need help with 5 month 3 weeks old sleeping at night?????

[sam1981mcevoy]

hi im new on here and was wondering if anyone had any advice on getting my lo to sleep longer at night or all night haha.....she has 3 meals and her bottles and still wakes every 3 hrs at night. I have been told by my hv to stop the night feeds cause shes putting to much weight on...i had her weighed at 22 weeks and she was 18lb 8ozs is that really that bad she is really long and doesnt look that fat. She used to sleep from 8-9pm till 6-7am with a dreamfeed between 10-11 but we moved about 3 months ago and hasnt worked since dont know what else to try but need some help cause its killing me cant have an hour during day cause i have a 4 yr old as well. if u got any advice i would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Is she getting disturbed by the traffic outside? Or even lights from traffic? If so either move rooms or blackout blinds?
Might just be teething??
Hi anyway and hope someone else can help - my dd now 4 so I'm a bit out of touch I'm afraid.

No she not getting disturbed by traffic or anything like its really dark in bedroom so dont know what it might be. Thanks anyway.

If she's getting enough food during the day, and not being disturbed during the night, and isn't ill, then maybe she's waking up from habit/comfort. Have you tried not feeding her, and just patting her back to sleep? This is what I did with my DS (in line with the advice in the Baby Whisperer book) - after three nights of patting, he went from waking every 2 to 3 hours, to going from 7 to 6.30, with a dream feed at 11.

Sam at about the same age my dd would go from dream feed to waking up at about 4-4.30. I knew she couldn't be hungry as she used to sleep longer when she was younger so first did the teeth thing, bonjela etc, then just used to pat her and comfort her until she went to sleep. If you cut out one feed at a time then you know she shouldn't be hungry and it is just habit.

unfortunately dh had to get up to do this as if we did have to pick her up as soon as she got near me she thought milk. I could do just the patting though.

Hi Sam; my DD is same age and just about managing 3 meals a day. She's always been keen on a night feed or 5 if she can get it, and only now she's on solids am I starting to take action against it. I have been trying to deny her the early morning feed (4/5 ish) first of all, so that I'm not fighting with her all night - I still feel she's a bit young for drastic sleep training, and she def. will cry when feed denied - no patting back to sleep for her! So my theory goes, if I feed her the first time or two she cries, then we all get some sleep... then in the early morning she's got to try and go without, and at least it's not hours and hours till breakfast anyway. I still don't trust that she's not hungry, really, as we're still in the early stages of solids, so am taking a gently-gently approach. It does sound like maybe your DD wants the comfort in her new place but are you sure she's eating enough during the day?

Would have thought she should have settled into the new place by now. I'm in the same position - DD will be 5 months and 3 weeks on Saturday! She normally wakes for a feed twice in the night (but last night was 3 times) - which isn't great when I've got a 3yo and am working 3 days a week. She is on 3 meals a day and will take as much solids as I give her but don't want to giver her anymore because don't want her to cut back on her milk. Yesterday she had baby porridge(breakfast), 4 cubes of squash and swede thinned with formula, 2 cubes of apple (lunch), 2 cubes of apple, 1 of prunes (tea) plus 15 oz of formula plus breast feeds morning and night, plus 3 in the night - and she's only on the 25th %ile. Guess she's got daddy's build but also think that the night feeding is habit.

I know I'm not being helpful but think I might start on Thursday night with Spots methods (ie cut out the last night feed) and see what happens.

I sympathise, my DS whos 15 weeks, slept like a dream from 3 weeks old - all through night (i was the envy of all my friends!) but has since started to wake twice in night, hungry. Have thought about controlled crying, but can't be arsed really as he only feed for 10 mis a time and if i'm lucky can get him up and finished in 15mins then go back to sleep. he's not on solids, but think maybe he's ready? have tried the patting lark and he just screams and screams til he's fed. would also welcome advice .

Emz he's prob. hungry yes, but since he's still quite young for solids can you grit your teeth and bear it? if he's breastfed then he'll be boosting your milk supply by frequent feeding so it'll settle itself; also 15 weeks or thereabouts is a classic time for growth spurts. I thought my DD was going mad when she woke 7 times for feeds at 16 weeks.

honesty - does the baby whisperer thing work? i have a 4 and a half month old who wakes every 2 hours. am breastfeeding her. i hate to hear her cry. only have 2 bedrooms and 2yr old sisteris in the other room. i don't want to put dd2 in till she is sleeping through. she is on the small side so still fits in basket thankfully. but won't be for much longer

I have a six month old, and with her I was advised by HV that if she was definately getting enough milk during the day, offer her cooled boiled water at night because it may be habit that's waking her up. I was sceptical and decided to only try this for one of the wake periods two nights on the trot, and she started to sleep through. You could maybe try this, and if she wakes up again shortly after, you will know it is definately hunger, then you'll have to feed her, but at least you'll know for sure.

pinkpootle - i had the same thing when my DS was just newborn, he slept in a basket by our bed, but fed every 2 hours through night for 40 mins a time!! finally at the end of my tether we figured it may be the moses basket he was objecting to and was feeding for comfort and to help him sleep. SO we decided to try him in the cotbed, but unfortunately since it had been assembled in the nursery couldn't get it out of the room! - desperate, we spent a nervous night with DS in his own room with the monitor on full blast and him looking like a tiny dot in the middle of this huge cot - it worked like a treat, he slept through from 3 weeks until recently when he's waking up twice a night starving. tryif you can putting the cot by your bed, some babies don't cope well in a small space.
Also the baby whisperer is really good - obviously still can't get DS sleeping through night, but the Eat, Activity, Sleep, You thing works like a charm - it really is worth investing in as she talks a lot more sense than bloomin' gina ford!!
HTH