Sleeping Through the Night - Garden Grove,CA

Yep. You, me and just about anyone else who is a parent has experienced this. My son is 2 and we still experience it - now he wakes up in the middle of the night because he wants his blanket put back on top of him.

I have succombed to the fact that when you have children, you will never sleep soundly through the night again. When they're young, they wake you; when they're teenagers, they'll wake you for a ride home or you're too worried to sleep and when they've moved away...

I really did like my sleep time too:) Good luck Mama!

-S.

Yep! My son slept through the night at 6 weeks, and continued that until he was 7 months. Then he started waking up about 3 times a night. It's so hard! Nothing like the sleep deprivation period when he was a newborn though. He just turned 10 months, and he still gets up 2 times a night. Sometimes he sleeps all night, though not consistently. I read On Becoming Babywise and it really works. But I guess I need to brush up on it. Don't worry-you'll get through it. I know sometimes I thought I was gonna lose my mind! Still do! Good luck.

K.

Babies definitely ebb and flow. My daughter was sleeping 5-6 hours from about 7 weeks until probably around the same time. And then it changed as well. It's important to stick with a routine they can depend on and become accustom to. At 3 months she is still very, very young but by sticking with the routine and making minor changes as needed baby learns what to expect and what is expected. My son would go thru periods where he would be wildly different for up to 6 weeks and then things would go back to normal. Just part of parenting. Stay with a consistent routine.

It's important to remember that babies have to learn and be taught how to sleep. They don't automatically know how. Around the 3 month mark they begin to start gaining a better understanding of this big world they are in and it's a good time to start routines. They may not get it for a few months but it's part of the learning process for good sleep habits.

Just a word of caution regarding Babywise methods-the author is not a medical doctor and has zero medical training. This method is very controversial and has been known to cause failure to thrive in babies.

I was able to learn a lot and glean very valuable information from Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book and the Baby Whisperer. I didn't use either of their methods exclusively but created a routine that worked for us.

Also note that if you are breastfeeding you will have times where baby wakes more at night. Just part of parenting at night. :)

I remember that! My DD was just like Ruthy G's below. I remember thinking maybe she wanted to nurse, and it wasn't even that...It was like she wanted to say "Hi Momma!" ;) She did it for about a month. At five months we did let her soothe herself to sleep (yes, there was some crying involved), and at that point the night wakings stopped. I think she just didn't know how to go through the sleeping stages...once she put herself to sleep at night, seems she was able to do it through the night, too...I don't remember having to let her fuss during the night, she just quit waking. She was still in our room until bout 6 months, too...so we would have definitely heard her!

Is she crying when she wakes? Sometimes I think we respond to every sound, and maybe end up waking them out of a partial sleep...just a thought.

It will pass... :)

My son wasn't sleeping through the night until much later (his first birthday), but he reverted back many times. I have been excited probably 5 times about him sleeping through the night for at least a week since that time (he is now 21 months), and then he would go back to waking up in the middle of the night. He has finally been sleeping consistently through the night for at least a month, maybe two, but I have no doubts that he will revert back at some point. Teething, sickness, and growth spurts are the causes for him, and then once it is over we can focus on sleeping again. Also, you said something about the length of her growth spurt, my sons usually lasted about a week, but then his schedule was off. Just work on it and she will get back to normal.

Yes, I can totally relate. My baby would sleep for long stretches, wake to breastfeed, but easily go back to sleep. I don't remember the exact age, perhaps 3 or 4 months, he became increasingly aware of his surroundings, interested in everything and wouldn't go back to sleep after a night feeding. He was wide awake and ready to play when I was ready to go back to sleep! So, I moved his crib farther from myself, and my other two kids, who were sleeping, knowing he would cry but we had to sleep! He only cried for a bit before going back to sleep himself, but I did notice a change in his wakings as he got older. It's a phase and will pass...hopefully! It did for me. Now my baby is almost a year and sleeps beautifully from 8 p.m to 6 or 7 a.m. everyday! We have a set routine for him and place him in a dark, quiet room where he sleeps great. Good luck!

Hi M.,
I agree, be consistent with a routine, but to be honest, sleep can be inconsistent up until about 2 (unless you are one of the lucky ones!) They just get into a routine and have a growth spurt, start teething, learn something new (rollover and can't get back, stand up, can't get down, etc). My daughter, bless her little heart, woke up once a night until she was two. She was a stubborn little thing, I tried to let her cry....didn't work, I'd send her dad in, that would just make her angry. Anyway, she's now 13 and sleeps through the night. :)
Good luck to you,
M.

Hi M.. All babies go through a major sleep shift around 3 months old, and do not go back. It's time to get a hold of a "sleep book" to start learning methods to help your baby get the sleep she needs. I personally recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, MD. I have also heard good things about "Baby Whisperer," although I have never read it.

Oh, heavens yes! You've hit the 4 Month Wakeful Period. It's totally and completely normal!

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/4mo-sleep.html

Sleeping through the night really and truly is a developmental milestone.

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html

Just like walking and talking, there really isn't a way to "train" them to do this before they are developmentally ready.

My advice is to ride it out and keep reminding yourself that this too shall pass. And it will. I promise.

Around 3-4 months babies start to grasp object permanence. Meaning that your baby is likely waking up and realizing that mommy is not there. Until now babies sort of see moms as an extension of themselves. All 3 of my kids went thru this, and you'll be happy to know that it does pass and your daughter will go back to sleeping thru the night. :) My advice is to increase games of peek-a-boo with her, this does help reinforce object permanence, as in learning that mommy is still there, even if she's not "there."

Hey M.,
My guy did that at around 4 months and it was somewhat frustrating. However, we were able to get through it. What I learned was: I left the lights off when he woke up, I changed him, fed him in our bed, burped him, and then put him right back to bed. This let him know that it was still sleep time and not play/wake time. If you talk to your baby a lot, or turn on the lights, or play with your baby she will be stimulated by the activity and then not go back to sleep.

Very frustrating!! My daughter did this at that exact age and when we went for her 4 mo. check-up and I mentioned it, my pedi. said "oh, well she needs solids." I gave her cereal that night and she hasn't woken up at night ever since (she's 2.5 now). If she's around 13 lbs. that's got to be what it is....she's hungry and needing solids.

This is very normal. Children do not develop a "normal" sleeping pattern until they are approx. 3 years old. I would suggest that you only acknowledge her if she is fussy or crying and your ackowledgement should be kept to a minimum. If you can avoid picking her up that would be best. Otherwise she will know what she needs to do to get mommy to give in to her. She also needs to learn to be able to fall back asleep on her own. Best of Luck!

This happened with us, and we figured out that it was usually related to teething.