Nurse clean or put on schedule/baby whisperer?

amother

Slategray

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 9:05 pm

Like it says.. Should I put my baby on a schedule or routine (waking him up) and start getting him to sleep thru night?

Or go all natural, follow his cues, nurse on demand but that means every 3 hours at night?

Edit I feel like this wasn't written clearly
He was naturally doing 4-5 hr night stretches until about 2weeks ago. Now that he's for some reason back to waking up every 3 hrs at night I want to officially sleep train him, but using the baby whisperer method of tanking up /cluster feeding means not feeding him on demand which as I understand is essential for LAM

Have you successfully nursed clean? Can you give your input?

Baby is 7 weeks old and it's my first

pesek zman

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 9:10 pm

I formula fed so it's not the same. Plus I don't get the craze about nursing clean. Having a baby who sleeps through the night at a young age (as mine did) has an amazingly positive impact on your entire life: more so (in my opinion) than not getting your period. When baby sleeps well at night so do you, which means you are able to function better as a person, better able to return to work (if applicable) and better able to be an all around good wife

My vote is to sleep train. You'll certainly get varied opinons here

amother

Gold

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 9:12 pm

I nurse clean well over a year, and very well past the point of babies sleeping through the night. I really don't think one has anything to do with the other. There really isn't much you can do to ensure you'll nurse clean. Some bodies do it and others don't. Also, while a schedule can be helpful, it doesn't necessarily mean sleeping through the night. If a baby sleeps through the night at 2 or 3 months, it's because you're lucky. Most don't, and it's not advisable to try and make it happen (though if it happens, enjoy it). You can do things to make sleep come more naturally and easily, but the baby will only sleep through when developmentally ready to do so.

amother

Orange

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 9:54 pm

Yes there is no way to know of your body will nurse clean. I get my periods back when my baby around is 7 weeks old ( usually a few days after I finally get to mikvah) and guess what im nursing every three hours if not 2 hrs.... And yes I know its a period cuz after my first I got two periods and promptly got pregnant when she was about 3 months. After which with subsequent babies I learned my lesson and take birth control for a year.

sweetpotato

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 11:00 pm

7 weeks old is very young to consider sleep training; don't most methods not start till over 3 months? If he's waking more frequently to eat it is likely a growth spurt and may be temporary. But as others noted, nursing clean is very individual. I nurse on demand and through the night and get my period back before 6 months. Some women can nurse fairly little and stay clean for 1+ year.

ectomorph

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 11:28 pm

I am nursing clean at 8 months but I wake up every hour thru the night or every 3 hours depending on how my kid is doing. I do not recommend it- my tiredness is putting a real strain in our life.

amother

Orange

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 11:36 pm

sweetpotato wrote:

It doesn't sound like you know much about the methods of the baby whisperer. The whole point of her method is how to teach sleep from when you bring your baby home from the hospital. Gentle methods like shush pat, and knowing when the baby needs to sleep through having a routine of sleep, eat, awake time... On a roughly 3 hour time frame. You always know what the baby needs at any given time. Since you fed them as soon as they woke up you know that for their entire awake time any fussiness, is definitely not for food. So you search for clues, if its soon after eating, maybe indigestion, if its after an hour you know, "hey! They are probably tired, time to go for a nap!"

amother

Slategray

Sat, Apr 08 2017, 11:53 pm

sweetpotato wrote:

Baby whisperer method is to cluster feed before bedtime so they have enough calories to sleep a longer stretch

Thanks for all your responses, seems like there's no guarantee so I guess I'll start on trying it

Iymnok

Sun, Apr 09 2017, 1:57 am

Keep in mind growth spurts, not exactly, but around, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months.
The more waking you're experiencing now may be a growth spurt. After a couple days, he'll calm down and revert to the bigger stretches. Generally at some point there is a long stretch between feedings. Try to move it to the night since they sometimes do it midday,

amother

Scarlet

Sun, Apr 09 2017, 6:57 pm

I have terrible PMS, where I feel sad and anxious. So I would do anything to nurse clean, rather than get sleep. I nursed clean for 9 months, till my baby started doing 10 hour stretches at night, and I got my period. I forgot how bad my PMS was.... By my next children iyh, I will wake them to nurse. ( I know it's not a guarantee that I will nurse clean, but it doesn't hurt to try. )