't sleep.

Agree. 3 months is very young to sleep through - some do, but tbh most babies I know don't, at least not on a regular basis. I think 3-4 months was when I was most knackered from lack of sleep, as sleep deprivation is cumulative...I feel for you, but sounds as though your little one needs her feeds!

my ds1 slept through at 8 months
ds2 is now 18 weeks and shops no signs of sleping through yet. In fact he is doind the every two hours thing just now.
I know how hard it is, and I've a toddler too [manic]

IMO they find their own way through this, all you can do is make the conditions right so that they will sleep through, ie not rock them too long if you rock them back to sleep etc, lights low, ie hoping they will get themselves back to skeep and don't actually need you once they stop being hunngry at night
hth and sorry it doesn't solve the problem for you, just sympathises

thanks for all your replies i guess it is the answer i was expecting as from tonight i am going back to feeding her when she wakes n yippee if she doesnt wake its not worth stressing us both out, its the gina ford book that kinda talked me into believing she should be sleeping through by now - silly me for believing everything i read - why doesnt gina put an alternative to what you should be doing if your precious child is not doing what it says in the book, up to now jess has done very well with the routine and i should be very thankful for that i get more me time than alot of mothers, she goes down at 7pm and i dreamfeed her at 11ish then she sleeps until between 3-5am then i usually feed her and she goes back down until 7am im going to stick with that for now because this week has about killed me im like a walking zombie and with dd1 being off school as well im not getting chance to catch up on sleep.

Have to add though she is a contented baby and i was a contented mum til i got it into my head that she was sposed to be sleeping through - will now lift weight off my shoulder and carry on being contented

Good for you! Hope Santa brings you one, glorious, uninterrupted sleep - or the stamina to cope without

My DD2 slept through from just before she was 3 months. We gave her a dummy from 2 weeks old which we found hindered her because if she didn't have it in her mouth she would cry so we took it off her and went cold turkey for a few days. She soon found a thumb. Recommend a book by Dr Richard Ferber called Solve your Childs Sleep Problems. Used it for DD1 (slept through from 5 months within a week of reading it) and for DD2 (because we had the experience of the book).

you need this ds3 had it and slept through from 6 weeks. Stayed in it until about 10 months, is 1 next week and now does 12 hours in a cot. Wish I'd had it for my first 2. I'm considering selling, but I love it so much not sure I can part with it- have images of my grandchildren sleeping in it- although can imagine a future daughter in laws reaction to a 20 year old hsmmock)