Baby human question

[booboo74]

What we did @ 6 months

1. milk and rice cereal (all he wanted)
2. read books (routine)
3. lay him down and let him cry it out.

They learn to sleep, wife called it "sleep training". From "The sleep easy solution" book. Charted it out, fast results.

Day 1: cried 20 minutes
Day 2: cried 8
Day 3: 2

Stopped chart after that. he's 2 1/2 now and sleeps (and naps) like a champion.

Had to retrain though at 1, new routines in the day and what not contributed to bad habits and breaks in his normal routines.

Highly recommend the book, could probably find it in library but we got ours from Chapters. Wife has lent it to her friends, she may have told me results but I may have not been listening.

[j.d.miller]

another vote for rice cereal here. my son is just about six months and he has always slept good. one nap during the day a couple hours and usually to bed around 1700-1730. Usually sleeps straight through in his crib till about 0500. Wakes up for food then sleeps till around 0800. He was on a bottle until about 4 and a half months then one day he just refused to eat it... We started the rice cereal and know we mix it with his food, to give it a bit more "body" Try things like avocado or banana and mix equal parts of food and rice cereal. I was surprised when we did this though. He started packing on weight and filling out right away. Got pretty strong right away to. Although I work out of town 2 weeks on 2 weeks off so it seems he is a new guy every time I come home! Good luck

[Rockman]

I've had good results with both my girls by implementing a clear daytime and night-time routine from the start. At night there's no talking except for a couple soft words, NO LOOKING THEM IN THE EYES (that's huge. Science has shown that babies get a boost of energy by looking into parents' eyes: love, excitement, etc.), lots of love as needed, and keep any activity (even feeding, etc.) short, keep lights dim. Just keep everything on a basis of "we're all about to fall asleep again" even if you're up for a few hours before baby sleeps again. This works over time, not overnight.

Good food before sleep helped at one point too.

During the day, it's obviously loud, lights (sunlight is important), etc., and while nap is quiet, it's never fully dark, and wake-ups from naps are treated differently, etc.

I'm definitely not a fan of the cry it out method. I feel, based on a lot of research, that it's unnecessarily hard on kids.

I personally know more than one couple that has trained their kids to sleep on their own starting at around 6 months by patting them to sleep after a lot of love and all their needs met (clean, fed, burped, etc.) and being strict about neither lying with them nor leaving them to cry it out.

It's a balance that's hard to stick to, as it's too easy to get down there & hug them, or go all out & leave the room & suffer hearing them cry it out. But it worked well. Their kids are great at going to bed now.

[Bushrat]

When I was a baby my folks said they used to give me a shot of brandy with a sleeping pill ground up in it. They said I slept a good solid 10 hours after that. Said that was pretty common 50 or so years ago.

[Gade81]

Solid food n let em cry. Kinda tough to listen to, but worked for us. My first was up evry 3 hours till darn near one year old, when we said enough. Let her cry her heart out, took a couple hours sometimes, but before u knew it, she slept a lot longer.

[fishstix]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

When I was a baby my folks said they used to give me a shot of brandy with a sleeping pill ground up in it. They said I slept a good solid 10 hours after that. Said that was pretty common 50 or so years ago.

Ha ha... Now a days that's probably enough to get you thrown in the klink.

[bobinthesky]

Originally Posted by pottymouth

1)You can try the attached parent method, and bring the little guy into bed with you guys for some extra love..

or

2)You can try the sleep train method. Just let him cry it out and sooth himself. it usually takes up to 3 nites in a row, and is very hard on parents. Most parents break and go pick them up.

Make sure diapers are dry, make sure he's been burped , and take note of food he eats, and its effect. Sometimes, they may need a special toy or blanket, or even some white noise.

Best advice though, is do what you feel is right, and what your instinct says, no one knows your child better than you!

This is good advice, just be advised that if you bring them into your bed, they will be there until you kick them out of the house 18 years later!

[theycallmeNoah]

I'm sorry that I have no advice other than hang in there..

My daughter suffered from night terrors and did not sleep through the night until she was 5 years old.

Good luck and remember to take care of yourselves too!

[GregT]

its tough because it seems like all you notice is friends and family with youngsters sleeping well at 2 months but your own rug rat is a night fury! no one will brag they havent slept in 10 months! my little guy didnt start sleeping thru the night until 13-14mo. dont get discouraged. we get nights where his teeth bug him so he gets ambesol and teething tablets. he sleeps better when he naps properly during the day. we were told diet plays a big role in sleep but we couldnt find a correlation. we keep a pretty good bedtime routine. supper, bath, book, in bed at 7. the more we vary from this the less likely he will have a solid sleep. good luck dude.

[stickflicker]

Originally Posted by Rockman

I personally know more than one couple that has trained their kids to sleep on their own starting at around 6 months by patting them to sleep after a lot of love and all their needs met (clean, fed, burped, etc.) and being strict about neither lying with them nor leaving them to cry it out.

