9-Year-Old Girl Takes On McDonald's CEO
Denise Albert: Mamarazzi
Sleeping through the night: An elusive goal
Filed under: Babies, Feeding & Sleeping
In the last week or so, my almost-5-month-old has abandoned his admirable new habit of sleeping 6+ hours at a time in favor of waking up every three hours to demand yet another feeding. It's not horribly disruptive since he essentially wakes up, rings his version of the dinner bell, powers down a bottle and falls immediately back to sleep, but my body has been experiencing something like a cringing depression at having to get back into the routine of staggering out of bed at 1 AM, 4 AM, etc.
It doesn't help matters that my husband snores peacefully throughout each awakening, then innocently asks in the morning whether or not Dylan woke up in the night. (Jeez, at least pretend like it screwed up your sleep too, you know? Otherwise I might be forced to help you SHARE in this wee-hour inconvenience, by, say, dumping a glass of cold water into your open slumbering snout.)
My gut feeling is that the baby's going through a little growth spurt and that we don't have a bigger sleep issue going on, mostly because of how he's waking up: he's not frantic or wanting comfort, he just seems hungry. I can sympathize, really -- if being a small growing baby is anything like being pregnant, I don't know how he makes it through the night without getting up and eating yet another toasted, buttered, and salted Thomas' "Everything" bagel.
(What? You didn't pork out on salt-and-butter bagels at 3 AM during YOUR pregnancies and wake up with poppy seeds stuck in your teeth? Freak.)
I'm hoping we get back to a more reasonable sleep schedule soon, because even though I suppose it's not all that tragic to have to deal with a couple quick feedings with a mostly cheery baby in the middle of the night, I'd rather up my chances of making it all the way through that dream involving George Clooney and the bathtub scene in Out of Sight, you know? (ALL THE WAY TO THE HAPPY ENDING IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN AND I THINK YOU DO.)
I don't plan to try Dylan on solid food for a few more weeks still, and I know there is supposedly no correlation between solid food and sleeping through the night. However, I'm curious as to whether or not your experience matches what the experts say. Did your baby sleep better once he/she was eating solids?
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Prepping Babies For Sleeping Through The Night
When a parent is lucky enough to gain 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep a night, it seems like a blessing. That blessing goes away though when that parent realizes a full night's sleep also often means an overflowing diaper. Follow these simple steps to keep the nights quiet and dry!
-
Basics of Baby Sleep Training
In this video, baby sleep expert Suzy Giordano (aka the “Babycoach”) guides you in training your baby to eat every 3-4 hours during the day, sleep 12 hours at night and sleep 3 hours during the day. This video is designed for first time parents or parents who wish to take a different path with their next children.
-
Getting A Good Night's Sleep
Learn how to get a good night's sleep in an hour
-
Helpful Hints on Sleep for New Parents
DadLabs is proud to announce a new show to our lineup! Starring Stay At Home Dad Nathan West, follow Survivor Dad as he cuts a fresh path through the unchartered wilderness of Stay At Home fatherhood. In this episode, Survivor Dad offers helpful tips for those parents struggling with lack of sleep due to an infant. How long do newborns sleep? How many hours of lost sleep for moms and dads does a new baby account for? What happens to a parent when sleep deprivation occurs?
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
6-29-2008 @ 1:30AM
Carmen said...I'm not the one to ask, because my son didn't sleep through the night until he was 25 months old. 25!! Argh. So I feel your pain, I do. Hang in there, it's likely just a growth spurt if he was sleeping well before. :)
Reply
6-29-2008 @ 6:22PM
kim said...First let me answer your question Ms. Linda the Great and say that NO, solids did NOTHING for making my child sleep longer throughout the night. I never ever put cereal in his bottle as my pediatrician said that was a BIG no no.
SECOND,I didn't know cry it out meant to stick your child in a room and let them scream till they pass out. I thought cry it out was a method where you put your child his bed after being fed and changed and if he protested you still leave, but then come back every few minutes until he realizes he is ok without you in the room and can sleep. Then if they still dont' go to sleep after a certain amount of time (mostly the how long can I stand him crying standard), you comfort them till they sleep and then try it again later.
I personally didn't have to use it but it doesn't sound in any way inhumane to me...and my pediatrician actually recommended I do it when my son was experiencing "the witching hour" at the same time every night. I didn't because I was never frustrated enough that I had to leave him in a room because he cried too much.
Parents who hurl insults at other parent's and mock their choices in how to raise their children are cruel and inhumane.
Reply
7-01-2008 @ 5:09PM
Stacy said...Eeek. You commenters are harsh. Sheesh.
My now 6-month old was sleeping through the night more or less at around three months old and then stopped a few times at around five months (specifically, 19 weeks and 23 weeks -- known as the WONDER WEEKS). I was worried that I was creating bad habits by nursing him back to sleep in the middle of the night, and I too took on a new and improved bitchiness and irritable demeanor. However, in our case, it was a growth spurt and he soon started sleeping better again in about a week. I was careful during those little sleep regression times to give him a calming bath time and pre-bedtime in the hopes that it would make the nighttime sleep better. Don't know if it did anything ...
But dude, babies grow, some faster and soon than others and when you grow (LIKE IN PREGNANCY) you need a few extra calories now and then, just sayin'.
Hope you get some rest soon Linda. I FEEL your tired.
Reply