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JD
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Topic: feeding/sleeping issues Posted: 06 June 2008 at 9:36pm |
Just after some opinions really....all are welcome.
My 4 month old is still only sleeping about 3-4 hours at night at a time. The plunket nurse told me the other day that he should be happy with one feed between 7pm and 7am not 2 -3 like he has been getting. I tried to just shush him last and he wasnt' going to have a bar of it...he was hungry.
What would you do at night?
Secondly, he seems to be really really hungry especially in the evenings, and tonight, Im sure I ran out of milk so I have him some water in a bottle and he was going for it on that... Is it ok to give them water? How much? Should I just let him go for it on the water?
During the day he is pretty happy and sleeps relatively well....self settling and all that.
FYI - he is in his own room in a cot, wrapped and uses a dummy
TIA
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.Mel
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Posted: 06 June 2008 at 9:47pm |
Hi there
Could be a growth spurt. I think Cooper got one around 4mths.
I was always told that its perfectly normal for babies to wake up more than once during the night.
Cooper sometimes wakes twice in a night, and he's hungry. However he's FF so we are still trying to work out if it's habitual waking or hungry waking.
You may need to look at increasing your own milk supply (I'm gathering your BFing).
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 06 June 2008 at 10:00pm |
My boy is the same..nothing i do except putting dummy back in extends sleep but only for a hour or so and feeding him puts him straight back to sleep.. Plunket not worried though? we feed him at 7 and then 1030 or so and at least once during the night though he has slept through twice..
my boy is the same..great during the day now (were having dummy and settling issues) in his own cot etc.. only difference is he was bf till 8 weeks now FF..
I personally am not giving him water ....just feeding him a bottle as he is definitely hungry:( be interested to see what others do..
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monster
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Posted: 06 June 2008 at 10:05pm |
If he's hungry, feed him.
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 06 June 2008 at 10:14pm |
oh and its ok to give them water but it does fill them up and if he is hungry soon he will want milk again.. does he always sleep 3-4 hours even during the day..Ethan does one 5-7 hour then one 3-4 hour then daytime is 1hour or sometimes 2..
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JD
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Posted: 06 June 2008 at 11:03pm |
Daytime sleeps are normally about 45 mins or so, but sometimes I get 2 hours.
I don't get any long stretch at night. He normally goes to bed about 7, then up at 10:30ish, then again 2-3ish then 6ish. The last couple of nights he has added a 4:30ish in there **yawn**.
Im not too worried about it as I have read from lots of people on here that waking frequently is normal....I just wondered it if was getting a habit for him.
Oh and sometimes he throws a spanner in the works like tonight....bed at 7, then up at 8 then back to sleep for 30 mins then up and wide awake so up to play then more food ....he has finally gone to sleep now. He wasn't really grizzling or anything, just awake and wanting to play.
Kind of makes me want to throw any routine out the window and just go with the flow....
Argh! It also sucks when it seems everyone else with babies the same age are sleeping a decent 7 hours or more
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kebakat
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 7:38am |
monster wrote:
If he's hungry, feed him.  |
Agreed.
Don't feel like most babies his age or younger sleep more. Some do some don't. Daniel was still waking 1-2 times a night then. You could try stretching out the feeds if you want to try something different. Like when he wakes, wait 10 mins and then go in, the next night wait a bit longer etc. It worked for one of the June mummas but her bubba was a bit older.
Also if hes not sleeping great during the day his nights will be effected so he might be a bit tired from his short sleeps and not drinking as much as he needs to during the day because hes a bit tired and then needs it during the night. Maybe.
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 7:52am |
typical..mine actually slept 8 hours last night:( but i know what you mean it does seem as if everyone elses babies sleep longer:(!! we still have to replace the dummy (three times last night) but that's my choice to keep giving it to him..
do you bath him etc at night..or have anything that happens specifically at night?
