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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
I wasn't too sure how to word the subject, however our son is now 6
months old. We've been following the handout our hospital gave during a child birth class pretty well. On the subject of sleeping, we think we've been pretty good. Basically they advise the Ferber method. Our son *in general* will sleep from 9pm to 5:30am. However, here is where it breaks down, and we can't find an answer for. One of the articles talks about making the last feeding before he goes to bed. They advise not to feed him in the middle of the night, otherwise he'll get in the habbit of waking up in the middle of the night expecting to be fed. We try and follow this, however, last night was an example were we didn't know what to do. Our son woke up at 3am, we could tell he was hungry. However, we tried to soothe him, but nothing worked, and he continued to cry. So we gave in and gave him the bottle. He gulped down 6oz and afterwards went right back to sleep. Was this wrong? We afraid that anytime we do this, we're asking for trouble. We want to follow the hospital guidelines, but it doesn't mention what to do if your baby doesn't stop crying (of course!). It only says to try and keep soothing them, without feeding until they fall back to sleep. |
#2
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
wrote in message ... I wasn't too sure how to word the subject, however our son is now 6 months old. We've been following the handout our hospital gave during a child birth class pretty well. On the subject of sleeping, we think we've been pretty good. Basically they advise the Ferber method. Our son *in general* will sleep from 9pm to 5:30am. However, here is where it breaks down, and we can't find an answer for. One of the articles talks about making the last feeding before he goes to bed. They advise not to feed him in the middle of the night, otherwise he'll get in the habbit of waking up in the middle of the night expecting to be fed. We try and follow this, however, last night was an example were we didn't know what to do. Our son woke up at 3am, we could tell he was hungry. However, we tried to soothe him, but nothing worked, and he continued to cry. So we gave in and gave him the bottle. He gulped down 6oz and afterwards went right back to sleep. Was this wrong? We afraid that anytime we do this, we're asking for trouble. We want to follow the hospital guidelines, but it doesn't mention what to do if your baby doesn't stop crying (of course!). It only says to try and keep soothing them, without feeding until they fall back to sleep. I'm not a good person to advise on 'methods', as I don't follow them, but if my DD ever wakes up during the night, wanting a bottle, I always give it to her. I hate waking up thirsty, and wouldn't want her to do that. Of course, if she's just fussing, I give her a minute or two, then usually just rub her back, or let her lie with her face on my hand and she goes back to sleep. We've always done that, and she's always slept well, and personally, I feel that that's because she knows that if she needs something, then the only people who can help her, will. I also would rather settle her before she wakes herself up properly, as then I've no chance of getting her down quickly, and I feel that would encourage more of a habit than her grumbling in her sleep that she wants a drink. But then, every parent's different Good luck Lucy x |
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
Throw your hospital guidelines away. Seriously. Babies have TINY tummies
and therefore need to eat more often than you and I. Most newborns eat every 2-3 hours, and as they grow, their tummies grow, and they can go for longer periods of time between feeds, because they can hold more food. And of course during all of this, they go through periodic growth spurts where they really need to eat more food more often, and many of those feedings are going to occur in the middle of the night. Have you ever noticed that when most people talk about having a newborn, the first thing they mention is the lack of sleep? They aren't sitting up all night watching their baby sleep. They're getting up multiple times a night to feed and change their baby. It's not habit, it's physical necessity and growth. Babies don't generally sleep through the night until they are older, 1 or 2 years old sometimes. Of course you will hear the random story of someone whose baby slept through the night at 4 weeks old and has been an amazing sleeper ever since, but this is the exception, not the rule. It is not uncommon AT ALL for a 6 month old baby to need a feeding in the middle of the night. Not uncommon at all. Get a couple different books on babies -- Dr. Sears's, The Baby Book, T. Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints, Penelope Leach's Your Baby & Child, and Marc Weisbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Read them all. Do what feels right for YOUR child and YOUR family. Do not use any one single thing as THE WAY TO RAISE YOUR CHILD, as this one style fits all doesn't work. Your child did not get the memo. Your child is unique and one of a kind, and deserves to be parented that way. Get to know your child, and trust your gut. Your baby was hungry, so you fed him. You probably spent longer trying to soothe and distract him than you did feeding him. If you'd just fed him and then put him back down, you would have been able to go back to sleep a lot sooner... ; ) Welcome to parenthood. This is the time where you realize just how much you don't know, and probably never will. -- Jamie Earth Angels: Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03 Addison Grace -- 09/30/04 Check out the family -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clark_Guest1, Password: guest Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and Password wrote in message ... I wasn't too sure how to word the subject, however our son is now 6 months old. We've been following the handout our hospital gave during a child birth class pretty well. On the subject of sleeping, we think we've been pretty good. Basically they advise the Ferber method. Our son *in general* will sleep from 9pm to 5:30am. However, here is where it breaks down, and we can't find an answer for. One of the articles talks about making the last feeding before he goes to bed. They advise not to feed him in the middle of the night, otherwise he'll get in the habbit of waking up in the middle of the night expecting to be fed. We try and follow this, however, last night was an example were we didn't know what to do. Our son woke up at 3am, we could tell he was hungry. However, we tried to soothe him, but nothing worked, and he continued to cry. So we gave in and gave him the bottle. He gulped down 6oz and afterwards went right back to sleep. Was this wrong? We afraid that anytime we do this, we're asking for trouble. We want to follow the hospital guidelines, but it doesn't mention what to do if your baby doesn't stop crying (of course!). It only says to try and keep soothing them, without feeding until they fall back to sleep. |
