Baby sleeping through the night?

[Fancy Face]

Hi there!

We have a 3 month old and are trying to determine the best way to teach her to soothe herself to sleep so that she sleeps through the night. This will take place in another month or two but if there is something I can do in the interim to make the transition easier, the advice from here would really help.

She sleeps in the crib on her own and has done so since she was a month old (in bassinet in our room for the first month). Her sleep pattern at night varies a bit but for the most part, she sleeps after her bath at 7 pm up to about 4 am, wakes for a feed and diaper change and is back sleeping within the hour. Then she wakes up at around 9 or sometimes 10 am.

Thanks!!

[Bullseye]

Wow, 7pm is really early for a three month old! That might be your problem, try a later bedtime and see if she sleeps later without waking.

I think ours was still up till 10-11pm at that age, but he would sleep till 7-8 in the morning.

[charliebrown]

9-10pm bathtime for our little one (10 wks); usually sleeps after the feeding until 2-4am; wife is nursing, so I guess baby gets hungry middle of the night

he's sleeping in his crib now (bassinet for 1st 2 months), no complaints :) He really likes to sleep right up against the side of the crib tho

[skanji]

man - this is awesome stuff...ours is due any day now...(due date april 17th)

[brendonp]

A little trivia for you... "sleeping through the night" generally means getting 6 hours according to most of the literature we've read - and according two a couple of doctors we know!

From about 6 weeks to 6 months, our daughter generally slept from 8pm or 9pm until 6 or 7am. Once she hit six months and started teething she starting waking up two or three times in the night. At that point we started to soothe her back to sleep (assuming she wasn't crying) - we'd typically "shh" her while patting or rubbing her back (she sleeps on her side now, so this might be tough if your child sleeps on her back!)... if she started to cry, I'd pick her up, then put her down again and repeat - I'll typically shh her for a few minutes after I believe she's asleep (she's tricked me a few times!). After a couple of days of this she got into the habit of falling asleep fairly quickly once she was put in her crib. I don't mind rocking her to sleep, but my wife is finding she's getting heavier and it's harder to do!

She's 7.5 months now, and we've got her back to a 7pm to 7am sleep, though she still wakes up around 2 or 3 am every couple of nights. We have noticed that she'll wake up for a few seconds and sometimes cry, but fall back asleep before we can get up to her room - I'm not positive that this has any correlation to "shh"ng her to sleep, but I think it might as she's grown accustomed to falling asleep without being held. Occasionally she's woken up at night, and I've walked into her room, placed my hand on her back and said "shh", and she's fallen right back again.

Other times she's standing in her crib waiting for me! ;)

I'm sure this is different for every parent (check the co-sleeping threads!), but this seems to have worked nicely for us - my wife and I typically get 8+ hours of sleep a night (assuming I'm not working!)...

[brendonp]

man - this is awesome stuff...ours is due any day now...(due date april 17th)

Congrats! Awesome experience!

[charliebrown]

man - this is awesome stuff...ours is due any day now...(due date april 17th)

are u gonna name the baby after alfredson? redden? MATS? :razz:

best of luck with the newborn! try to sleep as much as u can over the next 2 wks!

[volan]

Hi there!

We have a 3 month old and are trying to determine the best way to teach her to soothe herself to sleep so that she sleeps through the night. This will take place in another month or two but if there is something I can do in the interim to make the transition easier, the advice from here would really help.

She sleeps in the crib on her own and has done so since she was a month old (in bassinet in our room for the first month). Her sleep pattern at night varies a bit but for the most part, she sleeps after her bath at 7 pm up to about 4 am, wakes for a feed and diaper change and is back sleeping within the hour. Then she wakes up at around 9 or sometimes 10 am.

Thanks!!

Sounds like you're doing really well. At 3months my son was a terrible sleeper. If he woke up and you weren't holding him he'd cry and cry. Then you'd pick him up and rock him until he went to sleep and as soon as you put him down he'd start whaling again. We were just exhausted! Then we read a book and implemented it's strategies.

