Tips on Getting Baby to Sleep Longer at Night?

J.,

You are a very conscientious mother, but 7 months is actually pretty darn good for sleeping through the nite and actually he may have slept through the nite earlier than he would have on his own because he was in your bed. My first son didn't sleep through the nite until he was almost two and second didn't until he was almost one, so I was able to improve my track record the second time around. It seems to me that you already have a plan in place that will optimize your breastfeeding, which is the priority, but also allow you to optimize your sleep. As someone else mentioned, each baby will do things at their own pace. So, to me, it seems your plan should allow the baby to sleep through the nite when its ready. You also have to keep in mind that it depends upon the baby's size and nursing style as well. My first was an early, small baby and was a very slow eater. My second was a large (almost 9 lb baby) that nursed very efficiently. So, there is alot that just isn't under your control that will determine when they sleep through the nite. Also, with another child around, you will really need to make sure to spend the time during the day nursing, so that the baby isn't trying to make up for missed feedings at nite.

I was gonna saw swaddling too! My son is 5 mos but hes been sleeping through the night for quite some time now and it has been because of the swaddle. My DD never liked the swaddle but maybe I wasnt doing it right then idk. He grew outta the small blankets soon so I got a long piece of that warm soft fabric at walmart that you dont have to sew when you cut it cause it wont frey cant remember the name. Anyways, I bought that and swaddle him in that and he wont sleep without his blankey swaddle lol. Good luck and congrats! Oh yeah - and cluster feeding right before bed helped me too. :)

I found the book BabyWise to be very helpful. My oldest son was sleeping through the night (10hours) at 8 weeks. My youngest son was sleeping 10 hours at 12 weeks. Every baby is a little bit different. You can be a die-hard, rigid BabyWise person like some mothers I know, but that is not the message of the book. The message of the book is a structured schedule and environment with great flexibility when necessary. I highly recommend it.

A baby will sleep through the night when they are ready. My ds was 7 months and dd was 3 weeks! Granted she slept in bed with us and was attached to my breast all night but she was still sleeping at night

Swaddle! Buy a miracle blanket or two. These things are worth every penny! It really did help dd sleep better!

Maybe a good little massage will get them to sleep deeper. My kids LOVE to get massages! And I know I sleep better after a nice back rub. :)

You've gotten some great advice, but what mom can't resist offering her two cents! HA HA

I can tell you what worked for us. I breastfed exclusively for 12 months and am still nursing a little at night every few days and our son is 14 months. I never wanted to do the co-sleeper or bring him in bed with us because I was afraid it would be a habit I couldn't break. Having said all that, I used a bassinet in our room and woke up every 3-4 hours to feed until about age 2 months. That is when he made it on an 8 hour stretch. It was about that age that we implemented a "bedtime routine". We started with the feeding, then the quiet awake time and bath and then in the crib. And we swaddled until he was about....can't remember! Maybe 4 or 5o months?? I kept buying bigger and bigger blankets! It really helped us. But I've heard that every baby is different and some take to it and some don't.

I agree with the other moms though, when your baby is ready, he will sleep through the night. But, you can always "help" him along. After a certain age, they don't "need" the nightime feeding, so you can do a little sleep training too!

Good luck!