Growth Spurts Versus Setting Limits and Good Sleep Habits

You will get so many different opinions! One thing the Pediatrician always told me is children will never starve themselves, so my thinking is if he eats during the night, he will not eat as much during the day, etc. We did use the crying-it-out method and it worked for us, but I did a lot of research and read books on the subject. They will always be going through a growth spurt every month, so are you willing to go through this every month. Moms need their sleep too, to be better Moms!! Good luck and you will get lots of parents that will tell you crying it out is cruel and bad,but my children are older and they are great kids!!
K.

Hi A.,

You are going to get a lot of responses from people saying "No, babies don't need to feed at night, growth spurt or no, just let him cry!", simply because that is what they choose to believe. Frankly, I don't know - I haven't this medical knowledge, and I don't really know if even most pediatricians would know this, since it hasn't been researched much. On the other hand, I feel sufficiently qualified to say: "follow your instinct." You and your baby are the best people to work out what your needs are. You obviously have a very good ear for hearing what your baby is telling you, and I'd trust that. If you think your boy is no longer needing night feeds, then you can respond the way you feel appropriate. I am a co-sleeping mother, my son is 19 months, and I'm very happy with that. I like to give him the comfort at night although I don't think he physically needs it. Co-sleeping also allows me to get plenty of rest. If you don't think your son needs that particular kind of emotional support, that's good. You might find, though, that as he grows older he needs it more, especially with you being away working part of the time. I am sure you will figure out just how much night crying is acceptable. If it goes on too long or he seems too upset, you can always try something else!

Hope this helps!

HI A., I would switch the 7 pm feeding from breast milk to solids or both. Maybe that will be enough to hold him over until morning. Why not switch him to solids thruout the day, then maybe he won't be starving at night. I was lucky with my 2, they both slept thru the night almost from birth. Good luck to you!

My son was over 9 months old before he started sleeping through the night and my pediatrician told me it was because he really liked the mommy time when I breast fed him in the middle of the night. The pediatrician's answer was simple: stop feeding him in the middle of the night and he won't be as eager to get up. It worked. It was rough the first two nights but after that he was fine. He has been a really good sleeper ever since and he is 5 now.

Good luck. It is never easy to cut back on the breast feading, I was just as attached to the bonding time as he was.

I'd highly recommend you read Dr. Sears' The Baby Sleep Book before you give any more thought to withholding nighttime feedings and letting him cry it out. I also am Mom to a 3 y.o and 7 month old and both of my children needed night time nursing until nearly a year in order to keep them healthy and gaining weight. There's no "right" time to discontinue night feedings --it depends on the child. There's also nothing wrong with comforting a child during the night. Providing a secure loving environment 24/7 especially during infancy helps foster security in childhood and beyond. Please do what comes natural and don't feel guilty about breaking "rules" others set for you. Best wishes. I know you are tired. I am too. My little guy hasn't slept through the night for more than 6 weeks due to the eruption of 3 new teeth. I'm choosing not to resent his night time needs, but rather embrace the time we have to spend together during those early morning hours. Best wishes. R. (Certified Nurse Midwife and SAHM of 2)

I would say only he knows when he is hungry. Don't forget, babies do heir growing in there sleep, so it is natural to need more food as they are burning through it so quickly (especially breastmilk). Also, it's his source of hydration as well, so he might be thirsty! Here is an awesome book that really helped me (you can get it on amazon.com) http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0071381392.php. Here are some other links that may help...

Good sleep habits...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBSepOct05p204a.html
http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep05102183.pdf

About CIO:
http://www.sleepnet.com/infant3/messages/534.html

Scheduling:
http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/articles/cuefeeding...
http://www.ezzo.info/babywise.htm
http://www.nospank.net/granju2.htm

My daughter did the same thing. It wasn't until about 11 months that she was sleeping throught the night (sorry-that probably is more scary that helpful to you). I think at 8 months I stopped nursing when she woke up and I would just sing and rock her until she fell asleep again. My husband and I did a variation on letting her cry it out. We let her cry for about 5 minutes and then I would go rock her until she fell asleep. After a couple of days we waited 7 mins and so on. By the end of the week she would start to cry and would not last 5 minutes before she fell asleep again all by herself!
Maybe you can feed him a little snack after his 7pm feeding. I say that you should do what your gut tells you. Mommy's gut feelings are rarely wrong.

We've had the same thing happen a couple times; gradually things keep getting worse until we realize he's been up twice a night for the last week. We've "fixed" it (more or less) by increasing his food during the day. I have a tiny six-month-old (< 25% height/weight), but he eats solids 2x a day, 3 bottles with about 15 oz total milk or formula while I'm at work, and I nurse him 2-3 times while I'm home. We can't increase the size of any of those feedings because he just spits it up, so this is what the pediatrician recommended. At this point, he regularly goes 9 to 6 without waking, so if he wakes at 3 or 4, we give it about half an hour of crying/comforting before I'll feed him. He goes back to sleep by himself probably 2/3 times, but that other time our sleep becomes more important!

Well your baby may just be growing. As far as us eating at night well we dont need to but our little munchkins are different. One thing I would recommend is feeding him dinner at your normal dinner time instead of at 3 oclock that way he will have more substance in his tummy instead of just milk. If we at at three and not agiain until the next day we would be hungry too. You may just need to adjust his schedule a little. hope this helps

Hey A.,

Alright, I guess I should tell you right off the bat that I don't believe in letting a baby cry it out. Before you decide to do this, I think you should check out Dr. Sears' website. He ascribes to a much gentler method, and his reasoning is research based. Some babies aren't traumatized by the cry it out method, but some simply do not have the temperament for it. These babies have a stress hormone overload and their bodies shut down to protect them-that's why they ultimately stop crying. Your son is still young, and this portion of his life will pass quickly, if you look at his life as a continuum. It is not unusual for some children to wake regularly up until the age of two. I have a son like that, and we've just rolled with it. We're more tired than we'd like to be some days, but let's face it, parenting is exhausting sometimes no matter how you cut it. I would accomodate your son's needs at this point. It won't last forever, and in the long run he'll be happier and more well adjusted. Also, I don't know if anyone has yet suggested the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley, but it's a great resource, too. There's no reason for you to have to put your son or yourself through the stress of his crying for an extended amount of time. Life gets stressful enough as we age. We should have as little of it as possible when we're children, in my opinion. There are other ways, and before you decide to let him cry, I'd look into them first.

Good Luck,

A.