The book is called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", by Marc Weissblulth. It teaches you all about the science of sleep and has some very good suggestions on how to get your child to sooth himself/herself to sleep making it a lot easier on the parents.

Implementing Weissbluths strategies has changed my son from a terrible sleeper to an excellent sleeper.

[getmail99]

A little trivia for you... "sleeping through the night" generally means getting 6 hours

agree, 6 hours is "sleeping through the night".

[sdm242]

Hi there!
. Her sleep pattern at night varies a bit but for the most part, she sleeps after her bath at 7 pm up to about 4 am, wakes for a feed and diaper change and is back sleeping within the hour. Then she wakes up at around 9 or sometimes 10 am.

Thanks!!
If your child it sleeping 9 hours straight, I think she's doing great already. If you're expecting her to sleep from 7 pm till 9 or 10 am straight, I'd say your expectations are a little high.

[yelworC_]

Question: does she sleep on back or stomach ?
If on back, try stomach. Works, you can get 8pm till 7am straight sleep "out of her" easily. (but make sure she can move and hold her head while being on stomach = exercise during the day).
Also temperature in the room can be factor. Keep it low (20C or less) and don't put any hats on head.

[Diamondog]

Question: does she sleep on back or stomach ?
If on back, try stomach. Works, you can get 8pm till 7am straight sleep "out of her" easily. (but make sure she can move and hold her head while being on stomach = exercise during the day).
Also temperature in the room can be factor. Keep it low (20C or less) and don't put any hats on head.

3 month old shouldn't be sleeping on their stomach, whole other story and lots of opinions I'm sure.

[Bullseye]

Sleeping on stomach is a big no-no these days for infants, it's linked to higher risk of SIDS.

[Whiplash7828]

I'd say get her to bed a little later and give her a good feeding before she sleeps...but 7pm to 4 am is still very good....just shift it over a bit.

Our son hasn't woken up once since he was 6 weeks old (he's now 7.5 months)...LUCKY! :razz:

Sleeping on stomach is a big no-no these days for infants, it's linked to higher risk of SIDS.

+1

[yelworC_]

Sleeping on stomach is a big no-no these days for infants, it's linked to higher risk of SIDS.

Sorry, but yes and no. SIDS is linked with temperature more than anything and bad air circulation. Sleeping on stomach when done properly is even better (e.g. no flat back of the head).

[Bullseye]

Sorry, but yes and no. SIDS is linked with temperature more than anything and bad air circulation. Sleeping on stomach when done properly is even better (e.g. no flat back of the head).

Sources for that?

Here's mine, they say otherwise;

Canadian Paediatric Society

http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/CP/cp04-02.htm

National Institute of Health

http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/

Public Health Canada

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/prenatal/sids_e.html

BC Ministry of Health

http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile46.stm

[knapper]

Sorry, but yes and no. SIDS is linked with temperature more than anything and bad air circulation. Sleeping on stomach when done properly is even better (e.g. no flat back of the head).

I won't comment on the SIDS stuff, but the proliferation of back sleepers has definitely lead to wide-spread flat heads. Our daughter prefered a lean to one side. We tried moving the crib with relation to door to get her to switch, but no luck. She still has (~3 year old) a good flat spot but is hidden by her hair. A friend of mine's son's head was so bad he was had to wear a helmet for months to try to re-shape it.

[Whiplash7828]

Add to that the US Department of health
http://www.cdc.gov/SIDS/sleepenvirnoment.htm

[Diamondog]

Sorry, but yes and no. SIDS is linked with temperature more than anything and bad air circulation. Sleeping on stomach when done properly is even better (e.g. no flat back of the head).

Rubbish...you'll not find one competent medical expert that would support that.

[yelworC_]

Sources for that?