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aimeejoy
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 8:56am |
In our house its nighttime from 7pm til 7am. If anyone wakes between those hours, whatever the problem is is sorted out then straight back to bed. How many feeds is he having during the day? I was thinking the same as Stacey, that maybe if he isnt sleeping/drinnking enough during the day he is making up for it at night. With both my girls I knew when they didnt need a night feed, cos they werent interested in their first daytime feed. If you think he doesnt really need it, you could give some water first then milk feed dso he gets used to having less at night so drinks more in the day to make up for it IYKWIM.
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kabe
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 10:05am |
I can relate and it does get better! If he's taking a good feed at the times he wakes, he must be hungry. My daughter was the same. Up until 6 months she would wake twice a night for a bf. It then dropped to once a night, after introducing solids and now she is sleeping through until 5-6am.
Nothing but feeding worked for us, so I figured she was hungry. Once he get's bigger and onto solids he'll start sleeping through. Good luck
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 10:45am |
Same with us kabe..though he didnt want his morning bottle today..he's just started on solids so not sure if that has made a difference or not( I didnt start him due to sleeping issues) I think some babies just are hungry ..they do say until about 6 months when babies really should mostly be sleeping right through..
Edited by foxxy_one
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Caro07
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 11:33am |
I could have written your post, I think! My baby is 4 months and we wake three times most nights. I have tried feeding him more often during the day (sometimes 2 hrly) but this doesn't seem to have a huge impact. Like you, when he wakes he takes a full feed and is then straight back to sleep. After seeking lots of advice from Plunket and friends, I am fast coming to the conclusion that we will just have to ride this out. I know it will get better and ultimately, we have a very happy and healthy baby. It's just Mummy and Daddy who would like him to sleep a little bit longer at night
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JD
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 12:42pm |
I think I am coming to the same conslusion as you Caro07. We will just have to ride it out.
He doesn't seem to feed the best during the day...get gets all squirmy even with me winding him....but on the other hand, I do feed him frequently during the day....like 2.5 - 3 hourly.
I wonder if its a hungry boy thing...my sister had the same with her second boy and it came right once he started on solids.
I am trying to hold off on the solids for as long as poss...but well see.
Thanks for all your posts.
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emz
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 1:53pm |
You could try holding him out during the day? Jack was feeding 3 hourly then one day I decided to hold him out till 4, and with the exception of when he had his first 2 teeth come through, he has been 4-hourly ever since. Mind you, I've had him in a routine since he was a few weeks old.
If Jack wakes in the night I try to settle him, then if that doesn't work I give him some water (as he's a comfort sucker), and then if that doesn't work (could be up to 2 hours sometimes) I give him a bottle. I don't wait till he screams though to give him a bottle (not that much of a meany). I was told that a lot of babies wake because they know they will be fed, not because they need to be fed. I think the way you tell is if they don't have a good amount for the first feed of the day then they don't need a feed at night. If baby is over 10lb they have the capacity to sleep through so its just waiting it out or trying different approaches.
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Caro07
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 2:34pm |
We have the same problem with daytime feeding aswell. Sometimes it is OK, sometimes not. My plan for today is to give him gripewater before every feed incase it is wind that is bothering him. He just pops off all the time.
Let me know if you come across a solution
edited as prompted by MamaPickles post!
Edited by Caro07
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Snickerdoodle
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 3:17pm |
caro07 wrote:
He just jerks off all the time |
It took me a while to get what you meant there.
I'm like, he's not a teenager!!
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aimeejoy
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 4:33pm |
LOL Emz, I think me and you read the same book!
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Aimee
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JD
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 6:55pm |
He always feeds well in the morning. Who knows. I am tired already without trying new things during the night. I have rewrapped him and put his dummy in a couple of times and he just wakes again. I think I will just keep feeding him for now.
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kabe
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Posted: 07 June 2008 at 8:10pm |
DJ, I've always found it much quicker to feed Eva than try and settle her in the night. Usually I'm back in bed within 20mins.
I found that at 5 1/2 months we had a little relapse and E started waking 3 times a night again. Plunket said that was a sign she was possibly ready for solids, so started her on Farex and she dropped a night feed shortly after.
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