Settling baby on a night

[user1494270143]

Hi,

I was wondering how you all settle your little ones on a night after a bottle. I find my little boy (4 weeks old) is more alert on a night after a feed and can sometimes take him 3 hours to get back to sleep after a bottle!

Any tips on what you all do would be appreciated 🙂

Can't help but having the same problem so watching with interest!

Hi, I’m not bottle feeding (currently ebf 12 week old DS) but don’t know if I can offer a bit of help..
What’s your current routine/night time pattern? (I’m not at all suggesting you should have a regimented routine in place by 4 weeks old by the way!)

A few things that helped us..
*Changing nappy before the night feed, as DS seemed to wake up more as I changed him and the feed settled him back to sleep
*Keeping it as dark and quiet as possible at night time when he wakes, don’t make eye contact or interact with him like you would in the day
*White noise playing in the background, seems to help my DS stay settled for longer.

Hope that’s of some help!

Oh I see! Usually he’s been feeding around 10\11, I change his nappy before feeding so his bottle will help settle him. But it just seems to take forever for him to fall asleep and his arms and legs start waving everywhere with his eyes wide open. He tries to prop his head up to look around even though I’m sat in the darkness haha! It’s like he gets a burst of energy after the feed and he’s the same when he wakes up in the night.

So do you just change his nappy during the night if he’s pood/if his nappy is really heavy then? As I’ve been changing it regardless whenever he woke but having though about it now he hates having his nappy changed and screams his head off so maybe that wakes him fully?!

Thank you for your reply, it’s much appreciated ☺️

Only change his nappy if he’s poo’d at night!

Have you tried swaddling him in a blanket? My DS only tolerated it when he was tiny but that can help the flailing limbs and stop him startling himself awake again.
I agree with PotteringAlong only change him if you really need to, I used to do the same but nappies can hold a lot more ‘moisture’ than you think! If it’s not bothering him, don’t prolong the torture, so to speak lol. X

I only change 5mo DS nappy at night if he has pooped. White noise and swaddling does the trick for me if he can't settle.

You only need to change the nappy if he's poo'd otherwise I wouldn't bother as it will wake him up too much. Also swaddling is great for babies at this age as it stops the flailing arms and startling.

With my dd I would always change the nappy when she woke at night and I had the same problem as you. The health visitor told me not to bother with nappy changes unless absolutely necessary. I followed this advice and it helped sort out the long nighttime awakenings.

Try swaddling

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will definitely try the only changing nappy when necessary tonight and see how we get on. I’ve tried swaddling him but he seems to get frustrated with his arms not being out!

I’m sorry but I’m a nappy changer at night even if it’s just a wee- but tbf I do it whilst my DH gets her bottle. We only use a torch from a phone to light up the room -it’s a quick nappy change, no playing or anything really - straight with the bottle and straight on my chest to wind and she will nearly always fall asleep. When she does cry whilst her bottle is being made, I will usually pop her dummy in as she only has it for sleep and it’s to show it’s not wake up time.

By all means try the no nappy change, but put a bit of sudacrem on the night before to act as a skin barrier!

You can also try a layer of Vaseline on the bum to protect against nappy rash. HV recommend to me with my first, she felt sudcream can be too strong, not sure i agree, but Vaseline is a better barrier in my experience and stopped the nappy rash problem we had.

Though i am second time around with a 5 week old DS and having some problems with his sleep. I think mine is linked to overtiredness and colic. It can take us hours to get him to sleep. He is ebf, but not just falling asleep on the boob. As soon as i wind (which is essential for the colic) he wakes up looking around! Even if v drowsy. It's driving me nuts... Aim for tomorrow is to get all his naps spot on and early to bed in the vain hope we can improve his settling..... Or he may just be one of those babies who doesn't sleep!

Also using white noise to quite good effect... Makes me and hubby sleepy too!

Good luck... Hope you crack it soon

Another vote for less nappy changes. Also quite early on I got in the habit of turning the white noise on as soon as she stirred (if it was only a couple hours since the last feed) and she would resettle and not wake again for another hour or more. I think this helped her self settle at night and encouraged her to sleep for longer periods.