sleeping through - advise or tips PLEASE!!!

[sarahg]

Could anyone give me a little hope please -Katie is now 9 weeks and we have established a routine getting her to bed but she wakes regularly through the night and I am getting more and more eshausted. OH will not help and I feel like I have not slept for 9 weeks now. Had anemia after c-section as well and just feel like I need to catch up with my sleep to feel better. HV tells me I am borderline PND! still get weepy and feel overwhelmed a lot and it's not doing our relationship any good either as I am very bitter that OH does f**k all to help - he's bringing in a wage so therefore I am childcarer(although I still pay half the mortgage etc!).

Is there a magic age or weight that babes seem to start to sleep for longer? I think if I just had a little more shut eye things would look better.

Any advice would be much appreciated - I am BF'ing by the way.

 

[h33]

HIya

Willow slept through at abut 12 weeks and Conal 13 although i have a friend who's almost 2 year old still doesn't i'm afraid it's up to them although my magic tip is.......................A RUSK.

Conal slept through the first night he had one and now even if he is up i won't feed him he just gets a dummy stuck in, i remember asking my cousin exactley the same thing when Willow was about 9 weeks i was almost crying it's so tiring i would make your OH help my DH did like it or lump it, you both made her

 

[Nicky_Jones]

I was really lucky, Ellie dropped the 4am ish feed at just under 8weeks. Though she was overdue and I think that helped her drop that feed sooner.

My suggestions (though these you may already be doing and may not help are)...

Feed reguarly during the day - even if your LO doesn't demand a feed, feed her every 3 hours.
Cluster feed on the evening to get her to take more.
Dream feed at 4hours after putting them to bed.
Don't go in at the first squeak when they wake at 4am ish, sometimes they will just settle themselves. I know you end up lying awake listening to them but in the long run it helps.
Always get them up and put them to bed at the same time.

Our feed schedule was get her up at 7:30 (no matter when her last feed was), wash and feed. Feed at 10:30, 13:30, 16:30, 18:30, and 19:30 then bed. I would dream feed with a nappy chane at 23:30 and then went in when demanded to do the next feed unless it gets to 7:30am. Often, especially during growth spurts she would demand her feed sooner, e.g. 10am or 10:15. When this happens give your LO their next feed 3 hours after that whether they demand it or not. The key is to get them to take enough during the day that they can sleep through the night.

Good luck

 

[skatty]

Poor you, I swear PND is excaberated by sleep deprivation

Nicky has given you great advice, the cluster feeding really helped us, Leorah started sleeping through at 10 weeks even though we have periods of nightwakings still.

Do you express at all? If so surely your OH can take over one feed? My DH has a friend who also left his wife to do all the looking after for the baby and they had bonding issues so perhaps tell your OH that he is risking Katie not bonding with him long term, all men want a daddy's girl

 

[Minxy]

You poor thing

9 weeks is very early for any baby to be regularly sleeping through although the breastfeeding tips should help.

Rather than pushing for little one to sleep all night I think the issue to address is that with your OH. He may well be working all day but if you're getting ill he's going to have to help you somehow.

Skatty's idea of expressing is a good one, and is there anyway he can take her on days off/evenings? At 9 weeks your supply is probably established enough to express?

 

[sarahg]

Ladies thank you for all your advise - it's so ironic. The night I wrote this post Katie went down at 7.10 and didn't wake until 4.30!!!! I was awake and waiting at midnight and nothing! Didn't actually sleep as I was waiting for her to wake and it felt wrong to sleep!! How silly am I . Anyway it's been the same ever since - she goes down at 7ish and sleeps until 3/4am and then wakes again at 6.30/7. I have taken your advise thank you Nicky and have been feeding regularly and it really seems to help. I didn't know what cluster feeding was really but assume you mean feeds quite often. She is happy to accept these and it does seem to have done the job! Since writing the last post I do feel more rational already. Thank you so much and I will persevere and keep up our routine. I am now enjoying my baby more as well which is really lovely. I will need to work on the other half though as we have meade little progress in this area.

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

Braydon dont sleep thro and he is 18 months

 

[babsi]

Kai slept through every single night from 2- 7 months.

And now at nearly 15 months he is starting to be a terrible sleeper.

Just really frustrating.

 

[Lyndsey]

Logan has just started sleeping through at 13 weeks . But some nights we are up every 2 hours.

Again the only advice I can give is the cluster feding. Logan feeds every hour from 3-6 then he has a bath and feeds again at 730... he will then sleep through most nights.

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Yes, as others have said cluster feeding is where they feed frequently. Glad things are improving it is amazing how much more human you feel again once you have more than 3hours sleep in one go!

 

[Alfiesmummy]

hey hun, Alfie was sleeping through 12 hours a night from 8 weeks old, but things are very different now, he will wake up about 2 times a night again and im wracking my brains trying to sort it out, but iv decided not o stress out about it just go with it, iv just accepted that some nights he will some nights he wont especially if hes out of his own home etc. just go with your baby hun they will sleep through when they like, as for your OH i completely agree with the other girls, you didnt climb ontop of yourself and get pregnant so he should help. I understand he works during the day but does he think you sit at home on your carsey doing naff all? no your working too just as hard if not harder and he should help lighten the load because your job doesnt finish at 5.30, its on going 24 hours a day! if he tries the whole financial card he pays etc you tell him your still paying half the mortgage and also that if thats the case for one week he stays at home and you go to work, i guarantee after one day he would respect how hard it is you are working! Ian tried that one, evebn though he is a very hands on dad he told me once that he was nackered from work and "needed a break!" so i flipped and said he had no idea wat tired was, i went shopping for the day ian did all the jobs on the list looked after alfie. Credit to him when i got home alfie was tucked in bed washing was done house was clean tea was on, but ian was snoring on the couch at 6pm, i woke him up asked him how his day was and he gave me a hug said he loved me and i was amazing for doing that every day, then went to bed without eating the tea he made! i was going to remind him i was up afterwards but didnt have the heart! shock therapy works hun!

 

[rusks]

glad things are better sarah sleep deprivation is terrible i sympathise and i have a great OH that gets up as well.

luke is driving me mad i know he has catching up to do as he was small but i would do anything for 4 hours straight sleep!!

he goes down about 9pm, wakes at 11.30 ish then is unsettled til 1.30ish then is up again before 4am then generally goes til 7am ish but last night i just settled him at 5am and he was up again at 6.15am i am shattered.


i look forward when he can just drop one of those feeds. he regularly feeds 3 hours or less during the day as well. and i'm bottle feeding so i know hes taking a good amount.

 

[Gemma & Jake]

Jake was awful until about 8 weeks and then he started going down about midnight and sleeping through which was a bit better. When Jake was 12 weeks he started going down at 10pm for the night and gradually it has got earlier so he now goes down in between 8 and 9 and falls asleep on his own. I know it feels like it is never going to end but it will get better. I don't know if you have thought about maybe giving a bottle of formula milk as the last feed of the night to fill Katie up a bit more overnight. That is just an idea if nothing else works but if you only want to breastfeed then ignore that idea.