Waking at night, but not eating?

I've been following the Baby Whisper book and giving my boys all their calories during the day (5 oz every 3 hours). At night, they are sleeping until about 3am (Morgan) and 4am (Jonah). They wake up, cry, and we put the pacifier in their mouths. They go right back to sleep and don't wake up again until 5-6 am. When will they stop waking in the middle of the night? I thought it would stop once we stopped giving them a bottle, but it's still continuing. ??? We don't cuddle with them or talk to them...definitely no playing. It's all business.

Any ideas?

Shannon

 

I've been following the Baby Whisper book and giving my boys all their calories during the day (5 oz every 3 hours). At night, they are sleeping until about 3am (Morgan) and 4am (Jonah). They wake up, cry, and we put the pacifier in their mouths. They go right back to sleep and don't wake up again until 5-6 am. When will they stop waking in the middle of the night? I thought it would stop once we stopped giving them a bottle, but it's still continuing. ??? We don't cuddle with them or talk to them...definitely no playing. It's all business.

Any ideas?

Shannon

 

Honestly, 6 weeks is too soon to think that they will sleep through the night. I haven't read that book, but they still may be waking up hungry, even if you are giving them a lot during the day. IF they go back to sleep without a bottle, great. But, I think that at this age, waking up during the night should be expected. I know you are tired. They need you.

 

At 8.5 months old we're still waking up at 2-4am then again about 6:30.

 

I agree with pp. 6 weeks is WAY to early to be worried about them not sleeping through the night. I know you guys are exhausted but their needs are a priority right now. If they are hungry during the night then you should feed them on demand. My ped told me at 3 months I still should feed on demand. You should be very very happy they are even sleeping as much as they are! My girls ate every 3-4 hours around the clock until about 5 1/2 months then it was 2 bottles a night until they were 6 months and then 1 bottle a night for the next 2 weeks and at about 7 months, they are finally sleeping with no bottles but my one dd still wakes up a few times a night ready to play. Sometimes their schedules just get off. You have to expect that they are often going to be changing. Just when you think you have them on a "schedule," the schedule changes and you have to tweak things a bit. Have you tried feeding them when they wake up? Try it one night and see if they are downing the bottle. If they are not really eating much then the paci is sufficient but if they are downing the bottle then they still need that night time feeding. Of course you gotta do what's best for you. This is just my opinion and perhaps a call to your ped will give you the answers you need. GL

 

If they go to sleep when you replace the binky and don't give you any other trouble, then count your lucky stars!! My 2 guys just now started sleeping through the night. If they seem fussy, then try giving them a little drink, they may be going through a growth spurt (most babies do at 6 weeks). If they don't eat much it's a habit thing that they will eventually outgrow.

 

Once my dd slept through the middle of the night feeding (which was at about 9 weeks), then I stopped giving it to her and I would just put the binky back in until she feel asleep. Never turn back once they sleep through it. 6 weeks seems young for this. If I am doing math correctly, you are feeding them 40 ounces a day? This seems like a ton. My 12 week old is only at about 36 oz and she is 13 pounds. Are they holding it down? If so, I am sure that is why they can sleep through that feeding

 

oops, to answer your question, it took about a week for her to stop waking for the binky

 

They're actually getting about 30 oz a day each and they are both right at 10-11 lbs each. (Per my ped, they should get 2.5 - 3 oz per pound, so they are definitely getting enough during the day.) I've been working on a schedule with them since about 2 weeks old. (Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but they're doing well on it and gaining good weights.) They are actually still waking pretty much at their previous feeding time. I think it's just habit for them. We did offer them a bottle before, but they take like an ounce and then fall back asleep. We even make up small bottles each night just in case, but they really do go right back to sleep after their paci is put back in. Clearly they didn't/don't really need that middle of the night feed.

Hopefully they'll stop waking for that middle of the night session after another week or two. All it does is wake me up to put their paci back in! I'd love it if they could just both do it at the same time instead of one each hour!

Oh well...I guess I was looking to see if anyone else had this experience with their babies and what else I could try (besides CIO) to get them to stop.

Thanks for the responses! Hopefully we'll all get more sleep soon!

Shannon

 

Mine have started doing this on their own and I'm sort of waiting to see what happens. I'm still offering them a bottle but over the past few nights they're taking less and less at the night feedings. Last night DS took 5 oz at 9pm, skipped his 12am feeding alltogether (I tried for 1/2 hour to get him to wake up and have some) and slept till 4:30 when he took 2 oz. He just woke up at 5:45 with a poop and took 1.5oz and fell back asleep. I think if he hadn't pooped he would have stayed asleep.
DD is eating/waking a little more at night but she is about 1lb smaller and doesn't ever take more than 4 oz.

I really think they'll start sleeping more when they're ready. I have friends who told me their kids started sleeping through at a few weeks old and then others who have 1-year-olds that still wake up. Looks to me like it's a crapshoot.

 

Sounds like you have a great situation then. They're pretty good sleepers so count your lucky stars. As for paci replacement, I know it's a pain in the tooshy. Thank goodness, my dd can finally find it herself in her crib and put it in her own mouth. Now and then however, she can't find it in the dark so we go in and give it to her. Someone here gave us a great suggestion to put like 3 or 4 of them in the crib so she can find one and it has helped greatly.