Sleep schedule babies

amother

Winterberry

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 7:38 pm

amother Oatmeal wrote:

I don’t know what you consider “sleeping through the night”. 2 out of my 3 babies started sleeping 7+ hours a night by 2ish months old with no sleep training on my part. They slept 10+ hours by 4 months, 12ish hours by 5-6 months, again with no sleep training on my part. Some babies naturally eat all their calories during the day and therefore are able to sleep a lot of hours at night.

This obviously is NOT something that can be forced, most 3 months olds aren’t capable of eating all their calories within a 12 hour period. These babies just happened to be big eaters during the day and good sleepers. My other baby didn’t “sleep through the night” till 6 months and that’s ok too. It’s very important to note that my babies were all exclusively on formula which I believe is a huge factor in infant sleep.

OP, you should not skip feeds at night for a 7 week old if they are hungry! However, you can try to cluster feed closer to bedtime so that soon your baby can start “skipping” a feed in middle of the night. Also, I strongly suggest that your husband gives one pumped or formula bottle overnight- this can allow you a straight 5-6 hours of sleep, which will help you tremendously with work!! And to repeat what others said, start your night as early as you can.

Sleeping 12 hours. 7:00 until 7:00 am.

amother

Oatmeal

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 7:42 pm

amother Winterberry wrote:

Sleeping 12 hours. 7:00 until 7:00 am.

I don’t think 12 hours is the only definition of “sleeping through the night”. Some babies never sleep 12 hours! My first baby maxed out at 10.5-11 overnight hours no matter what I did. Continued through toddlerhood and till today. Similar with my second. My third baby is my only one so far who actually usually makes it to 12 hours. He was sleeping 10 hours at 10 weeks, I don’t recall exactly when he started sleeping 12 hours but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t later than 4 months.

Song4eva

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 7:57 pm

My baby is the same age
If a 7 week old baby is crying after 3 hours -they are hungry, you can’t just put a pacifier in their mouth.
It hurts me to read this.
Please feed your baby. Give a formula bottle if you want a longer stretch at night but you can’t deny your baby to eat after 3 hours.

amother

Nasturtium

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 8:00 pm

amother OP wrote:

Trying to get my 7 week old to sleep through the night more because he wake up every 2-3 hours now to eat. Right now I make dinner from 6-7 then my husband comes home at 7 and we eat dinner and then I give my baby a bath at 7:45, nurse him put him to bed and he is in bed at 8:45. Then I end up feeding him at 11:30 because he is hungry but really I want him to learn to go more then 3 hours without feeding at night so any tips how to do this? If I feed him every night at 11:30 won’t he get used to waking up every 3 hours? I would put him to bed earlier than 8:45 but I need that time to make dinner and eat. Tips please?

Didn't read all replies but I can share my experience with my youngest (so far).

During the day I feed on demand. From about 6:30 I offer more often. When I'm ready to go to sleep I feed again and then swaddle the baby and turn the lights off.
BH my baby has basically slept through almost every night from about 4 weeks old.

amother

DarkViolet

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 8:25 pm

Op I totally get you I was not ready for waking up at night when I went back to work.
Are you consistently feeding every 3 hours during the day? Try feeding every 3 hours on the clock. At night (say 6 and on) switch to every 2-2.5 hours and then feed sometime between 11-12. So for example u feed at 7,10,1,4,6,8,11. Hopefully that should get you longer stretches at night. Also how are his naps during the day? You want him to nap longer naps in the morning and afternoon but avoid long naps in the evenings. For ex - sleep from 8-10, 11-1, 2-4 515-6 and then try to keep him up till 730. I like to put my baby to sleep without a bottle so they don’t associate food and sleeping and don’t need a bottle to fall back asleep if they wake up at night

erb17

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 8:50 pm

amother Oatmeal wrote:

I don’t know what you consider “sleeping through the night”. 2 out of my 3 babies started sleeping 7+ hours a night by 2ish months old with no sleep training on my part. They slept 10+ hours by 4 months, 12ish hours by 5-6 months, again with no sleep training on my part. Some babies naturally eat all their calories during the day and therefore are able to sleep a lot of hours at night.

