It seems many babies get to a point where they start waking for food in the 5 or 6 AM hours, much earlier than waketime, but they just aren't quite ready to make it through the night without eating. Here is what I have done.
With Brayden, I just continued to feed him until he started sleeping through on his own. I know he needed that feeding because he always ate breakfast well and eagerly.
At some point, Kaitlyn did not eat breakfast well. She would eat sometime in the 5 AM hour, but then not really be hungry for her first meal at 7:30. I knew then that she didn't need to eat at that point in the night. Here are some strategies for dealing with meals at this time.
While Baby Needs Early Morning Feeding
- While your baby continues to need that feeding, feed her and then put her straight back to bed. If she eats at 5:30 and your waketime is normally 7:30, you can wait to get her up until 8:00 and still be in your 30 minute waketime window.
You will know baby doesn't need that feeding because she won't eat well at breakfast. This then causes a ripple effect problem because she will then be hungry for the second meal of the day early. So you will want to stop that feeding.
- One way to stop the feeding is to do Cry It Out (CIO). Babywise states it takes, on average, 3-5 days for a 9 week old to "establish unbroken sleep cycles" (p.132).
- Be sure you haven't extended daytime feeding cycles before the night has been established. "...do not lengthen the time between daytime feedings until your babies are sleeping at least nine to ten hours at night" (p.182). If you have extended feedings, cut back to the three hour schedule.
- You can cut back the amount eaten at the early morning feeding over time. This is what I did. Kaitlyn sleeps right next to my son. I didn't want her to wake him up in the CIO process. I breastfeed. She ate for 10 minutes on each side per feeding during the day. So at the early morning feeding, I cut back one side to about 7 minutes. Then 5. Then I did the same with the other side. Then I cut one side out all together. She eventually started sleeping through as her body grew accustomed to eating little then and more at 7:30. It took longer than CIO, but this was the preferable option for us with our sleeping arrangement. Another nice thing for me was that my milk supply slowly compensated. I don't remember exactly how long this process took before she slept through. I think it was 2 weeks. It might have been as long as 4 weeks. If you bottlefeed, you can simply reduce the number of ounces eaten at this meal.
Reader Advice:
- Gabby said...
When I was trying to drop my son's last middle of the night feeding around 2-3:00 AM I used a pacifier for a couple of nights. I held it for him since he never really kept a pacifier in well, but it calmed him down without nursing. After about 3 nights I let him CIO and it took very little crying to drop that feeding. It might be worth a try. :)
April 1, 2008 7:29 PM
- John and Amanda said...
Great advice (as always)! And the timing couldn't have been better! I've been thinking about how to break my little man of his 4:30am feeding! He doesn't respond well to CIO... he is a persistent little guy! I love the idea of reducing the amt of food offered! I will have to keep that in mind! It appears though, that for now at least, my little guy has sleep trained himself and has been sleeping through that feeding for the last 5 nights! :) BREAKTHROUGH!! :)
January 28, 2008 11:38 PM - Nanny4Two said...
the 4 month old i nanny, his mom breastfeeds him @ 6:00, then he goes back to bed right away.thankfully he does not require middle of the night feedings, but he has been waking up as early as 4:00 or 5:00 to feed.
January 29, 2008 7:14 AM
- bethers21 said...
I'm having a similar problem with my 4 week old (sorry for all of the questions, but I just discovered your blog and LOVE IT). I've just started letting him sleep at night and waking on his own for about a week. Prior to that I had to keep him on a 3 hour schedule at night to gain weight. He sleeps between 3 1/2-5 hours at night. If his 1st feeding is at 7 am, what do I do if he wakes up hungry at 5-6am? Also, I'll need to adjust his schedule to 6 am when I go back to work. Should I start this now? I like being able to feed him at 7pm and 10pm. We haven't started a good bedtime yet. At times my husband works late, and like you it's important that my son gets to spend time with his daddy so if he naps after 7pm we let him. If not, he gets more time with daddy. Any thoughts??
January 30, 2008 5:52 PM
Plowmanators said...
I am glad you like the blog! When do you go back to work? If it is in a couple of weeks, I would probably start to adjust it now. I would for sure do it one week before. It would be good for him to be accustomed to his schedule before you go back.
January 30, 2008 6:33 PM - IzzysMama said...
I found your blog a few weeks ago and Im addicted!!! Keep em coming! My lo is 3mo and is still eating every 3hrs at night. She doesnt seem to be eating as much at the 4/4:30 feeding or at the 7:30 feeding but she is still eating. Is it possible she still needs that feeding or does it sound like a habit??? I ebf and have always been paranoid about her getting enough to eat so I worry about cutting out feedings even though my gut is saying it might be time to try.
January 31, 2008 1:52 PM
Plowmanators said...
You sound like me! I am that same way.I really think if they are not eating much at the first feeding of the day, they don't need that night feeding. I liked my method for slowly cutting down with Kaitlyn. Think it through, you probably already know that you she doesn't need it. Then convince your emotional side of the fact. Then choose your course of action and go for it!
January 31, 2008 2:24 PM - bethers21 said...
Val, I know you get lots of questions about this topic. This issue last night was my LO woke at 5:30 am. His first feed is at 7am. He's 7 weeks so he's not STTN most nights. He was definitely hungry so I didn't let him CIO. Would you just rework the rest of your day or should I have tried to wake him up again at 7am?February 20, 2008 8:09 AM
Plowmanators said...
There are a couple of options. One would be to try to get back on track by the afternoon by having longer naps in the morning. Or shorter, but an extra feeding.I personally would wake him up at 7:30. Then you are within 30 minutes of normal waketime and can have a normal day.
February 20, 2008 11:38 AM - mommynik said...
I read Babywise with my 1st - a girl, but she was a natural sleeper and is still on a great schedule at almost 3 yo. I have forgotten things though & with my 2nd - a boy - being a different sleeper, I wonder about these night nursings. My boy will wake at 11p, 3a & 5a. Not all of those are good feedings, but my question is, if I even just do 1 or 2 of those night feedings, aren't I messing with the concept of CIO? I mean, I know I could do scheduled awakenings, but the wake-up varies for him from night to night. Since I've been CIO for 1.5 weeks, I've also thrown that schedule off.
Can you tell how confused I am? I don't know which way is up. I held him until very recently, just to let him sleep. But then he started to get inconsolable even when I held him, so I started doing CIO in his crib. He stiffens his body, so a swing is out, and hubby doesn't help much through the night so it is all me.I'll keep looking through your index though, b/c finding some good ideas. I just don't know where to start. From a different comment I wrote, you responded that I should start with night sleep and I think that's what is best. I will try to get his night time sleep to maybe not even need a feeding, and just let him sleep when he's tired during the day. If that means more short naps in a day, I think that is okay as long as he is getting in about 3-5 hours. I just can't torture him 24 hours a day with trying to make him sleep.
February 21, 2008 10:46 AM
Plowmanators said...
You would have to determine if any of those feedings are necessary for him. You don't want to have him crying if he is hungry. One thing a mom I know recommends is to go in and comfort baby back to sleep (just for one night) to see how it goes. If he goes back to sleep and sleeps fine, then you know he is waking for comfort and not food.The 11 feeding could be a dreamfeed. But then I would think at most he would only be hungry for one other feeding in the night--and at his age possibly none. You could also feed at the 3ish time and see if he sleeps well after that. If not, he isn't waking for food. If you are responding to a hungry baby, it isn't going to teach him bad CIO habits. Good luck! There are so many factors! I can be really overwhelming. Just pick one thing at a time and work on that. Baby steps!
