Sleeping Question for exclusively breastfeeding mums

[Tasha20]

Olivia will be going into her own room at the end of the month. She still feeds between 40mins to 1-2 hrs a day and night. On the rare occassion she will sleep for more than 5 hours in the night.

Is there a way I can get her to sleep longer at night? is cluster feeding the best?

She still sleeps with me so I need to get her out of this rountine too, I will do it all slowly but I just dont know where to start.

She still feeds so much, my mums friend couldnt believe how chunky she was for a breastfed baby, shes such a little piggy

Ive tryed to make her go longer by amusing her with other things to disract her but it really doesnt wash with her so I just feed her on demand, its a much quieter life

Any suggestions? when did it get easier for you ladies?

 

[skatty]

I think you'll find when she's in her own room she will wake less. It must be tempting having the boob on tap to snack on all night! Leorah settled into her own room no problems and started to sleep through within a few weeks

 

[Tasha20]

really? so with her being in the same room she wants it more? oh well ok we will have to give it ago.

Thanks Katt

 

[skatty]

Probably, me and Leorah used to wake each other up and I would presume she was waking to be fed. I have heard of others that have had babies that snack all night because they are in the same bed.

I don't know about the day though. If you find her eating so often a problem in the day you could try and get some tips from the Baby Whisperer. I don't follow the routine but I have gained so much info on everything from Leorah's intolerances to daytime naps from their message boards and the book and life became much easier.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[Hypnorm]

Ewan was in his own room from 6 weeks of age - for the sake of our own sanity!
he was breast fed exclusivley till 9 months and ewan woke and fed every two hours, including the night time taking anything up to 45 mins to feed, as he got old the time feeding decreased, I put a radio in his room so at least i had the midnight classics to listen to.

Ewan would cluster feed from about 6pm till 10 feeding every 40 mins, and would settle about 10pm, he would then wake 3am and 5am this continued till about 5 months then his feeding times lengthened. and would go 4 hours. but rarely slept through.

The weight charts in the red books are designed for bottle babies not bf babies so i would ingore that chart.

Ewan is now 18 months and has had a period of 2 months where he slept through, but now he still wakes once or twice.

 

[Tasha20]

ah ok thankyou very much both of you for your replys.

I will let you know how we both get on when shes in her own room

 

[budge]

Olivia will be going into her own room at the end of the month. She still feeds between 40mins to 1-2 hrs a day and night. On the rare occassion she will sleep for more than 5 hours in the night.

Is there a way I can get her to sleep longer at night? is cluster feeding the best?

She still sleeps with me so I need to get her out of this rountine too, I will do it all slowly but I just dont know where to start.

She still feeds so much, my mums friend couldnt believe how chunky she was for a breastfed baby, shes such a little piggy

Ive tryed to make her go longer by amusing her with other things to disract her but it really doesnt wash with her so I just feed her on demand, its a much quieter life

Any suggestions? when did it get easier for you ladies?

i think its pretty normal what you describe tasha. you're doing great.
personally i don't put mine in their own room until about 7 months when they are sleeping through coz im lazzy and can't be arsed to get up to feed etc and i also think its good for them to have you near.
Everyone is different though and you must find something you're happy with and works for you. you might find she sleeps better on her own or you might find she becomes unsettled at not hearing familiar sounds.
try it and see.

 

[mum2A&L]

i formula feed, not breast so may not be of much help.

ive managed to get Alice down to spending half the night with us. she wakes for a feed around 12 then again at 3am. Although saying that. fed her at 10pm yesterday and she didn't wake until 4.30am

To save my poor back, i have her cot in my room, removed the side and pushed it right up against the side of my bed. Now i get her to sleep on me, and kinda roll her onto her bed. Its nice because she is still close enough to keep her calm, and i can easily check on her during the night. also, saves me having to bend to pick her up.

She still has the odd night where she sleeps with me though

we are planning to keep her in our room for a few months yet.


i hope it all goes smoothly

 

[Lyndsey]

Good Luck Tasha and well done for doing such a great job with the breast feeding.