Here's mine, they say otherwise;

Canadian Paediatric Society

http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/CP/cp04-02.htm

National Institute of Health

http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/

Public Health Canada

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/prenatal/sids_e.html

BC Ministry of Health

http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile46.stm


http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2004_h1/19apr2004_SIDS.shtml

http://www.healthychild.com/SIDS-crib-death-factors.htm

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn. We were eating spinach when we were little because they believed it is a rich source of iron. Now they realized it was all BS. Do with your kids whatever you want to do, believe to whatever source you want to do.
SIDS is same crap as colic.

[Bullseye]

http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2004_h1/19apr2004_SIDS.shtml

http://www.healthychild.com/SIDS-crib-death-factors.htm

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn. We were eating spinach when we were little because they believed it is a rich source of iron. Now they realized it was all BS. Do with your kids whatever you want to do, believe to whatever source you want to do.
SIDS is same crap as colic.

Neither of those links say anything about sleeping on their bellies being better than the back, which was what you were stating as a fact. Why say things that are not true, and that you can't back up with anything?

They also used to to think smoking was not bad for you, now they say otherwise, guess that's just BS too and we all might as well light up and ignore the latest studies?

[Diamondog]

http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2004_h1/19apr2004_SIDS.shtml

http://www.healthychild.com/SIDS-crib-death-factors.htm

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn. We were eating spinach when we were little because they believed it is a rich source of iron. Now they realized it was all BS. Do with your kids whatever you want to do, believe to whatever source you want to do.
SIDS is same crap as colic.

What does that mean SIDS is the same crap as colic? Real problems?

[ai_c]

sids = sudden infant death syndrome

[Whiplash7828]

SIDS is same crap as colic.

Please explain :?: You're not making very much sense.

[Fancy Face]

Hi there! Let me clarify a few things:

Sleeping through the night (my definition) - 7 pm to 7 am with 2 naps during the day - see Tracy Hogg's Baby Whisperer (she has a sleep schedule for different ages). Our toddler has had this schedule for almost a year but is down to 1 nap. I have a pdf of the pages I scanned from different books into one document but don't know how to attach it here.

Authors - Marc Weissbluth is good so is Harvey Karp (Happiest Baby on the Block).

Our baby sleeps on her right side especially after a feeding - helps when you haven't been able to burp her after numerous attempts.

Balding spot / Flat head - due to the other fontanelle spot. What you should do is put baby on her/his back but move the neck to the sides - doesn't hurt them and prevents the balding and flat head

Our baby sleeps in a sleeping bag at night - swaddling doesn't work anymore because she has grown so much. We sew the sides of the sleeping bag so it closes off the sleeves also, then after a few weeks, we open one sleeve so that one hand can come out and she gets used to sleeping that way eventually opening the other side and then she's fine with sleeping without this aid and doesn't startle herself awake.

We had done all this with our first born child but she was difficult to soothe to sleep and we would try patting her back and once we stopped, she's awake screaming which is why I wanted the advice for our second baby since we never figured out a calmer way for her to self soothe.

Thanks so much for all your posts. Good luck to all the new parents.

[charliebrown]

hehehe...baby slept from 10pm to 8am this morn :D

almost at 3 month mark

[ayeung]

My baby is now 10 weeks and I can't get her to sleep more than 4 hrs. During the day, I can't put her to sleep anywhere except when she is in my arms. So, I'm pretty much attach to the computer or TV during the day. But I've got to find a better solution as she is getting heavier and heavier and my arms are sore. I'm so jealous to those of you whose baby will take naps or sleep through the night.

[AnnaBanana]

ayeung - don't think that because some people say that their babies sleep full nights means that 'most' do! It's not normal for a baby to want to sleep longer than yours is, he/she needs to eat to grow (and you will notice that there will be growth spurts where you're feeding him/her more and she sleeps more than usual as well)... Remember that 4 hour spurts is better than 2 hour spurts (what some people deal with!). My baby will also not sleep more than a little at a time unless she is in my arms... until yesterday (she's three months old now!). She would fall asleep NO PROBLEM if i was holding her, but as soon as i put her down she would wake up. I found that the swing has been a huge help, and yesterday i put her in her crib just to try (as i always do) and she actually fell asleep after about 10 minutes of looking around... So don't lose hope - 10 weeks is so young!!! My little one sleeps a 6 hour stretch and a 4 hour stretch most nights, but often also does two or three 3 hour stretches... I think we just need to be thankful for what we have / or don't have (we don't have babies who wake up every two hours!).
a.b.