February 21, 2008 10:57 AM - bethers21 said...
I have the same frustration. Two nights ago he slept 7 hours. Last night, we were up every 3 hours again. I don't know whether to CIO or keep feeding. The times are variable and his hunger is variable. This is slightly off the subject, but how do you know how much sleep your LO needs at night? For example, how do you know they're on the 10 hour end or 12 hour end? I think the answer is pretty obvious. I'm just too tired and need someone to walk me through it. We've not had a good nap yet today!!
February 21, 2008 10:58 AM
Plowmanators said...
Keep in mind that progress is a spiral (see Progress is a Spiral: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/progress-is-in-spiral.html ).You will know the nighttime sleep needed based on when your child wakes up. My son usually slept 10 hours at night. When we dropped the 3rd nap, he extended to 10.5 hours. When we dropped the morning nap, he moved up to 11.5 hours. It is another one of those things you have to experiment with. My daughter has been a 12 hour a night gal for a long time. SSo the answer is expiriment, and at some point, you will know.
February 21, 2008 1:26 PM - Gabby said...
I just found you blog and wish I had sooner. :) I have a 5 1/2 month old BW baby. He has been sleeping about 8 hrs since 3 1/2 months (except for the 4 month growth spurt and a couple of other set backs). He just started waking at 5-5:30 AM. Our waketime is 6:30. We are still doing a dreamfeed at about 10:00PM. Do you recommend dropping the dreamfeed yet, or holding off the early AM waking feed. I've tried to let him CIO with no luck (at this time). He just seems awake at 5:00, but not starving, If I feed him he always falls back asleep. Thanks for the help!!
March 17, 2008 8:22 AM
Plowmanators said...
I am glad you found us! I personally wouldn't drop the dreamfeed until baby is sleeping from dreamfeed until desired waketime consistently.However, some moms have found that dropping the dreamfeed actually helped baby to sleep better at night.If you want to try it, you always can. If it doesn't work, you could re-instate the dreamfeed :)
March 17, 2008 11:03 AM
Gabby said...
I just wanted to follow up on my little one. He was on a different schedule Friday after stating with my mother in law. He ate at about 8:30 in the evening and went to bed right after, so I did not wake him for a dreamfeed that night. He slept until 6:00!! That's very close to our 6:15-6:45 wake up window. I've adjusted his schedule to feed him later in the evening ( about 8:00) instead of waking him up to dreamfeed. I guess I was disrupting his sleep because he has made it three nights now. Yeah! We had to comfort him one night at about midnight, but it was not hunger that woke, so he went right back to sleep. I just thought I would share what worked. Thanks for your advice!
March 24, 2008 3:12 PM
Plowmanators said...
Thanks for sharing your success!
March 24, 2008 10:15 PM - bethers21 said...
Val, quick question...I'm headed back to work/daycare. Booo! Kai is 11 weeks and sometimes STTN. His new wake up time is going to need to be around 6:45am. As he starts to extend his night, I'm worried he's going to be waking up at 5ish. Would you feed at 5:30 and 6:45 if he seems hungry? I just don't have the luxury of reworking his day or making sure he gets good naps anymore so I want to be as consistent before/after daycare.One more question, as he starts to extend his nights and/or need more sleep because of daycare, should I just play with moving his bedtime up to see how much sleep he needs? I suppose I just need to be looking for cues to know how much earlier to move his bedtime up?Thanks for all of your help. I check your site almost daily and always look for your responses on Maya's Mom :) Both have helped me get through a lot of anxiety!!
March 17, 2008 12:05 PM
Plowmanators said...
That is a tricky one. If he starts waking around 5, I would try to feed very little, and then feed again at 6:45. I think this is the order I would do things:1-feed at 5 when he wakes. Then feed again at 6:45. See how he eats then at 6:45. If he is totally not interested, I would then move on to other plans.2-slowly decrease amount fed at 5. Feed only as much as he needs to get back to sleep. 3-Hope he starts to sleep through on his own with no further work on your part.4-If he doesn't, wait for a weekend and do CIO at 5.If his waketime is 6:45, you will want bedtime anywhere from 6:45-8:45. Test it and see what he needs, and be ready to change it as needed if necessary. Good luck!
March 17, 2008 3:18 PM - Susanna said...
Valerie-By what age did your babies drop the late night/early morning feeding? I thought we had made good progress with my 8 week old since he would go from his 10:00 p.m. DF till about 6 a.m. (Our established waketime is 7 a.m. but that has been hit or miss depending on the day). In the last two days, he's been up around 4 a.m., 5:30 a.m., etc. I went ahead and gave a full feeding both times. Today, I started our day at 7:30 a.m. (since he fed at 5:30 a.m.) and noticed he didn't take a full feeding. My question is 1. would there have been enough milk since it was only 2 hours since he last ate? (5:30 a.m.) and also 2. is 8 weeks too early to start CIO to phase out that feeding? Thank you so much!
March 21, 2008 8:08 AM
Plowmanators said...
Susanna,You are describing something that is very typical for a baby first learning to STTN. They make it to say 6, then randomly wake up at 4 then 5 then back to 6 then 3! All over the place. I didn't start BW with my first until 9 weeks, so you are already far ahead of where he was at 8 weeks. Kaitlyn also still had a night feeding at 8 weeks. I can't remember her exact age, but by 3.5-4 months she was done with night waking to where I knew with confidence she wouldn't wake in the night.1-there wouldn't have been as much milk two hours later as their would have been otherwise. And ther likely was a lot of milk at 5:30, so he wouldn't have been as hungry at 7:30. But you did the right thing.2-I personally would say yes. I like to wait until 12 weeks before considering CIO at night. I like it to happen naturally so I am confident they aren't hungry in the night when crying. 15% of BW babies don't start sleeping through on their own until 12 weeks. I haven't ever done CIO at night. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but I just haven't.I do have a friend who did CIO with her daughter at 9 weeks with great success.So it will be up to you to decide what you want to do. I think I would wait another week though. It sounds like he is getting it. My friend's daughter was waking at the same time every night. Your son is still all over the place. Also, keep in mind that statistically boys take longer to STTN than girls.
March 21, 2008 10:09 AM - momtobobby said...
Great advice! I am so in love with this site! This is exactly what Bobby is doing. He is 11 weeks and he wakes between 5 and 6am and I feed him. I put him right back to bed and he sleeps until 10am. When he wakes up at 10, he is not hungry. He won't be interested in eating until almost 11, so he is missing a whole feeding in there. It sounds like I should let him CIO until 7am. Would you agree?
March 31, 2008 2:32 PM
momtobobby said...
