Trouble Shooting sleep training

Well, I am happy to report that bed times are much easier. The kids whine a bit around 6:30 b/c they are getting tired but have some of their bottle before bath and then their bath and then finish their bottle and fall asleep instantly.

DS sleeps until at least 5 am sometimes until 6. DD is a different story. She is MOVING a lot in her sleep. Last night (at 4am ) I found she had swivelled herself 180 degrees and had her feet up on the railings of the cribs babbling to herself. I made the mistake of letting her see me and so then I just fed her. Grrr, I broke my promise to just leave her :headbang:

So I need some advice, why are they waking up so early? I think DD is hungry but we're trying to dream feed her and it's not working to keep her asleep.

Also, what's going on with DD she can't seem to relax. She sleeps soundly for the first 5 hours and then thumps her legs and brings them up to her chest and swivels her head from side to side. Any advice?

I think we're almost there but the funny thing is I can't relax and sleep deeply :laughing: Grr, my ears are on full alert.

 

They're probably just waking early b/c they are hungry. I don't know if they are taking a whole bottle at the dream feed, but if not then 6:30 pm - 5 am is a long time to go without eating and pretty darn good for 5 months old, IMO! Mine never slept past 5:30 am for the whole first year.

 

i think it sounds like you're doing great! my boys didn't sleep that many hours at a stretch at 5 months so you must be doing something right. :good:

in our experience 11 or 12 hours at night is pretty much the max. if you're doing bed at 6:30, wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 might be the best you can aim for. you'll get there as their tummies grow and they can go longer without waking up so hungry, but for now it looks like you're getting close.

 

I also agree that they are probably waking hungry, dream feeding never worked for my kids either But going 6:30 to 5-6am at 5 months old is great! Mine were going around 10-11 hrs at that age, rarely they'd squeeze a 12 hr night in but that wasn't the norm!

As for your dd, some kids are just restless sleepers, but also, she could be going into a lighter stage of sleep at that point, hence the restlessness and moving around. I would just leave her unless she starts crying, and she may fall back into a deeper sleep on her own. Everyone, even adults, go through different phases of sleep during the night, some is deeper, and some is lighter. They have to learn how to put themselves back to sleep during that lighter phase, and that's something that just comes with time

 

I think they are probably waking because they are hungry as well, that's a long time for them to go with no food. It may be that they won't sleep any longer until the mature a bit more.

You may never sleep deeply again. :lol: I know I still don't, a momma's ears are always listening!

 

My DD does the exact same thing. I just leave her unless she's crying because she always goes back to sleep.

 

hi- Ours are about the same age as yours. And the same thing was happening around the 18-21 week mark, prior to then we were dream feeding at 10 and also they were waking around 3/4 for a feed. As of the last week, ours go to sleep at 7pm and wake around 615/630 AM.

I think that the reason they started sleeping later and thru the night is because we really locked down a regular feeding schedule during the day. We feed at 630, 1030, 230, and 630. For the first 3 feeds a day, we feed bottle followed with solids 30 mins later. It took a few days to get them really used to this schedule, but now its running very smoothly. Prior to locking down this feeding schedule, their feeds would differ every day based on when they would wake, which would be any time btwn 6 and 8, depending on when they woke in the middle of the night. And we were feeding solids 2x a day in the morning about 1 or so after their bottle and in the evening about 2 hours after a bottle. I think that the differing schedule every day prevented them from sleeping thru b/c their digestion was all off. I also think that feeding them solids 1/2 way inbtwn feeds made them take less at the next bottle, so we moved it closer to the prior bottle, if that makes sense. They take less solids, but more milk, which is more important.

Along with the regular 4 hour feedings thru the day, we also started reducing the amount they got in the middle of the night down to 3 oz if they woke. We also dropped the dream feed and when we did, we found that they woke at the same time in the middle of the night regardless of if they had it or not. One of our DD needs buot 32 oz a day, they other about 28 oz and we need to make sure they get that thru 4 bottles throughout the day. It took a couple of days to get them from 5/6 oz to 7/8oz per bottle, but now they have no problem finishing it. The change just took time I guess.

After doing this for about 1 week or so, they started sleeping thru without waking for feeds. Granted its only been going for about 5 or 6 days, but its a great place to be.

We are also placing the girls in the crib awake, allowing them to fall asleep on their own. sometimes they cry for up to 10 mins or so, but that is rare.

Are you feeding on a regular schedule during the day? Allowing them to fall asleep on their own? I think that at the 5 month mark, these two things are key.