1st Night in Crib - help?

Anne C • 29 | Nurse | Mom of 1 💘| Due in Aug w/ #2 | two angel babies

My LO is 6 months and yesterday I just bit the bullet and ended the co-sleeping. 😩 I am so sad about it but I know she will sleep more peacefully in her own room in her crib. She had both naps in there yesterday and slept in there last night. But I never realized how often she wakes up lol!!

She was in bed at 730 then woke at 11, 130, 4, and 530 for a feed. At 530 I just brought her into bed with me and let her stay latched until she woke for the day at 720. I'm used to just rolling over and popping my boob in her mouth so I never realized how bad she was at night lol.

An hour before bed she eats a purée with pablum mixed in to "fill her up", but this has never worked. She has always woken up between 10 and 11 for a feed. Each feed is about 10 minutes then she's back to sleep.

So my question is how does one go about eliminating some of the night time feeds? My doctor keeps saying she should be down to at least 2 if not none lol, like keep dreaming doc. She does not take a soother and just recently started to take a bottle so I'm wondering if I should offer her a bottle instead of boob at her first feed? I won't do the cry it out ordeal, she was trained using the gentle method so she falls asleep on her own. I haven't tried ignoring her for a bit to see if she goes back to sleep because I'm scared she will have a meltdown! Suggestions? Ideas? What worked for you?

441 views • 1 upvote • 27 comments

COMMENT (27)

Ka

Posted at
Give her a few minutes before going in there.  My daughter is 6 months and I hear her through the night but most of the time she's back asleep in 10 min.  If she's still up after 20 min then I know she is hungry.  

An

Anne C • Jul 18, 2017
So far it's been working!!

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🌙Sibylline🔮 • Jul 18, 2017
That's what we do! Great piece of advice for getting them to self soothe

Ch

Posted at
My daughter started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks. I've only just started feeding her solids and I give her dinner and a bath and she'll sleep a solid 12 hours if not more x

Ke

Posted at
My daughter just turned 6 months on the 16th. I put my daughter in her crib I would say about two weeks ago. I decided to put her in her room after she broke out with a heat rash from sleeping in her bassinet. She slept the whole night the first night. However, every night alternates between sleeping all night to waking up one time around 3 to eat but it's all due to how I feed her during the day and how long she takes naps. My daughter eats solids three times a day. Oatmeal for breakfast mixed with applesauce, a 8oz tube a fruit for lunch and a 8oz of vegetables for dinner. She also will have 4 oz bottles in between. She takes at least 2 naps a day for no longer than 30 mins to an hour long. Maybe you should give her more solids during the day which will make he more full and eliminate the nightly feedings. My daughter was the exact same way before I started giving her solids. Waking up multiple times at night and sleeping more in the day time because of the feedings at night. You have to break the old cycle and create a new because your baby is getting older.

CJ

CJ • Jul 24, 2017
Mine as well! 😊

He

Heather • Jul 20, 2017
Mine too 😊

Ke

Ke • Jul 18, 2017
Finally someone with the same birthday!! 😁

El

Posted at
I really think making her wait a few minutes is the way to go, I hear my baby several times throughout the night but he's just stirring at the end of his sleep cycle most of the time. If he actually wants to be fed then he does start rolling around and crying- he mostly sleeps through the night now but occasionally wakes up once if he was too distracted to eat during the day. I give him at least 5 minutes to go back to sleep, occasionally 10 if his eyes are still closed. He has never had a meltdown. If she does start getting upset, you can also try soothing her by just patting her or rubbing her back without feeding her immediately. This also works to settle my LO sometimes if he can't settle himself. He sleeps in the pack n play next to our bed but we want to transition him to his own room soon since the stirring still wakes me up sometimes.

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🌙Sibylline🔮 • Jul 15, 2017
Your situation is exactly the same as mine. LO sleeps in a pack n play next to our bed.

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🌙Sibylline🔮 • Jul 15, 2017
Yes! Yes! Yes! When we intervened with a bottle - he woke up more. Now he's sleeping great with 0 nighttime feeds and he's 6 months of the 24th.

