To All the Mamas Who Got Their Babies to Sleep Well Early On...

I have a 3 y.o. and 5 y.o. they both have been great sleepers and still are. I agree with the other 2 ladies who said from the very beginning put them in the crib to sleep, naps and bedtime. With my first I did try the bassinet for a little while but feel he slept better in the crib. Also, while they are napping don't tiptoe around trying to be uber silent. They need to learn to sleep while things are going on: dogs barking, doorbells, vacumming, etc.

Every baby is different. My first was a sleeper and the second two didn't sleep through the night until 2 years of age. I didn't do anything differently. I ended up cosleeping because it was easier to meet the needs of the second two by being present than to have them crying at night and clingy by day. So I hope that this baby is more of a nighttime sleeper for you. But if not, just watch carefully and see what he/she needs. So much of the stress is unmet expectations.

And it all goes by so fast! Good luck!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth is hands down the BEST sleep book out there. I have three children and they are all different in temperament, soothing needs, etc and the book applied to each of them perfectly.

I started with my boys in a bassinet for the first month to make night nursing easier. At about a month or so, when they no longer needed night feedings, I moved them to their crib and started a modified CIO, giving them 5 minutes at a time to self sooth before going in to rub tummies and sing softly to help sooth. Once calm, I would leave, and if they cried again I would wait anther 5 minutes. Since they had never learned bad habits learning to sleep well on their own came natural at this age. I never had to go in more than once. At night if they woke I would wait 5 minutes before going in to see what they needed, and 90% of the time they went back to sleep on their own. Both of my boys have been going to bed at 8, and sleeping through the night since before their 2nd month, they are now 5 and 6, and are great sleepers still.

You have to remember that what worked for your first kid won't always work for your second. Kids are all so different! My first was a horrible sleeper, he didn't sleep through the night until he was 16 months. I never let him CIO, I just can't handle that. My second (he is 2 months old now) is sleeping great at night, and I did nothing different, its just how he is. Both my boys slept in their cribs from the very beginning. I hope you get lucky with your second baby, but if you don't, you will have to figure out what works best for your baby, since they are all so different and there is no way of knowing before they are born. good luck!

My advice? Have a feeding/sleeping schedule from the start and use it! I adopted both of my sons when they were infants so I didn't breast feed but all my mommy friends did. We all based what we did with a book called Babywise. I know alot of people really don't like or agree with it's context. I didn't follow EVERY bit of advice in there but went with the basic concept. Worked like a charm with both. The both slept through the night by 5 weeks old, no problem.
It basically helps teach your baby that he/she can depend on the next feeding instead of having to get to the point of staving and having to cry for it. In turn creating a more content baby. It helps create a feeding/awake/sleeping cycle. You make adjustments as needed for growth spurts. What you do is start to feed more during the day and wean off of the nighttime feedings. Nighttime feeding are always kept quiet and very low key with a fast diaper change and popped back into bed with no wake time to help train them to sleep at night and have wake time just during the day. Keeps you from becoming the "paci".
It's a great concept and worth the read if you are interested. I didn't like the way the first part of the book kept going over and over the fact that feeding by demand is a mistake and why. I mean do we have to read it over and over? We get the point! I took a highlighter to mine and dogeared the important parts and it helped alot.
Wish you best with whatever you decide. You are wise to sort this out now instead of later ")
Best Regards,
C.

My son is a great sleeper. Even though I nursed him, we put him in the crib the day we came home. We also put him in PJ's at night and outfits in the day to teach him the difference when to sleep etc.. he mostly slept through the night at about 8-9 weeks. (from 10-5 was my version of sleeping through the night.) There were lots of times he would get up once, nurse and go right back down. We were very lucky. We also did not always jump to get him. Lots of time we waited a few minutes and then he would often go right back to sleep.

Hi,

I have 2 kids (2yo, and 9 yo), and both are great sleepers. I think the key is from the very beginning, I put them in their cribs (around 1-2 weeks old, I did use a bassinet), and a very structured routine. I know it sounds boring, but I make sure I am home at naptime in the afternoon, and around 7, my son gets his bath, then books with snack, then bed. this is every single night. For me, personally, a regular routine is key, and put them in their cribs from the very start, except the first week or so, I used a bassinet..Good Luck to you...

