Experts answer your latest questions...

Sleeping

14.	My daughter of nearly seven months used to sleep 7pm-7am. But now she has begun to wake at 6am chatting loudly. I have followed the CLB routines and read advice on the site about pushing on daytime naps. She settles within five minutes of going down at 7pm.
6.	My six-week-old twin boys, who were born three and a half weeks early, have put on weight well, but can be quite sleepy by day. This seems to be affecting their nights. They are still waking twice in the night around 2am and 5am. The amount taken at 2am can vary between 2-4ozs. When they wake at 5am and again at 7am they are never very hungry. We also find that they take a large feed at 5/6.15pm, which means that the 10pm feed can be quite small.

Feeding

18.	My son is 5 weeks old and weighs 10lbs 5ozs. He had gradually begun to wake nearer to 3am for his feed, and then again between 6-7am. However, in the last few days he has been waking more frequently at night, despite having a split feed at 10pm, and staying awake for an hour. Could this be due to a growth spurt and how do I begin to encourage him to sleep for longer again?
18.	My son of three months, who weighs 16lbs 4ozs, will take 4-5ozs quickly at each feed, but them struggles to finish the last 2ozs. He sleeps from 7pm to 7am, yet even after this twelve-hour sleep, it can take up to 45 minutes to persuade him to take the last 2 oz.

Development

6.	My son, who is almost eight months old, is making no attempt to crawl yet. Should I be concerned about this and is there anything I can do to encourage him? He sits quite well on his own, but has never really enjoyed being on his tummy.
10.	Over the past few weeks my 15-month-old daughter has had several tantrums while we are out shopping. I find it so embarrassing to have her kicking and screaming and feel that everyone is looking at me. I have tried to calm her down, but this makes things worse, and it is often not clear what has set her off in the first place. What is the best way to deal with this behaviour?
7.	Over the past few weeks it has become a daily battle to get my 20-month-old daughter out of the bath. We have resorted to just lifting her out and getting her dried and dressed as quickly as we can, over the screams and kicking. We have tried to reason with her, telling her that story time is coming next, but nothing seems to work. Have you any ideas on how to make this time of day more pleasurable?
19.	My son of 26 months seems to have adapted to the birth of his brother two months ago. We have involved him as much as possible in caring for the baby, which he enjoys, but sometimes his caring nature is rather over enthusiastic. His gentle stroking has become rougher and showing toys to the baby has begun to involve forcing them into his hand. I am trying to stay positive and suggest ways for him to play with the baby without saying, “No, don’t hurt him” too often. I am afraid he will begin to resent his brother. What is the best approach to this problem?
11.	I am thinking of potty training my son of two years and three months. He is showing all the signs that he is ready, but the problem is that he attends nursery three mornings a week. I really don’t know how and when to start potty training. I am not sure that the nursery staff will remind him to go to the toilet?

 

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