Getting My Son on a Good Sleep and Eating Schedule!! Help!!

Updated on June 02, 2011
A.P. asks from Olathe, KS
7 answers

EDIT: Thank you for all the positive responses. You all are right the ratio is not correct, but my husband said he read somewhere that if you thicken the bottle, he will spit up less. I thought this was inaccurate and so I will correct it. However my pediatrician did tell me that I can use rice cereal in the bottle, because he has a very heavy appetite. Also I am trying to wean him off the breast milk, which is why there is only 1.5oz in his bottle. I certainly don't expect him to sleep through the night, but I was hoping that a sleep schedule would make him a more happy baby. Since I am a first time mom, I don't know everything but I will let him work his own sleep schedule out. I was looking for advice, not judgement, so for those that gave me great advice, thank you!!

Hi everyone,

I am seeking a little advice. My son is currently taking a 5oz bottle about every 3-4 hrs. The bottle includes 1.5oz of breastmilk, 3.5oz of nursery water, 2 scoops of formula and 1 teaspoon of rice cereal. His eating is pretty good, but I would like to figure out a way to get him to go longer without eating. In regards to his sleeping, he is very sporadic. Right now he is asleep and it is almost 12pm where I am. He has been asleep since 830am. Then one day he might only take an hour and get up right away to eat. Also I should mention that he sometimes sleeps in his swing during the day and I hate that. I used to put him in the swing so I could go do things around the house, but I didn't like him sleeping there so I would try to catch him before he fell asleep and then take him out, swaddle him and put him in his crib. This was kind of a pain, but I didn't want him to think that the swing is for sleeping. However it kind of defeats the purpose of me being able to do things around the house, if I keep running back to him to see if he fell asleep in the swing. What do you guys think of swing sleeping?? I'm glad he likes the swing, but I hate he like to sleep in it. He is 3mths. Is he still too young to be on a consistent sleep-eat schedule?? If you were able to do this for your child, will you tell me how you did it??

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H.D.

answers from Dallas on

I'm asking the same question as othes, why so much stuff in his bottle at only 3mo? Anyway, I have 3 kids and only one of them started sleeping longer hours before 6 months of age, that was my first. When his two siblings came along, they were both horrible cat-nappers (30 minutes) for the first year. Every kid is different but with your baby being so young, he knows exactly what he's needing and if that means some days he eats more so be it, and if on other days he wants to take wicked long naps, so be it. He'll find his own schedule, you just have to be patient (I know, not what you were hoping to hear:)).

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J.G.

answers from Springfield on

At this age, the best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby sleeps. Don't worry about them getting used to much of anything. They change their "habits" so fast. The important thing is that they do sleep.

Swing, bouncy seat, car seat, crib, my bed ... these are all places my boys slept (even at night) from time to time. Do whatever works, and you'll both sleep well!

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L.F.

answers from Dallas on

I followed the Babywise scheduling and it worked great for our family.

K.M.

answers from Boston on

a 3 month old will tend to eat that often... a 6 month old could eat that often! The only thing you can hope for is to make his night time bottle bigger and hope that it takes him through the night. Probably should start happening on its own very soon. Usually if u do like a 10 pm feeding it should start to carry him through til 6 am? if you are lucky. Ive heard some kids never sleep through the night, and some do right away. During the day if he falls asleep, theres not much you can do. Just try to bear with it and offer a bottle every 3 - 4 hours daily and then try to make a bigger bottle at night and maybe put some cereal in it... but i dont remember how early I did cereal, but 3 months sounds a little young to me. Their digestive system isnt always ready... is he crying a lot? or just not sleeping?

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C.D.

answers from St. Louis on

You need to figure out his schedule first and then try to change it slowly. Write down what he does and when he does it for a week. Note when he is happiest. You should be able to get a handle on eating and sleeping from there.
Please change the bottle. You can do formula and b milk in a bottle but not cereal. The whole point of cereal is to eat with a spoon. Cereal in a bottle can cause ear infections because the baby sucks too hard if it gets clogged.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Is that the right powder to water ratio? I though it was 1 scoop:2 oz?
I wouldn't be putting cereal in the bottle. He's too little--unless your doc suggested it for reflux or something.

He's pretty little and his schedule will be eat, sleep, poo, pee for awhile!

Oddly enough, they do tend to get themselves into a routine. Be patient.

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C.S.

answers from Milwaukee on

I'm confused as to why if he is 3mo he's getting such a mix of things in his bottle? I'd start there. If there is no reason (like Dr rec) for him to have rice cereal in his bottle I'd stop using it. At 3mo babies should still be on only breastmilk or formula.

If you are giving him 100% BM then know that BFed babies get hungry more often then ones on 100% formula. Also-depending on how big a baby he is he may be hungry for more then 5pz at a bottle.

Also though-he is still to young to be expected to sleep on really long stretches-but he's on the cusp on devloping his sleep pattern for long term. It's up to you to help get him on track with his sleep however.

Do you swaddle him when he sleeps? That will help too.

I would try a few things....

-Change his bottle to all BM or all Formula and increase to 6oz
-Be sure you're burping him mid-way thru the bottle
-Swaddle when he's sleeping
-Start getting him on a sleep schedule-for example let's say he wakes up at 6am: Bottle
he might be up for 1-2 hours, maybe three....starts getting sleepy about 8ish-bottle/nap
Sleeps for about 1-2 hours, wakes....bottle. Play/interact/etc up for 2-3 hours, bottle/nap...it will go on like that all day, until about 6pm you want to start your wind down and make it obvious that it's nighttime and it's different than just a nap
bath, pj's, snuggle, bottle, rock, swaddle, down for the night---which may only be 4-5 hours, but increases over time. and Repeat. :)

At 3 mon he won't be sleeping thru the night (8-10 hours), but he should be starting to sleep in longer stretches at night-4+ hours...BUT during the day his naps should be shorter - less then 3 hours at a time.

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