Do NOT use babywise. do your research on that one. With that being said, i sound alot like you. While I breastfed, we did not cosleep and I did not want to be a pacifier all night long either:) I pretty much fed my son on demand for the first 5 months, although he was doing 4-5 hour stretches at about 2 months.
I read the Dr. Weisbluth book, called healthy sleep, happy child and LOVE it! We did a "modified" cry it out at 5 months, and our son was sleeping from 6:30-1or 2, I nursed him, and back down until 6:30. At 9 months, we repeated the "modified" method at 2, and he was then sleeping 6:30-7:)

I understand wanting/needing sleep, but just dont try any sleep training methods too early. It's not good for the baby. PM me if you want more info. Congrats on your upcoming little one:)

We had our daughter sleep in a bassinett in our bedroom for her first week home. Then we moved her to her crib in her room. We had a video monitor so that we could keep watch with out disturbing her. Some nights she would wake up on her own to eat. Other night we we would wake her up about 2:00 to eat. Other than that she would sleep all night for the most part. There were a few nights where she would not go back to sleep in her crib after the 2 AM feeding, so my husband or I would lay down on the couch with her. We would not bring her into our bed to sleep because we didn't want to start that habit as we had noticed from others that it was a difficult habit to break. My suggestion is to put her in her crib as early on as possible and don't let the child do something now that you won't want them doing in the future as they get older (in our house, this goes for the sleeping arrangements as well as any other behaviors that we wouldn't want to continue).

Here's what my pedi told me...

Babies don't sleep at night because they're not tired or they're hungry. (This makes sense, right?) Consequently, you want to make sure they have plenty to eat and they never fall into a deep sleep during the day. To do this, feed baby every 2-3 hours from the time you want baby to get up in the morning until you want baby to go to sleep at night. Keep this daytime schedule EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WAKE BABY UP. It's the waking up part that prevents baby from falling into to deep a sleep during the day. Feed baby on demand at night until baby is about 15 pounds when the nighttime calories aren't needed.

I did this with my first son and it worked like a charm. He was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. I tried it with my second son and he, too, was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. My boys are now 12 and 16 and they're still sleeping through night (and still 9-11 hours a night). In fact, waking them UP is the real challenge now!

Hope this helps...

Steph :)

I also recommend the Babywise book. With that book and a little common sense your baby can be sleeping thru in no time. Both of mine slept thru at 6-8 weeks. I couldn't agree more with the moms who said put them in their cribs in the beginning. They should be swaddled tight, in their own rooms/cribs with a humidifier or something for white noise. Stick to a routine, the Babywise routine is up, feed, awake time, sleep. This prevents them from getting in the habit of needing a bottle/breast to go to sleep (think about this...did they have a bottle when they were going to sleep in the womb?...no, this is another bad habit that forms after birth so prevent it). You never deprive your child of food when they're hungry, you will never have to leave them crying for long periods of time, because it's something they're learning from day one. it's not like you're doing it one way (co-sleeping or whatever) and then you decide "okay, today we're going to start sleeping thru the night" and change gears on them, expecting them to do something they've never done before. You're gradually teaching them the skills they need and one day they'll just do it. I was very worried about this with my second as well. My first did so great sleeping thru at 8 weeks and I stressed out about sleep deprivation, up with an infant all night and taking care of a toddler all day. So I re-read my Babywise book and put it into effect the night we came home from the hospital. By 6 weeks we were all sleeping 8 hours at night. Magic.
Best of luck, you can do this!! =)

Bring baby home from the hospital and put it right into the crib. Keep swaddling for a while if baby likes that. Start a schedule right away.
Do not run in and pick the baby up every time it cries especially if you know he is clean and dry and not hungry. Start CIO early. Babies have very different cries and you need to tune into that immediately. You'll figure out when baby is mad vs hungry.
Good luck
LBC

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Another vote for the Babywise book. We followed that (somewhat loosely to fit our own lives) since the first week. My son slept through the night (7-8 hrs) by the time he was 8 weeks. Since then, he only wakes up in the middle of the night if he's sick (he's now almost 3). Oh - he did some night waking when he learned to roll over, stand up, etc. - but that only lasted a night or two, until he figured out how to roll back the otherway, sit down, etc. It was kinda funny actually to go in his room and find that the only reason he was crying was because he couldn't figure out how to lay back down! :)
The other good advice I got (don't remember if it was in Babywise too), was to keep nights VERY boring. Use as little light as possible for feedings and diaper changes, don't rock too hard, don't sing or talk more than a soft whisper and only if needed. Cry, feed, back into bed. And for us, bed was in his own room, right across the hall from ours - we kept our doors open and the monitor up so I could hear every little sound.

I know you have already gotten a lot of answers but here is my 2 cents. I used On Becoming Babywise by Dr. Gary Ezzo. It was a Godsend. Since I didn't institute the practices until later my oldest was 2.5 months when he started sleeping 8 hours at night. My youngest I started earlier and he was sleeping 8 hours by 7 weeks. The basic principle is to feed them when they first wake up and then keep them awake (a hard thing to do with a newborn I know) and then let them go to sleep without nursing or bottlefeeding. That is it really. There are some other tips in there but that is the basic idea is not to let them eat to go to sleep. I have told many many friends and it has worked for ALL of them that have tried it. Good luck!