[tkl]

14 Month and still doesn't sleep through the night.

My boy wakes up EVERY 2.5 hour during his night sleep. Sits up, looks for Mom or cries himself awake. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it as I would like my other half back in my bed and not sharing a bed with him.

One 2 hr nap around 1 - 3 or 2 - 4 then sleep at night around 9 or 10 pm for about 9 hours

[Bullseye]

My baby is now 10 weeks and I can't get her to sleep more than 4 hrs. During the day, I can't put her to sleep anywhere except when she is in my arms. So, I'm pretty much attach to the computer or TV during the day. But I've got to find a better solution as she is getting heavier and heavier and my arms are sore. I'm so jealous to those of you whose baby will take naps or sleep through the night.

Bad habit, letting baby sleep in your arms all the time. They get used to it, then your problem just gets worse, and harder to break them of.

We always calmed, then put down, calmed, then put down, as many times as needed, but never let him go to sleep in our arms. So far, our second, now 6 weeks old, gives us no problems with sleeping. I think we have only needed to actually get out of bed to comfort him once or twice, and just for a short time.

[Whiplash7828]

Bad habit, letting baby sleep in your arms all the time. They get used to it, then your problem just gets worse, and harder to break them of.

We always calmed, then put down, calmed, then put down, as many times as needed, but never let him go to sleep in our arms. So far, our second, now 6 weeks old, gives us no problems with sleeping. I think we have only needed to actually get out of bed to comfort him once or twice, and just for a short time.

I agree. It will be a tough habit to break.

[kaimui22]

my baby is 7 weeks and is doing one 5hr and one 6hr stretch at night..we didn't really "train" him but i've read the happiest baby on the block and numerous other books..

what i've discovered is that not one method will work for all babies. some need to be calmed, some just want to be bundled nice and close and left alone

our baby used to do 3hr stretches and it was keeping us awake..then we swaddled him nice and tight and discovered that he could 6 hour stretches. the thing that was waking him up before was his own hands..he would fall asleep then he would accidentally hit himself in the face and wake himself up. so when we swaddled him, we had to make sure his hands were tightly bundled..then he could sleep with no problems.

i had to watch him for couple of nights to notice that it wasn't that he didn't want to sleep..it was just that he kept waking himself up with his hands..

i'm quite happy with him sleeping so long by himself and don't think i will enforce any "rules" until he is older.

btw, my son is quite large for his age...he's gained like 5lbs in one month but the doctor said its okay so i guess it's fine

[ash101]

btw, my son is quite large for his age...he's gained like 5lbs in one month but the doctor said its okay so i guess it's fine

5lbs in 1st mth? what do you feed him?

My baby is 3 weeks old. He can sleep 4hrs straight at night and 2-3hrs in the day. I found he prefers to sleep on his side instead of his back. I am not sure if it's ok for him. Also, sometimes he doesn't like be to wrapped tightly.

[kaimui22]

5lbs in 1st mth? what do you feed him?

My baby is 3 weeks old. He can sleep 4hrs straight at night and 2-3hrs in the day. I found he prefers to sleep on his side instead of his back. I am not sure if it's ok for him. Also, sometimes he doesn't like be to wrapped tightly.

well he was born at 8lbs1oz..now he's about 13lbs
he eats both formula and bm..not too much though
he's just a big boy i guess

most people assume he's at least 4months old....

[ayeung]

Bad habit, letting baby sleep in your arms all the time. They get used to it, then your problem just gets worse, and harder to break them of.

We always calmed, then put down, calmed, then put down, as many times as needed, but never let him go to sleep in our arms. So far, our second, now 6 weeks old, gives us no problems with sleeping. I think we have only needed to actually get out of bed to comfort him once or twice, and just for a short time.

