Sleeping Pattern in 2.5 Month Old

Please do not let your baby cry it out this young. His stomach is tiny (think the size of a walnut, so he needs to eat frequently, even at night. It sounds like he is going through a growth spurt. He will eventually sleep for longer intervals, it just takes time. Can you and your husband alternate nights to stay up with baby?

Another suggestion I have for you is to sleep when baby sleeps, so you can catch up on your rest. So, take a nap during the day when your baby goes down, you will feel so much better.

FYI: Most health professionals (including the AAP) do not recommend Babywise. Strict scheduling can lead to failure to thrive in infants.

Keep up a good bedtime routine. With my son we gave him a bath, read him a story, fed him & then put him to bed. We did this from the day we brought him home from the hospital. At 2 1/2 mos, I wouldn't let him cry it out. He's too young. He may be going through a growth spurt & needing a little extra food. I know you are tired, but hang in there with the bedtime routine, feeding & nap schedules. It will come together. Fluctuations in their sleep are common at this point & will go back to "normal" eventually. One thing I read in The Happiest Baby on the Block that really made sense is that quality awake time equals quality sleep. Engage him when he's awake by giving him tummy time, letting him look at a mobile, reading to him, etc. I always fed my son when he woke up in the night early on. Stick with your schedules & it will get better over time. Congratulations & best wishes!

Hi M.. Congrats on your new bundle of joy. I know right now you are wandering when will you get a full nights rest again. LOL Believe me soon enough it will happen. Personally I do feel that he is a bit young to let him cry it out thru the night. Although he take 4-5 naps each day , he should be sleeping this much. I suggest if he seems hungry feed him as he probally is hungry.

Somtimes when going thru a growth spurt which , they will eat every 2 hrs. Comfort him while you can soon enough he will want to be independent and you will not be able to cuddle/hold him as much. My daughter is now 7 mths and sleeps from 7 pm - 7 am. She started doing is around 4 mths or so. Routines are great for infants , so continue to put him to sleep around the same time each night. Good luck..

You must read Babywise.

All of my friends have applied these methodologies and all of our kids have slept thru the night since 8 to 10 weeks old.

He's probably cluster feeding for a growth spurt. Why they do it at night I don't know, but mine did the same thing - they would do an 8pm feeding and then another 3 feedings in one night every 2 hours or so. Good news is that it's a fairly short-lived phenomenon. You don't say if you are doing breast or bottle. If bottle, try adding one more ounce of formula to the bottle. You should always have a little left at the bottom so you know he's gotten enough. My own little guys drank more per feeding at that age than the books said they would.

With respect to sleep - he's too young to develop bad sleep habits at this stage. He's definitely WAY too young to let him cry it out. This is still the stage where you don't want to let him cry for more than a minute or two - you are establishing that you are there for him to rely on - it's tiring now, but pays off big later when he has the security to settle himself back to sleep without intervention.