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Parenting

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Original poster

water/soothers at night

12 replies

twinsandra · 06/11/2007 10:06

my dts are 5 months and still wake at night. dp and i are shattered, especially dp as he has to get up for work. we all share a room and dts share a cot- this is all we can do because of space at the moment.

i was advised to stop feeding in the night as they aren't really hungry and it is more habit that they wake, but we have been doing this for 10 nights now and they still aren't giving up and sleeping through (the idea being they would decide water wasn't worth waking for).

has anyone else tried this and did it work? would it have worked by now if it was going to?

also dd cried for ages last night even when given water and would only stop when cuddled. it makes me wonder if they are waking for comfort. they have soothers, but can't put them back in themselves and anyway we would like to get rid of them soon. i want them to be able to get themselves back to sleep in the night, but i can't leave them crying- for starters dp and i find it unbearable and secondly our bachelor next door neighbour who's bedroom is on the other side of the wall to ours would be furious!

any advice much appreciated

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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juuule · 06/11/2007 10:12

Never worked for any of mine when they were waking in the night. We just got up and gave them what they needed. In time they stopped waking up. Sorry, not really what you wanted to hear

Baffy · 06/11/2007 10:18

ds is 2.3 and is still waking for water in the night (sorry - not what you wanted to hear )

but if they want a drink and the comfort of a drink then they will continue to wake

if you fed them would it help them to settle quicker and sleep better with full tummies?

you may just have to keep feeding them for now for a quiet(er) life

sorry - I know how hard it is. but 5 months is still very young and they may well be hungry?

ImBarryScott · 06/11/2007 10:18

I stopped feeding my Dd at night when she starting only taking a couple of ounces. She protested angrily on the first night, but not after that. Perhaps if they are still crying 10 days on it might be worth going back to what you were doing before.
FWIW, DD still woke sometimes at 6mths, even after we stopped feeding her at night. So not feeding is not necessarily the cure for night waknigs!

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Seona1973 · 06/11/2007 10:48

5 months is still young to sleep through - my dd slept through at 5 1/2 months but my ds didnt do it till 8 months. It was easier to feed and get them back to sleep rather than fight with them with water, etc. They both gave up the feed of their own accord.

If your lo's are waking multiple times then it could be the dummy that is the culprit so it might be worth getting rid of them - do it for day sleep first and then they are more used to being without the dummy when it comes to night-time.

Unless your lo's are very well established on solids then they could also be waking with hunger - why not make it easier on all of you and just feed them if they wake in the night - better that than being awake half the night with them.

Original poster

twinsandra · 06/11/2007 12:47

Thanks, I'm probably just being a bit impatient. I don't think they are hungry as they get solids at 5pm and 5 to 6 oz of milk at 7 pm (they dropped the 11pm feed naturally months ago and when I tried reinstating it in the hope they would sleep the rest of the night they just said "thank you very much we will have both feeds", so I gave up again).

I'm trying to get rid of the soothers now and have given them some taggies as replacement comforters so maybe that will have an effect... if not I guess I'll have to stick with the coffees!

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ImBarryScott · 06/11/2007 13:09

twinsandra, I found that ditching DD's dummy at 6mths was the most positive thing I ever did in terms of helping my DD sleep. I know lots of people find it doesn't interfere one but with their DC's sleep, but it did with mine.
I will admit here we had lots of tears on day (and night!) one and two without the dummy (up to 30mins at nap/sleep times), but she forgot it so quickly. It was actually easier than I thought. If you don't want as much crying, the No Cry Sleep Solution has advice on gentler ways to ditch the dummy.

Hamishsmummy · 06/11/2007 20:38

My 5 month old ds has been waking twice in the night for feeds in the last week (used to be only once). I've been going with it as like the guys above say, it's easier to settle him with a full tum! Am v v v v tired tho and hope it doesn't last until he's 8 months zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Original poster

twinsandra · 06/11/2007 23:24

Well we managed all day without the dummy, with them only having one 15 minute cry each, and they went to bed at 7.30pm with no dummy and not a peep since. We shall see if I succumb in the night....

OP posts:

Baffy · 07/11/2007 09:49

sounds like it was going well

how did the rest of the night go?

Original poster

twinsandra · 08/11/2007 10:32

The night was horrid, but I tghink that was because of not feeding after all and now they seem to be having a growth spurt! I have gone back to the night feed though and will give them some more time as I'm probably rushing them.

On the dummy front though we seem to have sucess as they haven't had them since I took them away Monday morning!

OP posts:

Baffy · 08/11/2007 15:51

Great news about the dummys.

And fwiw I think you're doing the right thing with regards to the feeds.

I know how exhausting it is at the time - but like all things children related this phase will pass soon enough, I promise!

ImBarryScott · 08/11/2007 20:55

well done re the dummies

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