Help with Night Waking

I totally understand you wanting her to sleep all the way through the night- I would suggest just sticking with it-as she gets older she will be able to sleep for longer periods. My son is 6 months old (he is breastfed) and he just gave up the middle of the night feeding on his own. So far I haven't let him cry it out, only fuss a little. I don't know if it would help you, but I put my son in a sleep sack and I think it helps him sleep comfortably through the night. Good luck!!

Not letting your daughter cry will not make you a bad mom. I personally wouldn't recommend it. I don't do it to my girl. Everyone has their own methods, but I can't stand the thought of my daughter crying for more than a few minutes. The only time I do that is if I know she's ok and I am in the middle of cooking or something. Keep her up a little later. She won't need as much sleep at night now. Let her take a few naps during the day and keep her up till like 8. My daughter normally stays up till 9 or 10, wakes up for a bottle at 5 am then goes back to sleep for a couple hours. Just because you don't let them cry it out doesn't mean they will become spoiled. They say breasfeed babies eat more than formula anyway. She could just need a bit more.

My baby nursed for one feeding around 4-5am until he was about 5-6 months and we started solids. He sleeps from 6:30am-6:30pm now...usually :)
We are a cry it out family... I know it's a hard thing to do. But my baby learned to soothe himself when we let him cry it out. If she isn't taking naps and waking up several times at night, she could be overtired. I recommend Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth. It was a battle for us too but we stuck with this book and he sleeps really well now. Hope this helps!

K.:

babies wake at night for many many reasons... it is seldom that they are hungry.

meeting her needs will help her outgrow them.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Parenting Coach and Board Certified Lactation Consultant
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

Have you tried introducing cereal at night before bed. I think this is a normal phase you are experiencing. She may be needing more than just milk for nourishment. Good luck.

I can appreciate the hesitance to allow her to cry. I coulnd't do it either, beyond a few minutes to see if she could settle down. At the same time, if you're not getting good sleep, you're not going to be able to function. When one of my sons started doing this, we realized he just wanted to nurse for comfort and didn't need the food, so my partner started going to him with a bottle of water. After a couple of nights of this, he realized it simply wasn't worth the effort to wake up anymore. By doing this, you're offering comfort, but not giving in to her demands for what she doesn't really need. She might get really mad at first, but it was a much shorter process than letting our son just cry and be frustrated for long stretches.

I don't think letting her cry for two hours is appropriate. I usually wait 5 - 10 minutes (if I can stand it), go in, pat her on the back, tell her it's okay and turn her music on. Sometimes I give her Motrin just in case it's a teeth issue. It's so hard to know when they're babies. Basically she misses you and wants to be near you. She also needs to understand that nighttime is sleep time. Good luck.

It sounds like your daughter is getting used to her middle of the night snack. When she cries, you come running to her and offer her warmth, security, comfort, attention, and food. She now knows that you will take care of that when she cries in the middle of the night.

It's all up to you and your parenting philosophy as to how you want to handle this. I don't think there are 'rights or wrongs' when it comes to parenting philosophies because every family and every child has different needs. Basically, you need to decide what you want to do and how you want to handle it. If you want her sleep pattern to go back to the way it was, then you'll probably have to endure some difficulty with her crying. If you can't bear to see her cry, then you'll probably have to spend more nights getting up at all hours to attend to her needs.