An

Anne C • Jul 15, 2017
Thank you for your tips!! I am going to try leaving her for a few minutes and I may try dream feeds as well before she wakes to see if that limits her waking up.

Ca

Posted at
What gentle method did you use to teach falling asleep on their own? I don't want to do the crying methods either.

Ca

Cara • Jul 21, 2017
Thank you! At what age did you do it? How long did the first few nights take? So after before 2-5 mins only pick up if it's a full-on cry, but if they keep fussing after 5 mins do you pick them up?

Je

Jessica • Jul 20, 2017
how long do you give them in your arms before you feed them? mine tends to eat alot overnight and I'm not sure if she's hungry or just wants to suck

An

Anne C • Jul 20, 2017
Basically when they fuss, you pick them up and soothe them until they are sleepy again then set them down. Repeat until they give up and just go to sleep. You do not speak or engage, just simply pick them up and rock or bounce then set them down. When you set them down you give them 2-5 minutes and only pick them up when they start to cry not fuss. It took about 3-4 nights and I probably picked her up about 15-20 times the first two nights then on the 3rd or 4th night I set her down and she just went to sleep with no fuss. She's been doing it ever since. If she has an off day and she cries before falling asleep I use the same method. It's very very important not to speak or anything when you do it.

La

Posted at
I literally just posted about transitioning my baby from my room to crib in his own room. The difference is that I don't breast feed but I can feel your pain, I can't imagine having to get up that much with my baby as he only gets up once during the night. I don't really have any advice as I am looking some myself but good luck :) you can do this !!

La

Laura • Jul 20, 2017
Aw that's great! See I was kind of thinking that when baby is in their own room the Normal noises of me and my husband won't be waking him up, especially my snoring haha

An

Anne C • Jul 20, 2017
Getting a better sleep!

An

Anne C • Jul 20, 2017
She's gotten a lot better since I posted! We're down to 2 wakes up, sometimes 3. She's defintely

Ta

Posted at
I'm. dealing with the same thing so iv been going in to her room before I go to bed and sleep feed her a bottle that way she will sleep for a longer strech but I have yet to figure out how not to take her with me at 5 30am for a feed

Ka

Posted at
So, my 6 month old was waking up every couple hours and our pediatrician said the same thing, "1-2 at this age." He said at 6 months old to adulthood our brains go from deep to sleep to lighter sleep. Some babies think when they go to a lighter sleep they need to wake all the up. He suggested letting baby figure out how to go back to sleep by letting him fuss for up to 10 minutes. So we tried it, and he literally sleeps through the night now! It took a couple days, and I know you said you don't like crying it out (I was absolutely against it as well) but, he's taught himself how to keep sleeping instead of mommy running in to put him back. Good luck!

An

Anne C • Jul 19, 2017
I've been letting her cry a little, I only go in when it gets serious now LOL.

Mi

Posted at
I just put my sons in their cribs a couple weeks ago. Before that they were in rock n plays in our room. The first few nights they woke up a lot more than normal. Normally one never wakes and the other wakes once. What worked for us is to let them fuss for a bit. I don't let them scream or even really full on cry cry but fuss and see what happens. Sometimes they go back to sleep. If that doesn't work I'll go in and try to soothe them. Either rub their back (one sleeps on his stomach) or gently "shhh" them. If it doesn't work I pick them up and try then I feed. Now at times I can tell right away if they are actually hungry so I may only try to pay their back and then just feed depending on what they are doing. After a week the night time wakes slowly started to go down. If your also is feeding that often but gut would say it's more for comfort than food and maybe try the bottle at night? Sorry I don't breastfeed so I can't offer too much advice on that one. I hope some of this helps!

An

Anne C • Jul 15, 2017
Thank you!! I am going to try giving her a bottle and leaving her because she finally takes one and holds it herself so if she's truly hungry she will eat and if she just wants comfort she can tough it out a little LOL.

Mi

Mi • Jul 15, 2017
Oh I forgot to mention we tried putting them in their cribs awhile back in our room but we always ended up giving in because we were so tires by the 3rd or 4th wake and stick them in their rock n play. Don't give in!!!! We never fully transitioned because of it. So as hard as it is if you're ready for the crib don't give in lol