Because Oliver has teeth now, we're not too keen on the middle of the night feedings. We don't want to rot away his chompers!
Normally, Oliver gets up once in the middle of the night (around 1 or 2am). Then, he usually gets up again around 4 or 5am and will only go back to sleep if he gets fed again. I'd say he skips that wake up about once a week. That one day a week, I feel much more rested.
We decided that Oliver is definitely old enough to only get fed once. But how to stop a habit? Last night, we were determined not to give in for that early feeding because everything I read said babies his age can go 9 - 12 hours without a night feeding. I decided he can certainly go 9 hours. I thought I'd soothe him in other ways.
At 6:30pm, I fed him, and at 7pm, Andrew put him down for the night (I didn't feed him right before putting him down because I didn't want to mess with any milk pooling around his teeth). He slept until 3am! At 8.5 hours between feedings, I decided it was good enough and nursed him. I put him back down into his crib, and he slept until 6:30am! OK, so maybe he fussed at 4:30am and 5:30am, but those fussings were all of 2 minutes before he went back to sleep on his own.
He's such a big boy!
This morning, he's doing a marathon nap of 2 hours. I like it when he naps only twice during the day for longer stretches because I feel like he's getting through his sleep cycle and getting more rest. Plus, maybe he's growing more!
Normally, Oliver gets up once in the middle of the night (around 1 or 2am). Then, he usually gets up again around 4 or 5am and will only go back to sleep if he gets fed again. I'd say he skips that wake up about once a week. That one day a week, I feel much more rested.
We decided that Oliver is definitely old enough to only get fed once. But how to stop a habit? Last night, we were determined not to give in for that early feeding because everything I read said babies his age can go 9 - 12 hours without a night feeding. I decided he can certainly go 9 hours. I thought I'd soothe him in other ways.
At 6:30pm, I fed him, and at 7pm, Andrew put him down for the night (I didn't feed him right before putting him down because I didn't want to mess with any milk pooling around his teeth). He slept until 3am! At 8.5 hours between feedings, I decided it was good enough and nursed him. I put him back down into his crib, and he slept until 6:30am! OK, so maybe he fussed at 4:30am and 5:30am, but those fussings were all of 2 minutes before he went back to sleep on his own.
He's such a big boy!
This morning, he's doing a marathon nap of 2 hours. I like it when he naps only twice during the day for longer stretches because I feel like he's getting through his sleep cycle and getting more rest. Plus, maybe he's growing more!
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