I am like Budge in that I am a bit lazy and can't be bothered to walk across the landing to feed Logan in the night so he will stay in our room until he is sleeping through the night!!! So can't offer any advice but do wish you well!!

 

[Hypnorm]

he will stay in our room until he is sleeping through the night!!!

Ewan still isn't sleeping through the night at 18 months!
I think Sarah with Braydon is having the same trouble and he is afew months younger.
So i think you have to draw the line at some point Me and hubby couldnt cope having Ewan in our bed as he was quite a noisy sleeper!
and neitherof us were sleeping well, hubby drives all day so he needed to be alert, putting him in his own room was the best thing for us, but you do as you feel so co sleep till they are 3!

 

[Urchin]

Brody was exclusively breastfed and didn;t sleep through till he was 9 months.

Some tips I would give would be:

Don't let her go to sleep on the boob if you can help it. Babies have 40 minute sleep cycles, which means they come back into light sleep every 40 minutes. When this happens they sense where they are, and like to be in the same place they were when they went to sleep.. If she went to sleep on the boob, she will notice, and this will make her wake up more instead of drifting off again on another cycle.

When you put her into her own room, put a night or a T-Shirt of yours into the bed with her, so she can smell you.

Good luck, if you need more tips, check the "no sleep club" thread, thats when there were loads of us in the same boat and we tried EVERYTHING!!!

 

[babyjay1]

Hi Tasha i've started to give my little boy 6oz of formula when he doesn't settle (which is every night!) He loves it and can't get enough, i think he'll have anything, he's really not fussy. I wasn't getting my dinner till about 10pm and felt so tired so i thought i'd give it a go.

For me it's getting him off thats a nightmare but once he's down he doesn't wake up till about 4.30am (we put him down at 7 but he doesn't really go off until 9/10pm) He's been like this from day one really but when i'm in a proper routine with this bottle i'll let you know how he gets on.

It was so hard bringing myself to buy formula but if it means a little more rest for us thats important too. I'm still feeding him as normal on the breast but he's such a ganet (just like his mother! )

 

[madymama]

It is very common for exclusively breastfed babies to rise up the chart very quickly in the beginning. Mine did and my HV told me it is very good for them especially at such young age.

I fed on demand and just followed the clues. Trust your instinct, it is usually right.

My daughter slept in her moses basket for three months, then I moved her in her room so she would get use to it but I also moved in with her (paranoid mum I tell you).
At around four month, I found the strength to go back to my room whish is literally two meters away from hers...

 

[Lyndsey]

he will stay in our room until he is sleeping through the night!!!

Ewan still isn't sleeping through the night at 18 months!
I think Sarah with Braydon is having the same trouble and he is afew months younger.
So i think you have to draw the line at some point Me and hubby couldnt cope having Ewan in our bed as he was quite a noisy sleeper!
and neitherof us were sleeping well, hubby drives all day so he needed to be alert, putting him in his own room was the best thing for us, but you do as you feel so co sleep till they are 3!

mmmmmm I may have to rethink my plans then! lol I don't want him in with us at 18 months!!! He is getting a bit big for his moses basket now so it will have to be sooner rather than later!!

 

[Tasha20]

Thankyou all very much fro your replys,

Every evening from 11pm until 3 maybe 4am Olivia sleeps soundly on her own at the other end of my room, then goes in with me.

I think im going to put her in her own room for that amount of time and then sling her in with me We need to decorate when our room is finished anyway so she will be trying out her cot in my new room before she goes in her own

To be honest I need to start doing some sort of routine with her as she does start to get ratty around 8 9 pm now so I think this is her settling down time.

And if it doesnt work for awhile I dont mind but theres no harm in trying, lol I think its best to be laid back about it, so she will be only getting worked up about trying to do it is going to have the same effact on her which in return makes my job harder!

Ta ladies, some great advise here

 

[skatty]

Tasha Leorah always gets ratty when bringing her bedtime forward too

 

[Tasha20]

She manages 9 onwards but then will only sleep till midnight and for some reason that seems worse 11 until 3a-4am is much nicer