Lincoln is 8.5 months old and does not sleep through the night. He has a bedtime routine and always goes to bed at the same time. On a good night he will wake up once, and then again for the day some time after 6:30. On a bad night he might be up several times.
In the past week I have allowed him to CIO if he has been up within the hour.
Generally speaking, CIO is not always a winner with him. I am learning that it works with some kids, not all, and that it is not to be relied on as a tried-and-true strategy for us.
Lately I am reading conflicting information from various doctors on when it is appropriate for a child to sleep through the night. I haven't asked my physician, but he was the one who told me to CIO to begin with so I am thinking that is what he might say. I have read from multiple sources that breastfed babies never fully sleep through the night till they are weaned.
When he only wakes once, I don't mind it too much. I know it won't be forever. I'm just not sure how I feel. He is stirring as I write this and he has been down for a mere hour. I read an article last week where the physician author said that babies do not have coping skills prior to 9 months so basically you're just hoping they wear themselves out.
I know I have sought advice on naps before, and we are doing better in that department, but I would really like to know what other nursing moms have experienced. (I know formula babies burn their food off slower.)
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Carter doesn't STTN the consistently either. The majority of the time we get one wake-up (which I am totally okay with). This morning he was only up at 04:45AM & not again until 7AM. He usually goes to bed around 07:30PM & then is up for the day around 07:30AM.
ReplyDeleteHe should be eating solids by now and if he gets a good meal at dinner time, waking up hungry should not be an issue. As far as when he wakes up, I would give him a second to decide if he is awake or not because sometimes they will cry out in their sleep for a minute and go back to sleep. If he is awake, see if he needs his blanket, binkie or whatever. If he has those, rub his back for a minute and see if that does it. If not, pick him up, calm him down and lay him back down again. If he cries, let him cry for about 10 minutes before picking him up again and calming him down. He will begin to soothe himself if you calm him down and then lay him down. It will make bedtime a lot easier as they get older.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm wait late on this post, but it really is dependent on the child. With Ava, we started CIO around 7 months. After the first few nights, she stopped crying at bedtime, would go right down, and slept straight through the night. We never had to CIO with Alexa cause she always just went down on her own, and slept through the night from 2 months on. Stella is still waking up most nights, but I just nurse her and she goes right back down. I am still nursing Stella and Alexa nursed for the entire first year. Ava nursed until almost 11 months. So I don't buy that they "won't" sleep through the night until the wean. Both of my older two were sleeping through the night long before I stopped nursing. I always say to just go with your gut. He will eventually STTN, regardless of what you do.
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