Comments on: A Good Night’s Sleep

By: Dragon

Dragon — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:28:42 +0000

At 3 weeks, the hatchling would normally only go to sleep in my arms (while playing video games into the early hours - I call it conditioning). If we were lucky, he'd sleep for up to 2 hours. Normally, it was about an hour between feeds.

At 6 weeks he got kicked out of our room into his own because he was a bloody loud sleeper and disturbed us all with his grunting and groaning. He'd still wake up every couple of hours for a feed though.

At 9 weeks, he went bottle only.

At 10 weeks, he started sleeping through the night.

At 8 months (i.e. this week) he's suffering from "Night Terrors" and has been waking up at 4am for the last couple of nights. But apart from that, he's generally sleeping for between 10-12 hours a night and is now having two long (1-2 hour) sleeps during the day.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:42:38 +0000

I found your site through a comment on my site. I am totally where you are. My baby is almost 6 weeks old and wakes up every 2 hours to feed, every night. Some nights he wakes up a few times an hour or hour and a half! He does sleep better in bed with us but I am afraid of rolling over on him or him suffocating so he sleeps in the bassinet in our room. I am jealous of the mommies who say they feed their baby at 11pm and he/she sleeps til 4 or 5 am. I am sure it will pass. Good luck!

By: graybo

graybo — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:08:37 +0000

Well, that’s why I said that it was one of many factors. But it was a factor – both partners have said so. I can only report their experience.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 10:50:56 +0000

Graybo, take a step back and listen to yourself! Your BIL and SIL slept with their child until she was 6 (her mother’s exclusive choice?) and now they are getting divorced, from which we must conclude that all babies belong in a cot from birth? There are plenty of divorced parents of cot-raised (even separate-room-raised) children; there are plenty of happily together parents of both varieties; there are more reasons to divorce than grains of sand on a beach.

By: graybo

graybo — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:26:59 +0000

I’d be a bit more cautious about co-sleeping. My brother-in-law and his wife are separated and heading towards divorce. The fact that they haven’t slept in their bed without their daughter for the whole of her life (she is now six) has been cited as a factor (one of several, it must be said). She simply will not sleep on her own as she was always taken to bed by her mother from an early age and has never got used to the idea of sleeping alone. (When she stays with us or at her grandparents’, she invariably climbs into bed with her brother or an adult for company). Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that co-sleeping is totally awful and should never happen. But I think it is a good idea for the child to be able to spend nights alone because, if they can’t, it could put a strain on the parents’ relationship.

By: Claire

Claire — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 02:27:57 +0000

Why do you both need to “unlearn” cosleeping? It’s the most natural way to sleep when you have offspring, and as long as you take a few precautions, very very safe. Babe sleeps better, lots of good bonding time – My daughter still sleeps with us, tho she’s getting ready to move into her own bed now – and she’s 5. I have cherished this time, and am kinda sad that she’ll be in her own bed soon…it’s so calming having her next to me.

Don’t let anyone – much less, society – tell you that Cosleeping is a “bad habit” that needs to be unlearned…if it doesn’t work for YOU, then that’s different. But IF you & your family are comfortable cosleeping, and sleep well that way, there’s no harm, truly – enjoy it!!

http://www.familybed.com/

http://www.naturalchild.org/jamesmckenna/babiesneed.html

By: Gordon

Gordon — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:37:28 +0000

Does Pete realise he’s gurning though?

By: Relly

Relly — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 13:39:20 +0000

Toby is now nearly 11lb (largely due to the medicated formula he is on actually meaning food stays down as opposed to breastmilk which just bounced up) so Bernard isn’t so tubby yet

I have found with Toby its a case for watching for yawns and rubbing his face before he gets overstimulated – which then requires me holding him and bobbing him to get him to sleep – and swaddling him for a nap at that point. Often if i do that and sit with him he’ll drop off. And sometimes he needs to cry for a few minutes to get there.

The crying=feeding thing is difficult when breastfeeding i think, as they take comfort from the breast as well as food, and i think its easier for them to snack and drift off on an increasingly short cycle. With the bottle its easier to regulate a little – toby still feeds on demand, roughly every 3 hours, but if he cries before that we know it generally isnt hunger (and if it is he screams the place down if we try anything else). I’m all for feeding on demand but i suppose if he isnt spacing feeds out very well, you might need to try other things before the breast?

By: Timbo

Timbo — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:26:41 +0000

For some reason, my gadget site is telling me all about how to get babies to sleep.

Maybe you need one of these … http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/zaky-infant-pillow-child-neglect-accomplice-191268.php

or perhaps some of these…. http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/lullabub-automatic-cot-rocker-191263.php

Not sure how often the little one gets out of the house but I’ve been told that plenty of fresh air helps small children (and me too) get to sleep.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:04:09 +0000

I wonder what we humans did to get babies to go to sleep before we had cars to drive them around in…? Did we throw them on the back of our pet ruminant transport and go for a little jaunt?

By: graybo

graybo — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:07:02 +0000

I agree with Karan – I think there is a size/sleep correlation. Of course, our Tom had a head start, being 9lb 8oz. And pity poor Kirsty Thingy off Location Location Location Location Whatever, who gave birth to 11lb 11oz of baby boy. Ouch.

By: Karan

Karan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 17:52:46 +0000

I seem to recall that both of our kids started sleeping through the night at about 12 pounds…I suspect that there is something about their tummies holding enough to help them make the distance without getting hungry. Bernard is close. It sounds like you are doing a good job!