Anyone who frequents parenting websites knows the beloved acronym STTN - sleeping through the night. There are always the ridiculous parents who claim their children have always slept through the night (which is bad, by the way, for young infants whose survival mechanisms should be waking them to eat every few hours), but most parents struggle at least a little getting their babies to sleep all night.
Felix still hasn't slept through the night. Not once. Not even a fluke 7-hour stretch after a long day. He still eats once or twice every night, usually without opening his eyes. He wakes just enough to cry and flail until I feed him. And at 19 pounds, he is metabolically very capable of going 8 hours without food. It's just a matter of getting enough calories during waking hours.
Over the break I recorded all he ate for a few days, then tried to give him all his food between 6am and 10pm. This was our pediatrician's advice. No luck. Try as I might, he wouldn't eat those extra 10 night ounces during the day.
So last night I tried a second idea - giving him water during the night feeds, with the idea he'd wake up hungry in the morning and eat more calories during the day. But I felt bad cutting him off cold-turkey, so I gave him 2 half-strength bottles of formula instead of all water. The result: he woke up 3 times (because he was still hungry?) and totally soaked himself and his bed with pee by morning.
However, I think we're on the right track with the water. Even without calories the act of drinking a bottle seemed to be sufficient for the most part, so I hope in the next week or so we are finally STTN!
good luck! seems like a smart plan to me! i definitely found that they are capable of taking their calories during the day but don't necessarily CHOOSE to, if given the option!
ReplyDeletei think your plan ought to work pretty quickly, but not in one night. so good for you for not being discouraged!
Good luck! Hope you can start getting the sleep you deserve too!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it! My personal experience is that STTN is very kid dependent! Fiona was easy to transition to sleeping in her crib and through the night by about 10 or 11 months. Carys, not so much. Just now, at 17 months, is she starting to go perhaps 1 in 3 nights sleeping until wakeup time. The other nights she wakes very briefly around 4:30 am for a bottle. I'm not going to let her cry for more than a couple minutes - but I read that if you're willing to let them cry it out, you might get results faster than I have with an uncooperative child!
ReplyDeleteI'm not doing cry it out because I'm in a townhouse and don't hate my neighbors, and when Felix makes a lot of noise, the pets think it's time to wake up and then everyone wants to eat. :)
DeleteSo far he's doing fine getting one 4-oz bottle that's half formula/half water. He fusses a little when it runs out, but falls back asleep pretty quickly.