what are we doing wrong?

okay, my babies can sleep all day. i wake them every 3 to 3 1/2 hours to eat (bottled bm). they hang out for a bit then fall back asleep. sometimes they fuss. come 6pm they are up and fussing or wanting attention until about midnight!!! i give them one feeding of formula inthe evening, hoping it will help them to sleep longer inthe night. nope. they still get up every 3 hours at night. so basically, they will sleep 4-5 hours in the day if i allow it (which i don't), but only 3 hours at night (tho they eat half asleep and go right back down after they are burped).
what am i doing wrong? are they not eating enough? they get 4 oz of bm and of formula, sometimes more... of course they eat like pigs in the evenings.
did this make any sense?
thanks!

 

Probably sounds about right. Nothing really made sense when mine was that age. My girls sleep habits changed when they were about 3 months old and I started a 7pm bedtime. Good luck. I am sure you are doing everything just the way you should be.

Missy

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Dec 13 2007, 12:58 PM) [snapback]532605[/snapback]
okay, my babies can sleep all day. i wake them every 3 to 3 1/2 hours to eat (bottled bm). they hang out for a bit then fall back asleep. sometimes they fuss. come 6pm they are up and fussing or wanting attention until about midnight!!! i give them one feeding of formula inthe evening, hoping it will help them to sleep longer inthe night. nope. they still get up every 3 hours at night. so basically, they will sleep 4-5 hours in the day if i allow it (which i don't), but only 3 hours at night (tho they eat half asleep and go right back down after they are burped).
what am i doing wrong? are they not eating enough? they get 4 oz of bm and of formula, sometimes more... of course they eat like pigs in the evenings.
did this make any sense?
thanks!


Mine are the same way. We had to hold them from 6-11 last night to get them to sleep. It's like they are overtired and can't calm down, but they aren't even awake that much during the day. They eat every three to three and a half during the day, but have gone longer a few times. They had been eating eveyr 2 1/2 to 3 at night. They have come down with colds so I have them sleeping in their car seats and they are sleeping better! They are going four hours at night. I can't wait til I can get them out of them, they are a pain. I strap them in cause I worry about them slumping over. I'm hoping they'll sleep as long when I get them back in the crib. I'm hoping once they can handle more awake time it will get better.

 

You need to read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy child. I read it when my guys were 7 weeks old and it made a world of difference.

 

I do think 3 to 3.5 hours is too far apart for feeding BM. Mine eat every hours. They did eat every 3 when we brought them home but as they get bigger they need to eat more frequently. I am trying to get them to stretch it to every 2.5 but they still want every 2. Try that during the day. Also, make sure you set a wake up time. Even if it's just for 20 minutes - wake them up at the same time every morning, turn up all the lights, open the shades, play some happy music, do some smiles and chatting with them and then feed them. If they want to fall back asleep right after, let them but this will eventually teach them that this is morning. Then in the evenings dim the lights and play sleepy music.

Mine are still doing the crazy 6-midnight thing but it is getting MUCH easier. They fuss, sleep, eat, fuss until 10 or 11 and then fall asleep for the night.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Dec 13 2007, 02:13 PM) [snapback]532640[/snapback]
You need to read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy child. I read it when my guys were 7 weeks old and it made a world of difference.


I agree! I have been using the techniques in this book for the past 1-2 weeks, and it has made a big difference in thier sleep patterns. We are now getting about 3 reasonable naps during the day (at the same time!), and falling asleep for the night by about 7-7:30pm.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Dec 13 2007, 01:13 PM) [snapback]532640[/snapback]
You need to read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy child. I read it when my guys were 7 weeks old and it made a world of difference.


I'm going xmas shopping tomorrow so I'll have to pick it up. I'll add it to my collection of sleep books.
It seems like a lot of people on this board like it.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Dec 13 2007, 02:13 PM) [snapback]532640[/snapback]
You need to read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy child. I read it when my guys were 7 weeks old and it made a world of difference.


I asked for it for xmas!

My girls pull that midnight stuff if they are overtired, it was 11:30 on Sunday because we were out till 7:30 and then I tried to rush their nighttime routine and they got all messed up, plus they had not napped well during the day.

Mine also eat every 2-2.5 hrs during the day unless we go out (because they fall asleep in their carseats and I will not wake a sleeping baby!)

 

My babies went through that phase as well, about 9 weeks it started getting better, it's to the point where they will be up for an hour after each daytime meal (any more than that and they get fussy) and in the evening they will fall asleep in our arms vs. screaming from 6p.m. on. Now they fall asleep about 7 in our arms, we wait to put them down until they are fully asleep, they eat at 9:30 and then sleep until 3:30 or so.

It does get better, I don't think you are doing anything wrong, it's just their age.

 

i'll have to get that book. also, the girls are either sleeping in the swings or the carseats. first, because they are stuffy a lot, and second because they REFUSE to sleep in their cribs. they can be completely asleep, but once you lay them in the crib, they're wide awake!
i'll have to feed them more often, as well.

 

My DH works in a library and since he has a little more free time (bus ride home, breaks at work), he's been totally geeking out with scholarly infant development books! I was glancing at one the other day, and it said that many babies have a later afternoon through evening fussy period, because they've absorbed all the stimulus they can handle and start to get overstimulated, even if at that point it doesn't seem like anything is stimulating them.

I've tried dropping my babies in an infantino carrier--it looks like a handbag for babies (!), and that seems to settle them down during that fussy time. I think they like the rocking motion, plus they feel snuggled, plus it filters out sound and light to reduce some of the stimulation. I don't know if you have anything like that...

 

The Infantino Slingriders were our saving grace in the early fussy weeks!! I'd highly reccomend one - or another type of sling!!

Good Luck!
Suzi

 

That sounds about right for babies that age. They will get more daytime awake time as they get older, and hopefully sleep through the night soon! I also did feedings every 3 hours during the day and think it really helped them to sleep through at about 2 1/2 months. The evening behavior sounds like a normal baby thing as well, one dd started that at 4 weeks and kept it up for a month or so.