That's what we evolved to by our third child. Takes a lot of work but worked out great. Each child is different though.

[mooseknuckle]

I'm still laughing at the thread title. "Baby human" love it. Hang in there, we were lucky and still are. 4 pups ages 1-9 and they sleep well every night and have since birth. I'll just agree with a few here and say don't let them sleep with you and sometimes you have to let them cry a bit.

[Off in the Bushes]

establish a bed time routine(bath, jammy time, book, bed keep the time consistent say 7:30) this usually takes about 30 days, and then build on. At 9 month he should be able to go 10-12 hr (sleeping) without the need to eat.

[achtanelion]

What's he getting in the middle of the night for food? That might be the routine that's waking him up. Try giving him a bottle of water instead of food. If he finds that there's no more nighttime goodies it might be enough to change his habit. A bottle of water (I always used room temperature water, don't know if it makes a difference) is enough for them to comfort themselves with, but not enough to be worth waking up for. Usually takes a few days for it to take effect, but that's helped my kids sleep through the night (except the first, he didn't need any prompting).

If you and your wife are totally wiped, get friends or family to take the little guy for a couple nights. It's important for the adult humans to be rested enough to deal with things. Do it now, so you can have a happy, relaxed Christmas with your wife and son.

J

[tractor1971]

Originally Posted by fishstix

Don't bring him into bed with you or you will have to always do that to get him to sleep. Go with the sleep training. Tough it our for the three nights. Also remember that most kids aren't sleeping through the night on a regular basis at nine months. My son is now 16 months and sometimes sleeps through the night.
One thing is you can try to keep him awake a bit more before bed. Maybe skip that last evening nap.

Whatever happens remember that it gets easier and easier as the child gets older.

Agreeing with the above. You will create future bad habits when you co-sleep. Sleep training is your answer. You can give a bottle with water, but NOTHING ELSE, NO MILK, NO FOOD. He is waking up out of routine. Bite the bullet for a few nights, work in shifts.

[Rockman]

x2 on the bottle with water only. Trains a kid to not expect food just because during the night, while still affording them the comfort of sucking. It's said to be very effective and yet gentle.

Btw, under 6 weeks old they need to feed through the night, and at different ages we are physiologically capable of going longer periods of sleep without eating (and it won't harm a child), so just check on that for your baby's age, to make sure all is well.

[citori]

My boy is 14 months now. He was like this up until 1 year. He'd wake up every 3 hours and absolutely freak when we tried to let him "cry it out" lol. My wife never had the heart to let him cry it out either. We just kept up the same routine, feed him around 7, bottle of milk before bed, and put to sleep. Eventually, instead of breast milk/formula she began replacing with water. Eventually, she began replacing the water with a pacifier. And now he sleeps all night. I have to admit when he started sleeping all night, my wife and I would take turns checking on him because it didn't feel right that he slept all night lol.

Be patient, it'll happen and you'll love it.

[aulrich]

Schedule is huge.

We never brought a baby to bed, of our friend who did most of them were fixing that till 5 or 6(kid could not fall a sleep alone).

Minimum interaction at night do what you need to do and get them back down.

Letting our kids cry did not work, our youngest went for 6 hours when we tried it on him. but we could settle them in a min or 2 so SWMBO jumped up at the littlest squeak, her ears were amazing.

[mxz1997]

Originally Posted by Gade81

Solid food n let em cry. Kinda tough to listen to, but worked for us. My first was up evry 3 hours till darn near one year old, when we said enough. Let her cry her heart out, took a couple hours sometimes, but before u knew it, she slept a lot longer.

This works. Our first was up every two hours till almost one year old and we decided it was just a habbit. Couple nights of crying and then the problem was solved.

[trooper]

When my oldest son was a newborn (July 27th 1980), the only way we could get the little man to sleep was put him in the car and drive around the block once or twice and he would be out in no time.. We also found out that he had colic (sp).

[Fisherpeak]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

When I was a baby my folks said they used to give me a shot of brandy with a sleeping pill ground up in it. They said I slept a good solid 10 hours after that. Said that was pretty common 50 or so years ago.

Ha Ha Ha! I bet you did.Better than shaking you though.

[RoguePiper]

Son #1 - let him cry it out at about 9 months, after three nights slept through the night, until the night terrors (wait till those start)

Son #2 - always soothed and fed through the night. He's 4 and still wakes up in the night, its rare that he sleeps through the night.

Son #3 - Has a medical condition with his throat, so we have had to pay a little more attention to him at night, but have been giving bottles through the night, but over the last couple months he has started sleeping through the night, he's 20 months.

You have to do what you can handle, but the best experience we had was with letting the oldest cry it out and learn how to soothe themselves. There is a company called Raymond Parenting in Calgary that offers a sleep training class for parents, might help give you some info and support that you can't get from reading.

[Fireside23]

Ok... So if your child doesn't need medical attention....

You'll need three or four things (my opinion only, but this works)...