Just start her out by whenever she is tired just lay her down in her bed and walk away. If thats all she knows, she wont know she's missing out on anything. Thats how I did my 2nd baby and he's been a pretty good sleeper since he was a little baby as long as he wasnt hungry he was fine. He would eat and go right back to sleep. We all tend to spoil our first babies more. I know I did. My 1st never slept in the bed with us, but I would hold him until he fell asleep. I broke him from that at around 8 months. It was hard but WELL worth it. They learn to self soothe which is a good thing. Good luck!!

sometimes I think its just luck. I hope it goes better for you this time. I am also expecting a second addition (Wed!). While I planned to co-sleep initially with my first, I found my unplanned C-section made that impossible as I had to be completely standing before I could lift baby and was unable to maneuver her in a lying down position. I really feel this worked to my advantage. She was in a bassinet by my side. I was so exhausted from a long labor, c-section, infection, and other medical complications, as well my daughter nursed for 1 - 1.25 hours per feeding that when the feeding was over, I'd simply lay her down awake, crawl in bed and began to pray for her to fall asleep. Again, I did this out of desperation, but I feel it really worked to our advantage as I've always been able to just put her down to sleep awake. At three months, I moved her to her own room and crib, much to my husbands consternation. I did this because her every gurgle and grunt woke me up. I needed some sleep! I told him if he wanted, he could move her to his side of the bed. He didn't want to. Again, out of desperation, this worked to our advantage, as we never had a stressful transition from co sleep to her own room. Hope this helps. As controversial as the Baby Wise method is, as with any method, there are some good nuggets to be taken. For me it was to work towards full feedings. This is how to get your baby on a schedule naturally without much manipulation. A baby who takes a full feeding can make it three hours to the next feeding. You have to work really hard to keep them awake to fill up. Then cross your fingers and pray that they drop one of those night time feedings within 6-8 weeks or so, so you can get a 5-6 hour stretch of sleep. I think that this is what happens naturally for most people and hopefully you will have an easier time this time. There comes a time when baby is old enough that they can get through the night without a feeding. Do your research and wait until you are comfortable with it. I tried at 8 months with CIO, but failed. Tried a modified CIO at 18 months and finally got her to do without the night time feeding. I could have done it sooner if I had not had such a hard time with CIO the first go. I recommend a modified version of CIO when and if you come to that point (stay in the room with them, rub thier back, but don't give into the feeding) This breaks the habit of a night time feeding, forces them to make up the calories during the day so they sleep all night. Another good nugget from a more attachment parenting style author, Dr. Sears, is that "if you resent it, change it". I think thats the best advice. Some parents don't resent the lost sleep, and so they can go on and on with the night time feedings. Others of us find it makes us worse parents in the day to be so short on sleep and it is good for those parents to find ways to change it.Good luck.

Right away, like in the hospital, start keeping her up 2 hours before you want to go to bed. Do anything you can, unwrap her, bathe her, lay her on the floor - just keep her awake. Babies also have a startle reflex so you have to swaddle her to keep her tightly wrapped. I recommend a swaddler blanket that you can buy at Babies R Us to keep her tight. I would also recommend not letting her sleep in your room at all. If she's really crying, you'll hear it (unless you're on a different level of the house or something). Good Luck!

I haven't read the other responses, but I just wanted to say that every baby is different. My first son was the exact same way. My second son, yes he didn't sleep through the night until he was 12 months and he wanted the boob everytime he woke up, but hey he was hungry. After he ate though he wanted to go right back to sleep on his own. No rocking no holding, this would actually irritate him. He wanted his own space. Now he is 21 months and when it is bedtime I just set him in his crib. He doesn't cry, not once! I say just wait for your new arrival to come and see their personality before you decide your plan of action. Good Luck! :)

With my son, getting him on a schedule very early really helped. The first 4 weeks he slept in the pack and play and I slept in the living room so my husband wouldn't be woken up at night. During this time he would wake up a few times a night, but as soon as he turned 4 weeks old we started him on a schedule where we would give him a bath, then a bottle, and then put him to bed in his crib. The bath wasn't always a real bath because I know they don't need baths every day, but it was a part of our routine to get him ready for bed. We would close all the blinds in the house at this time and all the lights and feed him his bottle in the dark so he would know it was night time, and we kept everything bright during the day. He started sleeping through the night right away. We were very strict with this schedule being same thing and same time every night, so sometimes that meant we missed out on things, but it was worth it. I do think that it has a lot to do with the baby, sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, some babies just aren't good sleepers. My son was always a great sleeper, but a very fussy baby. I am 7 months pregnant and would actually rather have this baby be a bad sleeper as long as she isn't as difficult as my son was when she's awake!! I hope you get a good sleeper!! :)