Okay the more I read on this site, the more I realize that I have been doing BW all wrong!! This is my sample schedule: Bobby wakes between 5 and 6 and I feed him and put him right back to bed. He then sleeps another 3 or 4 hours making wake time around 9 or 10am. he is usually not hungry until 45minutes after he wakes up. We then do feedings every 3 hours. Usually 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm. He takes 3 naps. Two 1 hour naps and to one 2 hour nap. He then goes to bed at 8pm and I give him a DF at 10pm. I think that I am letting him sleep too long in the morning. If I cut back on that morning sleep, Do you think he will sleep from 8pm through the night to 6am? Should I cut back on his naps as well? I'm soo glad that I found this blog, you have no idea:) I am constantly consulting BW thinking that there will be something in there that i have missed. This site is heaven sent!
March 31, 2008 3:07 PM
Plowmanators said...
You can definitely give CIO a try and see how that goes. It sounds like he doesn't need that 5-6 feeding since he goes so long afterward. I would first work on that feeding. Once it is dropped, you can evaluate to see if he needs the dreamfeed. At his age (until 15 weeks), you don't want him sleeping more than 9-10 hours if BF and 11 if bottlefed. Don't worry, there is a lot to remember. Your first time through, you seem to miss a lot :) Keep consulting the book and site for more ideas. It sounds like he is doing quite well.
April 1, 2008 2:13 PM - Firecracker said...
My son has been consistently waking up at 4 a.m to eat for the last week or more. I know he's hungry at this feeding, but his wake time is at 6 and he will barely eat then if I have fed him a full feeding at 4. I can't let him CIO since I am staying with my Dad right now, so I wanted to try to wean him off the feeding. How exactly did you do it with Kaitlyn?And how long did it take? And about how old was she?
March 26, 2008 9:40 AM
Firecracker said...
How exactly do I wean my son off the 4 am feeding? I have been trying to cut back the time. I have gone from him eating about 8-10 minutes. To about 4-6 minutes. But if I try to do anything shorter than that he will scream when I pull him off. BUT if I give him a full feeding he won't eat well at 6:30 (his wake up).Babies are so funny. Just when you think you got them figured out they switch things up on you. Ha ha ha. How long does the weaning process take? I have been doing it about a week now. (starting week 2)ThanksDanielle
April 1, 2008 2:25 PM
Plowmanators said...
Weaning takes longer than CIO. It took my daughter about 3 weeks of weaning. CIO typically only lasts 3 days (though it can be longer). Hang in there! Just expect it to take some time.
April 1, 2008 3:08 PM
Gabby said...
When I was trying to drop my son's last middle of the night feeding around 2-3:00 AM I used a pacifier for a couple of nights. I held it for him since he never really kept a pacifier in well, but it calmed him down without nursing. After about 3 nights I let him CIO and it took very little crying to drop that feeding. It might be worth a try. :)
April 1, 2008 7:29 PM
Firecracker said...
Thanks! I'll give the pacifier thing a try too. My son has never really taken one, but I'll try holding it. by-the-way Plowmanator, Thanks to your advise I was able to move his schedule to 30 minutes later at night in only a week! Thanks so much for everything.Danielle
April 1, 2008 10:35 PM
Plowmanators said...
Thanks for your added advice Gabby--and Hurray for Danielle! Thanks for sharing your succecss.
April 1, 2008 10:47 PM - Annie Haymans said...
Hello..Not on pacifiers but another sleep question. My 6 1/2 month old finaly started sleeping through the night again (we went through a rough stage) but he is waking at 5 or 530am. Do I get him up and start his day or do I feed and put him back to bed until 7?
October 8, 2008 4:47 AM
vicko said...
My daughter always seem to wake up at 5:30. I leave her in her crib to talk and try and pacify with a pacifer and try and to prolong her to start her day closer to 7.
October 8, 2008 9:54 AM
Plowmanators said...
Annie, this is up to you. BW talks about options. See this post: Also, 5-8 Month Sleep Disruptions : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/05/6-month-sleep-disruptions.html You can also try Vicko's suggestion. Good luck!
October 9, 2008 1:19 PM
263 comments
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 263 of 263Melody, that is a pretty common thing for a baby that age. I would work on her ability to get off her belly on her own during playtime. See my post on 5-8 month sleep disruptions for more on that.
Sophiesmom,
For gas, try gas drops and/or gripe water.
I do CIO sooner than 12 weeks. But I wouldn't start until you have gas issues under control. Also watch for growth spurts. Good luck!
This may sound a little silly considering most comments about dropping feeds are for young infants but my 11 month old still has a 4am feed I want to cut out but am hesitant. This has persisted a while firstly because we travel to other countries a lot and so with the time zone changes and the unfamiliar environments I let him nurse at night when he wakes so he isn't feeling insecure about where he is. Secondly, he is a small guy weighing 17lbs at 11 months so I am always a little concerned that he could use more milk.
BUT I am so ready to sleep through the night myself, especially as we are moving countries again in three weeks and after that will stay put for some months. It would be lovely to sleep through!!!
I worry that on the odd occasions he's slept through that he wakes early for the day (9pm-6am) instead of this 11hrs when he does get the night feed.
Do you have any advice? I'm trying to nurse less each night but the waking persists. I am hesitant to try CIO again since last few times he'll go back to sleep after 45 min but wake 1hr later. It's not like once he falls back to sleep that he stays asleep.
Would LOVE your input!!
We've used most other aspects of BabyWise and are on a good day time schedule.
Sophiesmom,
There are a lot of different ages people say is okay to do CIO--I haven't seen an age that "experts" agree on consistently.
I personally think you can do it when you think your baby is ready for it. You are the mom and have your "mommy instinct"--do what you think will help.
Be sure to look at the newborn index and see my post on "Sleep Hierarchy for Newborns"
hanoimom,
I would work on getting more food into him in the daytime. Have you started solids? If so, try to get enough solids into him.
I would also wait until you have moved to the new country and have been there a couple of weeks before doing anything more drastic than that.
I am so thankful I found this blog. My LO just turned 6 weeks yesterday. We have been doing pretty good with our schedule, but I do have a few questions. My schedule is 7 (waketime), 10, 1, 4, 7, 10, then I let her sleep as long as she will go. It's usually between 2-3am. If I'm lucky she will go to 4am. I am noticing though that she is not eating well at her 7am feeding, but the ripple effect I'm finding is that she doesn't eat well at her 2nd feeding either. As you can see, we only have 7 feedings throughout the day. My pediatrician said since she was gaining weight, then that was fine. So anyways, my question is, do I need to add another feeding to get her sleeping through the night? I read that cluster feedings most likely will help. Also, I feel like she should be sleeping longer as she gets older, but she has been doing this since she was basically born. I need help, as you can tell! Thank yoU!
I am a second time mom who used babywise with our first. She did great, was always a great sleeper and fell very easily into our routine. I am trying to use babywise with our second, but having some frustrations. At first we were settling into a routine that fit very nicely with the toddlers, with a wake time of 7-7:30am. She usually wakes to nurse around 10-10:30pm and was nursing again once at night and waking around 7am. However, in the past week or so she has been extending time between night time feedings, which is great, but it is throwing off our mornings. She also fights sleep badly, especially after the 10pm feeding...she will eat great but fight sleep until about 12-1am. But once asleep will go until 6am. I have tried to nurse only on one side or nurse for less time in order to feed again at 7:30am, but she isn't having it. Also, she is completely awake after this feeding ready to start her day. If i put her straight back to bed she will lay there awake and content looking around and will not be ready for sleep until around 7:30am (which was when I wanted to get her up for the day). I try to adjust back to our routine during the day, but feel like I spend all day trying to inforce a routine that is happening naturally, especailly since she likes to eat every three hours during the day. I am sure once she starts to sleep longer at night I can adjust back to a 7am wake time but until then any advice?? Should I just go with her natural wake time of 6am and readjust our routine to that or try and stick with the 7-7:30am wake time routine?? I feel very frustrated bc I want our mornings to be consistant bc it sets off the day and right now I feel like we are going backwards bc it all changed. thank you.
