3 Tips To Help You Sleep Better At Night
In case it’s not obvious, sleeping better is going to help you in MANY different ways:
More Rest — you’ll feel better, more energetic when you wake up …
More Recovery — from your workouts and daily life …
More Fat Burning — the deeper you sleep the more Growth Hormone your body releases …
More Trippin’ — you [...]
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August 18th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Tips for helping infant sleep better at night?
My son is 4 months old and doesn’t sleep all the way through the night. I know that all babies are different but I’d like to do whatever I can to help my little one sleep better.
We try to make sure the baby is well fed,with a new diaper, before going to bed. Also, we give him a nice warm bath before that last bottle. We’ve tried putting him down at 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, and 12am. No matter what..he wakes between 1am and 3 am.
If we feed him, he goes back to sleep until 6am. If we don’t feed him and try to let him cry it out, he cries for about 30 minutes and then goes back to sleep until 6am. I think it’s cruel to not feed him if he’s hungry…but I also want him to eat/drink his food during the day and sleep better at night.
Any other tips? We are giving him Enfamil AR which already has rice starch in it so can’t really add cereal to his bottle.
Is it just a matter of growing or is there something else we can do to get him to sleep longer?
Thanks.
mari
August 18th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I use a swaddler… they sell them at babies r us…
it’s a wrap you put them in instead of using a blanket. It keeps my 3 month old sleeping thru the night…
i sware by it for my son
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
sway it back and forth or give him milk.
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Sounds like your trying everything. My daughter didnt sleep thru the night till she was a year old even with eating cereal with a spoon. My grandson is now 14 mo and he still doesnt sleep thru the night. I think its just the individual child.
The only other thing i can suggest is soft music just put your cd player on repeat to one good song. Good Luck!!
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Its not cruel and if he crys for 30 mins and goes back to sleep then he dont need the bottle its more nerve racking to you as a parent but if you can let him cry in a matter of days he will stop waking up and sleep through the night but if you cant handle hearing him cry it just a matter of time with some child and others you have do to as I said up above but with them its a matter of comforting them because there older and are just wanting attention thats not the case with your little one its habit. You could talk to your doctor change his milk and start feeding him cereal with a spoon
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Well honey let me see? first of all the baby might have bubbles in his stomach (Gas) or collic. It hurts when you put anyone child down after feeding. Please burp the baby well. How to check, feel babys stomach and see if its hard to the touch. Some babys are hard to burp. If so, place baby on your shoulders or set him or her up in a sitting position, hold he’s little head and hit his back, it may take awhile. Then you can play music, classic of course. The baby still new to the world and use to hearing a heart beat and warm surroundings. By a rocking chair or a baby rocker the like movement (when you were pregnant) many baby’s don’t like the new world. But they will grow out of it. Put the baby down the same time every night, and leave the light on, a soft pink one. Some baby’s need to calm down, like we do after a busy day with mom. Always talk to your baby and start early for communication. Make a very soft padding for the baby too, that hard baby mattress would frustrate anyone (smile). Sometimes its scary for baby being alone, in the outside world, Thank about it? But the music will do. Its alright to let the baby cry themselves to sleep. You will learn a spoil-ed cry to a hurting cry. Its a mother thing (smile). If someone holds me and talk to me when I am the new queen or king in town, why not.
Take Care
Anymore questions? just let me know…..I took care of baby’s all my life, in the hospital and as a foster parent since 1967. I was only 21 years old then, I am now 57. My children were OK, but theres always one that will challenge you.
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I have a 4 month old, and even though I’m a 19 yr old single father this is what i do.
I lay on the couch downstairs and she lays on my chest, she stops crying instantly. But like i said, what do i know?
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August 18th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I highly recommend the Slumber Bear. It plays a continuous recording of what the hearbeat sounds like from inside the womb. It conforts the child and helps it fall asleep easier and faster. It’s the best!