I dont know if this is what helped us with our daughter but during the day I would always change her diaper after feeding and at night I changed it before feeding. Also I never turned the light on at night (just the TV). She slept in a bassinet right next to the bed until she started sleeping throught the night (which was at 4 mo). Hope this helps ((HUGS))

When I was pregnant with my first child, I got scared I would have one that wouldn't go down to sleep easily in their own bed. I saw how my sister and all my friends kids faught going to bed and woke up in the middle of the night. Then, my sister-in-law had children. They were different. They said good night, gave kisses and went to bed. Even at nap time. It amazed me. Well, long story short - she gave me the book On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo at my baby shower. Luckily, the book layed everything out for me. A complete "How To" book on training your baby to sleep. Sometimes we don't think about what parenting really is, it's teaching your child everything about the world (including how to sleep)!

What I do for my 7 week old daughter is, ill wash her down with a cloth or give her a bath, then massage her with baby oil, feed her then put her down in her crib and I let her fall asleep on her own. I had refused to devolp the habbit of rocking her to sleep because I don't want that to be the only way she will settle. And I do the same as Tara when she wakes up I will bring her into my bed nurse her on my side and when she is done I will burp her then put her back into her crib.

So with all that said, I do my best to have her be an independant sleeper, because I was not as a child and would HAVE to sleep in the bed with my mother. And I am SURE that you are very good with routine, but consistancy it the key :)

Good luck and congrats on your new little one!!

I recommend reading the Baby Whisperer. She has a great, easy routine to get the baby on and it had my daughter sleeping through the night by 3 months. She started out in a bassinet by the bed in our room, then after a couple of months we moved her to her room. We also allowed a paci for sleeping only.

And swaddling was a miracle for our baby. We didnt know anything about swaddling until I read "the happiest baby on the block" and I got one of those self swaddlers and she went from sleeping 15 minutes at a time to an hour! any time one of my friends or family is about to have a baby, I buy her a swaddler and a copy of the baby whisperer's book.

Every baby is different. I co-slept for a while, so I'm no help. But I had a friend with 4 kids and each one had different sleep styles. I'd check out books like no cry sleep solution, etc. and get ideas. Swaddling is good cause they feel "womb-y" and comfortable. There are also the crib-things that snug up to the bed so you can co-sleep without co-sleeping. Good luck!

Try Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. During the day don't sway the baby while you hold him, do more up beat things, and act like it's day time. Night time should have a routine. Turn off some lights a little before bedtime, bath, pj's, book, nurse, bed. We used a swaddle and some lullaby cd's and sometimes a machine that made heartbeat sounds. We did the same exact thing every single night and our daughter was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. She often fell asleep as she was nursing so at about 6 months old we had to work on that and employed the CIO method. I think it was harder on her than me and I caved a few times but after about 10 days or so she was able to put herself to sleep after putting her in her crib while she was awake. We also made sure we put her in her crib each time she fell asleep when she was very little. I worry that wasn't the best decision though because now she can't sleep if someone else is in the room with her. She can sleep through most noise but just can't share a room with anyone. Not sure what that's about. Good luck!

I don't know if this is a repeat, but consider letting her sleep on her tummy. We did that with my son after about 4-6 weeks and he's a champion sleeper. He just wouldn't sleep on his back. We got some sleep with him in his bouncer before that, but as soon as we put him on his belly, he was out and happy. I just felt like it was important for him to learn that sleep was a good thing that made him content and happy, so at the beginning (first 4 weeks) we did whatever it took, and then after that, the belly trick worked. Even now, at almost three, he sleeps like a champ, and we never ever had to "sleep train" him at all.

And just FYI, I'm a total worrier, so I was panicked about SIDS. We got an angelcare breathing monitor and it was a godsend. It was about $80, and worth every single penny. We never had a false alarm, and after a couple of times, we got very good at turning off the monitor when we picked him up.

Good luck with the new little one!

My two boys were (and still are) so different with their sleep needs. My oldest had colic. My little one was sleeping "through the night" by 5 weeks. Even now, after 5 years, my oldest is an early bird and my 3 year old sleeps late and often. One stopped naps at 3, the other at 2.
So. I guess what I'm saying is that you don't know until they get here and you are in the situation. All you can do is remember that "This Too Shall Pass".

Use a swaddler and get the baby on a soothie paci when BF is established (I hear soothies are best for BF) Also try to fill the baby with BM rigt before you lay them down so they are ful.

Start as you mean to finish! HAve a short bedtime routine and stick with it. Make sure you put her to bed at the right time...if you miss that moment of opportunity, all bets are off. I read Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block. Lots of what he said made sense to me and it worked for us. My daughter never slept with me until she was 3ish and she was sleeping through the night early on...the envy of all my friends. Even if she took a late or long nap, she would get up, eat and sleep through the nap. To me the most important thing is schedule and an appropriate bed time. For working moms, this might mean not much time with them, but it worked for us. good luck.

