baby wakes up every 2 hrs at night

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

Baby wakes up every 2 hrs at night

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happy chick

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 12:47 pm

my baby is 5 mo old and he started getting up every 2 hrs at night to eat. if I try to give him his paci, he gets hysterical. its not worth fighting with him, so I give up an nurse him. any ideas why and what to do about it?

GetReal

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 1:26 pm

How often did he wake up to eat before? Could he be having a growth spurt or teething? Is he sick at all?

Plonis

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 6:08 pm

Probably your baby is used to nursing to sleep. Staart nursing him until he is tired, but not yet fully asleep, and switching to the pacifier. If he complains, nurse him again till almost sleep and switch again. Repeat until he falls asleep. After doing tis a few days, your baby shold be able to fall back asleep with the pacifier. (and should sleep longer)

For more ideas, read the book "the no cry sleep solution" which has lots of ways to help babies sleep longer without making them cry!

the world's best mom

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 6:14 pm

My first thoughts are:
-hunger. Maybe baby needs more food.
-teething. Although it is slightly early, it is totally possible to start now. Tylenol may help.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 10:49 am

Growth spurt?

Tehilla

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 10:54 am

I'll chime in with the guess of a growth spurt.

pinkbubbles

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 10:58 am

DS used to wake every 2 hours to eat, day and night until he was 4/5 months. After consulting with his dr I helped him wait it out to 4 hours so he would eat more at each feeding. He was cranky the first few times because well he was hungry! I think I did 2.5 hours, then 3, 3.5, and finally 4 hours. He went from 4 oz to 8 oz. This is for bottle feeding so it could be different, but it should work with breastfeeding as well. It helped him sleep longer at night, then when I him on started solids I started sleep training him (not CIO).

gold21

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 11:06 am

im with worlds best mom. 1. your baby needs more food, solids, etc, during the day, and is therefore hungry at night. my son started waking up a lot at night to nurse at about 4 and a half months, and slept much better when I started him on solids. 2. your baby is teething, and since nursing is soothing, he wants to nurse. this is what ive been dealing with for the past month or so, (replace nursing with bottles) as my 16 month old is breaking 4 molars. ouch.

Tehilla

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 11:11 am

gold21 wrote:

as my 16 month old is breaking 4 molars. ouch.

ouch. (wince) we're doing the same thing, except it's one at a slloooooowwwww time. feel better.

my kids all had growth spurts and more nursing, without solids did well. they all went through periods of waking every two hours and all passed it. check with your pediatrician before introducing solids at 5 months. our pediatrician said not before 6 months, and had no problem waiting much longer since my baby had swallowing issues/food sensitivities and was thriving on nursing. introducing solids so early is not always a good idea. it can cause a return of your cycle due to lowered hormones, it can cause a supply issue, it can be a problem with swallowing/allergies. also, it does NOT always make a baby sleep better.

but this is just all an opinion--just like we say AYLOR, Ask Your Pediatrician (AYP) !

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