Sleep help please!

I know this is constantly getting discussed on here but I'm at a loss. My DS was STTN until about 1 month ago. He would wake up @ 1:30 and drain a whole bottle (6-7oz.). I am feeding him because I figured it is a growth spurt. He is 5.5 months but 4.5 adjusted. I didn't want to deprive him of a bottle if he was really drinking that much. 6:30pm is their last bottle so I thought 6:30-1:30 is still a long stretch. Anyway, now he is waking up 11:00-12:00 and then again at 4am! He is drinking a whole bottle at 11:00 and then about 4oz at 4am. Last night he was up every freaking hour after 12:00am. I'm thinking he had a belly ache or something. I gave him carrots for the first time so maybe that threw him off. I have a pedi appointment at the end of the month so I will discuss this with her. I am just at a loss with this feeding. How can they go from STTN to this? I would let him CIO a bit if he wasn't drinking so much. Any thoughts? Can anyone maybe recomend a book to get? CIO is going to be hard since DS and DD share a room. She sleeps from 7pm-6:30am every night. This stinks! Thanks for any advice!

Lori

 

My advice would be to feed him ONE time at nite if he's waking and eating at least 6 oz.. That 2nd bottle is not necessary! Good luck and it's tough to CIO w/ another one in the room but it will work out just fine. Just put in earplugs so you don't hear it!!

 

We are having very similar problems. DS wakes up to eat 1-2 times/night. He has STTN before, but not consistently. DD will STTN if DS doesn't wake her up which he usually does. I don't know what to do!! He is eating about 4 oz when he wakes, but then sometimes doesn't want his first bottle of the day.

We have the added issue of them still sleeping in bassinets in our room. We are officially moving to the nursery tonight and approaching some CIO. I think still feeding them 1 time in the night is ok, but more than that is too much. I honestly don't think they need it, but it is habit (that's what my ped said too). Solids didn't help us either, but I don't suppose it's hurt us.

I wish I had some advice, but I don't. I can only commiserate. I hope things improve for you and me both!!

 

Thanks ladies. This has been a long month!

*sully*- I hope it gets better for you too! Solids is not helping us either. If anything, I think that is when he started waking up. Our babies are the same age so maybe it's something with teeth too? They don't have any yet but are drooling and chewing like crazy.

 

They are probably just becoming more alert and aware of their surroundings and sleeping is becoming less of a priority to them. Are they doing any new milestones like trying to sit or rolling?? Sometimes this will disrupt sleep here and there. I would say if he is eating a full bottle, then he needs the calories. FWIW my boys did not STTN until they were 9 months old (7 months adjusted). We finally added a third meal a day (lunch) and that seemed to help maybe. But when they were just starting solids it made no difference. Sleep comes from the brain and not the stomach as some wise woman posts on here and its true And at 4 months mine still needed to eat and CIO would not have solved anything at that point.

ETA: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is a great starting point for a book.

 

My both were STTN for 2 weeks straight. Now last night after putting them to bed at 7pm, one was up at 10:30pm and took 8oz, the other was up at 2 am for 8oz; then they were both up at 5 am and both took another 8oz each. They are also eating at least one jar of food in the morning and one in the evening (sometimes they go through 2 jars at a sitting between them).

After the two week stretch of STTN and thinking that the getting up at night thing was over and going to this, I've decided just to accept whatever is going on and not stress out so much about trying to fix it. I'm doing everything I can to make sure that they develop good sleep habits, they fall asleep at the same time every night without problem. I follow the same routine every night and they are very happy babies. I just figure, if they get up, they must need to eat because they are growing; at least after they drink their bottles, they go right back to sleep. I'm sure after this growth spurt I'll have another time frame of STTN. I just keep telling myself they'll STTN eventually when they are ready.

 

QUOTE(LoriD @ Apr 14 2008, 11:28 AM) [snapback]720719[/snapback]
Thanks ladies. This has been a long month!

*sully*- I hope it gets better for you too! Solids is not helping us either. If anything, I think that is when he started waking up. Our babies are the same age so maybe it's something with teeth too? They don't have any yet but are drooling and chewing like crazy.


Yes! Mine are drooling and chewing like crazy too. They are also obsessed with learning to sit up right now, so maybe that is part of it too.

QUOTE(kimk @ Apr 14 2008, 12:58 PM) [snapback]720909[/snapback]
My both were STTN for 2 weeks straight. Now last night after putting them to bed at 7pm, one was up at 10:30pm and took 8oz, the other was up at 2 am for 8oz; then they were both up at 5 am and both took another 8oz each. They are also eating at least one jar of food in the morning and one in the evening (sometimes they go through 2 jars at a sitting between them).

After the two week stretch of STTN and thinking that the getting up at night thing was over and going to this, I've decided just to accept whatever is going on and not stress out so much about trying to fix it. I'm doing everything I can to make sure that they develop good sleep habits, they fall asleep at the same time every night without problem. I follow the same routine every night and they are very happy babies. I just figure, if they get up, they must need to eat because they are growing; at least after they drink their bottles, they go right back to sleep. I'm sure after this growth spurt I'll have another time frame of STTN. I just keep telling myself they'll STTN eventually when they are ready.


I've always thought that my DS must feel hunger like intense pain from the way that he freaks out. There is no way I could not feed him!! So in part I agree that if they wake up to eat I feed them and maybe it is a growth spurt. My ped does say though that the waking can very much be habit as well that we will have to break. Not sure how I'm going to handle that ...

 

I just got my "little" guy to sttn last night. I made sure he ate a lot of formula during the day and got 3 meals. He also got a lot more sleep during the day and I think that helped. We're only 5.5 adjusted, so I think you should take the into consideration for yourself too. If they are eating twice, they need it, but you also have to listen to your gut if they have eaten enough during the day. As far as sharing a room with CIO, we're doing it with both boys, but they never wake up when the other is CIO. It's about 30mins after the other fell asleep...not nice for Mommy.

Good luck and hang in there!