I just wanted to hopefully ease you anxiety by saying kids can be so different with sleeping patterns, you might not have the problems you are anticipating. I firmly believe some people are blessed with babies who love to sleep and always follow a pattern and they can't imagine what those of us who had poor sleepers are talking about. That is why there are 500 books about sleep training :)
My 3.5 yr old daughter was the worst sleeper ever; colic, fussy, never slept unless you were holding her, nursed constantly etc. However, by 12 months she was perfect and has slept 12 hrs a night every since she was weaned at 16 months . This happened without drastic CIO measures that can traumatize a mom much more than the baby. We just always followed a routine and I think she was finally emotionally ready to be alone, knowing we would be there if she needed us.
My son however was the opposite, a really easy going baby who has always slept pretty well. I have always nursed on demand and now that he is1 he wakes up just one or two nights a week at 4AM for a quick bottle but is back to bed until 7am or so.
I don't believe that every kid can be trained. Some need more attention as babies just like some need more as toddlers. Do whatever is best for you to be a good mom in the morning. I would suggest sticking to a routine of bath at 6:30 ish, books and bed by 7ish and even the baby doesn't sleep right away or wakes up, they will have the rountine down for later when they are physically and emotinally ready for sleeping through the night. Good luck!

Well, I know that there is a lot of literature on this, but I think this has a lot to do with the individual child. My son, who is very active, was pretty difficult to get to sleep through the night. My daughter, who is a lot more laid back, was a lot easier. I think it is basically about how hungry they are -- really active kids are moving all the time even as tiny babies -- kicking, etc. That uses up a lot of energy I presume, so they are hungry all the time. There are certain things that helped for us.
1. I supplemented breast milk with formula. Formula takes longer to digest, so babies will sleep longer before they wake up hungry. Doctors all tell you that supplementing is a bad idea because babies will tend to go for the formula pretty much because the bottle is easier to suck and refuse the breast. My son at first wanted to nurse constantly and never seemed to not be hungry (which sounds like your son) -- that is why I originally started to supplement. It worked out because when I supplemented, I put them on a feeding schedule -- every 2 hours at first, gave them 20 mins. on each breast and then offered them a bottle to sort of top off. It helped them sleep longer and they were both happier which means we were all happier. I never just gave them the bottle first until they were five or six months old (after which, the benefits of breastfeeding decline). It worked for us -- they got the benefits of my immune system and the bonding and after five months, we had the option of just giving them the bottle if we were out and about or if I left them with Daddy or Grandma and took a break. Now if you are very committed to breastfeeding for a year, this may not work for you. Both my kids stopped breastfeeding when they started eating cereal (which is around five or six months). That was okay with me because I figured that we had a lifetime of cuddles. They are both extremely healthy and happy kids (now 5 and 8).
2. At about four or five months, I started putting a little baby cereal in the bottles before they went to bed and dissolving it in the formula. Again, nice full tummy -- the baby cereal takes even longer to digest, so they would sleep.
3. Esp. with my daughter, I had the crib right by our bed for about the first four months. That way, the minute she woke up at night, I could pick her up, nurse her and put her back in the crib. It's not co-sleeping, but the crib is close enough so she could hear us breathing. Also, she would wake me up at the first whimper, so she wouldn't be fully awake when she was nursing and would go back to sleep faster. Also I didn't have to get up and go to her room, so it felt like I got more sleep and my husband would hardly wake up at all. After those four months, when they are either sleeping through the night or getting up once or twice, it's not so tough.
With my son, we still had a few CIO nights, but usually, he would cry for about 10 mins. and then knock out.
A big mistake we made with my son when he was a little older was letting him fall asleep with the bottle which is extremely bad for their teeth. That was a little hard to break, but we ended up doing it by substituting the milk for water. There were some tears about that, but he has had very healthy baby teeth because we stopped in time (and now is getting his adult teeth). With my daughter, we would take the bottle away as she nodded off and substitute a pacifier. Worked very well.

I think the biggest thing that worked for us though was her crib is for sleeping only. There are no sound machines, toys or mobiles. She knows when she goes in the crib she is suppose to sleep. There was nothing in there to distract her and keep her awake. We didn't have any night lights so her room is almost completely dark. Also, when we realized that she hated being swaddled and moved her to a sleep sack where she could move around, she slept much better. At about 2 months she was only waking up once a night, and she was sleeping through the night at around 4 months. I did let her cry when we first put her down, but after about 2 weeks she went from crying for a few minutes to a few seconds before calming down and going to sleep.