Hi,
My son is now 5 months old, and has begun going back to sleep easily after waking up 45 minutes into his nap. Considering his wake time is 1:50 right now, that yields two two-hour naps per day, and 45 min. for the third. So generally I feed him at 4:30, 7:30, 11:30, 3:30, 6:30, bed at 8, and df at 9:30-10. But I'm wondering if we should go back to a consistent three hour schedule, because that's only 6-7 hours of sleep between feedings at night, and you're supposed to get to 9-10 before you extend daytime feedings, right? But he's still getting 6 feedings per day....I just really like the two two-hour naps!!
Lately I've fed him at 4:30-5 AM, and then at 7:30-8 at our start time he eats for less than a minute and then wants to play, which makes me think it might be time to eliminate that early feeding. I'm thinking of trying CIO to do this, but I'm hesitant since we do have two four hour cycles during the day. But if we were to go to three hours there, that would mean he would get fed seven times a day- is that okay?
Gracee'sMom,
I would try cluster feeding to see if that helps. If not, I would just wait it out. She is still young :)
Maria,
I would stick with the 7-7:30 waketime. I know this is a rough time period. Hang in there! All three of my kids did this, so I know the difficulty.
Caitlin, keep the two hour naps. 7 times is totally fine for a five month old. Some babies have 4 at that age, so it is fine.
My baby is almost 7 weeks and we only recently introduced the dream feed. Before that we were putting her to bed at 8pm and she'd wake to eat at about 1am, but after reading babywise this week we are feeding her at 6:30pm and then again at 9:30pm, but she is still waking to eat at 1am. Is her internal clock stuck at waking at 1am? Any suggestions? After the 1am feeding she wakes again at 5am (want her waketime to be 6:30 or 7am) and she is definitely really hungry at 5 as she takes a full feeding and the when we wake her at 7 she doesn't take a full feeding. I believe we should try giving her enough to tide her over (not a full feeding) at 5 and then wake her for a full feeding?
We are following baby wise since my daughter's birth. She's about 10.5 weeks old now and still not completely sleeping through the night. She's breastfeeding and the longest stretch she will give us at night is about 6 hours - like 9 to 3am. She is in the 90 percentile and eats full meals. I'm not sure why she's not sleeping through the night since we follow BW to a tee.
dogdaysareover,
Yes, feed her as little as you can at 5 to satisfy, then wake her at 7 or 7:30 for the start of the day.
slangford,
babywise says it is normal for babies to sleep through the night later than that age, so it is still in the realm of normal.
Hello!
I love your blog and am so grateful for all of the insight. My son is 6.5 weeks old and we have had him on the following flexible schedule for the last three weeks:
6:30am - first feeding w/ waketime
9:30am - eat/wake/sleep
12:30pm - eat/wake/sleep
3:30pm - eat/wake/sleep
6:00pm - eat/wake/sleep
9:00pm - eat/wake/sleep
12am - after 12am we let him sleep until he wakes
We consistently have to wake him for the 12am feeding and he doesn't seem to sleep past 4:30am after this feeding. Instead of waking him for the 12am feeding will it still work if we allow him to wake naturally after the 9pm feeding and do a middle of the night feeding when he wakes? We did this last night and he did the following:
9pm feed/wake/sleep
10:15pm fell asleep
3:30pm woke naturally to eat and diaper change
4:10am went back to sleep
6:30am feed/wake/sleep
If we work our schedule this way do we just continue with the middle of the night feedings until he consistently sleeps until our preferred first morning feeding around 6 or 6:30am? This is dropping a different feeding than BW suggest for the first dropped feeding and I'm wondering if this way will mess up his ability to sleep through the night. Also, he doesn't nap well after his 6pm waketime...should we just keep him up and take this nap out or should we wait a few more weeks for this?
Thanks so much for the advice and for all of your support to parents!!!
Our son who is 4 weeks old (we JUST started babywise a couple of days ago), has a waketime of 6AM... my husband fed him this morning at 5AM, so how would I get his day back on track? And what if he wakes at 6, but is stirring around in his bed, should I get him up and try and feed him? Or should I wait until 630 (30 minute gap) and then try and feed? We do every 3 hours, so his next feed would be at 9am... I just don't know how to "fix" it.
Thanks!
Brydson's,
This post outlines a few options. If he is hungry at 6, you will want to feed him. Then you can get him up at 7:30 or wait until 9:30 if he would go that long.
You can also try soothing him back to sleep at 6 and see if he will sleep another 45 minutes and be closer to 7, but if he is really hungry, he probably won't go to sleep, so just feed him if that is the case.
Hi,
I posted somewhere else about 3 1/2 weeks ago and never got an answer and I am desperate. I have a 4 1/2 month old who with a dream feed was sleeping from 10-7:45 then a month ago we moved across country and he has never ever slept more than 7 hours. I am so frusterated. I have tried adding the dreamfeed back in, but he wakes earlier. Right now, he is on a flexible 3-4 hour schedule. He eats at 7:30, 11, 3, 6, 8. He will not do a strictly 3 hour schedule as I have already tried to go back to. He is on solids 3x's a day and he takes 5 6-7oz bottles at every feeding, which I feel is plenty of food. He does however need that fifth feeding which is why I squeeze it in. He takes 2 daytime naps both 1 1/2-2 hours long and one catnap before the 6 o clock feeding then stays awake until 8 when he gets his last bottle and then goes down for the night. We have a normal nighttime routine we do every night. However he wakes around 4-5am each morning. I have tried letting him eat and when he does he does take a bottle, but then will not eat well at the 7:30 feeding, even if I push it back to 8-same thing. I have tried CIO and he will CIO for the WHOLE 3 hours. I dont know what to do. I am really, REALLY frusterated. I do NOT want to keep an early morning feeding. My daughter was STTN at this point and I know he can make it longer than he is. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
I just realized i didnt check the button to have the follow-up comments emailed to me, maybe that is why I didnt see a response?
Dueck Family,
Could it be that he isn't used to the time change yet? It can take some time to adjust to a time difference. If you moved so that your old 7 is now 4 AM, that could explain why he is waking in the night.
It also could be a growth spurt or the 4 month old wonder week (see "wonder weeks" for more).
