CIO & STTN - ped recommended! - Page 2

[1blueheron]

I agree w/PPs, I think that's strange advice. My ped told us we were lucky that we had a babe (now 5 mo) who wakes up once at night to eat and is all business and then back to sleep. Sometimes she STTN, randomly, up to 11 hours (but my boobs still wake me up b/c they're expecting to feed somebody, argh!).

I can imagine it must take more time to FF in the middle of the night, making it more disruptive. Do you have a bottle pre-prepared? Just curious how that works.

[Blueone]

My son is 1 and still wakes up at least once to have a bottle (we also formula feed). My ped said he should be sstn at 4 months. I couldn't believe that.

What I do though is that if he fusses I lay him on me and give a paci and usually he'll go to sleep. But if he's restless after a few minutes I give him a bottle. We co-sleep so I do sleep better that way.

Also, growth spurts increase waking and feeding at night. My son was waking up every 3 hours at 11 months, but he was in a growth spurt. Now that he's out of it he will sometimes sleep through the night, but for the most part wake up at least 1 time. Growth spurts occur at at 3,6,9, and 12 months. So usually they start tanking up the month before.

[just_lily]

Doctors giving out crappy parenting advice is one of my biggest pet peeves.

I would say that if your baby will go back to sleep with just a paci, I would probably try that first. When my DD was about 3 or 4 months she woke up one night and I really had to pee. So I stuck her paci in her mouth hoping it would buy me a few seconds while I ran into the ensuite. When I can back I was shocked that she had fallen right back to sleep! After that I always tried the paci first - if she still fussed I fed her of course, but we managed to reduce the number of times she fed at night quite a bit. It was great, and no crying.

A pp asked about night time feeds and formula - well, it is definitely more of a pain than just hauling out your boob, that is for sure!! Due to some really awful advice from post partum nurses in hospital my DD rejected the breast entirely and we had to resort to formula as well. I used to sterilize and fill individual bottles with water and then leave them on the counter so they would be at room temperature. I also had containers filled with pre-measured amounts of powdered formula. So when I had to get up in the night I just had to pour the powder into the water, shake, and feed. As a young infant DD used to go from sound asleep to screaming hungry in about 10 seconds flat, day or night, so we had to figure out a way to be quick! It was the best system I could work out, but still a pain in the butt.

[HappiLeigh]

Originally Posted by just_lily

Doctors giving out crappy parenting advice is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Our doctor also recommends CIO. I told her about the book No Cry Sleep Solution to suggest she recommend that instead, and told her we were doing just fine, thank you very much. Doctors are also people--often very tired people with children, who make choices I would not ever make in my own life, but because of their role they feel like they can tell other people to do what they do, even though it is not even within their medical purview.

[mom2happy]

Doctors dont go to medical school to learn how to take care of childrens emotional well being. They get a medical degree for treatment and diagnosing abnormalities or illness. No one should think that a doctor would be qualified to give advice on something they just have an opinion on.

I've switched to our 4th ped. because I couldnt stand the advice and questions and comments that peds ask. I found one that ive been traveling to for years who is a great guy and doctor.

Another thing (kind of off track, but makes me mad and sad)
Most of them know nothing about nutrition. They only get about 1 day of training on nutrition. They arent educated in prevention through health. They practice MEDICINE. Thats it!

Yeah, the baby will survive (medically and physically) through the night with out eating, but thats about it.
I would switch from that practice if thats the kind of advice they are going to give to a first time mom with such a young baby.
Your feelings tell you it was the wrong thing to do and it sounds like you are uncomfortable with what they told you. I think you would be better off with another ped and Im so glad you have this forum.

[laughingfox]

Originally Posted by just_lily

I used to sterilize and fill individual bottles with water and then leave them on the counter so they would be at room temperature. I also had containers filled with pre-measured amounts of powdered formula. So when I had to get up in the night I just had to pour the powder into the water, shake, and feed. As a young infant DD used to go from sound asleep to screaming hungry in about 10 seconds flat, day or night, so we had to figure out a way to be quick! It was the best system I could work out, but still a pain in the butt.

That's what we do, too, but we keep the pre-measured formula container and the pre-sterilized bottle with pre-measured water right next to the bed. We actually prepare 2 of these every night, so we have one for a middle-of-the-night feed and another for the first-thing-in-the-morning feed.
Yeah, it's fast when you have everything pre-prepared, but all that advance preparation is a pain. As soon as DD2 goes to sleep, I have to go fiddle with stuff in the kitchen for an hour (or a few hours if I need to wash/sterilize all of the bottles again) before I can go to sleep.

OP, I'm so glad you knew something was up, and stopped following bad advice. STTN is a ridiculous cultural expectation, not a health issue, and I don't even see why peds feel the need to bring it up at all.

[busymama77]

Originally Posted by just_lily

Doctors giving out crappy parenting advice is one of my biggest pet peeves.

I would say that if your baby will go back to sleep with just a paci, I would probably try that first. When my DD was about 3 or 4 months she woke up one night and I really had to pee. So I stuck her paci in her mouth hoping it would buy me a few seconds while I ran into the ensuite. When I can back I was shocked that she had fallen right back to sleep! After that I always tried the paci first - if she still fussed I fed her of course, but we managed to reduce the number of times she fed at night quite a bit. It was great, and no crying.

A pp asked about night time feeds and formula - well, it is definitely more of a pain than just hauling out your boob, that is for sure!! Due to some really awful advice from post partum nurses in hospital my DD rejected the breast entirely and we had to resort to formula as well. I used to sterilize and fill individual bottles with water and then leave them on the counter so they would be at room temperature. I also had containers filled with pre-measured amounts of powdered formula. So when I had to get up in the night I just had to pour the powder into the water, shake, and feed. As a young infant DD used to go from sound asleep to screaming hungry in about 10 seconds flat, day or night, so we had to figure out a way to be quick! It was the best system I could work out, but still a pain in the butt.

This is what we did last night - the paci. He woke twice and as soon as I gave him the paci, rubbed his head a little, placed his blankie next to his cheek, he was out like a light. He only woke twice and then at 5:30am, it was time for breakfast.
And yes, for the prepared bottles, we've been doing the exact same thing. The formula is already in the bottle and we fill it up with water in our bathroom. Our room and DS's room is not even 5 feet away from each other, so we don't have to run downstairs and prepare everything in the middle of the night. DS#1 was a FF baby as well, so I'm already used to it. You just find things that work and stick with it when it comes to FF.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

When our ped asked how DD was sleeping, I always said "great!" with a big smile on my face. I didn't elaborate. I knew she'd want to give advice, and frankly I didn't think I needed it. We switched doctors because of some other issues, and I love that our new doctor doesn't even ask. He trusts his patients to ask questions if they want his opinion on anything other than something strictly medical. SO refreshing!!