2 hourly feeds at night - 4 months

[Newmummy39]

Hi,

So, my 18 week old is going through the dreaded sleep regression. Each night he's waking every 2 hours and he feeds EVERY time (I'm solely bf) know by now he shouldn't be feeding that often. He also feeds a lot during the day too (every 2/3 hours) does anyone have any tips on how I start to drop the night feeds even during the sleep regression stage?

Many thanks!

Unfortunately it pretty much will sort itself out, but you could try a couple of things.

Feed or at least offer every 2 hours in the day. This should yank him up with calories and hopefully contact as they need plenty of that as well

Get him outside as much as possible. It's been proven that daylight aids sleep, so when he's woken up in the morning, get him fed and changed and get outside, even if you just walk him around the garden and show him the flowers. If you've got a DH/DP he might be able to do the changing whilst you have a shower

Hello! No advice here I’m afraid but I am in exactly the same position with my four month old too, first time mum here so I have no idea what to do haha

Good luck to you and let me know if anything works (besides time)

@BunnyRuddington thank you!

@KO2018

I don't know how, but from early on I've managed to have a bedtime routine that's worked. It's play, read, bath, massage, fresh night clothes and boob. Guaranteed he will go down at the same time every night! At the moment he will only do the 2 hours whereas before he would do sometimes 4 and if I was lucky 5. If you have a routine at bed time definitely stick to it. If not, try to start one now maybe? It just gives you that little bit of time to either get into bed and sleep, read, what tv or whatever.
How I've coped with this sleep regression so far is not caring if he sleeps on me. I put him down for a nap every 1.5/2.5 hours and if it means him being rocked to sleep on me and then laying on me, so be it. He did 90 minutes in one hit yesterday and the rest were 30 mins , but he slept better. Don't get me wrong he was up every 2 to 2.5 hours and at 3am it took me 4 attempts and 1 hour to get him back to sleep (he was rolling over and trying to crawl - lol) but I think maybe just get him to nap as much as he can and however he can in the day and then have a lovely little routine you stick at so he knows it's bed time and not to do list time. I'm probably waffling and have made zero sense, but I hope you get a little something from this. Good luck! I'm with you in spirit. It's tough going ❤️❤️❤️

Hi @Newmummy39 thats so funny we have been doing exactly that since she was just a few weeks old! And yes it worked an absolute dream. I am probably complaining too much as we get a good sleep out of her from around 7. It used to be 7-12 but now it’s anywhere between 10:30 or 11:30.

The bedtime routine is absolutely the best thing we have done but need to eat dinner so unfortunately her best sleep is not when I’m asleep! I go to sleep by around nine.

But after midnight it’s all feed feed feed. Last night was ludicrous she woke up hourly!! By the fifth wake up I didn’t believe she was hungry, she’s just grinning up at me eyes wide open cheeky little thing. So I rocked her to sleep that time.

Perhaps she’s just popping awake because life is all too exciting!

@KO2018 gosh, my little one sounds just like yours. Yes, meal times are a thing of the past for us unless we eat @ 6 and then from 7 it's bed time routine. He's down by 8 and like your little one he is awake pretty much every hour or so from 2, but can do a couple of hours. You said naps are also all over the shop and brief. What is she doing nap wise?
They're definitely going through the regression stage. They're like 'Mum, i have got a huge to do list to get through and sleep is not on that list' ha.

The past few nights I've not fed him every time as he's definitely not hungry the little monkey 😂 xx

Hiya @Newmummy39 napwise there’s no routine, I’m trying but she tends to fall asleep at the breast which throws the whole thing off.

Every morning she does a walk with Daddy in the bjorn and sleeps from about 7:30-9

She’s generally asleep at 11am as well. Her naps are normally about 40 minutes to an hour. I didn’t even realise at first they needed to nap all this time in the day as well! Dur This baby lark seems like fine tuned scientific experiment sometimes!

How about you?

Awww I love the walk with daddy! Definitely what they're "supposed" to nap wise after waking up. Good girl

@KO2018 wooops! Sent to soon.

