How many hours did your 2/3 month old sleep at night?

[Hope54321]

Hey guys,

How many hours did your baby sleep at night at 2/3 months ?

For those whose babies didn’t sleep much during the night, how did you cope with less sleep?

Any tips on trying to get baby to sleep before midnight? My baby can be awake until 2am! And then sleeps and wakes every 1 or 2 hours for a feed.

[Betsy7]

@FATEdestiny

Your baby sounds (very) sleep deprived.

So do you, but you're an adult and can cope. Your baby is less able to cope with sleep deprivation.

You dont mention babys age.

It's not normal nor healthy for a pre-6 month old to be awake for longer than 2h in any one go, day or night. I'd suggest you need some guidance on different ways to help your baby get to sleep, because it doesn't just happen and often significant work and effort is needed to help baby sleep well.

I sincerely hope nobody believes the rubbish you have just spouted. If you are going to make claims which are not scientifically based or helpful then don’t bother.

Aslong as your baby is gaining weight then medical advice is clear that you can continue to allow their night sleep to be led by them so it is entirely healthy.

[FATEdestiny]

jamie980 over tired and in discomfort present as the same thing. So I tend to first eliminate the non-medical (over tired) before medicising the issue.

Have you tried seeing if baby will drop to sleep upright on your shoulder with a dummy (as you sway)? This would help if baby has wind.

In terms of over tiredness, it's not unusual that baby gets increasingly over tired through the day, so is worse by the evening. It suggests that you've been building over tiredness throughout the day.

It might be that the signs you use for knowing it's nap time are actually later stage over-tired cues, when you could do with acting on just-got-tired cues.

My breastfed babies were 2 hourly feeders through the daytime. I would ensure a nap happens in each of those 2h cycles too. So the day would be repeating patterns of:

• Wake
• Feed
• Floor time until grumpy/clingy - usually 30 45 minutes
• Nappy check, wind cuddle, put down to sleep
• I used a bouncer for daytime sleep. So in to bouncer with dummy. Me on sofa, non stop rhythmic bouncing with my foot.

Then sleep and the cycle starts again. That start to finish cycle would be around 2h at this age. So awake time might be 1h15 with 45m nap (or there abouts).

[jamie980]

Thank you for the advice @FATEdestiny, it has definitely been cluster feeding in previous weeks but she’s refusing any extra feeds I offer outside her usual ones in the evenings (typically every two hours or so depending on her cues)... she seems overtired or perhaps in discomfort. So hard to tell when you’re a FTM! Really appreciate you taking the time to reply to my message x

[daffodilsandprimroses]

I think there are plenty of formula fed babies who aren’t the best sleepers.

[Bluntness100]

You don’t get all this cluster feeding stuff with formula fed babies and a lot of woman use breastfeeding like a comfort, basically like a dummy so the baby needs it to go to sleep which adds to the issue.

It’s really down to if you think the benefits of breast feeding is worth going through all that. For me it was a no, as I wasn’t going to be any use knackered and frustrated.

If research the benefits of breastfeeding and make a decision on the impact v reward, and ignore anyone giving it “the who recommend” and remember the who recommend globally so cover women in developing countries with no access to sanitation.

[FATEdestiny]

Hope54321 You could try a dummy. By 11 weeks breastfeeding should be established.

Babies naturally find sucking to be soothing and calming. While breastfeeding is one way to give baby that calm feeling, if it's comfort baby needs rather than calories, a dummy may help.

(Also worth noting that consistent dumny use reduces the risk of SIDS death).

Also, have you tried a swaddle?

[Hope54321]

Do breast feeding mum’s feel like their baby is using them as a pacifier?

[Hope54321]

Also he is 11 weeks old

[Hope54321]

Baby slept at 11 during breastfeeding yesterday and wouldn’t allow me to put him down in his cot until 12.15. He thrashed and moaned and chewed his hands at 1.45am, 4am, 6am, 7.15am, indicating he wanted a feed. Also, I need to burp him and hold him up for 20 minutes after every feed otherwise the milk comes back up and he chokes.

