Sleeping thru the night

My 8 week old daugther sleeps really well during the day - 4 hours between feedings. But at night she usually does not sleep from 9pm to 4am - and needs to be fed every hour and a half to 2 hours. Our pedio has given us the go ahead to drop a feed - because her weight gain has been good but we have not managed to.


Is it as simple of playing with her during the day and then letting her turn her day and night around? The other advice we have received is to let her cry at night from 12 am onwards so that she will get used to not getting fed at night? It seems rather cruel.


Thanks for sharing your experiences.


HF

Yes, you have it the wrong way round! Keep baby awake as much as possible during the day, and feed more regularly than say 4 hours so that there's an extra day feed slotted in. They can get all of their daily needs between 6 or 7am to 11pm by this stage. If baby is still asleep after 2-3 hours during the day, wake it up :-)


Highly recommend Gina Ford for this. She may be a little harsh when they are first born, but 8 weeks in you need your sanity back and you will onl get that if baby is in a routine and asleep. If you read her now, it will seem logical and within a week the baby will be settled.


By 9 weeks (5kg) both my babies had dropped the night time feed and were doing 11pm to 7am (I would wake them up at 11pm for their last feed).


Once they hit 5kg they are physically capable of going through the night.


If baby is in with you, could be a good time to move it to the room next door. They do need to learn how to settle themselves, waking up is just a habit.


Good luck!

Have a routine for the day, ie naps suitable for a 8 week old. Wake her up gently after say a hour and a half nap by puttering around, calling her name, kissing her, picking her up etc and then you play with her for an hour or two- keep her stimulated till she is ready for her next nap. Don't let her sleep 4 hours in one go. Feed her more during the day which means you have to wake her up, so that she does not feel as hungry at night. I think combination of naps and frequent feeds during day time will help her to switch her day/night.


If you still swaddle- a friend of mine never swaddled during day time but always at night time till she was sure her baby knew day/ night difference. I am guessing you try to play with her minimally if she is up at night since you must be tired as well.

miyazaki and sa, thanks for your advice. i will give it a go. i have just ordered a couple of gina ford books.


dadda, good to see you on this forum. thanks for your kind wishes.


hf

Miyazaki and sa, Thanks for your suggestions. My gina ford books have not arrived - but I have followed your suggestions for the past 5 days - and our daughter has been sleeping thru the night (right after her 12 midnight feed til 7am). Hopefully, we can keep this up and establish a pattern. Thanks again!


HF