This obviously is NOT something that can be forced, most 3 months olds aren’t capable of eating all their calories within a 12 hour period. These babies just happened to be big eaters during the day and good sleepers. My other baby didn’t “sleep through the night” till 6 months and that’s ok too. It’s very important to note that my babies were all exclusively on formula which I believe is a huge factor in infant sleep. A nursing mother should not and cannot expect their babies to sleep through the night for quite a while, and that’s ok too!

OP, you should not skip feeds at night for a 7 week old if they are hungry! However, you can try to cluster feed closer to bedtime so that soon your baby can start “skipping” a feed in middle of the night. Also, I strongly suggest that your husband gives one pumped or formula bottle overnight- this can allow you a straight 5-6 hours of sleep, which will help you tremendously with work!! And to repeat what others said, start your night as early as you can.

It’s not just about being full though. A baby can wake up for many many different reasons- one being comfort and it is so normal and healthy for them to need and get that comfort at night also. Sleeping long stretches on their own also has to do with their temperaments.

amother

Valerian

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 8:51 pm

[quote="amother Oatmeal"]I don’t think 12 hours is the only definition of “sleeping through the night”. Some babies never sleep 12 hours! My first baby maxed out at 10.5-11 overnight hours no matter what I did. Continued through toddlerhood and till today. Similar with my second. My third baby is my only one so far who actually usually makes it to 12 hours. He was sleeping 10 hours at 10 weeks, I don’t recall exactly when he started sleeping 12 hours but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t later than 4 months.[/quote
Apparently even 5/6 (forget which one) is cosnidered sleeping through the night!

amother

Aquamarine

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 9:00 pm

Your baby is 7weeks old.
I understand that you need to go to work and wish you much hatzlacha. Unfortunately this is the way of many homes these days. But we do need to keep in mind that even though you need to return to work your baby is still a newborn who will need to be tended to.
I've had babys set their own schedule and bh sleep through the night at 6weeks. (11hrs) but others including the sweetheart in my hands at the moment nurse every two hrs round the clock. It's tiring, draining, overwhelming at times but as parents we have an obligation to take care of the precious soul.
Please don't think you deserve alone time at 8.45pm with a not yet 2month old!!

amother

Butterscotch

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 9:29 pm

The most a baby that age will sleep is 6 hours at a time. That's the longest stretch I ever got from my babies at that age. My sister's babies usually do 5 hours starting around then. But she nurses on demand. When they act hungry. Pacifier is only offered after a feeding. It should never replace a feeding at this age. I am curious what your definition of fat is. Most 7 week old babies aren't that fat. I am also curious if you discussed this with your pediatrician. Sleeping 12 hours usually starts between 9 and 12 months, once babies are mostly eating food and nursing is more of a supplement. Some babies can be trained st 6 months but I have mostly seen that with formula fed babies and that's a different world. Nursing a baby at night helps keep up milk supply, that's partially why babies eating frequently at night. It doesn't last forever.

amother

Winterberry

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 10:14 pm

amother Butterscotch wrote:

Mine were sleeping 12 hours at 4 months.

amother

Nemesia

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 10:19 pm

I had babies who slept long periods at young ages but not that young! And I’m all for sleep training but 7 weeks is just way too early. At 7 weeks you keep feeding them when they wake. You don’t try to stretch it out at that age.
With my most recent baby I realized when I went to sleep the same time they did it was so much better. I’m a night owl naturally but for the first few months of my baby’s life I was going to sleep at like 9/9:30ish. It made such a big difference.

amother

Floralwhite

Tue, Feb 13 2024, 11:36 pm

My 1st kid this was very very difficult for me. Feeding every 3 hours, my goodness I was just always awake...
By my 3rd, I did things differently and boy what a difference it made.
Not sure if this applies to you, but by my first I would change the diaper with every feed. I was such an idiot because that really woke the baby up. By my 3rd I would pick baby up,make fresh swaddle, nurse, and put baby down. Then I'd go right back asleep and so would baby.