I'm having such a hard time with my 10-month-old's schedule right now. The biggest problem is his crazy wake-up times. I would like him to wake up at 6:30-7am like he has done basically his whole life up to about a month ago when he started waking up in the 5:00-5:30 hour. I have been feeding him then putting him back to bed but he won't go back to sleep. I know we're supposed to go ahead and "wake him up" at the preferred time, but if he's still CIO at that time, what do we do? He will stay up a full 2 hours before going back to sleep. Also, I have a 3-year old who is sadly missing out on sleep due to his early wake ups. I think the problem starts with his shorty naps. He's a decent napper, but we don't get the coveted 2 hour naps, and many times his early wake time means he needs an evening cat nap, but he refuses these cat naps most of the time. He'll be awake for 2.5 hours(since his afternoon nap, which typically ends between 2-3:00pm), and I'll put him down for a cat nap at 3:00 or 4:00 pm because I know he needs one, but he'll just stand in his bed and cry or just play/cry/play for an hour or more. His bed time is 6:00 pm and about 1/2 of the time he will sleep through the night to the 5:00 hour and the other 1/2 of the time he will wake at 1:00am or so to feed then go right back to sleep. 5:00 is just too early for our family and we all wind up crabby. Do you have any advice for us? I know transitions take time, but a month seems like more than just a transition, it seems like a habit. Thanks so much,
I just found your blog a few days ago and was SO thankful to find the answers to the HOW of BW! I was so determined to do BW with my son, and read the book before he was born...but then realized how much is missing from it just as far as the HOW (esp for a first time mom!) Anyway, he is 8 weeks old, and is on a good 3 hour cycle during the day. We haven't established a first wake time as well as we should -- one thing I am working on since reading this -- mostly because of different events (like church) that made that difficult. I have two issues tho that I need advice on:
1 -- he has been waking early fromm naps the last couple of weeks (probably 45 min intruder, I know), but does not seem hugry at all. He is a persistant little guy, and we have been doing CIO the last few days (decided to take this week and just DO IT). when we do CIO, it seems to help if I go in there at about 10 min and soothe him (never pick up, just pat and shush and talk to him). He then usually cries again for about 10 min and then goes back to sleep. If I dont go in there he seems to just get louder, more mad, and simply cries for the whole rest of his nap. Am I keeping him from learning self-soothing or helping him? I really need to get his naps in order because I go back to work in a few weeks, and I work nights, so I will be sleeping when he is sleeping after I come home from a 12 hr shift!
2-- He usually goes to bed at about 730pm and then I DF at 10 or 11. we also decided to do CIO this week for nights, so he's been waking at around 2am, then 4am, then 5 or 6am. I end up feeding him at the 5 or 6 mark, but I know he's not hungry at the other times. My first question is, we again go in at about 10 min and soothe...is this OK or do we need to truly just let him cry? Also, I wat to establish a 8am waketime, simply because when I go back to work this is when I get home, and I want to BF as much as possible rather than have to pump.
I can tell consisancy is the key here so I want to figure out my plan and DO IT!
My son is 1 1/2 was fighting a cold and molars and waking (when he typically sleeps all night) between 4-5a.m. I went in and he was hungry for milk. So I gave him milk and he went back to sleep Well now that he is better he is continuing this pattern. He wants milk when I go in then right back to sleep until 7:00-7:30. Do I go in at all and check on him or just let him cio until 7:00 and this passes. I let him cry for 45 mins. went to check on him and again he asked for milk, drank and went back to sleep. This morning I just let him cry until 6:30 then went in and got him up.He gets plenty to eat and drink during the day and before bed.Is he really hungry? Or just a bad habit I need to break? agh! I want to not wake anymore but I feel bad when I think he is wanting milk. It seems harder to cio now that he is older. what do you recommend. He is not waking from sun or noises. thank you
My 3 month old daughter has been waking around 4am for sometime now. If, after a few minutes of crying, I give her the pacie she will usually go back to sleep until her waketime 7-7:30. Is it possible she could still need that feeding? Should I try feeding her her for led time as you suggested or let her CIO? She gets her pacie for naps and bedtime and sleeps fine. We've never done CIO before. I wake her between 10-10:30 for a dreamfeed (she hadn't ever woken on her own for it.
Garrett, I think you are doing the right thing by helping him.
Good luck with it all! I hope you have some improvements by now :)
Shannon, I think that I would give him some water, tell him it is time to sleep, and if he asks for milk, I would tell him it was night time and that he can't have milk yet. Good luck!
Robin, since she sleeps fine until her morning waketime, i would say it is not hunger. It i likely just a dependence on the paci, and so long as you are okay with reinserting it until she can on her own, that is fine.
I feel much more confident as a baby wise mom from reading your blog. My daughter is extending her middle of the night feeding from 2a to 3:30a. I may have missed his discussed somewhere in your blog, but how should I manage my milk supply. I've been told by several lactation consultants to let baby drain one breast and only offer the other if baby is still hungry. For now, one side is suficiant for my daughter and I don't have to offer the other side. She nurses from the right side at 3:30a and the left at 5:30a. When she finally drops the middle of the night feeding, do I also skip the right side (or pump it completely) and move on to the left, or do I now nurse with the right at 5:00a and adjust the remaining feedings? Do you recommend pumping just enough to be comfortable as the right side has to wait until 5:30a and the left side until 8a (last drained left at the dreemfeed). My daughter is almost 7 weeks and currently eats at 3:30a, 5:30a, 8:00a, 11:00a, 2:00p, 5:00p, 7:30p and 10:00p. Thank you for your input.
I have a 6 week old that I feed every 3 hours during the day at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and the dreamfeed between 10-11. That is only 6 feedings but I read on this blog that a baby his age needs between 8-10 feeds a day. He consistently wakes on his own around 1:30amish and 5amish at night. I am confused because I thought the point was to drop the 2 night feedings which would only be 6 feedings for him. Do I need to add another feeding during the day? I would prefer not to because in the future I like the schedule he is on, but if it will help him drop a night feed I will DEFINATELY do it. He did give us one 5 hour stretch but that was only one night. I am currently in the process of setting the 7am wakeup time. How long does that process take? Any help would be appreciated!!!
Also, any advice on getting him to drop one of the night feedings?? He doesn't always act too interested in the 1:30am feeding but sometimes he does, so it's hard to know if he really needs it or not. I'm just trying to work on getting him to sleep through the night in the next few weeks and it doesn't seem like that will ever happen! Thank you!!
My 6 1/2 month old was sleeping through the night (11.5-12hrs) for a solid month (we started full BW at just before 5 months). For this reason we went ahead and spread out the daytime feedings. Then she went through her 6 month growth spurt and was waking in the middle of the night 2-4 times to eat. After we were sure she was over it, we tried to retrain her and it just hasn't worked. She wakes to nurse 2-3 times. We also changed her bedtime to 8:30 instead of 7:45. Maybe we need to change it back? Should we go back to the 3 hr schedule until she's sleeping through the night again? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!
jrcampbe,
Nurse from every other side at each feeding. So when you have an odd number of feedings, your feedings will be from different breasts each day. So if you feed at 8, Monday it would be right, Tuesday left, Wednesday right, etc.
Amanda,
Adding a daytime feeding is your best chance at dropping night feedings now. 8 weeks is actually the age you can start to hope for 7-8 hours of sleep at night without feedings, so right about now, but if enough calories are not consumed in the day, baby will definitely wake in the night for them.
For setting the morning waketime, I am not sure what you mean when you ask how long that takes. If you are waking him each day at 7 and wondering when he will do it on his own, then I would guess very soon. If you are not waking him at 7 each day, start doing so.
If you think he doesn't need the 1:30 feeding, you can try weaning by slowly decreasing the amount of time he eats or how many ounces he gets.
