Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

DD turned 3mos on 12/28.
She was 7lb 5oz at birth and is now 15lbs 8oz.
She doesn't have a set routine
She eats 5 - 5 1/2oz every 3-3 1/2 hrs.
She wakes ~7-7:30am
She takes about 3-4 naps/day. The quantity depends on how long each is.

My issue is she is waking at night.
She goes down for the night between 8-9:30pm. My routine is to bathe (not every night tho), calmly chill In her room while I get her ready for bed (swaddle me is used every night) then wrap her in a blanket & give a bottle, but she doesn't take a full bottle, maybe 3ozs.

She had been good for a while when she was ~8wks old but then over the past few weeks she is waking between 1-4am for anywhere from 30min to 1 1/2 hrs.

We don't change her diaper unless she did poopie. We try to avoid eye contact. We had been offering her a full bottle but after most nights of her only taking 1/2 the bottle I now only make/give 4oz.

I'm wondering if I should put her down for the night when I give her the last full bottle - but that's usually ~6-7pm.
I tried giving cereal mixed in bottle at the bedtime bottle- for 3 nights, made no difference.

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

She is still rather young to be sleeping through the night... There really is nothing you can do to make her sleep longer.. My son was drinking 3 oz every 3 hours until he was 4 months old!! Even at night!!! Maybe you can try to dream feed her before you go to bed and see if that helps.
And you should never put cereal in a bottle unless the baby has reflux or your pedi says to do it... She will eventually get into a routine...

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

CRASHING DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a parent yet and I do NOT claim to know anything about babies yet lol

however I am in this middle of reading a book about this exact thing right now based on the high recommendation of a friend who has had success with it and has had many friends succeed with it

the book is "The Baby Sleep Solution" by Suzy Giordano

im only about half way through it but the gist im getting so far is that daytime feedings should be four hours apart, one one hour nap in the am and one 2 hour nap in the afternoon

and teaching the baby to self soothe both during the day and at night.

like i said im only half way done but it is very interesting!

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

Well i can only go on my son. He's 11 months old now.

At 3 months, he was going to bed by 6:30pm and waking at 5:30am. He was also taking 3 naps a day for 2 hours each and then a cat nap around 4:30.

sleep begets sleep.

how much sleep during the day is she getting?

ETA: the better my son slept during the day, the better he slept at night. He's also been STTN since 2 months old.

Message edited 1/3/2013 7:51:18 PM.

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

*double

Message edited 1/3/2013 7:50:48 PM.

Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

I know each baby is different, but we give DD her last bottle then put her to bed. She will be 4 months Saturday. Her last bottle is at 8pm and she is in bed by 8:30pm. She sleeps until 7am, sometimes a little later. Nights I give her a bath, she gets her bottle after it. IMO she sleeps better with a full tummy.

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

We don't have a set schedule and feel that may be part of our issue. I would say during the day she sleeps an average total of 6 hrs between 3-4 naps.

Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

I dont know if it helps, but I have DS on his playmat pretty often throughout the day. He sleeps through the night since 2 months and I think the activity he gets through the day could help. He wakes up occasionally for his pacifier but goes right back to sleep. I also try to keep him awake after 6:30 or 7pm. He goes to bed around 9pm and sleeps until 7:30ish.

ETA He is 4 months

Message edited 1/4/2013 9:15:43 AM.

Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

DD started STTN at exactly 12 weeks. I let her dictate her schedule at that age. We had to start her bedtime routine by 6:10 otherwise she flipped. You could literally tell time by her. She usually fell asleep during that last bottle. I did dream feed twice, but I didn't feel right about it and the night I stopped is when she started STTN. I say put her to bed after that last bottle, even if it's around 6/7pm. DD would wake early - like 5 or 6am, but she took plenty of naps throughout the day.

Re: Advice needed on getting DD to sleep more at night.

DD is 12 weeks and has been pretty good. She sleeps about 6-8 hours usually. For us we let her take the lead. She wakes up for a bottle, then we have play time and when she gets sleepy we put her down for a nap before she gets fussy. Kinda goes with the sleep begets sleep idea. So far it's been working. Usually she goes to sleep for the night around 10pm