save our sleep

hi everyone
just wondering if anyone has used tizzie halls save our sleep books?...and do they actually work?..i have a almost 3wk old baby who is bottle feeding every 2hrs day and night,and im not sure what to do..i dont know whether its a growth spurt or if he is having trouble sleeping for longer periods..i thought formula fed babes were meant to go a little longer between feeds?...we are all a bit sleep deprived at the moment..any advice will be appreciated,thanks!

I'm not to sure if those kind of books can be used for a baby of such a young age... 3 weeks is still so very tiny and feeding every couple of hours is perfectly normal in the early stages! I know how frustrating it is when you're tired but it will get better I promise!!

How many mls is your baby having in a feed? Does he usually finish the bottle? If so you could start giving him a larger volume of formula and you may find that he will go a bit longer between the feeds.

How often is he sleeping during the day? What's your routine for putting him to bed at night?

It's all very confusing in the first 6 or so weeks until you figure your baby out!

Also, remember babies are growing constantly at this age so they will get very hungry and the best thing you can do is feed when he is hungry!

smile

Welcome to motherhood love! I personally think 3 weeks of age is too young to try to introduce routines. At such a young age they are still trying to work things out. Hang in there it should start to get better after 6 weeks of age or so

I'm not to sure if those kind of books can be used for a baby of such a young age... 3 weeks is still so very tiny and feeding every couple of hours is perfectly normal in the early stages! I know how frustrating it is when you're tired but it will get better I promise!!

How many mls is your baby having in a feed? Does he usually finish the bottle? If so you could start giving him a larger volume of formula and you may find that he will go a bit longer between the feeds.

How often is he sleeping during the day? What's your routine for putting him to bed at night?

It's all very confusing in the first 6 or so weeks until you figure your baby out!

Also, remember babies are growing constantly at this age so they will get very hungry and the best thing you can do is feed when he is hungry!

smile

thanks for the reply..his bottles vary,cos he is feeding so often..he is usually taking about 90mls per feed,every 2hrs..almost like clockwork..i tried to give him more,but he wouldnt take it..he seemed full and just spat it out..hes not sleeping that well during the day either,the docs have said he has colic as well argh!at night we wait till he has a late sleep so he wakes about 8ish then he has a bottle n a bath and we try to settle him to sleep..he usually..goes to sleep ok,just wakes every 2hrs seeming hungry...like screaming and we try other things to get him back to sleep but the only thing that seems to be working is giving him another bottle..sooo tiring,but its nice to know its meant to get easier..thanks!

thanks for the reply..his bottles vary,cos he is feeding so often..he is usually taking about 90mls per feed,every 2hrs..almost like clockwork..i tried to give him more,but he wouldnt take it..he seemed full and just spat it out..hes not sleeping that well during the day either,the docs have said he has colic as well argh!at night we wait till he has a late sleep so he wakes about 8ish then he has a bottle n a bath and we try to settle him to sleep..he usually..goes to sleep ok,just wakes every 2hrs seeming hungry...like screaming and we try other things to get him back to sleep but the only thing that seems to be working is giving him another bottle..sooo tiring,but its nice to know its meant to get easier..thanks!

Hmm I would just keep feeding him as he wants it, my baby was like that in the first few weeks until he sorted himself out lol the first 6 weeks is definately the hardest plus I assume this is your first baby which makes it even harder as there's no way anyone or anything can actually prepare you for a baby it's all a massive learning experience once they arrive!

