Ok so I was just wondering how everyone else was/is doing night feedings around the 10 month age. Well I guess they are 10actual/7adjusted if that makes a difference.

They had a short period of sleeping through the night (12 hours) for about a month WAY back around January I think it was. Then they went back to waking once a night, then twice. For awhile they randomly would wake up 3 times. Now we are back to twice or once in awhile only once.

They were waking around 1:30am and 5:30am, then it shifted to Midnight - 2am and 4:30 to 6:30 for the second. Now I've had them wake as early as 11pm. Sometimes two are awake, sometimes only 1.

Is it still true that if 1 eats they all eat? Or should I only feed who's awake and let the others go as long as they want/can. One of the boys really doesn't like being woken up at night and about 1/2 the time won't eat no matter how long I try and coax him. So one night I just didn't wake him and fed the two who were awake. He went all night and wasn't that hungry with then other two woke up again to eat. The next night he woke up an hour after I fed the other two.

I'd like to get them back to sleeping through the night. They don't wake up fussy, well other then Micah who is rolling to his belly at night and then gets mad. Normally when they wake they are hungry and they do drink 3-5 ounces, sometimes even 6 ounces.

Christina

Daughter born 1/4/09
BBB born 9/9/10 @ 27w 5d
Daughter born 8/14/12
http://schroeters.blogspot.com/

I would stop feeding all of them at night. At 10 months, it is likely a bad habit, not a biological need. You certainly don't need to feed everyone if someone wakes up. Just because they are waking up at night doesn't mean they are hungry. It is a habit. Stop feeding them, let them CIO if need be, and they will learn to sleep through the night. Even at 7 months adjusted they don't need to be fed at night unless there is some issue (like severe reflux) that is causing them to not get enough calories during the day.

At 10 months, ideally, they need to learn to self soothe if they wake up at night. That is where CIO comes in. If you aren't a CIO person, then soothe them if they wake, not feed. You will all be better off in the long run.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

Christina,
I have to admit, when I read this I was shocked! I can't imagine still doing nighttime feedings. Our guys are pretty much the same age so I almost had a panic attack just thinking about it! We gave them up at 4 months (about January). They've been pretty much STTN since then (with occasional wake ups for binkies, need to be flipped, etc). We give 3x8oz bottles/day. 6 AM, 12 noon, 5 PM. 3 solid meals shortly after each bottle depending on our schedule. HTH! Good luck!!! Keep us posted on how it goes!
Renee

DS born 5/15/06 @40+ weeks 7 lbs 12.5 oz
BBB born 9/13/10 @ 31 weeks
3 lbs 4 oz (33 days in NICU)
3 lbs 3 oz (49 days in NICU)
3 lbs 4.3 oz (45 days in NICU)
http://doublethelanglais.blogspot.com

I think it really does make a difference that they are 7 months adjusted vs actual. Opinions will vary greatly as to when babies *should* sleep through the night....it sounds like you have 3 hungry growing boys!

I've managed our GGG's sleep and my singleton with "Healthy Sleep Habits..." -- it's worked well for us. That said, my GGG were still waking for early morning feeds (which I considered night feeds) until around 8 months adjusted. We were doing an 11 pm feed until they were 6-7 months old and finally, I needed them to learn to sleep through the night so we cut it out....they woke at 2 am then 3 am then 4 am...gradually extending their sleep. We always fed all of them at the same time however, that's not to say you need to - it solved the problem of one waking after the others had been fed though.

So, I was just reading up on your quandary...according to Dr. Weisbluth -- he says what you're experiencing is totally normal...."in a child under four months the bedtime was much later and the last feeding at night was much later. Now your baby is going to bed earlier, is fed earlier in the evening, and may need a night feeding; this is normal. This night feeding, and a second night feeding, may be needed until the baby is about nine months of age." ---

The question that you need to answer for yourself is...are the babies waking and calling out because they are hungry OR, are they simply asking for attention (and thus forming bad habits) -- given that they eat it sounds like they are hungry...that's the hard part to figure out and likely will be a gut feeling sometimes.

I would also suggest to look at the daytime sleep -- sleep begets sleep -- are they napping well at regular times? The other thought I had: is it possible to gradually increase their daytime feed amounts so to lessen their night feeds and requirements for the same -- if they can get the calories in the day, they may not need to wake at night....just some thoughts.

Hang in there -- they will sleep through eventually!
Good luck!

Janet
G - 12/07 35 weeks
GGG-04/10 30 weeks

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to know that we are at or near the age they we can push for STTN. My singleton (and first) was co-sleeping and nursing. I tell everyone she was harder at this age then having triplets, lol. In fact it's still common to have her wake at night now. Although now it's for the potty chair, not eating.

Our boys still only use the hospital nipples so they don't get much and are so distracted that they probably aren't eating enough during the day. I'm working on them with sippy's and just recently tried the faster flow nipples again. They seemed to like them this time, so I just need to pull the rest of them out.

I know Micah could probably sleep through the night. I've been waking him when the others do to feed him. He only wakes first when he's on his belly and upset about it.

I'm wondering if I should start putting lovies in with them too. We do no blankets (only sleep sacs if they need it) and nothing else in the crib. They aren't paci fans either. I'll have to see what an age appropriate safe lovie is for the crib. My DD didn't get a toy in the crib until she was about a year old and I don't think we did blankets until after that even. But if it helps them sleep I'm all for it.

Thanks again and I really appreciate the research you did for me Janet.

Christina

Daughter born 1/4/09
BBB born 9/9/10 @ 27w 5d
Daughter born 8/14/12
http://schroeters.blogspot.com/

By all means try the faster flow nipples! Life and night feeding got so much better when it only took 5 minutes to feed them. We had three refluxers with weight issues and night fed one util about 10m adjusted, one until 13-14m adjusted, and one until about 18-20m. But when they were down to chugging 4-6oz in 5 minutes, quickly burping and then going to sleep...life was SOOOOO much better.


Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message

  

I realized I didn't reply to the questions about naps. Right now we are on 3 naps a day, but I think we're going to make the move to just 2 naps. They get an early morning nap in the living room in their swings. This is a super short one as my singleton is really loud and normally wakes them after 30 minutes to an hour. Same thing for the 3rd nap, which is normally between 4:30 - 5:30. I wanted them used to her noise so that's why I've left these two naps downstairs. The afternoon nap is in their cribs and about 2 hours.

Just this past week we've started taking the boys upstairs for naps, but it feels like we're all over the place. By the time the third one has drank and is put in this crib the first one is waking up. Hopefully it's just an adjustment period.

They go to bed by 6:30pm normally.

I've tried the faster flow nipples most of the day and both my MIL and Husband swore they wouldn't drink with them. I didn't have any issue. yes they are teething and chewed it a little since it's a different feel, but then they drank just fine for me. I don't know if it was really more then normal, but we also had a doctors visit today so everything was a little off anyway.

Again, thanks for all the advice.

Christina

Daughter born 1/4/09
BBB born 9/9/10 @ 27w 5d
Daughter born 8/14/12
http://schroeters.blogspot.com/