Finally got atleast half our night back

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You said:

Hey All, I am father to an 8 month old, the cutest bundle of joy, attached to both me and her mom almost equally and have been loving fatherhood all this while. The only gripe was she would wake every 2 hours to comfort feed and would cry hail mary until she latched for a max of 2 min. We co sleep so would destroy both our sleeps. Then a couple weeks back my wife was down with an infection and had to sleep in the other room and I was on baby duty that night, her first night with a single parent. Equipped with 2, 2-3oz, bottles of freshly pumped milk I got her to sleep the first stretch and the minute 2-2.5 hours passed she started screaming her lungs out, took me a good 30 min to put her back to sleep but she kept screaming for a boob every 10 min and only took the bottle about 1.5 hours since she first woke up. Then something just clicked and she just slept for the next 3 hours at which point I have her the second bottle and both of of slept another 3 hours and woke up in the morning. Now it has become a routine where my wife pumps out 2 bottles and we take turns with feeding her the 2 bottles and get atleast 5-6 hours of continuous sleeps.

ChatGPT said:

It sounds like you found a routine that worked well for your family during an unexpected situation.

A few things stand out:

Your daughter was probably used to waking and nursing partly for comfort and partly out of habit. The first night without immediate access to breastfeeding was understandably difficult, but once she adjusted, she was able to connect sleep cycles for longer stretches.

Sharing the overnight care has given both you and your wife longer, uninterrupted periods of sleep, which can make a huge difference in how you both feel during the day.

The fact that she's accepting expressed milk from a bottle also gives your wife some flexibility when she's unwell or simply needs more rest.

An 8-month-old is also at an age when many babies can begin sleeping for longer stretches overnight, although there's a wide range of what's normal. Some still wake frequently, while others naturally consolidate their sleep.

The only thing I'd keep an eye on is making sure:

Your wife is comfortable with the pumping schedule and isn't dealing with engorgement or a drop in milk supply if these bottle feeds replace direct nursing.

Your daughter is continuing to gain weight well and is getting enough milk over the full 24 hours.

If everyone is still co-sleeping, you're following safe sleep recommendations, especially when parents are exhausted.

Overall, if your baby is healthy, your wife is comfortable with the arrangement, and everyone is getting more restorative sleep, this sounds like a positive outcome from what started as a challenging night. Sometimes babies surprise us by being capable of longer stretches once a different soothing routine is established.

You said:

Hey All, I am father to an 8 month old, the cutest bundle of joy, attached to both me and her mom almost equally and have been loving fatherhood all this while. The only gripe was she would wake every 2 hours to comfort feed and would cry hail mary until she latched for a max of 2 min. We co sleep so would destroy both our sleeps. Then a couple weeks back my wife was down with an infection and had to sleep in the other room and I was on baby duty that night, her first night with a single parent. Equipped with 2, 2-3oz, bottles of freshly pumped milk I got her to sleep the first stretch and the minute 2-2.5 hours passed she started screaming her lungs out, took me a good 30 min to put her back to sleep but she kept screaming for a boob every 10 min and only took the bottle about 1.5 hours since she first woke up. Then something just clicked and she just slept for the next 3 hours at which point I have her the second bottle and both of of slept another 3 hours and woke up in the morning. Now it has become a routine where my wife pumps out 2 bottles and we take turns with feeding her the 2 bottles and get atleast 5-6 hours of continuous sleeps. Correct grammar

ChatGPT said:

Here's a polished version with corrected grammar while keeping your tone and story intact:

Hey all,

I'm the father of an 8-month-old—the cutest little bundle of joy. She's equally attached to both me and her mom, and I've been absolutely loving fatherhood so far.

The only challenge was that she would wake up every two hours for a comfort feed. She'd cry her heart out until she latched, only to nurse for a maximum of two minutes. Since we co-sleep, it completely disrupted both of our sleep.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife came down with an infection and had to sleep in the other room. That meant I was on baby duty for the night—her first night with just one parent.

Armed with two freshly pumped 2–3 oz bottles of milk, I got her down for her first stretch of sleep. Right on cue, about 2–2.5 hours later, she woke up screaming. It took me a good 30 minutes to settle her, but she kept waking every 10 minutes crying for the boob. She wouldn't take the bottle until about 1.5 hours after she first woke up.

Then something just clicked. After that feed, she slept for the next three hours. When she woke again, I gave her the second bottle, and we both slept for another three hours before waking up in the morning.

Since then, it's become our routine. My wife pumps two bottles before bed, and we take turns feeding our daughter during the night. As a result, we both get at least 5–6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which has made a huge difference for all of us.

Posting this for any parents who were struggling with frequent wakes and something you could try.