Four month old is still eating every 2-3 hours at night. Normal? Or time to sleep train

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, normal, and yes, I would sleep train (assuming the baby weighed enough), keeping a dream feed, though that’s personal preference. You must be exhausted.

For sleep training and night weaning, I highly recommend The Sleep Easy Solution. Good luck and congrats!

PP here - sorry, misleading misplaced modifier there. It is personal preference whether or not you sleep train. If you do sleep train before 6 months old, I do not think the dreamfeed is optional (IMHO)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

Because it doesn't work well to nurse to sleep for most families. Drowsy but awake is the correct way, except for the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

+1 I nursed both my kids to sleep until I weaned them (between 1 and 1.5) because I am lazy, frankly, and it was easiest for me. The closest I got to sleep training was letting them fuss 5-15 minutes when they woke in the middle of the night to see if they were actually hungry. Both learned to sleep through the night (except when sick) just fine. Nothing against sleep training, I'm just lazy and tired and found the idea of it more stressful than not. All kids and families are different. If you want to sleep train, go for it! 4 months is definitely old enough. If sleep training sounds miserable to you and/or nursing to sleep is working for you, carry on.

[Anonymous]

This is me as well, except my son is just 6.5 months now, and currently waking up 1x/night to feed most nights. I consider myself very fortunate, because previously it was 2-3 wakeups and feeds a night for a while. I feel lucky that he was able to drop the extra feeds on his own. Hoping this luck continues, and that eventually we'll drop overnight feeds completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is me as well, except my son is just 6.5 months now, and currently waking up 1x/night to feed most nights. I consider myself very fortunate, because previously it was 2-3 wakeups and feeds a night for a while. I feel lucky that he was able to drop the extra feeds on his own. Hoping this luck continues, and that eventually we'll drop overnight feeds completely.

This was meant to be in response to the PP above.

[Anonymous]

Surprised nobody has said this yet but-ask your pediatrician. Whether your baby needs to eat this much at night depends on their growth/weight gain. Most 4 month old babies don’t actually need calories overnight (especially not every 2-3 hrs), but it’s very common to still be waking up either from hunger out of habit or because they need to eat to go back to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

I am for people doing what worked for them. It’s largely personality. E-A-S was easier for me to follow and we also had fairly smooth sailing. But I’m not coming here to say what you did was wrong or not understandable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is me as well, except my son is just 6.5 months now, and currently waking up 1x/night to feed most nights. I consider myself very fortunate, because previously it was 2-3 wakeups and feeds a night for a while. I feel lucky that he was able to drop the extra feeds on his own. Hoping this luck continues, and that eventually we'll drop overnight feeds completely.

I mean yes, this was me too with eat-awake-sleep. We never had to do CIO longer than 17 minutes (I know because I was timing and it felt like eternity) and the feeds dropped on their own. There are multiple paths to get there and pitfalls either way. One of the pitfalls of feeding to sleep is you can get stuck nursing all night, especially if you don’t allow time for fussing and resettling. That seems to be what’s happening to OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

+1 I nursed both my kids to sleep until I weaned them (between 1 and 1.5) because I am lazy, frankly, and it was easiest for me. The closest I got to sleep training was letting them fuss 5-15 minutes when they woke in the middle of the night to see if they were actually hungry. Both learned to sleep through the night (except when sick) just fine. Nothing against sleep training, I'm just lazy and tired and found the idea of it more stressful than not. All kids and families are different. If you want to sleep train, go for it! 4 months is definitely old enough. If sleep training sounds miserable to you and/or nursing to sleep is working for you, carry on.

This was me too. I enjoyed the peace and power to nurse them to sleep and didn’t mind nursing in the middle of the night. It just felt natural and the right way for me. But I had many friends who sleep trained early because it felt right to them. Whatever you do, just know that when they become toddlers, it’s like the game starts all over again. Just when you think you are in the clear, you have a toddler waking up at 4 am or climbing into your bed in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

+1 I nursed both my kids to sleep until I weaned them (between 1 and 1.5) because I am lazy, frankly, and it was easiest for me. The closest I got to sleep training was letting them fuss 5-15 minutes when they woke in the middle of the night to see if they were actually hungry. Both learned to sleep through the night (except when sick) just fine. Nothing against sleep training, I'm just lazy and tired and found the idea of it more stressful than not. All kids and families are different. If you want to sleep train, go for it! 4 months is definitely old enough. If sleep training sounds miserable to you and/or nursing to sleep is working for you, carry on.

This was me too. I enjoyed the peace and power to nurse them to sleep and didn’t mind nursing in the middle of the night. It just felt natural and the right way for me. But I had many friends who sleep trained early because it felt right to them. Whatever you do, just know that when they become toddlers, it’s like the game starts all over again. Just when you think you are in the clear, you have a toddler waking up at 4 am or climbing into your bed in the middle of the night.

