What can I do to help 3MO sleep through the night ?

amother

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 8:19 pm

My baby is three months old. He usually falls asleeps for the night at around 8:30 pm and wakes up any time between 5:30-8 am. But he wakes up every 2-5 hours at night. Usually every 3 hours and eats. Does the fact that he eats means he needs it at night ?
My other two kids were/ are terrible sleepers. My 2YO only now started sleeping through the night and stil wakes up sometimes for no reason. I feel like I need to change something in my way of sleep training (or lack of) so that this baby sleep through the night at a younger age both for my sanity and his benefit.
But obviously at 3MO there no real sleep training (CIO for example).
So what do people do at such a young age? How come some babies sleep 12 hours straight at this age and others wake up every two hours? Is there a secret? Anything I can do to help my baby learn how to sleep for longer stretches?
(Btw he's mostly bottle feeding at this stage for reasons beyond my control).

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 8:32 pm

Waking up every 3 hours is COMPLETELY normal for a 3 month old.

MaBelleVie

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 8:32 pm

Sometimes it helps to make sure they're eating enough during the day. If they aren't getting all the calories they need, they're going to wake up more frequently at night. How often and how much are you feeding?

At three months it's still normal for babies to eat throughout the night though. If they're hungry you feed them Smile

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 8:33 pm

I'll add to that, actually. I believe it's healthier for babies to eat less more frequently vs overstretching their stomachs. I also believe they are less susceptible to SIDS by waking up frequently.

If it gives you any chizuk (not sure if it will or not) my 9 month old wakes up about that often (which I'm happy with since I'm nursing, but I understand others would be frustrated. But he's triple your baby's age. Just wait, and it will get easier/you'll be able to train if that's your thing...)

doctorima

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 9:59 pm

What can you do so your 3-month-old will sleep through the night? Wait until he/she is older! Smile

doctorima

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 9:59 pm

What can you do so your 3-month-old will sleep through the night? Wait until he/she is older! Smile

checkbefore

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 10:21 pm

Does he sleep in your room?

amother

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 10:31 pm

Op . While of course it's normal to wake up at night at such a young age I wondered if there are things to do that help them establish a good routine that will help them sleep through the night. Like below: feeding more during the day. I also read about putting them to sleep the same way and time every night. I wonder if there are more things.
I think I'm a bit traumatized by my two older ones who woke up for bottles until 2YO at least.
So maybe waiting till they're older doesn't always work Smile

MaBelleVie wrote:

Lady Bug

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 10:35 pm

Try giving a pacifier when he wakes up instead of a bottle. Only give the bottle if he insists. (obviously don't starve him. Just if he is happy with the pacifier, then there's no need to give the bottle)

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 10:37 pm

I can't speak from bottle feeding experience, but my kids nursed throughout the night till a year (or a bit after) and none of them needed to do so at 2. It could be the bottle association vs the feeding itself? Is that a possibility? (NOT at 3 months, but at later ages) -- also I think there is a large enough span of time between 3 months and 2 years that waiting till 6 months should be good enough Smile

Oh, and there my baby wakes up. Gonna go feed him.

Good luck!

MaBelleVie

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 11:16 pm

amother wrote:

I agree with HY regarding more frequent feedings and smaller amounts at each feeding. I'm sure that with a bottle especially it can be tempting to feed larger amounts less frequently, but it really isn't to anyone's benefit. It will only stretch the stomach and make it less likely that the baby can get in enough during the day.

amother

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 1:21 am

my baby is 2 months and Thank G-d is sleeping half through the night. She is nursed and bottle fed. During the day I nurse and then offer her the bottle and she usually eats about 3-4 oz. She never takes more than the 4 oz. During the day she eats every 3 hours (for example: 7am, 10am, 1am, 4 am, 7am, then whatever time she wakes in the night)

She is not consistent but this is what most nights look like:

7:00/7:30 start of last feeding
8:30 ish swaddled and rocked to sleep. I lay her on her side the same way each night although I sometime alternate right side/left side for head reasons. More recently I started putting her down when I notice her fighting to keep her eyes open. This way she is still awake when I put her down. I usually hold on tight around her shoulders after I put her down so she still feels like she is being held.

On a bad night she wakes at 2:00 on a good night she'll go until 4 sometimes even 5. Whenever that feeding occurs she does wake up 3 hours almost to the dot.

