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Original poster

Whats' your sleeping through the night tip?

28 replies

peaches27 · 13/04/2006 20:10

Sleeping through the night hints and tips - how do you get em to do it and what is the secret of your success? OK Ive read Gina Ford and I dont want to get up at 7am thank you ... I am also worried about my mums favourite tip (rusk in the bottle).

I tried hungrier baby milk at night on advice of HV but she sicked most of it up and her vomit was really thick and curdy.

OP posts:
morningpaper · 13/04/2006 20:12

How old is baby Peaches?

Nbg · 13/04/2006 20:13

No real secret but the dream feed really was a dream.
DD slept from 10/11pm till 8/9am.

She also fed exactly every 4 hours from about 2 days old, don't know if that had anything to do with it either.

starlover · 13/04/2006 20:13

how old is she? I think they just do it when they're ready to be honest.

ds slept through at 12 weeks... nothing I did, he just did it one night and we never looked back!

Gillian76 · 13/04/2006 20:13

Depends on the age of the baby. Would definitely not recommend a rusk in the bottle.

After the first few months I'm not convinced waking up is due to hunger, just their stage of development or later habit.

Getting up at 7am sounds heaven with a baby, btw Wink

Seona1973 · 13/04/2006 20:16

Depends how old they are really. If they are under 6 months old they may still need a night feed and I always gave myself up till that point before I would try to do anyhting about night feeds. DD gave up her last night feed at 5 1/2 months of her own accord so didnt need to do anything anyway!!

Evidence suggests that giving solids makes no difference to sleeping patterns and giving them in a bottle is a choking hazard so not advised. (Reduced sugar rusks are also still 20% sugar so not something I would want to give to a young baby).

p.s. My dd was weaned from 4 months (guidelines at the time) and she still never slept through for another month and a half so it is not a guarantee of a good nights sleep.

LilacBump · 13/04/2006 20:18

when DD first slept through at 6 weeks, she slept from about 11pm until 5-6am at first, then managed longer stretches as the days went on. she was (formula) fed every 3-4 hours and had a good feed late at night.

Original poster
peaches27 · 13/04/2006 20:23

She is 4 1/2 months. She wakes every 3-4 hours for feed. Always feed around 10-11 pm before we go to bed. She is now in her own room.

OP posts:
starlover · 13/04/2006 20:27

how much does she have in her 11pm bottle?

velcrobott · 13/04/2006 20:29

try water at the night feed? worked for us...

Gillian76 · 13/04/2006 20:30

I really would say 4.5 months is still young. Give it a couple of months and then see.

Original poster
peaches27 · 13/04/2006 21:05

It varies Starlover. Usually about 4-5 oz. She never takes more than 5oz a feed. She has only gone on to full time formula feeds recently, and is a bit of a fussy feeder. We use Dr Browns bottles for that reason and she is best with those. I am her grandma, her mother breast fed her for 4 months then for reasons I wont go into here, her mummy left her and her big brother with me. I know through raising my own that they will do it in their own time and there is no real secret, I was just interested to know if anyone else had a theory.

She usually goes back to sleep without a problem after a 1.30-2 am feed and after a 5,30 am feed and will sleep in until 8 or 9, which suits me. I suppose its a small price to pay for not getting up at the crack of dawn ... the days are long enough anyway!

OP posts:
morningpaper · 13/04/2006 21:15

gosh good luck peaches, you are doing a marvellous job

NotAnOtter · 13/04/2006 21:16

wrap her - tightly - black out room!

Chandra · 13/04/2006 21:25

Peaches, is this your first one? waking up at 7 seems like good time for us, DS never slept later than that through out his first two years no matter how late we sent him to sleep/how much he was feed.

If she is not weaned yet (And I don't expect to be given the current guidelines) I find difficult for her to sleep through at this age unless it was one of those rare babies that can sleep through from very early on their lives. I would start by a long feed at seven, another long one just before you go to bed, and pray she sleeps as long as possible but, it is difficult for a bay who is feeding every 3-4 hrs to suddenly be able to sleep past 7 am having had a last feed hours before midnight.

Chandra · 13/04/2006 21:26

cross posted!

Chandra · 13/04/2006 21:27

P.S> Mine was taking 7-8 oz per feed by the time and was one month into weaning when he finally slept through the night.

Agree with the others that you are doing a fantastic job :)

kama · 13/04/2006 21:31

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kama · 13/04/2006 21:32

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Ledodgy · 13/04/2006 21:34

I think the secret to this is to have a big baby they tend to hold more milk in their tummies because they're bigger and therefore sleep longer earlier on. This of course isn't a universal truth i'm sure there are exceptions.

expectingsummerihope · 14/04/2006 10:57

My secret is get sloshed so I don't hear ds when he wakes at 3am singing Old Macdonald Had A Farm........oh you mean how do you get baby to sleep through?!! Haven't a clue but would rob, pillage and murder for the secret Envy

expectingsummerihope · 14/04/2006 10:59

Oh and ledodgy - yep mine is an exception (91b, 3 oz) still not sleeping through at 23 months.

razzamatazz · 14/04/2006 11:01

A bit Gina Ford but I did find that the dream feed at about 10:30 helps. My dd slept through from about 9/10 weeks but her sleep got terrible a few months ago when she was about 1. I had to resort to controlled crying in the end but would not recommend this for a young baby.

jambot · 15/04/2006 14:23

My DD slept through from about 14 weeks. Till then, bottle fed only when she woke me - anything from 12:30 to 2:30. Then slept through till 6:30/7ish. I know you're not keen but the 7 to 7 daily routine worked very well for us. Gets them into going to bed at a reasonable hour from early on, so that you've got your evenings too yourself. DD now in bed by 6ish as she's dropped a nap (13 months). Also kept interference during her night feed to a minimum. Dark room, no talking, eye contact etc. Soon as she finished her feed, quick cuddle whilst getting a burp up and then straight back into her bed. Introduced a blankie as a comforter from an early age too.

Original poster
peaches27 · 16/04/2006 23:07

Yeah, now I think back, my son did sleep through, but got up at 6-630 until he was at school I think, so the 7am thing must be the trick. But basically at the moment I cant be arsed. Our routine will change next week when grandson changes from afternoon nursery to mornings ...

Oh and the grobag seems to be a good thing for sleep. but doesnt prolong it! I will get one for the whole family!!!

OP posts:
Oblomov · 16/04/2006 23:26

We are the same as starlover - ds 12 weeks. 2 years later, NEVER woken up, not even once, in the night.
But, unfortunatly, I don't have any advice.
There doesn't seem to be any reason or logic as to why some chldren do.
There are many threads, showing one sibling sleeping through and another not - I mean how could you ever explain that ?
Its a mystery !
Sorry, thats not helpful, is it ?Blush