1) A good rocking chair.
You're gonna be spending some time in it, so make it a comfortable one.
2) An old fashioned alarm clock.
One that audibly 'Tick-Tocks'.
3) A fish aquarium.
With a water filtration system that filters the water by POURING IT BACK IN THE TANK. And a low wattage bulb (night-light).

The warm light and sound of water running or the ticking, mimics the womb... Provide different stimulus when not trying to put the child down.

Also, set a routine and stick to it. A good meal before bed, and for goodness sake, try not to let your baby sleep all day. A good nap is all that's needed. Resist the urge to pick your child up when crying. All kids need a good cry. It's the natural sound of them breathing when they're born after all...
Believe it or not our old family doctor had no problem with a quarter (or little less) teaspoon of gin with some maple syrup on a soother for excessive crying or colic.

Good luck...

[Ignorant Redneck]

Our baby had colic and would sleep around an hour a night until around 6 months. Once we started to introduce solid food it seemed to help. He is 11 months now and sleeps 12 hours a night. When he was 9 months he would usually have 6 ounces of formula before bed.once and a while he would wake up and need a top up. Which we gave him. And it never formed a habit. Good luck it does get better

[bison]

Originally Posted by Gade81

Solid food n let em cry. Kinda tough to listen to, but worked for us. My first was up evry 3 hours till darn near one year old, when we said enough. Let her cry her heart out, took a couple hours sometimes, but before u knew it, she slept a lot longer.

Exactly.
Let them cry till they fall asleep.
They get the drift soon enough that whining ain't helping any.

[Red Bullets]

Somewhere, a long time ago,(my kids are older than me already), I learned about crying kids. If a young child is crying loudly it is because they want or need your attention.

This method is for a child the wants your attention. Not needs your attention.
A woman told me that if a baby won't stop crying sometimes being louder than them will make them stop because they realize they have your attention. When my kids were too young to talk, and weren't sick and they were crying I always tried this method and lots of times it seemed to work.
With really young babies it is good to hold them so when you 'sound off, the baby will have eye contact.

if a baby suffers colic or gas pain, most people will pat the babies back. It is much more efficient if you rub or massage the left small of the back. It massages the stomach better than patting the back.

[C.Noble]

My 7 year old would not sleep more than an hour at a time as a baby until I learned how to wrap her like a burrito. Haha. Must have something to do with security. Made sure she was bathed,fed,fresh diaper and wrap good and tight just like a baby burrito. She would get 5-6 hours doing that.

[bison]

The natives used to hang them in a cradle up in a tree away from camp.
They prob just made sure the bears couldn't reach them

And maybe not

[MrDave]

We discovered that it was the house noise waking our little one. We put a humidifie in there, and in a couple of nights it was over.
A cousin of mine let her little boy cry to sleep one night. He stopped crying but was dead. SIDS. Not an option for me.

[Knotter]

At that age they can sometimes just not make it throughout the night on the last feeding. With our third we would sneak in and dream feed him before we went to bed. We didn't have to do this too often but they get in a rut and it helps get them out of it. Give it a shot.

Routine is key.

Dimming lights, read a story, snuggle etc is also very helpful to get them familiar with sleep time.

Op hasn't posted for a while but this might be helpful to others in the same situation.

[Watchdog]

I have six kids. Without knowing your child I would suggest the following:

1. When the child cries at night does he curl his knees up to his chest? If so, he may have gas. Roll him on his back and grab his ankles and pump his legs like he is riding a bike and every 20 or so tuck his knees together and gently push his knees to his chest slightly curling his back. The sweet smell of gas should flow. Continue a couple of times and let them sleep. Pay attention to the food you feed them. The food that we eat and causes gas will cause him discomfort.

2. Pablum or rice cereal comes in different flavours and consistencies. If he is able to eat deer sauce, then go for the thicker kind and make it a little on the thicker side. As others have said it takes longer to digest, hence they feel fuller. If you can not find flavoured rice cereal make it thick and add apple sauce for flavour.

3. If he has colic, my mum used to swear by holding us with our backs towards her waist and her arm holding us across the hips allowing our head to hang over...sometimes lower than our waist. Calmed us down and put us to sleep.

4. Another gas reliever is a half teaspoon of dill pickle juice. I can't think of the manufactured name, but they do sell it in stores, it used to be in a clear bottle containing a clear liquid, usually beside the "Ovol"

5. Try slightly propping the head end of the mattress up a little bit, maybe there is some acid reflux type thing happening.

6. Lastly, as hard as it is on you and your missus, and if none of the above works, you have to let them cry it out. Kids are smart even at that age, they realize that if they cry long enough they get attention (cuddles, picked up, food). If you go this route you have to stick to your guns and not falter, it may take a bit, one week, you should see a difference, maybe not through the night but a difference.

If you think about it, what is wrong with a baby crying, as callous as it may sound, ask yourself are they hurt, in pain, and then think about if they could be hungry, or have they just formed the habit to wake up at night and in that order.

There is an end insight, and it does get better in the sleep department.

Best of luck.

Watchdog