My baby is 7 months old, he wakes up around 3-4 am every single night and won’t settle back down unless I feed him.
Mary a mother of a 7 month old in Northern Beaches, Sydney says:
I think I have made a bad judgement call.
About a month ago, maybe more, my son was sleeping in his bassinet through the night. Went to bed normally around 9pm, woke up at 7am on the dot. Since he’s grown out of his bassinet, he’s been sleeping with his dad and I. Thought that it would be super cute to have him sleep between us and get cuddles.
Guess what? He no longer sleeps through the night. Currently 7 months old, he wakes up around 3-4 am every single night and won’t settle back down unless I feed him. He’ll still wake up at 7am to start his day, so I’m losing sleep here again.
We don’t have a crib. We have a pack n play. I want him to sleep in there, I’m tired of being woken up by getting slapped in the face. But I feel bad. The pack n play just does not look comfy.
Ugh. What should I do? I miss sleeping through the night and to be honest, I miss my cuddles from my partner. He will be starting the graveyard shift in March. I think I need to start sleep training my son then so that I don’t interrupt my boyfriend’s much needed sleep since he’s the money maker.
Raquel Tara Baby Sleep Consultant Sydney:
You can totally make some changes and start getting more sleep overnight. It sounds like you need to make some changes to the way you approach both bedtime and the resettles. 9pm is too late of a bedtime for a 7 month old. Once nighttime sleep is sorted, everything else tends to fall into place at this time. I will say though that while some babies manage to sleep through earlier, at 7 months the median of babies may still need an overnight feed until 8 or 9 months. And having just the one feed after 2am is actually the average even if your baby is self settling at bedtime. I have found once they complete my baby sleep programs, babies 6+ months tracking well for weight and getting enough calories in during the day tend to drop their overnight feeds very quickly. In my program I teach parents how help their babies them drop that last feed and the feed to sleep association naturally without the need to wean.
I’m a RIE Inspired Baby Sleep Consultant based in Byron Bay, with clinics in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne & The Gold Coast. I do home visits in and around theses cities and I also service parents right across Australia with my virtual 1:1 Baby Sleep Support Programs.
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