night wakings

My boys are doing really well at night but I'm considering letting them CIO for night wakings. They go down around 6:30 then usually Luke starts crying around 12-1AM. We get up and feed both and put them right down. Then Luke starts to cry again around 4 and I just feed him and both sleep until around 7. I think the midnight waking they may be genuinely hungry but I'm not sure about Luke's 4 AM waking. I don't want to make him CIO if he's truly hungry.

They are 3 1/2 months adjusted age, 5 1/2 months real age.

Looking for suggestions.

 

QUOTE(allboys @ May 3 2008, 11:16 AM) [snapback]753616[/snapback]
My boys are doing really well at night but I'm considering letting them CIO for night wakings. They go down around 6:30 then usually Luke starts crying around 12-1AM. We get up and feed both and put them right down. Then Luke starts to cry again around 4 and I just feed him and both sleep until around 7. I think the midnight waking they may be genuinely hungry but I'm not sure about Luke's 4 AM waking. I don't want to make him CIO if he's truly hungry.

They are 3 1/2 months adjusted age, 5 1/2 months real age.

Looking for suggestions.


We're having a very similar situation with one DD. She usually wakes around 3-4 AM crying. I give her a 4 oz bottle and she goes right back to sleep without ever opening her eyes. Latley she has started to also wake around midnight and we've been giving her 4 oz then as well. My other DD STTN so I'm pretty quick to grab the fussy baby for fear that she will wake her sleeping sister.

Is there any chance that if you weren't waking the sleeping baby he might STTN?

FWIW, I think we've finally gotten to the point that we're going to bring one crib in our room with the STTN baby. That way we can try to do CIO with my little night eater ... I think we're still going to let her have one bottle at night the first time she wakes (I think she may be genuinely hungry then). Is there any chance that you could keep Luke seperate for a few nights to see if your other baby will STTN?

Good luck! I definitely understand where you're coming from and look forward to reading the responses you receive.

 

I would guess with that pattern and the adjusted age that he's hungry at 4 am, too. It's pretty normal for the one long stretch of sleep to be at the beginning of the night, and then the second half of the night is more like the rest of the day as far as timing.

I had one who went down to one feeding months before the other (around 7 months) and then went to sleeping through right around 9 months (7 to 6:30). His brother still wakes up once around 3. I'm willing to give him a pass 'cause he's still "the little one". But I think the time for a little work on that habit may be coming soon...

 

Could be growth spurts.

Katie hit the 6 month mark and woke a few nights wanting a bottle. She ate it and off to sleep she went again. Thank goodness it wasn't an every night thing.

 

At three months mine were waking at almost the exact same times for feeds - 1am and 4/4.30. In the last few weeks they have dropped the midnight feed themselves...they are five months old.

I would suggest continuing to feed them at both feeds for now - they may well fall in to their own pattern when they are ready.

You could try letting them cry a few minutes at the midnight feed and if the cry continues/escalates, you can guess they are hungry, if it starts to wind down after a few minutes, that might indicate they are putting themselves back to sleep (or trying to)...

I'm by NO MEANS an expert on sleep!!! That's just what I do with my boys...


Good luck! It is so difficult trying to figure these little creatures out

 

Is he taking a good amount in the 4am bottle? If so, I would say he is hungry and needs to eat.

 

Ditto Zabeta - that sounds totally normal for 3.5 mo adjusted. I think mine were doing something similar around that age. In time, the long stretch in the beginning will get longer and longer.

The "experts" usually recommend waiting until 6 mo adjusted, or at the very least 4 mo adjusted, to do CIO, because before that, babies are simply incapable of self-soothing. And I'd be very reluctant to use CIO to eliminate night feedings before at least 6 mo adjusted.

Sounds like your little guys are very good sleepers for their age! Don't worry, it will get better and better.

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ May 3 2008, 03:06 PM) [snapback]753847[/snapback]
Is he taking a good amount in the 4am bottle? If so, I would say he is hungry and needs to eat.


Hard to say because I'm nursing, but it seems like he eats a fair amount.

As for not waking Calvin at midnight, I tried that once or twice and he'd wake on his own a few hours later. So I do much better just feeding him with Luke and then he sleeps the rest of the night.

I know they can self-soothe because we've been doing modified CIO for naps and bedtime for a few months now and they never fuss much longer than 10-15 minutes. But I'm afraid letting Luke fuss that long at 4 AM will just wake up Calvin. And it is way too much work to move one crib from their room upstairs to my downstairs bedroom.

So I think for now I'll just keep feeding like most recommend and see what happens in another month or so. Thank you.