You can buy them from Target, or also from the companies website:
http://www.princelionheart.com/site/n_bc_0016.html
Exceprt from their website:
"The Original Slumber Bear contains the ONLY actual intra-uterine, recorded womb sound to help lull your Baby to sleep in minutes! Sound and motion sensors re-activate recording when Baby cries or jostles bear."
References :
http://www.princelionheart.com/site/n_bc_0016.html
August 18th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
It is partially a matter of growing, but there are some things you can do to encourage sleep for him. My son, who is 19 months old, was a frequent waker and it drove me crazy. I tried everything in the book, and I read a lot of books!
Not my business, but 4 months may be too young for your son to cry it out. Infants are really not in much control of themselves for some time. All they know is warmth, food, and mama. Anyway, I did try it myself but gave up and concluded he was too young. A few months later we were ready to try again.
Babies are well known for nighttime waking through THE FIRST YEAR. I put that in caps because I know how frustrating it is:) Some babies sleep well, some don’t, it’s mostly a question of temperament. And they wake more frequently during milestones like sitting up, rolling, standing. And they wake when teething.
Although it’s been said that an infant of that age, at a certain weight, doesn’t need nighttime food, I found that my son continued to drain a large bottle at night until about 9 months. If you think he is hungry, follow your instincts. You are his mom, you know best. If you think he could stand to go without, try filling his night bottle with an ounce less milk. See if he’ll go back to sleep without problems and not wake up looking for more. If that works, take away another ounce, then another, then another, till you have either eliminated the bottle or it’s just like 2 ounces. You can also try water. At that point, because your son is consuming less at night, he may well just eat more during the day and then start sleeping through that little bitty feeding. I could tell when my son was just waking up for the heck of it when he’d go back to sleep after only 4 ounces.
There is a school of thought that believes that the answer to better sleep involves an earlier bedtime. They say that fatigue produces hormones to keep you awake, and that those hormones disrupt your sleep for the rest of the night. Try this - over a course of time, like a week or two, put your son to bed earlier each day by 15 minutes, with the goal of him being asleep earlier, like say 8 or even 7 or 6 pm. I know that sounds incredible, but babies need a LOT of sleep. You may even notice your son being cranky at that time of the day. That MAY well be his best bed time.
Even so, he may continue to wake. There are some things he will just need to grow into - rolling over at night and settling into a comfortable sleep position, or self-soothing back to sleep. We all wake up at night. The difference between us and babies is that we are used to drifting back to sleep. What you are doing as a parent, with a bedtime routine, is exactly right. Evenutally he will get the hang of it and learn how to put himself back to sleep. If he uses a pacifier, maybe scatter a few extra in his crib for him to find at night, if the one he falls asleep with gets lost.
How are his naps during the day? Again, day sleep has been linked to better night sleep. A baby that rests well during the day, with regular nap times, actually has better sleep at night.
In the end, after you’ve tried everything, it really does just come down to waiting it out, as frustrating as that is. I thought I was going to lose my mind those first 9 months, while every other baby of my friends was sleeping peacefully. Sleep habits are learned and take time. Your baby has a lot to learn during these early months and sleep is just one of them, probably not one of his favorite things, as you’ve learned.
Whether you decide to feed him that night bottle or let him cry it out is purely up to you and your instincts, and what you agree with your husband. If you can, share the duties. I could not with my husband and he was always grouchy about lots of crying in the night, so I had to always go in and not let the baby cry. Just know that your son is normal, and I promise, he will learn, maybe not as quickly as you’d like!
One last thing - hopefully you will not have the same problem I had, which was after my son started sleeping the whole night, I found that I still woke up at the usual bottle times and had a hard time getting back to sleep! Sooo frustrating when you have the opportunity for a full night’s sleep and can’t take advantage of it.
My son went from a frequent (like every 2 hours) waker, and one that had to sleep on me or co-sleep, to a toddler that happily goes to bed at 7 or earlier every night and sleeps straight through till 7am. Or even later. Not bragging, just letting you know that what you have now won’t last forever even if it seems like it.
References :
Try the articles at Babycenter.com: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babysleep/babysleepbasics/7656.html