Pearl,
I would do the three hour schedule until nights are back to STTN.
But do also see the "5-8 month sleep disruptions post" in case there is another common cause for what is going on.
Thank you for your response! Regarding the wakeup time, he is still waking up between 6-6:30 every morning and it's been two weeks (or maybe 3) since I have been holding him off to eat until 7:00. What do you suggest I do to get him to sleep until 7? Should I just let him CIO until 7am or keep doing what I am doing? I go back to work in 3 weeks so I am hoping to get this resolved by then. Thank you!
It depends on why he is waking. If it is out of hunger, it is harad to say how long it will tke him to get there. If it is habitual, then CIO could help.
I am a long-time reader and firs-time poster! You do such a great thing for us BW moms!
My DD was on a 3 hr. schedule (6, 9, 12, 3, 5:30, 7:30, 10 or 10:30) with the evening being a little cluster-y since I work and would get her up early from her nap when I pick her up from the sitter's. She was sleeping through the night beautifully. I wanted to keep the DF since I work, and she was needing to be woken up for her 9, 12, and 3 feedings consistently. So I decided to stretch to 4 hours in the morning (6, 10, 2, 5, 7:30, 10 or 10:30).
Well from the first day we started this schedule, she began waking up between 3 and 4:30 AM and wouldn't go back down without a feeding. When I tried to go back to a 3 hour schedule, she wouldn't eat, and then wouldn't go down for a nap either.
Any suggestions on what to do next? The MOTN waking doesn't bother me too much if it is a temporary adjustment. I wouldn't mind keeping it for a few more weeks if you think it will go away, and then I can try "night-weaning."
I forgot to add 2 things:
DD is 14 weeks,
and we've only tried getting back to the 3 hr. schedule for a day and it just didn't go well. Should I give it some more time, and if so how long should I try to make the 3 hr. schedule work before scrapping it, and just dealing with the monster I created with the 4 hour schedule (a la Baby Whisperer).
babymama,
It could be that she needs time to adjust. It could be you changed things up right in time to coincide with the huge 19 week wonder week. It is hard to say for sure what the issue is and how long it will last.
Hello, my twins are 17 weeks old (11 adjusted). We are on a 3 hour routine. Wake up time is 7AM and they got to sleep between 7:30-8. They have been sleeping all the way through but waking up around 5-5:30 to feed. What I am doing is feeding them and then putting them to bed. Then I get them up at 7:30 as it is within 30 minutes of their wake up time. The problem is that they will not eat well at this 7:30 feeding because they ate earlier. Should I try gradually decreasing the ounces (they are formula-fed) and see how it goes? And if they wake up at 6:30, should I just get them up to start the day? Thank you.
Additional information (I am sorry as I wrote the previous post in a hurry). I do not dreamfeed because I found that they woke up at the same time with or without it so I just dropped it. Their last feeding is 7PM. Do you think it's unrealistic to expect them to sleep from 8PM to 7AM without a feed at this age?
My 2.5 week old has been waking at 6am for a feeding and then having a really hard time going back to bed. She will go from 730pm-12pm, then from 12-3 and then 3-6 consistently, no matter what I tweak those are the hours. I dont want 6am to be the wake up time but I cant seem to get her back to bed without holding her. Any advice?
Denise, are you keeping things soothing when you feed her? I would swaddle her up for the feeding to help her get or stay sleepy.
Thanks for this blog!...though I agree with a few others that it is quite overwhelming, and now has me thinking I'm doing a lot of things wrong. :-P Trying to take one thing at a time!
My 5-week-old is on a *general* 3-hour schedule (7, 10, 1, and then I cluster feed in the evenings at 4, 6, and 8). This has worked better for us and her with our lifestyle. For night feedings, we had just been letting her set her own schedule when we noticed that she was sleeping through her 10/11pm feeding and waking twice later in the middle of the night. Rather than have her drop the 10/11pm feeding, we wanted to get her to drop one of the other (more inconvenient!) two feedings, so we instituted a dreamfeed in the 11pm hour. For a while she was taking this dreamfeed, waking around 2:30 to eat again, and then sleeping till 6:30ish (which is close enough to our desired waketime of 7). We decided to preempt the fussiness that came with her waking herself up and turned the 2:30 feeding into a dreamfeed as well, hoping she would fall gracefully back to sleep till 6:30. Sometimes at 2:30 she takes a whole 3 oz, sometimes she only takes half.
Over the past week and a half, however, she has been waking up around 5am. I feed her on one side for about 10 minutes and then she ends up falling asleep while nursing (like, refusing to open her mouth to let me put the nipple back in), so I put her in her crib asleep. She wakes up 5 minutes later and fusses off and on, with 10 minute catnaps, till I finally go get her around 6:45 to start our "official" first feeding. She eats decently at the first feeding.
Last night there was a "diaper disaster" all over her room so she didn't end up getting her dreamfeed till 3am. I figured she would therefore sleep later, but sure enough she was up at 5am. This makes me think it might just be a habit? I really don't think she was that hungry--she ate for barely 10 minutes before falling asleep, but then fussed (not hunger cried) till 6:45 again.
What would you recommend for her nighttime feedings? We tried dropping the 2am dreamfeed to see how she would do with the 11pm dreamfeed and waking up on her own, but the one night we tried it she woke up at 3:45 and screamed for hours after her feeding...I am too traumatized from that experience to try it again, even though I'm sure that was a fluke! :-P
I've read several posts that answered part of my questions, but haven't found one that fits my current LO. Long story short. LO born at 34 weeks. Now 8 weeks old, not sure about adjusted age because he does some things like a normal 2 month old, and some like a newborn. Trying to get to the point where we drop the MOTN feeding. Schedule: 7AM, 10, 1, 4, 7, dream feed at 10. He is consistently waking again around the 4.5-5 hour mark and crying. I have tried cry it out for at least 15 min, and got him to change him, only to notice he was really eating his hands and truly hungry. My question is this: do I continue to feed him at this 230-330 hour or let him CIO even thought I KNOW he's starving? Occasionally, he won't take his full morning feeding (currently 5 oz). He does have reflux, and we are sleeping on tummy, which greatly helps symptoms. If I DO need to continue to feed at this hour because he might not be ready to drop feeding (and because of his adjusted age), do I let him reach the "I'm going to die" cry before I pick him up to feed him, or continue for a few more weeks feeding him soon as he wakes at the 4.5-5 hr mark? I don't want to create the habit of him thinking I'm going to rescue him. He has been successful at CIO for naps. Just started CIO for naps 2 days ago.
Hi! Reading through some of the posts, I'm thinking that my son is out of the age range that most seem to be having a problem. My sweet son just turned a year, and he's typically been a early riser. I would like wake time to be around 7am, but most days he wakes earlier than that, with me finally giving in and getting him up between 6:30 and 7, but for the past week he's been waking up around 5-5:15 and starting to fuss. Typically, I will try to to go into the room for sure until after 6am, but when he's screaming that early, I feel terrible not going in, and it also makes it hard, because when I finally go in and get him up, he's not happy. I feel like most mornings he has a window of time that he's happy, but if I wait, when I get him up, he's not happy. Even if he calms down when I pick him up, as soon as I lay him down to change his diaper, he starts crying again and doesn't stop until I give him a bottle. Right now, he takes a bottle of whole milk in the am upon wake time, 3 meals of baby/table food, then a bottle at night right before bed. I'm working to transition to sippy cups with milk, but not there yet. He usually goes to bed around 7, but as early as 6:30 (if he's really fussy and tired) or late around 8:30-9 (nights we have church). His bedtime doesn't seem to affect him wake time. I know many would say I should be happy that he sleeps that long, but 5:00-5:30 is a early morning and we are expecting #2, so I'm would really like to work towards 7. Any suggestions?