I’m finding that he wants to sleep on me, but this is impossible for me to do.

[FATEdestiny]

It isn't normal or healthy and I am trying yo help the sleep deprived mum.

It's ok you disagree with me. I would not dismiss your answer as waffle, just a different opinion to mine.

[lemorella]

@FATEdestiny telling a sleep deprived mother that her baby's perfectly normal sleep pattern isn't 'normal' or healthy is reckless no matter what sort of self proclaimed expert you believe yourself to be.

I'd tell you the same face to face but it's a anonymous forum isn't it.

[MeadowHay]

We were quite lucky and from 3 months she would usually sleep like 11-6 or so without a feed. I think that's quite rare though and we just got lucky. She didn't sleep much in daytime at all though just screamed all day every day so we always thought she exhausted herself so much she slept at night!

[FATEdestiny]

lemorella don't be rude and dismissive just because you disagree with me. I'm sure you're a decent enough person that you wouldn't be so rude to a stranger trying to help others, if we were talking face to face.

You could just say you disagree without dismissing my (extensive experience with many hundreds of families) advice as "waffle"

[lemorella]

@FATEdestiny ....not healthy for a baby 2-3 month baby to be awake more than two hours what waffle.

OP I see you are breastfeeding. Every two hours for a feed at this age is completely normal. Breast milk digests more quickly than formula so BF babies need feeding more frequently. (Eventually they will go longer) It also reduces the risk of SIDS as babies will wake themselves to ask for food. Sometimes formula babies sleep longer as formula takes longer to digest. But you will find that when you talk to other mums both ff and bf have good and bad sleepers - that's just babies for you!

I came on here for support and advice with my first for coping strategies that helped keep me going:
Drink lots of water
Now is not the time to diet - eat lots of high energy foods to keep you going
Try and get out for fresh air every day - I used to walk to the local coffee shop and back once a day and the coffee was my 'Reward'.
Make time for a bath or shower every day
Co-sleep if possible/ you feel comfortable so you can feed and just go straight back to sleep.
Ask DP to leave you a flask of coffee and lunch ready each day.
Go up to bed early with baby.

I bf and had a frequent waker. Months 3-6 were particularly bad BUT things did improve and my dc slept through from 7 months. I currently have 2nd dc (2mo) and am waking every two hours to feed. I mostly feel immune to the lack of sleep now.

[KingscoteStaff]

Breast feed at 6.30, sleep at 7.
DH woke baby at 10.30 and gave full bottle (the well known ‘Newsnight’ feed). Down again at about 11.15pm.
Baby woke around 3 for a full breast feed.
I woke baby at 7 for a full breast feed.

The 11.15pm onwards sleep got longer and longer until there wasn’t a wake between then and 7am.

We then phased out the 10.30pm feed.

[Piccalily19]

Have you tried a sleeping bag? My 8 week old is very kicky in his sleep and was waking up a lot because his blanket had come off. He’s much better since we use the bag.
He normally sleeps properly from 10/11 to 3ish then up again at 5/6. Although don’t get me started on his nap resistance in the day 🙄
He’s mostly BF but does have a bottle of formula at 10/11 so I can sleep earlier

[FTEngineerM]

I honestly got to the point where I just stopped looking at the time. Shit as it sounds, it worked for those earth weeks/months though.

It was somehow way worse psychologically if I knew I was tired because he’d bloody woken up again 45 minutes after the last wake up rather than just being tired.

Not a solution but it was a tiny thing that helped me.

My DC didn’t sleep through until I night weaned then switched over to FF after another 2 weeks of him not wanting boob in the night. Your baby is defo too young to night wean atm though.

[Choccyaddict4eva]

@Hope54321

I am breastfeeding. Do people feel breastfed babies generally wake more during the night than formula fed babies?