Try to keep a schedule as easily as possible. It doesn't have to be a rigid one but stick to it as closely as possible. The best idea is to keep her full and happy during the day. Stick to a 2-3 hour eating schedule all day, and make sure she's emptying the breast or bottle not just snacking. Don't let her sleep through a feeding during the day. When you nap her during the day keep the window shades open so the room is lighter. It sort of helps her differentiate between daytime naps and nighttime sleep. I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old and I did this with both of them and they were both sleeping through the night (6 hrs) by 6 weeks and 7 weeks.

I saw your intro and had to read your post. I was incredibly blessed to have a daughter that ALWAYS has slept well, unless she was sick of course. I haven't read the other posts to hear what other moms have said but I can tell you what I did. From the very day we got home I refused to be the mom that was left with one arm to do everything and I wouldn't let people hold her for hours on end. Now, don't take that to the extreme. I spent lots of time holding her, nursing her, loving her, watching her sleep but basically, I tried to be sure that whenever she did fall asleep, she woke up in her own bed. Sometimes I'd only hold her for a few minutes while she slept because there were dishes to be done or shower to take or whatever. Other times, I would hold her for what seemed like an eternity just taking in her little angelic face, but would always lay her down in her bed so she would wake there.

When she woke in the middle of the night for nursing, I would lay her in my bed and I would doze while she ate. When she was finished, she'd get burped and back to her own bed. Now, when she was brand new she had a bassinet in my room that I would put her in to sleep so when I say bed, it wasn't even necessarily her crib in the other room. It was more to be sure I wasn't a pacifier for her. Also, at night, unless she desperately needed a diaper change, I didn't change her. That might sound terrible but she never broke out or had a rash or anything. Of course if she had a poopy diaper or was really wet I would change her. But I was very conscious of how easily babies get their days and nights mixed up and I couldn't have taken that with us (single working mom practically from day one). When your daughter wakes up in the middle of the night for nursing, just try to keep in mind two things: you want to keep her as sleepy as possible because the more awake she gets, the more work to get her back to sleep and the other thing is to remember you want her to sleep well and sleep on her own. I never even gave my daughter a pacifier and she did quite well with sleep. When she was about six or eight months old she spent several weeks falling to sleep at her 6:00 pm feeding and not waking until six the next morning. Of course as every new, first time mom, I freaked out a little and was afraid something was wrong but her pediatrician assured me she was perfectly fine. She'd wake if she were hungry. I was also never worried about people "waking a sleeping baby." That's supposed to be golden rule number one but if someone came to visit and she was asleep I would still pick her up and let them hold her. Normally, she didn't budge from her sleep and if she did it was for a brief moment.

I don't know if other mom's have already said all of this but I can tell you, my daughter will be starting kindergarten very soon and she still sleeps very well.

I didn't read your prior responses. I have 2 kids and the BEST advice I ever got was DO NOT rock/swing your baby to sleep. Put them in THEIR OWN BED awake from day one and they will learn to fall asleep on their own. I did this for nap and bedtime. My daughter slept 12 hours straight thru from day 3 until she was almost 3 yo. She's almost 11 now. My son would wake up at 1:30 every morning. I called the doc and said 'WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?". After he stopped laughing at me he said to try a pacifier. I didn't like them and my daughter didn't need one. He did and it worked. He too slept straight thru 12 hours until he was about 3 also. My kids have ALWAYS slept in their own rooms. Good luck to you!

Read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. It helped me immensly to get my child on a path of good sleep. She is a fantastic sleeper to this day. I never did the cosleeping, etc.

My son is a great sleeper, compared to my daughter who did the every few hours thing till I weaned her at 12 months.

Son was sleeping a solid 5 hour stretched by week 2, by week 4, he was up to 6-8. I really don't think it had anything to do with me. He just was a better sleeper to start with. So, that's number one: each kid is different. Some really do need to eat every few hours, others don't.

Unlike with my daughter, however, I moved my son out of the bassinet in our room into his crib in his room at 7 weeks. He was keeping ME up with his noises. That's one thing I totally did differently this time: I would let him make his noises, I would only go to him when he would cry. Giving him time to resettled truly helped.

A few other things I did differently starting around week 10 or 11 (when the the nature of their sleep changes): I didn't nurse before putting him down. I separated the nursing out from the sleep, so I'd nurse, and then we'd read our book, for instance, and then he'd go into the crib. I always made sure he had his eyes as wide open as they could be.

