I know you think it's cute to wake up every hour at night... but Mommy does not! Please start sleeping longer. Thanks :)
Love,
Mommy
PS- don't worry, I still think you're cute. But you're MUCH cuter when you're sleeping ;)
Keep in mind the following things, though:
- Elliot has a sensitive tummy. His doctor said he recommends parents of "normal" babies put a teaspoon of cereal into their nighttime bottles to help them sleep longer. Obviously this would be a bit tricky for Elliot- and a big risk. So I still haven't tried it.
- He's scared of the dark & silence- We sleep with a small lamp and his soothe & glow seahorse on. I've thought about possibly trying to get him to sleep in the dark, but then I'd have to turn on the lights everytime he wakes up, and I feel like that would wake him up too much. Right now, he wakes up cranky but still half asleep, drinks his bottle, and falls asleep immediately, sometimes before he finishes his bottle.
Honestly I think it is normal for a baby his age, especially with a sensitive tummy to wake that often for feedings. I wouldn't (as much as it sucks) try to change that until he is a bit older and can for sure handle eating as much as he can at one time, you know?
ReplyDeleteYep. I would say it's pretty normal. Sylvie had a sensitive tummy and never took big feeds. She woke up often until she hit the 3.5 month mark. Then she started to grow out of her tummy issues, take bigger feeds, and sleep longer stretches. I hate to say it, but I think it's just how it's going to be. Get as many naps as you can!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had advice to offer but we're in the same boat sleepwise. I just keep praying that as he gets older he will start to sleep longer...my son for the past two weeks has only been sleeping 1-2 hours (compared to 4-5 hours he was sleeping at 1.5 months). Good luck and soon enough he can have some rice cereal to help fill his little belly more.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry he is having sleeping issues. Have you tried putting him on his belly? Allen loves to sleep on his belly and sleeps a lot longer too. Since you guys are cosleeping, it might be easier :)
ReplyDelete{{{Big Hugs}}}
It's amazing just how cute they are, especially when you're exhausted and they finally go to sleep ;P Tallulah still constantly wakes up all night long (that's if she even sleeps at night, lately she won't) and I've been at a loss on what to do as well.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Elliot will start to sleep for longer stretches that way you both can get awesome sleep ♥
It's definitely normal. The medical definition of "sleeping through the night" is only 5 hours, and even that is not expected until around 6 months of age.
ReplyDeleteMy 3 month old sometimes gives me a 3 hour stretch in the first part of the night, but he wakes up every hour or two for the rest of the night after that. It's actually good for them to wake frequently, since they can't communicate yet and are at risk for SIDs, that's why they're wired to have shorter sleep cycles then we do.
I know that doesn't help when you're exhausted, sleep deprivation is hard, I feel your pain! But I remind myself of that and it helps sometimes.
Cereal or solid food doesn't help them sleep longer, I'm kind of appalled your doctor would mention that. Introducing solids this early could just cause a host of other problems.
The Baby Book by William Sears has a good section on nighttime parenting. The No Cry Sleep Solution is also good, though it's for babies who are a bit older.
All of my kids coslept but were sleeping through the night by a year old, and were sleeping in their own beds and sleeping well by age 1 or 2. It'll get better, hang in there!
A sound machine can work miracles! It took a couple of days, but my daughter grew to love it. Now, at 18 months, I turn it on "ocean" and she knows its time to sleep! Bed, Bath and Beyond has one that also can project images on the ceiling. While Elliot may not care about that yet, he'll love it a couple of months. It is by homedics. I think its a baby necessity!
ReplyDeleteI so wish I could help but Marshall is 4 months old and still sometimes wakes every couple of hours. I think he didn't start sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time until he was 3 months old. Hang in there. It will get better.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue sorry hun... i used the pink glow seahorse for Chloe (shes also afraid of the dark)... hmmm
ReplyDeleteThere are little aquatic night lights you can add to cribs (Like and animated fish tank night light) ... my nephew had one it helped him
A few things that helped us: sound machine, swaddling and a consistent "bedtime" routine. During night-time feedings we would keep the lights dim (we installed a dimmer) and never change a diaper unless it was dirty.
ReplyDeleteWe set our sound machine to white noise and it has worked wonders.
Have you ever swaddled Elliot? It is a great soothing technique and really helped my daughter to sleep through the night by 13 weeks. She actually became a swaddle addict but we finally weaned her from the swaddle around 6 months.
At Elliot's age though, most babes aren't sleeping through the night. It is tough but he will do it eventually...and you'll just have to nap when he naps.
Little Elliot sure is cute. WIsh I had tips to help him sleep longer, but I am in the same boat. I have a six week old who started off sleeping just fine and now he has decided not to sleep... However, one thing that has gotten a LITTLE more sleep out of him (not much) is an app I found for my phone called Baby White Noise. It makes lots of different noises like a hair dryer or vacuum or just plain white noise. The idea is to find a sound that was familiar to the from when they were in the womb, I think... My little guy loves the vacuum sound, which makes sense because I had a vacuuming obsession when I was pregnant. Your blog is super cute, by the way. It's been fun to read.
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