Generally yes. Formula keeps babies tummies fuller for longer. It was only when I switched to formula and solids that my children started sleeping through the night. Prior to this, when I was breastfeeding, they would wake every 3-4 hours for a feed.

[Sunshineday1]

@Hope54321 not in my circumstance, me and my best friend had babies at the same time, mine was formula fed hers was breast fed, hers slept like a dream where as mine didn’t for 3 years 🤣

[Hope54321]

I am breastfeeding. Do people feel breastfed babies generally wake more during the night than formula fed babies?

[Bluntness100]

Are you breastfeeding?

I formula fed, from birth she pretty much went to sleep after her last feed at eleven, woke up at three, took her bottle, went back to sleep woke up at seven, at eleven weeks she started going through the night. So proper sleep at eleven and woke up at about seven,

Many will disagree but in my experience when a baby has a full tummy and is not taught they need to feed for comfort to sleep then they sleep better.

[F1rstt1imer]

I’ve been really lucky with my 11week old DS. He’s formula fed and has been in the same routine as my 2.5DD for ease (and to avoid tantrums as she loves bath and story time with him!) so he is down and asleep in his cot by7.30ish, we then dreamfeed at 10ish (sometimes later if we’re watching a film/hubby is watching the football) and he generally wakes at 4 or 5am for a feed and then up at 7 with my toddler. Naps during the day are totally random (30mins to 3hrs) but I usually put him down when he starts sucking his hands which is his I’m sleepy cue which is usually after he’s been awake for 1hr 15 to 1.30 at the moment. I know that routines don’t work for everyone but for us and our toddler it’s worked to fit DS into it and he seems happy!

[roundturnandtwohalfhitches]

None. Well it felt like none. Same as you probably. And he only took one nap at 9am for 20 minutes from 7 weeks He just didn't like sleep.
We tried everything.
Best advice was if it's normal for your baby it's normal. I spent months changing stuff trying routines, nothing worked we just had to get through it. The gaps between feeds grew incrementally - until they were about 4 hours at 9 months. It is very hard going. It was slightly better when we started on solids and a bottle at night from 7 months.
I hope yours turns into a sleeper because non sleeping babies are hard going.

[Skyla01]

@Hope54321 sorry you are having such a hard time. Have you tried lots of different things to get them to sleep? E.g. walk in pram, trip in the car, falling asleep in sling, bouncy chair, white noise etc. There are lots of different tricks which may or may not work but you could give them a go.

We have trouble getting our one too sleep- anywhere between 5pm and 1am can be witching hours. Although things are gradually getting better. Recently we've started taking her out in pram at first sign of trouble which can settle her. If there's lots of crying we give her a bath- seems to shock her out of the cycle a bit. Otherwise DH spends an awful lot of time in the dark rocking her to sleep whilst singing lullabies. While he's doing that I go to bed early to catch some extra zzzz.

[FATEdestiny]

@jamie980 I've just searched your posts to find your baby's age, and see you have an 8 week old.

At that age, the evening fussiness is about clusterfeeding. This is completely normal for the age.

Expect that anytime from teatime through to the evening you will need to plan to do nothing expect for sit on the sofa. Baby will on and off constantly feed and doze in your arms, then grumble and feed again after only a really short time. Then short doze again and feed again and so on.

It's sometimes called the Witching Hour (often several hours). It's triggered by the simultaneous need for lots of calories ready for the night and lots of sleep being needed at the same time. Obviously baby can't feed and sleep at the same time. So you get this period of cluster feeding - whereby baby doesn't properly go to sleep and needs to stay in your arms for almost constant feeding for several hours.

Tgey normally grow out of cluster feeding by 3 or 4 months.

Until then, from 5pm until 9pm every night, plan to park yourself on the sofa and not move. Let baby have short dozes in between lots and lots of cluster feeds.