He used to do 2-3 hours naps and now he's 40 minute max! I do follow and app called huckleberry so it gives you the sweet spot of naps. It has helped! I also sent off f or a plan, it came back and as much as it is amazing, it's too much for me to deal with atm. So much information where I think it's just going to stress me out!

Me too! Here's me thinking that I'd be out and about with him constantly and doing whatever, but my gosh what was I thinking? You're so right, it literally is! X

@newmummy39 I’m the same with apps, I go through phases where I decide I definitely need to get organised and have an app - three days later I am like oh screw it I’m so out of it I can’t even work out how to put my shoes on the right way, this app stuff is beyond me!!

Let me know how you go, perhaps our babies will follow the same sleep development :)

( it helps that she is at PEAK CUTE right now. )

@KO2018 Totally! Do you have friends who have recently had babies? I only have one (but she's a mum of 1 already so it's different) I'm 40 this year, so all of my friends have had their babies and as much as they try to help I genuinely feel like they've totally forgotten what they did, how their babies were - I also feel that each baby is so different.

Oh same! When he wakes up, lifts his little head and smiles at me all those sleepless nights are forgotten.

It's such a crazy world isn't it?

Do you think the pandemic has caused us to feel a little abandoned too?

@Newmummy39 Well I do have a few friends that have had babies pretty recently, and they are slightly ahead of the game it feels. Also they are all city folk and I am out in the sticks, without a driving license if you can believe... The pandemic has made it even more annoying to sort that out, as my theory test expired and I have to wait months to rebook that, and can’t even get a test booked until after that’s done! So who knows when I’ll be mobile :|

I managed to organise my own mums group within walking distance though, which is nice.

Yes it does feel a bit like being just left to it tbh …but there’s positives and negatives to that. It’s nice not to feel alone also but sometimes it’s feels overwhelming to hear too much about what everyone else is doing (and then realising/thinking you’ve been doing it wrong!)

I am improvising at the end of the day….! I’m sure that you are doing amazing, every mum to me now seems like an SAS soldier/superhero

Hi @Newmummy39 how is it going?

Hi @KO2018

How are you??

So, i think it's getting better, although it could be that I've adjusted to the lack of sleep and have embraced motherhood 100% - ha.

He's been napping for longer than 30 mins for a few days - nights seem to be 4 hours and then every 3 until he wakes up at around 6 (he goes down at 7:30/8:30). I have also become less regimented about it all. He goes down when he's tired at the sweet spot every time and wherever I've been he's slept (my mums, mother in laws etc.) I've also taking him to a baby a sensory class each week along with his swimming, so it means I'm having to sometimes let him go longer than 2 hours between naps if we are out/there. He fell asleep within seconds after his baby sensory class. He's napping in the day in his own room as I think he's definitely starting to out grow his snuz pod.

How is everything with you???

Xxxx

It’s so funny, our babies really on the same schedule! She is also going around three hours between feeds at night but her long sleep from 7/7:30 is (sometimes) four hours… but she’s still sticking to her three feeds a night. She’ll have a lie in for a bit longer now too.

She’s self settled a couple times! So now I’m trying that all the time with very little effect haha

My girl also sleeps well in other places.

Still can’t believe sleep is still such a mission at this age!! But you’re right you kind of get used to it. Best of luck to us both !!

Six months is just around the corner……

It's so "nice" to know that someone is going through such a similar time, it makes me feel like I'm not alone or that I'm doing anything wrong! The health visitor has said to go straight into finger food in a few weeks, so I'm going to definitely try that with help from my Mum . Have you thought about starting to wean?
Oh I do hope 6 months is more of a turning point hey?

Xx

Hi - same here! Makes me feel better too :P

I had thought about weaning but everyone says wait until six months… like with everything! I feel like she needs a 6-month party to celebrate being in her own room, sleeping through the night, solid food, going in her bouncer, facing out in the bjorn, rolling over, sitting up and everything else that she’s supposed suddenly be doing at that magical point

Ha ha! I think as a mummy you will definitely know when the right time is for everything! I'm putting LO in his own room tonight. He's outgrown his snuz pod and I feel so cruel putting him in there when it's too small for him. I'm so nervous about it and it's going to be a restless night, but what's new? I'm knackered anyway! 😂 x