Not exactly sure what to do. I have a 3 month old who started STTN at about 10 weeks. About a week later he got diarrhea and it's lasted for 3.5 weeks now. We've been seeing the pediatrician and he's currently having some tests done. But since the diarrhea started, he's been waking up sometime between 4-5:30am to eat. I was going to try and drop this feeding because it messes up our 7am wake time, but I can't do CIO because of my 15 month old in the next room. And when I've tried to decrease the feedings he just cries and cries until he gets more. When I try to feed him again at 7-7:30am, he sometimes takes it and sometimes doesn't. If I let him, he'd sleep until the 10am feeding. So it seems as if he doesn't really need it, even though he acts like he'll die without it. Any suggestions? Do I just need to wait until we figure out his digestive issues? What do I do about his wake time? Should I keep getting him up at 7-7:30am even if he doesn't want the feeding?
Hi Val, thanks so much for your blog, my eldest daughter was definately a babywise success! I am having problems with nighttime sleep for my 4.5 week old son. He is a big baby (9 lbs born) and is now huge! He takes 4-5 ounces of milk every 3 hours during the day and I often have to wake him for feedings. He used to go 3-4 hours between feeds at night. I was hoping for longer considering his size but never mind! However for the last week or so he has started to wake crying 1-1.5 hours after his dream feed. He does fall asleep initially after the dream feed (12pm) but wakes up for some reason. I have left him to CIO but he screams persistently until I eventually feed him (I admit I have been waiting until 4am to see if he will go back to sleep.) I would never dream of letting an underweight or even normal weight baby CIO at night but I just don't think he can be hungry, as during the day he sleeps for all his naps and seems content. I have made sure he is warm, and we cluster feed in the evening before he goes to bed. I am reluctant to feed him any more than I already am as he is getting huge! Any ideas? I am exhausted! Thanks so much!
I LO is 5 1/2 weeks and we have been implementing BW since week 3. She does good with the scheudle during the day but I am having a hard time getting her to sleep until her waketime of 6. Our schedule now is:
6
9
12
3
5
7
10:30 Dreamfeed
She is waking now around 2 and then around 5 in the morning. I have tried helping soothe her back to sleep without success and also having her eat just enough to try to get her back to sleep. Once I put her back to bed she either cries or stirs in her bed until I get her back up at 6. Because she goes to bed 7:45-8 and waking at 5 she isn't getting the recommended 10 hours minimum sleep since she doesn't go back to sleep after she wakes at 5. Also, I figured with the cluster and df that she would start being able to make it longer then 3 hours at night by now which she isn't. Do I need to change her schedule? How do I get her to the 6 waketime? I have read your posts on waking before waketime but didn't see anything on when they are waking this close to the time. Thanks for any help!
I LO is 5 1/2 weeks and we have been implementing BW since week 3. She does good with the scheudle during the day but I am having a hard time getting her to sleep until her waketime of 6. Our schedule now is:
6
9
12
3
5
7
10:30 Dreamfeed
She is waking now around 2 and then around 5 in the morning. I have tried helping soothe her back to sleep without success and also having her eat just enough to try to get her back to sleep. Once I put her back to bed she either cries or stirs in her bed until I get her back up at 6. Because she goes to bed 7:45-8 and waking at 5 she isn't getting the recommended 10 hours minimum sleep since she doesn't go back to sleep after she wakes at 5. Also, I figured with the cluster and df that she would start being able to make it longer then 3 hours at night by now which she isn't. Do I need to change her schedule? How do I get her to the 6 waketime? I have read your posts on waking before waketime but didn't see anything on when they are waking this close to the time. Thanks for any help!
Hello. Thank you for this blog. It is definitely a great help. Here is my situation that I'd love your advice on. I started back at work a month ago and my baby has slowly been adjusting to the in-home daycare he stays at during my work hours. Our current eat schedule is the following:
4 am
7:45ish
11:30 am
2:30 pm
4:30 pm
6:30 pm
8 or 8:30 pm (dream feed)
My little man is 4 monthts old today and is sleeping 8 hours at night and like clock work wakes at 4 am to eat like a horse. My problem is even though he doesn't eat again until 7:45, he barely eats at that feeding. He wakes around 7:30 and we get to the in-home daycare where I nurse him before heading to work and he just eats for about 5 minutes on one breast then is barely interested in the other. He never did well with the late (10 pm) feeding and he dropped that pretty early. What would you suggest to get him to start eating more at his waketime feeding?
Hi there. Wish I would have discovered ya back in 2010 w my first. Glad I did now. My 4 1/2 mo little girl is a pretty decent sleeper I'm just having mommy brain and can't figure out the problems. Help please! I work part time along with my husbands crazy schedule and the kids stay at home and go between me, my husband and our nanny. So, our "wake time" isn't so much as set since they stay at home. I just let her sleep, which may be my problem. Typical day is 1st nap nap around 9-9:15 am til 11-11:30 ish, 2nd nap is 1 to 1 1/2 hrs after that, so 12:30-1pm for 2 to 2 1/2 hrs (wake time around 3 to 3:30pm), starting getting sleepy again around 5 or 5:30pm sp short one and then down for the night usually around 7 or 7:30p. Feed every 4 hrs. I dream feed her usually around 10 or 10:30 pm and she is waking at 4:30 am. I'm just a little confused on working out the specific details or where to go from here. When do we drop DF and how do we get past early morning WU? As I'm reading this make sure it all flows, I think I may have solved my problem. Think I may need to set her wake up for 7:30 am and base my schedule off of this? Is that correct? Thanks for all your knowledge sharing. Technology really is a blessing.
My son is 7 months old and has been on the following schedule:
5:30am: bf (back to sleep)
7:30 wake
8:30 bf/food
9:00 nap
12:00 bf/food
1:00 nap
3:00 bf
5:30 food
7:00 bf/bed
He has started to wake up at 4:30am wanting to be fed. I don't want him to CIO - he is persistent and will cry for hours if we let him. Any idea how to wean him from the 4:30am back to the 5:30 or even 7:30 schedule?
Anything would be helpful!
Hello,
I have to say I LOVE your blog! :) I have a 7 week old daughter, who I am doing babywise once again (also did babywise with my 2 year old daughter who sleeps like a rockstar!:) ) My 7 week old has been on a great 3 hour schedule during the day and started extending her night time feed at 5 weeks. She now consistently wakes at 3:30am or 4am. I have been feeding her a full feeding, but feel we need to start dropping this. My 2 year old dropped this feed on her own at 6 weeks and was sleeping through the night so I feel I all new to this:) What do you suggest? CIO or possibly cutting back on the amount she eats at this time? Seems like her clock is stuck on this time. Also, how best can I get in 7 feedings before the night time feed wake up? I think this will alos help her--but with the schedule, the dream feed is feeding number 6 only.....