In between feeds he should be awake for max 1.5hrs (1hr would be better at his age) so feed as soon as he gets up for the day then say 1hr later take him and put him to bed even if he isn't all grizzly and showing every tired sign I've learnt the trick to get them sleeping better is putting them to bed before they get over tired. My son is 15wks and I put him in bed after 2hrs of awake time during the day smile

As I said it will get better, it's just a matter of getting through those first few weeks! If you have a partner don't be afraid to make him get up for some night feeds so you can sleep grin

massive warning on tizzie halls book!! my sil used it with her son from birth and was really strict on it, he followed the routine perfectly though any slight change to his routine hed turn into a little monster. they are also having sleep issues now that hes 3 in terms of seperation and night mares.

after my sil reccomended it i was adimit that i was going to use it and took a print out of the routine with me into hospital, i decided then that it wasnt going to work, when ds hit about the 5-6 week mark i had alot of pressure from the family to put him on the save our sleep routine, despite that he was perfect sleeper and even self settled. i tried for about a week and a half and it took me ages to undo the damage it did, i had to rebuild the trust with ds when it came to sleep times.

from my personal experince following a more relxed routine based around them working on ds's tired cues and working on a sleep feed and then playtime routine worked alot better, personally id leave a strict routine until they are 6 months old smile

sorry and i forgot to say try making sure after the baby wakes to feed then then give approx 15 to 30 mins floor time and then based on cues put to sleep,

if the baby is only feeding every 2 hours at night maybe try shorten the time between the day feeds as they may have day night confused. also if it gets really bad not sure where you live but in sa you can go to a day service at your local womens and childrens health centre, where you spend a day with a midwife and they help you out wih recognising cues and sleep, settling and resettling techniques smile

we used save our sleep and found it to be fantastic on all levels. the routines were great and as soon as i put my son on one, he became a different child over night. we didnt start it until he was 3 months old though. i would probably wait til then and see how bubs is. if he is still all over the shop then try her routines.

both my kids do not have any sleep issues whatsoever. ds is nearly 4 and dd is 2.

Your baby's stomach is the size of an egg..which means that it is perfectly normal for a baby, regardless of whether they are ff or bf, to feed every 2 hours around the clock. The first 6 weeks are basically one giant growth spurt; common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less). Babies don't read calendars, however, so your baby may do things differently.

Personally, we almost drove ourselves batty trying to get DS1 into a routine..so much so that I didn't enjoy his first year of life because he wouldn't do what he was 'supposed' to do. DS2 was allowed to feed when he was hungry and sleep when he was tired; he did these things at roughly the same times every day...for example fed every 2-3 hours and slept for 2-3 hours, though the actual times he did those things might vary.

He's getting used to being in the world, give him a break; he's gone from being fed 24/7, warm and snuggly with little noise and getting rocked to sleep to knowing what hunger feels like in a world with harsh lights and sounds that he's not used to. The 4th Trimester.

We used SOS with our then 14 month old with huge and practically instant success and he's never looked back (he's now 2). We recently used it with our 9 month old and over several weeks his sleeping improved. But he never had issues going to sleep, it was more about staying asleep and trying to get him to stop waking up at 4am constantly! Personally, I think newborns are too little for strictness of the SOS routines.

Hi, as previously replies have probably said, feeding every 2 hours is normal for such a new baby with a tiny tummy. Bubs do tend fo go throng a growth spurt around 3wks and again at 6wks so just let him lead the way and it'll probably settle down in a day or two.
In regards to ' save our sleep' I used it and loved it but didn't start ds1 until 5 months. With ds2 I started earlier because they were close in age and I needed some structure to my day. I personally wouldn't start before 6-8weeks. Usually they get themselves into a good routine by that stage (if they've been able to lead the way)
My ds1 also had colic as a bub and it was not fun! I used Infants Friend right before each feed and brauer colic relief to help him settle. Chiro and osteo helped too.
Good luck smile

I used the SOS sleep routine loosely for my 10 month old after he learnt to crawl and wouldn't just go to sleep. After 5 night he was was back to self settling and would sleep right through most nights and now 8 weeks later goes to bed with no tears and sleeps through consistently.

I wouldn't use it on newborns and I personally would not feel comfortable doing it at anything younger than 6 months. They are only little babies once just go with the flow and relax. My son had colic too and it was terrible and that could be making it difficult for him to sleep? I have heard good things about baby massage for colic.