sleeping through the night at 9 weeks - too early to try?

[angelaj1]

Not sure whetherits too early to do cc on my 9 week old? he has dropped his middle of the night feed but still waking at 4 every morning but not due to hunger - was in a bad habit of taking him to mt bed eevry night which settled him straight away but don't want to get into bad habits
Dummy settles him but falls out about 4 times a night - should I try cc or just think myself lucky for what I have - any thoughts or similar experiences?

They don't recommend that you control cry until at least 6 months and 9 weeks is far too early. You'll find hardly any child has slept through by this age. My dd went through pretty early and that was at 12 weeks and she was bottle fed which often means sleeping through earlier.
I would pick him to calm him if he's getting upset, have a little cuddle and then put him back down in his bed. Don't turn on any lights and perhaps sing to him, but make it as night-like as possible.
How much is he sleeping during the day and what time is he going to bed?

Yup

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how do you know he's not hungry? my dd was feeding alot more often than once a night at 9 weeks

he's still so tiny, please don't try and force him into a routine at this age, he just needs you to provide for him at this stage..., feed him, change him and cuddle him.

you can worry about routines and 'good' habits when he's old enough to understand (i wouldn't bother til 1year tbh, when they understand object permeance and know yyou'll come back for them and can understand to some degree what your saying to them)

far far far far too early. He needs you close to him and he needs you to feed him. That's why he settles straight away in bed with you - that is what he needs. It's not bad habits.

Just be happy with what you have, because this tiny baby stage is too too short, and in the blink of an eye he will be walking, talking and fighting, he won't need you as much and you will regret not taking the cuddles when they were there. It will be gone in a flash.

thanks all for your advice - will leave the cc sounds a bit heart wrenching anyway and would much prefer he gets to this stage by himself
he has only ever wanted one feed in the middle of the night since he was born as he feeds so well in the day and is bottle fed too

Jambot - did the night feedings just keep getting later and later for yours?

thank you for everyones advice - I am quite surprised by some of these reponses though as I am just seeking others opinions as a first time mum and I seem to have incurred the wrath of half of the respondants for asking
I would ask you to remember back to this stage yourself with all the uncertainties and the conflicting information being thrown at you from all angles

angelaj1 - My dd is now nearly 10 months old. In the beginning she woke very frequently but around twelve weeks she started to get in a better "routine" - going to sleep earlier, dropping the mid-night feeds and sleeping later

It will soon change, its hard to get through it but stick with what you are doing, knackering but you soon forget I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job.

At 9 weeks my ds suddenly decided that he could sleep 11 hours a night without a feed (which was fabulous, considering he ate every 2 hours, night and day, for the 1st 5 weeks).

So presumably some of them are capable of going through the night without feeding at that age, but presumably it differs from baby to baby.

mine would sleep through (at 11 weeks), well from 9-7 but I wake her to feed her . Did nothing to get her to do this other than carry her around and demand feed endlessly for as long as she wanted

I would say 9 weeks is miles too early for cc and would say it is defintely hunger

(get rid of the dummy while you are about it )

Anjela - My DD's feeds went pretty much like this:-
6:45am, 10:45am, 2:45pm, 6:30pm(this done in a darkened room, after bath, no talking, eye contact, burp, cuddle, straight into bed). Let her sleep (never woke her for a feed at night), she would wake at about 2ish for a feed. It was always about that time, until suddenly at 12 weeks she went through until 6:30am.
What feeds are you doing at the moment?

yes dummies are crap

Would also try and scrap the dummy before he really gets used to it. I gave DD a small ' tag blankie' (size of handkerchief). Put it in your bra for an hour or two before laying it in his bed where his head will be lying. It will smell of you and he will associate the softness of the blankie with you. When he is older put it in his hands when laying him down and allow him to play with the fabric. It worked very well for DD and it's the first thing she reaches for now when she goes for a nap/bedtime. (She's 16 months)

dd now 9 weeks from day 1 went to bed after a big cluster feed ending at 9pm, then woke at 12, fed her back sleep, then the same at 3am, then 6am, then we'd get up properly for a 9am feed. she then dropped the midnight one at around 6 weeks, and now goes to bed at 8pm and just wakes at 4am for a feed, then she's up properly at around 7am. she's done this herself, i just follow her lead. i was always so amazed at how 'punctual' she was.

agree re balnkie or a cuddly

Absolutely nothing wrong with a dummy if it is just used for naps and night time. Angela, your ds sounds totally normal and I would think is definitely hungry by 4am - babies have tiny tums and if you are bfing the milk is digested more quickly and easily. Try and think positively about being woken in the night - it is a lovely quiet time for a big cuddle with no other distractions.

I was one of the really lucky ones. DS started sleeping through by himself at about 5.5 weeks, from about 10pm to 6am! I count my blessings and think it will be just my luck the next one (due in November) will be a little monster that wakes 10 times a night!
I agree with many of the others though, that 9 weeks is too early for controlled crying as at this age he just wouldn't understand. I would try offering a feed even if you think hes not hungry as it can also be a comfort thing and help him settle back down quickly. I know it can't be easy and there is nothing worse than sleep deprivation, but I think you just have to grin and bear it and in no time at all he should be sleeping through.

My dd ( bottlefed)slept from 7 til 3 from about 2 weeks old. After a couple of weeks of this i introduced a dream feed (exactly as it sounds - do not wake them, just feed and place back in cot when you are on way to bed) hey presto she slept through at 6 weeks until 6.30am which at 12 weeks we ignored until at least 7am (not as bad as it sounds as she wasn't crying, just playing in cot awake). HTH

my ds started sleeping through from 7pm till 7am from about 10 weeks. had to go through the controlled crying though but it was well worth the hard work as it only took 3 days

Is your baby in the room with you, if so it might be that he is just stirring and if left to his own devices may settle down. If he is crying I would say its way too early to try cc for more than a few minutes as once per night isn't bad for a 9 week old, although I do know how horrendous it is to be woken up in the night and empathise.
As I see your original post is a couple of weeks old now, has he changed his habits at all?

Hello
Resumed the feeding when he woke at 4am and strangely enough he started to sleep later the very next night (?) he now wakes grumbling just after 5am - if he was sleeping in a seperate room I probably wouldn't notice but as his cot is next to my bed I give him 2 ounces to settle him (he still makes loud grunting noises for about 30 minutes afterwards though)
Feeling less stressed about it now - was just worried that this might be an ongoing thing for months on end as my sisters baby was waking 15 times a night at 6 months wanting her dummy and desperately didn't want to get into that situation
he is a very happy baby so am just accepting my lot and am sure he will get through to the magic 7 when he's ready (hopefully soon!)

thanks for everyones advice