Thanks in advance!!
Hi,
Thank you so much for sharing your blog, it really is very helpful!!!
I have a 14w old baby girl, and we have been practicing BW since she was about 6w. Everything was going well, she was following a 3h routine perfectly and eventually (around 12w) she started sleeping through the night. This happened when we were on vacation though and since coming back home, she started waking up between 5 and 6 again (from 10 pm). I feed her and then she falls back to sleep till at least 10.30 or 11, e.g. she sleeps another 4-5 hours. She wakes up happy and lasts for about and hour to hour and a half. The rest of the day though, she has trouble with her naps. She only sleeps for about 45-60 mins at a time, and also stays awake for only max an hour to hour and a half, which decreases our routine to 2-2.5 hours.
I was wondering if you would recommend to start waking her up around 8.30am and try to avoid the 5am/6am sleep, instead of letting her wake up on her own at 10.30?
Any advice would be appreciated.
My 12 week old boy is only making it 6-7 hours at night. I usually give him his dream feed between 9:30-11:00. 10:00 is ideal but nights like tonight when I knew he was crying and fussing because he was hungry I fed him early. He wakes between 3-5am. If it's around 4 or 5, he doesn't eat well for his first feeding of the day around 8:00. You mentioned in this post to "Be sure you haven't extended daytime feeding cycles before the night has been established. "...do not lengthen the time between daytime feedings until your babies are sleeping at least nine to ten hours at night" (p.182). If you have extended feedings, cut back to the three hour schedule."
I have to wake him up for every nap so I moved him to a 3.5 hour schedule and he's doing great on it! But he always seems to not need that 4-5am feeding because he won't eat a big breakfast. What do you suggest I do? Go back to a 3 hour schedule? I'd really love for him to be able to sleep 9-10 hours. If I feed him at 10 and he was sleeping 10 hours then he'd make it to 8 which would be perfect! :) I just don't know how to get there.
Hi, I have a 6 week old little girl. She has waking twice in the middle of the night, once around 1 and then around 4. However, last night she only woke up at 1 and didn't wake up to nurse again until 5:40... our 'waketime' is 6:30 (i'll be going back to work, so i've gone ahead and started it at this early waketime...). My question is, should I feed her at 5:30 and put her back down, and then try feeding her again at 6:30? I don't fully understand when you mentioned this: "You will know baby doesn't need that feeding because she won't eat well at breakfast. This then causes a ripple effect problem because she will then be hungry for the second meal of the day early. So you will want to stop that feeding" Doesn't it just make sense that if she ate at the earlier time then she wouldn't be hungry at the 'waketime'... I don't understand how that is an idicator that she doesn't need that feeding?? Thanks for your help/advice, I love your blog... I followed it with my first and am no following it with her!!
now following it, not no*
What to do? Despite BW from day one, my 4 mo old has only been STTN for 5 weeks (we had major setbacks (colic, RSV, reflux) but only in 7-8 hour stretches between DF & morning. I want a DWT of 7am but he has not been able to get past 6-6:30. Sometimes as of late it has been 5:45 even. I've tried CIO but he usually just wakes up happy, then gets fussy, then cries..by that time it's 6:30-45, he eats poor, gets over tired, naps poorly, wakes early for second feeding...it's a downhill slope. I want to drop the DF but want him sleeping later in the a.m. I cannot consistently start my day at 6am. I usually try to play 'catch up' all day with a last feed of 7pm (then DF @ 10:15). How do I get him to sleep later in the morning?!
My little one is almost 4mos old...STTN for a week 8pm until 6:50am. Tonite woke at 4am. Growth spurt or CIO??? What to do?
First, thank you so much for this blog, I have scoured nearly every entry regarding sleep :). My six month old son started Babywise at 6 weeks old. At 12 weeks old, we successfully used the Baby Whisperer technique of reinserting the pacifier for 7 nights to drop the 2am feeding. However he still had a 6am feeding, which he would wake up for crying (not babbling), so I would feed him. Three months later, he is still waking at 6am. We would like his wake time to be 7:30am so that he doesn't need to nap when I need to take our daughter to preschool at 9am. We have unsuccessfully tried to use the pacifier technique to drop this feeding. When I tried to gradually shorten the feeding by a few minutes (I have always only given him one side at this time), he doesn't fall back asleep. He usually isn't very hungry for the 7:30am feeding. I would consider CIO, however, one morning I waited to see if he would fall back to sleep and he stayed awake, babbling, until his waketime,throwing off his schedule for the day. So, it seems more sensible to feed him and continue to try to set his 7:30am waketime, as we have been for the last few months. At 5 months old, we finally settled into the 4 hour schedule. However, I am still doing a dream feed because I was unsure if he was still waking early due to hunger. He started solids at 5 months and is currently eating solids 3 times per day. He is still swaddled, and we have the room fairly dark with black out curtains. We have been putting him to bed at 8pm for the past 3 weeks. So, here are my questions... If he should be able to sleep 10-11 hours at night is that from bedtime to waketime, or dreamfeed to waketime? Should I adjust his bedtime? Should I drop the dream feed, even though he does seem to be eating well for it? Is it possible he needs to drop the 3rd (45 min) nap? Any other suggestions on how to drop the early morning feeding? At this point, I feel I have over analyzed the situation and can't find a solution. I have read your entries regarding early wake times, dropping feedings,and the dream feeds. Any other ideas on how to help him sleep later or do I just need to be patient? His schedule is usually something like this:
6am wake/feed/back to bed
7:30 wake/feed
9:30 nap
11:00 wake/feed
1:00 nap
3:00 wake/feed
5:00 nap
5:45 wake/feed
8:00 in bed
9:30 dream feed
I would absolutely love your help with this as we simply can't figure out how to help him sleep later.
Hi! My LO is 10 weeks old. She has been waking going to bed at 7PM and waking up around 1 and then 4. However, lately, she has been waking up at 2 and then 5:30AM. Because of this change, our days have become wacky because she doesn't eat a full breakfast. And then the entire day schedule spirals and I have a snacker on my hands with poor naps. I tried the dream feed the last 2 days to see what happens. The first night, I tried breastfeeding and she woke up at the same times (2 and 5:30) eating the same amounts. The second night, i tried bottle, and she woke up at 3:45AM and then 7AM, but her first feeding at 7AM was horrible again. So, I am thinking that she just doesn't need the second night feeding.
I have a couple questions.
1. I tend to sleep around 9PM. Do you think I need to do the dreamfeed? Can I just wake up at 2AM and feed? At 2AM, my breasts are fuller and she only takes one so she takes a good feeding. But between 10-11, my breasts aren't that full, and to have to pump and feed takes MORE time, which means LESS sleep for me. I only have 2 datapoints for the dream feed, but I am just scared that I'll not be able to sleep as much as when I didn't dreamfeed.
2. I am a bit nervous to CIO because my 3 year old son sleeps right next door. If I follow your method, how did you deal with the rest of the day? Why did it take so long for you to do the elimination of the 5AM feed? I can't imagine having to deal with a wacky schedule for a few more weeks!
BTW - my baby is BIG. At her 2 month appointment, she was 15lbs and 4 oz so weight isn't an issue!!
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