sleeping through

[emmabmcg]

Hi
Hope it's okay to start a new conversation but I have read a lot of the ongoing chats and would love some advice. I have a 20 wk dd who up till 3 weeks ago was sleeping from 10 - 6am every night. I tried to get her bedtime a bit earlier - she used to have a long evening nap anyway - as I am going back to work in a month and need her to be in a bit of a routine and also need my evenings back for schoolwork. (I teach) She naps for about an hour each morning and about 2 hours each afternoon and I start the bath / bed routine at about 7ish. She is showing first signs of tiredness by then. I don't like her falling asleep on the boob but she invariably does and either wakes up when I put her into her cot or about 20 minutes later. She then gets so worked up that we are faced with a long screaming fit before she finally falls asleep. She then wakes up at 12, 2, 4 and 6 ish for feeds. She won't sleep without being fed, and I am getting no sleep. I thought she must be hungry so with health visitor advice I started solids 4 days ago, just one meal a day so far. It has made no difference. I ideally want her to fall asleep in the cot without being fed to sleep. How do I cut out the night feeds? She spits out dummies and refuses to take a botle of ebm from me. I am also trying to save all my ebm for when I return to work. I would welcome any advice. Thanks.

Hiya, my ds is 8mths and still not sleeping through weve now reverted to cc now. Before then we tried everything when ds reached 4mths I decided to get dh to put him to bed with a bottle of formula instead of me breastfeeding him to sleep.Ds also used to go bed late but we just gradually moved it back a little by 15mins. Maybe you could try putting her to bed earliar and get dh to put her to bed with a bottle of ebm or formula. And then give her a dreamfeed before you go to bed.

Thanks. She actually went down okay tonight, only cried for 10 mins or so. It is the waking through the night that is a nightmare. I tried dreamfeeding a few nights ago but she ended up being wide awake and wanting to play. I might try again tonight. I am trying not to use formula, just my own stupid stubborness - such a struggle to breastfeed at the start that I don't want to use formula. I might though, if this waking pattern continues. Thanks again.

I was like that and felt really guilty about giving ds formula but I really started to struggle to the point where I thought about giving bfing up. So for me when ds reached 4mths I decided one bottle of formula a day to give me a break seemed like a better idea then giving up completely.Plus formula has added vitamins which made me feel less guilty.Im still breastfeeding now at 8mths. Once your dd is 6mths and on 3 meals a day you can also try cc. I was against it at first but the last few wks ive noticed that ds has been only having v short feeds during the night when waking. Basically he just didnt know how to resettle himself because ive always rocked him and feed him to sleep.We have just completed our second night of cc and I cant believe the difference already ds slept from 9 til 5.30am last night. Hes copt with cc fantastically.

thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. Maybe I should do one formula feed each evening. I am so knackered and my dh just can't cope with her crying and waking at night time. Only 6 weeks before I can do cc. Can't wait! Did you use a dummy? Glad that you are getting some sleep now.

I was reluctant about a dummy but did give it a go through desperation luckily ds didnt like it which im now glad of but its worth a go. Once dd is established on x3 meals a day plus milk you can see what she is taking in so youve got piece of mind. You havent got a visual of how much they are taking in when bfing so when they do wake up you have to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are hungry and feed them.

Hi
I bought Elizabeth Pantley's book and one of her first suggestions is to ensure that the bedroom is warm enough. I had been keeping ours at 65 degrees as told to by all books but on Friday night I closed the window and put on the heating and she only woke up twice. Since then she has woken up just once between 7.30pm and 7 am!!! It's amazing - now I have so much guilt about her being too cold! Long may this new pattern last. Thanks for all help.