I truly believe that if you nurse to sleep, you have more problems later. That’s purely based on observing my friends though. And they all think their toddler sleep problems are unrelated and inevitable. I’m not convinced. But I obviously don’t have a real study or anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

+1 I nursed both my kids to sleep until I weaned them (between 1 and 1.5) because I am lazy, frankly, and it was easiest for me. The closest I got to sleep training was letting them fuss 5-15 minutes when they woke in the middle of the night to see if they were actually hungry. Both learned to sleep through the night (except when sick) just fine. Nothing against sleep training, I'm just lazy and tired and found the idea of it more stressful than not. All kids and families are different. If you want to sleep train, go for it! 4 months is definitely old enough. If sleep training sounds miserable to you and/or nursing to sleep is working for you, carry on.

This was me too. I enjoyed the peace and power to nurse them to sleep and didn’t mind nursing in the middle of the night. It just felt natural and the right way for me. But I had many friends who sleep trained early because it felt right to them. Whatever you do, just know that when they become toddlers, it’s like the game starts all over again. Just when you think you are in the clear, you have a toddler waking up at 4 am or climbing into your bed in the middle of the night.

I truly believe that if you nurse to sleep, you have more problems later. That’s purely based on observing my friends though. And they all think their toddler sleep problems are unrelated and inevitable. I’m not convinced. But I obviously don’t have a real study or anything.

I’m PP. I can see that. But I think it’s as much a function of hyper attentive moms who struggle to sleep train later because it wasn’t their style or other issues. My first had horrid reflux and would vomit if we let him cry it out, but luckily he outgrew it. I weaned both kids at 18 mo and they didn’t have any problems going to bed on their own or sleeping well until the typical occasional nightmare at 3/4. The majority of mothers in the world do nurse their babies to sleep because they don’t have access to formula or bottles for ebf, and it all turns out fine for the most part. Sleep training is definitely a first world behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

Easy is not the best route. Nursing to sleep not a good udea. Baby will never learn to fall asleep on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

Easy is not the best route. Nursing to sleep not a good udea. Baby will never learn to fall asleep on their own.

Truth. I remember that kid who came to college and still had to nurse to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

I don't understand this mindset. Nursing to sleep is so natural and easy, there is no reason not to do it. Especially for a 4 month...

OP, I fed to sleep and also nursed during night wakeups when my baby was younger - he's now 8 months and I still nurse to sleep because it's easy and convenient, and he sleeps through the entire night just fine. I never sleep trained, and always soothed him if he woke up or cried. When he is teething or sick, he will wake up in the night and I nurse him, which calms him and helps him sleep soundly again.

+1 I nursed both my kids to sleep until I weaned them (between 1 and 1.5) because I am lazy, frankly, and it was easiest for me. The closest I got to sleep training was letting them fuss 5-15 minutes when they woke in the middle of the night to see if they were actually hungry. Both learned to sleep through the night (except when sick) just fine. Nothing against sleep training, I'm just lazy and tired and found the idea of it more stressful than not. All kids and families are different. If you want to sleep train, go for it! 4 months is definitely old enough. If sleep training sounds miserable to you and/or nursing to sleep is working for you, carry on.

This was me too. I enjoyed the peace and power to nurse them to sleep and didn’t mind nursing in the middle of the night. It just felt natural and the right way for me. But I had many friends who sleep trained early because it felt right to them. Whatever you do, just know that when they become toddlers, it’s like the game starts all over again. Just when you think you are in the clear, you have a toddler waking up at 4 am or climbing into your bed in the middle of the night.

I truly believe that if you nurse to sleep, you have more problems later. That’s purely based on observing my friends though. And they all think their toddler sleep problems are unrelated and inevitable. I’m not convinced. But I obviously don’t have a real study or anything.

I’m PP. I can see that. But I think it’s as much a function of hyper attentive moms who struggle to sleep train later because it wasn’t their style or other issues. My first had horrid reflux and would vomit if we let him cry it out, but luckily he outgrew it. I weaned both kids at 18 mo and they didn’t have any problems going to bed on their own or sleeping well until the typical occasional nightmare at 3/4. The majority of mothers in the world do nurse their babies to sleep because they don’t have access to formula or bottles for ebf, and it all turns out fine for the most part. Sleep training is definitely a first world behavior.

Oh no, I think that is bogus. “Sleep training” takes many forms but one of the biggest parts of it is just not jumping up to tend to the infant and giving them some time to resettle on their own. That can happen even if you’re nursing and/or co-sleeping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are starting a terrible habit. Don't nurse to sleep.

The vast majority of mothers in the world nurse their babies to sleep. I only know one country that has as high prevalence of sleep training as the us, and it’s the Netherlands. Most of the world doesn’t use CIO or schedule nighttime feeds or impose a strict bedtime. People in the us are so insular to what the rest of the world does.