Like someone else mentioned, I sometimes offer her the pacifier before taking her out to feed. There are nights that I do it because I just need 3-5 minutes to wake up and she falls back asleep for another hour

amother

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 8:28 am

Op
- I've tried more frequent feedings and less amount but I wnt stop him when he wants more food so it's really up to him. He's generally not a big eater so I give him whatever he wants.

Last amother - I WISH he would sleep like this . He goes to sleep at the same time as your baby but wakes up at 12ish then 3ish then 5ish then 7 ish. And I'm SO exhausted all day because each feed is around half an hour (bottle, burp, rocked back to sleep). I need a longer stretch and I'm worried he won't get there any time soon.
Of course there's time between 3MO and 2 YO but don't bad habits start at young age?
I can't believe I'm writing these words - id never even think this way with my other two. I'm really tired.

I'm going to try the pacifier idea -though I feel a bit bad doing it. Desperation.

Btw yeah he's still next to me. I was thinkin of moving him to his room in a month or so.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 8:34 am

Feeding a three month old at night is not a bad habit, it's a necessity. Would you skip a daytime feeding? Think of this the same way. What other babies do has no significance on what your baby needs. What you can work on is letting him settle himself back to sleep without rocking after he's fed and burped. That's the only habit that might be appropriate to change (or he might still really need it too).

sky

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 8:40 am

My nursing babies mainly slept through the night until 3 months old [Word of advise to the amother whose baby sleeps through the night - it may end - there is a thread about that now also - so don't be surprised or dissapointed if it happens]. And then started waking regularly to eat until I stopped nursing. After that they were relatively good sleepers. I never offered a bottle when they were in their crib. I do leave a sippy cup with water for them.
At 3 months I think if a baby is waking they are hungry.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 9:42 am

Another tip: don't look at the clock. I found when I stopped looking, I was less frustrated/tired that my baby had just eaten X amount of time ago. For the past 5 kids, I have no idea how often they wake up to eat, and it makes me calmer Smile

checkbefore

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 10:30 am

I think if he is out of your room you won't hear every little kvetch and you will get more sleep. Also maybe try using a mobile?

amother

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 10:39 am

amother wrote:

I'm the mother of the 2 month old.
there is nothing "wrong" with what he doing. You cant ingrain bad habits right now. Every baby is different.

I also find that not jumping to quiet every noise is important. I use to be so worried that the baby would bother my dh sleeping in the room. Then I got to tired to worry about his sleep because I was going back to work. I was exhausted and my thought was, just give me 2 more minutes. At that point my baby settled and fell back asleep. I'm not saying ignore a cry but a fuss doesnt need to be quieted within 10 seconds. My baby also taught me this because she is very very noisy (even when awake). If it wasnt a necessity right now I would have "kicked" her out of my room weeks ago.

(the only thing I differ with Mabellevie is that it is a necessity. My oldest - BF, was like your baby, my second - BF, slept at least 8 hours if not 12 hours by 6 weeks, My 3rd - Bottle, stopped night feedings around 3 months, and the one I described is my 4th)

You sound exhausted. You need to go to sleep at 8:30 when your baby goes to bed. Try that for a few nights, it does wonders. Leave the mess, let your dh fend for himself. The other thing to do is (you mentioned bottle) is to also make your dh do the first night feeding. This way you get to sleep from 8:30 until 3. Even if the baby wakes you at 12, go right back to bed (if this is hard for you try sleeping in another room.) Do this for 1-3 nights and you'll start to feel better and more capable.

and about pacies......All of my kids had/have them. This baby is starting to suck her thumb. I was a thumb sucker and never had braces. I never had a speech problem. I had a sister who learned to speak clearly with a pacie still in her mouth. So my theory is do what soothes them and makes them happy. It will be hard to get rid of them. But if they had a doll or blanket that they liked would you not let them have it because its too baby-ish for them?

amother

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 11:01 am

Op
THANK YOU all of you
I actually developed a 'plan' based on your posts but mostly I realized im over tired and lost my mind Wink

Special thanks to last amother for the Long posts which are super helpful.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Jun 26 2014, 11:05 am

Just to clarify, I did not say that eating every three hours at night is a necessity for every three month old. If a baby that age is crying and eating a full feeding, it's a necessity for HIM.