Re: Major problems at night

Posted by Marie on June 04, 2003 at 17:06:47:

In Reply to: Re: Major problems at night posted by Elizabeth on June 04, 2003 at 13:38:33:

: : My seven month old must be the world's crappiest sleeper. He goes down for the night at around 8 PM, wakes at 11 for a bottle. He will eat no more than 2-3 oz because he is sleepy and then he wakes an hour later again, and again and again. I don't know if I should give him the rest of the bottle, or nurse him or just soothe him back to sleep. He will eat another ounce and then push the bottle away and then go back to sleep only to wake up screaming another hour or two later. This goes on 3-4 times every night. (Last night he was up 5 times) I have tried to let him cry it out but it is NOT working. Help, I'm losing my sanity.

: : During the day he is a perfect angel - a happy, healthy baby that gets hungry once every 3-4 hours.

: : Added to my problems is the fact that hubby is of no help at night (except weekends). He has a very stressful job and says that the least he needs is sleep at night. I think I am going to fall sick from sleep deprivation soon.

: Marie,

: I know you may think this is a little weird, but right before you put your baby to bed, you could feed him a bottle of formula with a little rice cereal and, if he tolerates it, add a little bit of baby fruit to see if that will stop him from waking up at 11 p.m. I think at this age it is okay to feed him once if he wakes up again during the night but no more than that. If this doesn't work, you may have to let him cry as cruely as it sounds. It sounds like he is just waking up for the heck of it, especially if you see no signs of teething and does not have a wet diaper. Baby's are smart. When you let him cry, how long did you let him cry?

: Or you could try the book Phil mentioned.
:
: Hope this is somewhat helpful

Elizabeth, thank you for your suggestion. Yes I did think it weird a few days ago, but now I am ready to try anything. I have started him on a bottle only a few days ago. I am not sure if he will be able to eat a concoction of formula, cereal and fruit from a bottle. I am scared he may choke. But I'm glad it worked for your kids. I am finding it very difficult to let him cry it out. I have described in my post to Steve's reply about how much he cries.

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