A few other key differences I did AFTER week 12:
1. If he would wake, I didn't assume he needed to be nursed. I would check his diaper and rock him, seeing if he'd go back down without eating. Since eating in the night does become a habit, I'd only nurse if he really needed it. And there is a difference between needing food and nursing for comfort. I learned this time to use other ways to comfort my baby.
2. When we did create a bad nursing habit during the 4 month growth spurt, I used the Baby Whisperer shh and pat method to break him of his night wakings. Once I got him to stop waking from his first waking, he settled into a good 8-9 hour stretch. It took a few weeks, some really painful nights, but by 6 months, he was back to only waking once a night.
3. And now at 7 months, he still only wake once a night and I am very, very happy with this. Sure, there are people who would say he could be doing 12 hours, but he slept 13 hours last night. I know he would have been up much earlier if I didn't feed him at 3.
4. He takes two terrific naps: we have a solid routine. In fact, that is one thing I did very differently this time. I.5 hours after waking, I would change his diaper and put him back to bed. By month 3, he had a solid routine. I even woke him in the morning to make sure he stuck to his routine (never letting him sleep more than 15 minutes pass his usual waking time). This routine has been terrific. He naps for 1.15 minutes every morning and 1.5 hours every afternoon, and he sleeps 12-13 hours every night. My daughter maybe would get a grand total of 11 hours of sleep. I don't know how much of it was her and how much of it was me, but I can tell you that I didn't try to put her on a schedule, I watched her. I didn't watch my son, I just assumed he would be yawning soon and I'd get him ready for bed. By doing this, I rarely missed his sleep window, and by 4 months he was able to put himself to sleep with no problem! By month 5, he'd go back to sleep on voice command.

Hope this helps some. The key thing to keep in mind, I think, is this: a little pain early on lessens the overall pain. There were a bunch of nights I held a screaming baby who was protesting me not giving him my boob, when, I knew damn well he didn't need it, as he just ate 1.5 hours before hand, and he usually went 5 or 6 without food with no problem! But, those few sleepless nights were so worth it. I get a good 5 hour block of sleep before he wakes me every night. Unheard of, unthinkable, with my daughter.

Don't worry about it, really, you will quickly realize how different you parent with the second child. It's amazing, really.

I just had my 4th child... he is now one month old. So I am using what has worked with the other three that have always been very good sleepers. All of my kids were sleeping through the night by 6 weeks. My 4th one is on his way to sleeping through the night by me enforcing the following:

-In the morning, change the baby out of the pajama. I used onesies and socks.

-During the day, I use a lighter blanket so the baby is "colder". At night he gets swaddled nice and tight and covered with a cozy blanket.

-During the day, keep the baby in a general room. I have three other kids (ages 5, 4 and 3) and they are on summer vacay now, so my house is LOUD all day! Baby sleeps in swing in playroom where we spend most of our day. That way, when it's nighttime, he gets used to the ised of loud=day, quiet=night.

-If you formula feed, by one month, feed more often during the day with less ounces... and then feed full amount at night feedings. That way, he/she eats more during the day, and sleeps more at night.

- My trick for sleeping at 6 weeks has always been baby cereal. It is not recommended by pediatricians, but I use what works. And being on #4, it works for me. At 6 weeks, I gave my children one BABY teaspoon (maybe 1/4 of regular teaspoon)... really watered down with formula.. and spoon fed the baby in a reclining high chair ONLY for the last meal before we go to bed. This way, the child was introducced to cereal slowly, there were no belly or weight problems.. and they slept 1-2 hours extra then on formula alone, making for a full night of sleep.

I also agree with others who wrote about bathing and keeping baby awake for a bit before the last feeding before going to sleep. This will help baby transition.

Best wishes!

I second the book 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child'. It helped us a lot even if we didn't stick to everything in it literally... Just having some ideas and an objective voice helped.

I have twin boys, and they've always been good sleepers. We put them in their cribs from the night they came home from the hospital. When I nursed them, I'd go into their room, nurse, and put them back down. We'd leave the lights off, wouldn't talk to them, do our thing, and leave. Whenever they napped, we'd put them in their crib. It's like they figured out pretty early that when they're in the crib, it's time to sleep. They NEVER slept in bed with us. If one had a rough time falling asleep, I'd hold him in my arms while we slept in the recliner or on the couch. At about 9 weeks, they started sleeping for six straight hours, and it climbed up from there.

Good luck to you!

All three of my children slept through the night since they were 2 weeks old. NOT one of them ever slept in our bed either!!! So definately great start with setting that guideline. Mostly I followed what there needs were instead of totally listening to doctors and books. TRUST your instincts. You will know your children better than anyone!!!

One of my kids had to have a teaspoon of rice cereal in her night bottles at 10 days old... She would starve if i didn't. My son and youngest daughter had to have the overnight diapers. They slept great all night as long as they were dry. One would not sleep on her back. She would jump all night as if she were falling. I know many will scold me for this but she is 13 and doing just fine. My son loved his baby einstein mobile.

I think the biggest difference is I was not affraid to let them cry a little. It is tough to just let them figure out how to self sooth but it will go far now and later in life. If they cry tonight, they will cry less tomorrow. Just stick with it. Just remeber what worked with your son will probably not work with your daughter.

