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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Trying to start a routine/sleeping through

7 replies

LanaLily11 · 03/01/2019 11:55

Hi everyone,

I have a baby girl who’s 9 weeks old and EBF. After New Years Eve when my baby ended up being awake until 1am after becoming over stimulated by all the visitors, I have decided I want to avoid anything like this and try and get into a better routine. (Although of course she’s never normally awake until this late)

I try and do bath time around 8.30, straight into the bedroom after where it will be dark, DP gives around 5oz of expressed milk, swaddle her, and put her down around 9.15. She is still waking at around 1.30/2am.

This was fine for me, however I’m now hearing from 3 people I know who’ve got similarly aged babies and they’re all sleeping through! Why isn’t mine?! So last night I tried to do a dream feed around 11pm before I went to sleep - only she still woke up at 2! Is dream feeding pointless? Should I be aiming to get her down for the night later? Or should I just accept she won’t sleep through yet?

TIA

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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Mable2017 · 03/01/2019 12:45

Do you have a sleep aid like Ewan the dream sheep that creates white noise? However, if she is going down well and sleeping well whilst she is asleep I wouldn't put too much pressure on yourself. My daughter slept through from quite young then at 4 months the sleep regression hit us and she was up 5/6 times a night until she was 1! A good routine is key and maybe continue with the dream feed but if you haven't I would definitely invest in a white noise machine!

ClarabellaCTL · 03/01/2019 12:45

That is very young to be sleeping through. It is entirely normal for her to be waking for a feed in the night. My DS1 slept from 11pm until around 6am from about 10 weeks old. I did exactly the same routine with DS2 and he didn't sleep through the night until he was 3 (years, not months!) Honestly they are all so different. If she is going up to 5 hours (from 9pm - 2am) she is doing really well.

Only thing I could suggest is maybe bring her bedtime forward a little, so that she will be ready for a 'dream-feed'? If she's having a feed at 9pm she won't be ready for another one at 11pm. It's not something you can change suddenly. You could bring it forward by 15 mins a night over a couple of weeks, and maybe give her a smaller feed then again she may be more ready for a dream feed.

When you feed her at 2am, is she going back to sleep again? How long for?

Original poster

LanaLily11 · 03/01/2019 12:58

Thanks everyone for your advice. Once she wakes for the 2am feed it then seems to be every 2 hours after that as she falls asleep quickly so doesn’t get a full feed but not sure how to prevent this!

OP posts:

mumeeee · 05/01/2019 20:45

It's unusual for a 9 week old to sleep through. What you are describing about your 9 week old is normal. In fact it is very good she sleeps from 9.15 to 1.30.
At 9 weeks just go with the flow.
Let your baby lead. She is still very littke

Oysterbabe · 05/01/2019 22:18

Her sleep sounds completely normal. My DS has just turned 1 and has only started sleeping through most nights in the last few weeks. I consider him to be a good sleeper. My DD didn't sleep through regularly until she was 2.

Buglife · 06/01/2019 20:21

Her sleep sounds normal. Babies and toddlers can wake at night for months and sometimes years. It’s normal and only stress and upset will come from trying to train a 9 week old baby. Maximise your sleep by keeping her as near as possible to feed and hold her a lot. That’s what babies need. She’s acting as she should, feeding every 2 hours is what they do, tiny stomachs! What a ‘full feed’ is varies so no way to decide what is and isn’t a full feed. It’s hard to be tired but that’s what babies do. Try and get rest in the day and naps if your partner is around to take her.

Jandapanda · 07/01/2019 10:34

I am currently going through similar situation with my 15 week old. This is my second so I know not to expect my baby to sleep through the night for months to come. My health visitor once told me that babies by nature meant to feed at night as those feeds set your milk supply for the day to come. That's why they feed longer and almost dry you out. Are those friends whose babies sleep through the night EBF or FF as this is completely different matter. Formula is heavier on baby's tummy and keeps them fuller for longer.

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