Also, at some point with my 3rd I started nursing him in bed, on my side. I was VERY careful, googled all about safe cosleeping etc. So he would cry, I'd bring him from his basinett, lay on my side on my FIRM mattress with my lower arm stretched straight up under my head and nurse. All blankets were fastened in a way that they wouldnt come up past my waist. As I nursed, especially when he was very young, I'd keep myself half awake but I was still snoozing and getting rest. As soon as I realized he was sleeping I'd gently pop off and wiggle myself down in bed so my head was level with his knees, to be extra careful not to squish him ch"v, and to be sure the blankets wouldnt ride up.
This was such a game changer.
I felt like I was sleeping through the night wven though I technically wasnt.

amother

Valerian

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 7:13 am

I even try to go to sleep pretty soon after my 2.5 year old does. (Not all the time obviously but when my body feels it is really tired and I’m not sure if she’ll get up during the night and I have to be up at 6 am for work…)Kids at this age still wake up at night! They’re not robots and throughout childhood there will be so many different reasons not just hunger. Teething, night terrors, or just plain comfort.
Now that my child is older I feel comfortable sleeping with her when she wakes up so we both optimize our sleep. So sleep deprivation isn’t going to be forever but of course I am still exhausted if I get interrupted sleep.

amother

Daisy

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 12:58 pm

amother OP wrote:

How does everyone do this?? I have to go back to work next week and I’m going to be so sleep deprived Sad

I also really worried about this, but I found it less tiring to be at work than to be at home with a baby. So if I was going to be sleep deprived from the night regardless, whether at work or at home, I may as well be at work where it is less tiring!

Also, remember it is just a season. A hard one, but it will pass and get better and easier with time.

Things that can help baby sleep better - swaddling, white noise, black out shades. But they may not make a difference, most babies that age need to eat every few hours.

amother

Valerian

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 1:18 pm

[quote="amother Daisy"]I also really worried about this, but I found it less tiring to be at work than to be at home with a baby. So if I was going to be sleep deprived from the night regardless, whether at work or at home, I may as well be at work where it is less tiring!

Also, remember it is just a season. A hard one, but it will pass and get better and easier with time.

Things that can help baby sleep better - swaddling, white noise, black out shades. But they may not make a difference, most babies that age need to eat every few hours.[/quote
Yes yes I felt human once I returned to work… I guess it depends on your work environment but I was able to drink coffee and have breakfast with some quiet when I got to work and in general sit down a lot…

amother

Hosta

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 1:27 pm

amother OP wrote:

How does everyone do this?? I have to go back to work next week and I’m going to be so sleep deprived Sad

Try to push his daytime feedings to every 3 1/2 hours until he manages to go to every 4 hours. This way he will wake up every 4 hours at night instead of every 3. Eventually you you can slowly push it to 5 hours (at night) then 6… my baby slept through the night at 3 months with this method. With absolutely no crying it out. And he’s off the charts overweight so I don’t want to hear a single comment of him starving. I gave him 6-8 ounces every 4 hours 4x a day.

YounginBP

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 1:33 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

No don't. Breastfed babies digest the food faster. A newborn cannot have 6 ounces, even of breast milk!

amother

Hosta

Wed, Feb 14 2024, 1:40 pm

YounginBP wrote:

No don't. Breastfed babies digest the food faster. A newborn cannot have 6 ounces, even of breast milk!

How dare you speak about my baby this way! He is a human being that is healthy and goes to all his checkups and ate 6 ounces when he was 2 months old. Just because your baby wasn’t able to do it doesn’t give you the right to make sweeping statements that babies CANNOT have 6 ounces!