Hope all goes well.
A.

For our son who is now 11 months old, we put him to sleep in his crib since he was about 2 months old. He didn't fuss at all back then after we put him down. He would just fall asleep after we put him down and turn off the lights. When he got older he would fall asleep at his nighttime bottle then I would just lay him down in his crib. But when he was about 7 months he stopped wanting his nighttime bottle so no more falling asleep at the bottle so we used the CIO method which worked after a week. Now at 11 months we should put him down and then maybe read to him a bit and then leave the room and he would fuss a little and eventually fall asleep on his own. The key is also to not put your baby down until you know he or she is tired but not overly tired.

First off every kiddo is different so no mom who answered below nor myself has a magic answer. It is trial and error for sure.

For us what worked with both our girls was White Noise! It is amazing and the best advice given. In the summer we use a fan and in the winter a humidifier. Get cheap ones so they are noisy. My girls just had to hear those suckers turn on and they would want bed!

Also routine and a strict schedule. Of course this is hard the first 8 weeks or so, but around the 3 month mark you can really see a pattern start to emerge. Key is to not let them get too tired. Both my girls went to bed at 6pm sharp. People thought we were nuts, but it worked! If we kept them up later they didn't sleep in any longer and ended up fighting it so much! We would do bath and story (depending on age) and then off to bed! I did breastfeed so I did rock them to sleep with they ate, but around the 8 month mark it was easy to break that. They wouldn't always fall asleep right away so once they were full I put them in their beds and walked away. Of course a few tears, but not freak outs. I am not a CIO mom at all, so I am happy they rolled with it all.

Next we gave our girls music/light aquariums in their beds. Of course they didn't get used much in the early months, but after 6 months we used them every night. We started off with the bubbles sounds and then worked into the music sounds as they got older. Also a few books and hard toys in the bed worked well so they could entertain themselves if sleep didn't happy right away.

Last was a dark room! We would have a small night light in a corner, but all outside light was gone! I did black out shades and curtains for double effect :)

Those things worked for us on both girls. They are 16 months apart so we had everything fresh in our minds. My youngest is 10 months right now, and her bed time has moved to 730 now, but that was just because we watched for clues that she was ready for a later time.
I will say baby #2 did take longer for our "method" to work. She still woke up once a night for a feeding until around 6 months. But that was mainly because she wasn't as good of an eater as her sister, so she just couldnt' get all the calories in during the day. We started to give one formula bottle at night and that worked wonders.

I will say I did see that a mom suggested cereal in the bottle! Please do not do that! Talk to your doc. They really discourage that now a days! It can lead to life long food allergies and weight issues for your little one. If anything given a bit of formula would be a better option!

Anyhow good luck. It just takes time and it isn't an over night fix. Our first daughter caught on at 3-4 months with ease while, our 2nd took a bit longer. But they are now still great sleepers and I am a well rested mom!
Hope you find a method that works well for you! Maybe you will be lucky and get one of those good infants that sleeps well from the get go. I hear they are out there lol

I'm a fan of routine. Base the routine around the baby and your family and then you can slowly tweak it. I think a lot of it is just luck. Some kids sleep and some don't. My oldest didn't sleep as a baby and still doesn't sleep. He's 10 and can stay up really late and still be up at 5 am by choice. My 2nd child who is 2 is a great sleeper and was since the say he was born.

Wow! You've gotten a lot of responses. But I guess sleep issues is one of those big topics for us mamas!

My situation was that my first child (daughter) was a HORRIBLE sleeper from birth. There's no way to stress how bad it was without a way too long post. Anyway, I was at the point where I developed insomnia (I am normally a super sleeper) and was totally stressed out and crying a lot. A friend recommended "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. It was a HUGE help. Listen, I know you won't have time to read a book from cover to cover (I still haven't read the whole thing), but I think it has a lot of practical information about typical bedtimes and naptimes for different ages as well as average amount of sleep needed. It also has how to look for cues your child is sleepy so you know when to put them down for nap/bed. And it's broken down by age so you can just go the chapter that has to do with the age your child is and get the info you need.

Bottom line: getting a child to sleep well takes real commitment in the beginning, but has huge payoffs. My daughter who, as a baby, screamed her guts out every time she needed to sleep (imagine how often she screamed as an infant!) and then would only sleep for a few minutes sometimes now sleeps beautifully!! :)

Good luck!
B.

Get a routine. My little one moved out of our bedroom at 5 weeks and we started a solid routine. That routine has changed and evolved as he's gotten older. He started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks, but even in those 2 weeks between moving out and sleeping, he wasn't awful. When you do go into her at night, even when she's still in your room, just do business. Don't turn on the TV. Use only as much light as you need. Don't talk more than needed or sing or anything like that. Make night boring.