I know that's bad habit but I don't do that everyday. There are just times I can't put her down to sleep after numerous tries and I can't stand her cry. It's just that she will sleep much longer, like a few hrs if she is in my arms, versus 15-30 mins in her pack n Play, or 5 mins in her crib. She would sleep in her swing forever (I think as I always wake her up) but I'm just afraid that's not good for her to sleep that way (like a semi upright position). And that I'm talking about during day time. I don't hold her to sleep in my arms at night.

[kaimui22]

I know that's bad habit but I don't do that everyday. There are just times I can't put her down to sleep after numerous tries and I can't stand her cry. It's just that she will sleep much longer, like a few hrs if she is in my arms, versus 15-30 mins in her pack n Play, or 5 mins in her crib. She would sleep in her swing forever (I think as I always wake her up) but I'm just afraid that's not good for her to sleep that way (like a semi upright position). And that I'm talking about during day time. I don't hold her to sleep in my arms at night.

i know what you mean by not standing the baby crying...its hard but they will learn to soothe themselves back to sleep..if you let them. sometimes they only cry out for a few seconds. if you rush to them during that time they will not learn to fall back asleep. and during the daytime, babies will prefer to take naps..not long sleeps. my baby will nap in the daytime, about max 1hr each time after meals then he will wake up wanting to play or look around. you can't expect a baby to sleep 3-4hr naps during the day as well as night...they will only sleep to a max of 16hrs a day.

i understand what you mean by sleeping in the swing...at the beginning he will only sleep in the swing or car seat...my mom always wanted to hold him until he fell asleep but we forbid it. we figured sleeping in the swing is better than sleeping in our hands because he will get used to the 'human-touch'...whereas sleeping in a swing, a cold hard plastic seat is more similar to the crib...hopefully your baby will grow out of it soon!

[Bullseye]

I know that's bad habit but I don't do that everyday. There are just times I can't put her down to sleep after numerous tries and I can't stand her cry. It's just that she will sleep much longer, like a few hrs if she is in my arms, versus 15-30 mins in her pack n Play, or 5 mins in her crib. She would sleep in her swing forever (I think as I always wake her up) but I'm just afraid that's not good for her to sleep that way (like a semi upright position). And that I'm talking about during day time. I don't hold her to sleep in my arms at night.

It must be your first child? If/when you have a second, you'll realize that long swing-naps are unavoidable! Don't worry about it, it's no problem for babies to sleep in that position, although you should recline the seat as much as possible. The important thing is to just keep an eye on them when in the swing. I know some parents who actually put baby in the swing OVERNIGHT while they sleep! I know what new-parent desperation can breed, but I think that's just unsafe.

[Ottawa]

If you want a tip to get baby to sleep through the night.....TRY THIS:

Prepare a bottle and put plain old water into it! Nothing special, room temperature, not hot, not cold....

At 2.5 months, my daughter would sleep around midnight, get up around 4ish to bf and then sleep again until about 7 or 8.

I cut the 4AM feeding, buy giving her a bottle w/ water in it. Babies at that age HATE water and spit it out the second they taste it. Baby really wants some nice warm milk from mommy and to be in her arms and feel her warmth. That's it. They are not really starving!!!

Once they realize that if they get up, they get water, they just learn the next time to cont. sleeping since mommy is 'no good' for them.
It really works.

You gotta be persistent. They sleep after max. 20 mins when they dont get what they want. I did it 3 nights in a row, fourth night she and I and my husband were sleeping from midnight, to about 7 am!!!

We loved my first year off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got the tip from my husbands male co-workers and it worked. Although one of them it took them 7 nights before it worked.

PS> Dont give up and feed them, or the next night they';ll just cry longer knowing they'll get fed.

She's been sleeping through the night in her own room since she was about 2.5 months. Now she's 21m.

Good Luck.

PS. it really works, dont start before 2 months as they really do need their milk at that age.