My daughter is going to be 5 months old in 4 days. She is SO dramatic. I know that I can be a bit dramatic sometimes and it seems this trait passed on to her. My husband is just the opposite, so calm and level-headed... do they always have to inherit the bad stuff?

She'll be laughing one minute, screaming her head off the next, and then laughing again a few seconds later. She's started to be a mama's girl, she refuses to let anyone else feed her if I am in the room (she's bottle fed). She's just a really high-strung, high-maintenance baby, but she's so much fun.

But our biggest issue is sleep. (Another thing where she's just like me! I have the hardest time falling/staying asleep.) From the time she was one month old until she was two months old, she slept through the night, 11 or 12 hours. It started suddenly and it stopped just as suddenly. She only sleeps stretches of 4-6 hours how, wakes for a diaper and bottle, and then back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. This does not seem like enough sleep for a baby. She takes about 3-4 hours worth of naps during the day.

I've read lots of articles/books about sleep and some say she shouldn't need that night time feed, others say that she does. What do you all think? She won't go back to sleep without that bottle. Any tips for a new mama?

Your daughter's sleep habits are perfectly normal.

Here is an article you might find interesting:
8 sleep facts every parent should know
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t070200.asp

As long as your baby is otherwise healthy I wouldn't worry about sleep/feeding patterns that are a little off. Its a very individual thing even for adults.

Your daughter's sleep habits are perfectly normal.

Here is an article you might find interesting:
8 sleep facts every parent should know
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t070200.asp

Thanks for this article. It was really helpful. I have a 7mo old and he slept through the night from 3mo until the present. The only thing is, at first, we could lay him in his bed and he would go to sleep on his own. Now, we have to rock him to sleep or he won't go to sleep. He will just lay in his bed and cry. I don't mind rocking him to sleep, it's just a change for me. Anyways, thanks again for the article, it helped to reassure me.

A hard one , my children are 3 and 5 years old now so those days are gone now but I sure do remember them. The sleeping through the night is a hard one but it doesn't last forever, I always used to give them a bottle even at much older ages as I could never think of what else to do in the middle of the night. I found with my two I would just think I had won the battle finally they would slept through and then they' get sick or start teething and it was back to the drawing board.
Both of mine slept through , then stopped for months , slept through again until about two or two and a half.
Rest assured you get your sleep back mine never get up in the night now unless they are sick or had a bad dream.
Just do what works for you.

I have found (and a lot of parents I know have found) this book on sleep habits and babies/children to be tremendously educational and helpful: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449004023/qid=1133873907/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4052342-8778242?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It was the best baby shower gift we received with our first child.

Your baby seems perfectly normal to me. At that age they are all a bit dramatic, emotions change swiftly.
All babies are individuals and have their own personality. I have four kids and they all had their own sleeping patterns. One of them was just like your daughter. She is 17 now and everything has worked out just great! :lol:
So don't worry, your daughter will be fine!

Well my mother would tell you that her two (my self and my sister) have never slept through the night. And she would be right on, we both still have problems getting too sleep and staying asleep.

Your baby sounds normal, and if you have explained it to the doctor during one of the routine check ups and she/he is not worried then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

It's so funny, I was rereading your post and it made me think of what DH said tonight. He's kinda sensitive (for a guy) and was just wondering if DS was going to be that way since he seems to get his feelings hurt when we set him down or something. I think it's just a stage. On another note, if she is a "high needs" baby, have you tried a sling? My sling totally saves my but, especially for cooking and cleaning when DS is cranky. Pop him onto my back and he's happy. Also, I love it for going to wallyworld, that way I don't have to worry about the carseat falling off the top of the basket or someone getting him while I'm bent over trying to get something. If you don't have one, I would hight recommend it. THere are so many types to choose from and it can be soooo addicting (i know you need another obsession, right?) Anyways, good luck with the sleeping thing. Mine is starting to get better. I think he's teething though, so we're in for a rollercoaster ride it seems.

Dr. Weissbluth is an advocate of the cry-it-out approach. Many doctors who advocate cry-it-out are retracting their statements, knowing that it is dangerous for children.

Here are some articles on cry-it-out:
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/04.09/ChildrenNeedTou.html
"Parents should recognize that having their babies cry unnecessarily harms the baby permanently," Commons said. "It changes the nervous system so they're overly sensitive to future trauma."


http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/bonding/connection.html
But there is no doubt that repeated lack of responsiveness to a baby's cries-even for only five minutes at a time-is potentially damaging to the baby's mental health. Babies who are left to cry it out alone may fail to develop a basic sense of trust or an understanding of themselves as a causal agent, possibly leading to feelings of powerlessness, low self-esteem, and chronic anxiety later in life. The cry-it-out approach undermines the very basis of secure attachment, which requires prompt responsiveness and sensitive attunement during the first year after birth.

On the contrary, Dr. Weissbluth is not an advocate of the "cry it out" approach - reading his book would clarify this common misconception.

I read it, and i found it kind of middle ground in the CIO dept. It never really said, "Let your baby cry" but i think it did suggest not responding to fussing for a certain amount of time. Now, take a new, sleep-deprived parent, and ask him or her to define the difference bwtn fussing and crying and you may get a blank stare. i'm not sure i can do it right now. Not a CIO text in the sense of Babywise or other such horrors, but not exactly AP either.

Personally, i say babies need what they need at night. iF that's a bottle or breast, give it. IF it's a change, do it. If it's a trip to the potty, why not? (I started night ECing my daughter when she woke up dry but fussy, and obviously was needing to pee before she could be comfortable enough to go to sleep again.) Whatever need the baby expresses, you should respond, day or night. A baby that little doesn't get that you are trying to help her sleep better. she only learns that you are not dependable when she expresses a need, which will make her more likely to stop trying to express her needs to you. I've heard children of Deaf parents sometimes cry less than normal. It's not that they have fewer needs, or are learning to be calm kids, they just learn that sound isn't working, so they try something else. IF you ignore cries, she may assume you can't hear her and just try another way to get her message across, or give up. maybe far fetched, but it's a theory.

In any case, you are already learning that there is no constant but change, so don't worry too much about the number of hours your baby sleeps. Whatever sleep/feeding/toilet patterns a baby that age has is bound to change, no matter now much you hate or love the current patterns, so there's no point in getting too worried or too excited. My daughter always slept less than the books described, except when sick... or going through a growth spurt... or just occasionally for the heck of it. Sometimes she'd at least have a reliable schedule for a few months in a row. Othertimes, anything goes.

When it comes to babies, almost everything is "normal."