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
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#6
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
wrote in message ... I wasn't too sure how to word the subject, however our son is now 6 months old. We've been following the handout our hospital gave during a child birth class pretty well. On the subject of sleeping, we think we've been pretty good. Basically they advise the Ferber method. Our son *in general* will sleep from 9pm to 5:30am. However, here is where it breaks down, and we can't find an answer for. One of the articles talks about making the last feeding before he goes to bed. They advise not to feed him in the middle of the night, otherwise he'll get in the habbit of waking up in the middle of the night expecting to be fed. We try and follow this, however, last night was an example were we didn't know what to do. Our son woke up at 3am, we could tell he was hungry. However, we tried to soothe him, but nothing worked, and he continued to cry. So we gave in and gave him the bottle. He gulped down 6oz and afterwards went right back to sleep. Was this wrong? We afraid that anytime we do this, we're asking for trouble. We want to follow the hospital guidelines, but it doesn't mention what to do if your baby doesn't stop crying (of course!). It only says to try and keep soothing them, without feeding until they fall back to sleep. LOL. Ignore the guidelines. Ignore any sleeping guidelines and do what you think is best. Btter still burn the guidelines.... I did the same routines with all three of my children. #1 slept through (9:30-8:30) every night from 9 weeks. Never didn't unless ill, and even then she usually did. Rarely even disturbed at night. #2 usually sleeps through now (age 4yo) but will wake perhaps twice a week. I fed her in the night until she was about 2yo. Now she'll wake for a cuddle or the toilet. And if she woke she needed feeding, if I left her she'd wake again... and again... and again... #3 slept through at 8 weeks. (8:00-8:00) (he's now nearly 6 months) He usually sleeps through, but often disturbs for a wriggle and a chat in the night. He's been ill a few times (older sisters share everything!) and then he'll be more likely to wake. Sometimes I pick him up when he wakes and change his nappy (he doesn't like being wet/dirty). Sometimes I give him a cuddle and put him back. And sometimes I feed him. He doesn't expect a feed, just because I do it once. Sometimes he needs a feed because he's hungry. Sometimes he likes a feed for the comfort. Sometimes I want to give him a feed because I'm a bit engorged. With #3 I do all the things wrong if you go by the books. I play with him. I put a light on, sometimes I'll feed him.... but he still sleeps better than #2 does now. Enjoy your baby. Do what you (and he) wants, not what a so called "expert" has written down for the "generalised baby mark 1". Debbie |
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
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#8
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
smith_bp101 wrote:
Our son *in general* will sleep from 9pm to 5:30am. [...] Our son woke up at 3am, we could tell he was hungry. With these two pieces of information, I would say: feed him and don't worry about it. The fact that most nights he sleeps through is good evidence that he already knows how to go back to sleep by himself when he wakes at night and isn't hungry. Both of my babies *needed* to be fed (nursed) 2 or 3 times every night up to about 9 months of age. Neither one ate all that much per meal, so they needed more meals. Eventually they didn't need the night feeding anymo then they began to want to do things other than feed. At that point we used a variety of methods described in Dr. Ferber's excellent book, to gently and quickly transition the baby to sleeping through the night. You are doing just fine. :-) If a problem develops, then read the Ferber book! It is very good on identifying the specific problem, which is a very important step. Your hospital guidelines skip that step. Pologirl |
#9
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
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#10
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Feeding 6 month old in middle of the night
"NL" wrote in message ... schrieb: Was this wrong? We afraid that anytime we do this, we're asking for trouble. We want to follow the hospital guidelines, but it doesn't mention what to do if your baby doesn't stop crying (of course!). It only says to try and keep soothing them, without feeding until they fall back to sleep. Why didn't you say you were following hospital guidelines right from the start... Oh you could have avoided all the screaming and fussing and crappy nights you went through in the past few months... Seriously, burn them! They're written for some mystery child nobody ever saw. The baby that feeds on a schedule, sleeps when put down, never fusses for more than 5 minutes,... Seriously, the child that those guidelines are for does not exist. Go with your instincts, if your baby wants to be carried around all day it's not because it'll turn into a needy brat, it's because it _needs_ you, the body contact, the security, the rocking... Babies aren't horrible, vicious little creatures that want to suck you dry and make you sleep deprived, they're just really small and helpless and need you for everything and they can't tell you what they need except by screaming. Imagine how horrible it must be and how frustrating if you're waking up hungry and the only person who can help you tells you to go back to sleep... I mean you're lying there, your stomach hurts and all you're getting is some person going "shhh shhh go back to sleep. The guidelines say I can't feed you right now." Seriously, get back in touch with your gut feelings, your instincts. If you wake up really hungry, do you try to go back to sleep or do you get a snack? If you feel miserable because you're sick, do you want to be left alone in a room or do you want someone to comfort you? Keep calm, try to relax and don't forget to breathe. That's the only thing you really need to remember. cu nicole I think that's pretty much my POV too. I try to think how I'd feel if I wanted something, even if it was only contact and security, and someone leaving me to cry myself to sleep/ just shh-ing me. I've cried myself to sleep, and it's an awful, lost and desperate feeling.The only way they can tell you they're distressed is by screaming, like the only way they can say they're happy is smile and gurgle - and no one seems to mind that bit! They're not evil masterminds, they're babies that want something. Yeah, sometimes they want a lot, sometimes I do too! Lucy x |
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