Author Topic: 5am hunger waking wreaking havoc on rest of day (Read 2724 times)

Pacified · « **on:** February 23, 2007, 14:17:13 pm »

My dd is almost 5 months old and she has slept through the night since she was 2 months old... if you consider DF at 11 and first waking for food at 4:00 to be sleeping through the night. The past week she has managed to sleep through to 7am once, 6:30 once and 5:00 the other 5 days. She is on a standard 4 hr EASY from the BWSAYP book and is a good and happy baby for the most part.
My question is in regards to the 5am waking. What do I do with the rest of the day when she wakes at 5 hungry? Do I try to feed her again at 7am like usual? She is taking a full feed when she wakes, so I know she is hungry. Should I just try holding her off?? When she wakes at 5, I feed her and put her back to bed, but she wakes up at 6 and I can't get her to sleep ' till 7. I almost liked the 4am feeding better because she would just go back to sleep 'till 7 and then our normal day would start.... Please give suggestions on what I can do to get back in the swing of things. Thank you so much!

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2007, 14:30:38 pm »

At around 5 months my daughter started waking at around 5am for a feed. I would feed her and then lay her back in her crib and she would go back to sleep. She would also wake earlier than when she was younger. Since then 6am is when she needs/wants to wake for the day so we just go with it. Eventually for you, the 5am feeding will go away and then she'll sleep in until 6am or so and you'll get an extra hour of sleep. Also, the time change is almost here and will bump you up an hour so her 6am wake up will now be 7am!

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2007, 14:40:20 pm »

Thats what i did to(Graces mum is great) Cheered me up yesturday Thank You. Hop you get things sorted.

Pacified · « **Reply #3 on:** February 23, 2007, 18:29:45 pm »

So are you saying to just forget about feeding her again when she gets up for the day??? Or do I offer her the breast when she wakes up for the day to top her off.. so that the 4 hr EASY will still work?

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2007, 19:28:54 pm »

I would also feed her when she gets up for the day as well and top off because eventually that night feed will go away and she will drink all of her ounces at the morning feed when she gets up to start the day. Let that be the start of the day and go from there and count it as bf #1. The 5am bf is a night feed.

AnnaBenwell....Thanks.

Glad to have been able to cheer you up.

rlr510 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2007, 22:07:26 pm »

Hello,

For us the 5am feed has not gone away. I rolled with it as a night feed but now my baby is 6 months and eating solids so this weekend we are doing pu/pd do put the kabosh on it. Lets hope it works!

Rebecca

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #6 on:** February 24, 2007, 22:50:50 pm »

rlr510:

You probably already know this but... just a reminder, some lo's need a night feed up to age one year especially breast fed babies. Each baby is different so before you get rid of the night feed make sure your lo is truly waking out of habit and not out of pure hunger. You have to add those extra ounces they are use to getting into their day or they will be super dooper hungry at night or in the early morning. Feel free to ignore me if you already know this

***Best of luck dropping the feed and getting some extra rest

Pacified · « **Reply #7 on:** February 26, 2007, 20:18:31 pm »

Should I try to bf her a little less when she wakes at 5 so that she will take more when she wakes up for the day? She usually eats for about 15 minutes... should I stop feeding her after 10 minutes?? I've never really cut her off before, so I'm not sure how that would work. It just seemed that when I "topper her off" this morning she only ate for about 5 minutes and then she was hungry 2.5 hours later... thus kinda messing up the EASY routine. Any opinions?

Thanks for the replies so far!!

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #8 on:** February 26, 2007, 20:25:17 pm »

I would say feed her till she will settle again and then again feed her at 7 or whenever you want easy to start. I used to feed my ds at five and he would drink the whole bottle and then he would feed again at 7. You might just have to keep it up untill your little 1 gets the idea. It got to the point with my lo that he woke at 6.30 had a whole bottle then i woke him at 7 and he had a top up. I do understand it is a bit harder when you are breast feeding. Maybe you could give her a full feed at 5 then wake her at 7 change her nappy so she is really awake and then feed her. Hop i have been of some help. Anna

Pacified · « **Reply #9 on:** February 26, 2007, 20:48:13 pm »

Thank you!! I will try it tomorrow. This morning she woke hungry at 5, so I fed her and put her back to sleep. She only slept until 5:45 and then woke up happy and wanted to play. I've been putting her to bed for the night after her 7pm feed, so maybe I will keep her awake until 7:30 tonight and see if that makes a difference. Any waking before 6:30am is too early to be considered morning.

Maybe my baby only needs 10 hours of sleep per night???

Thank you for the suggestions Anna

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #10 on:** February 26, 2007, 20:58:09 pm »

I would say Keep it at the 7 o clock bed time, keeping them up later doesn't seem to work. I have always found the more sleep my little 1 has in the day the better he sleeps at night. Even if he seems tired b4 7 i will always put him to sleep. An overtired baby is awful to get to sleep and they nearly always wake up. Maybe you should try sh pat to get her back to sleep after the 5 o clock feed. Do you just feed her and pop her back in her crib? I used to do it all in the dark, didn't change him(only if poo)It will take a few days, But it will work. Honestly think about that bedtime! No problem glad to be of some help

Pacified · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2007, 00:34:04 am »

Yes I do shh/pat, but only if she has trouble settling herself. Usually after a night feed I just set her in her crib and she will be out like a light, but the 5am feed is a tough one. This morning I fed her at 5, set her in her crib and she was in dreamland in 2 minutes. The problem was that she woke at 5:45 happy and wide awake. I did sh/pat for 25 minutes and she kept pushing herself up and turning her head to look at me. Then after 25 minutes she ahd an enormous poo so I gave up, since it was already 6:30 when I finally got her cleaned up. When she wakes early from naps, or has trouble settling, sh/pat usually only takes about 10 or 12 minutes to help her get to a deep sleep, so I'm pretty sure she just wasn't tired anymore when I did it this morning. I also feed her and do the sh/pat in the dark with just a nightlight in the hallway. Her diaper was so messy that I had to turn her light on, but it's on a dimmer switch, so it was the lowest amound of light possible.
As for bedtime, I have been feeding dd to sleep with the lights off in her room (but only for that last bedtime feed, not ever during the day.) Tonight, I'm going to try to feed her with the lights on and see if she still falls asleep. If she is still awake by the end of the feed I'll read her a story or something, maybe just add that to the bedtime routine and see if a few minutes later makes a difference. If she happens to fall asleep for that feed even with the lights on, then I'll just put her to bed like usual. We will see what happens. I don't think 7:30 is too late of a bedtime, it's not like I'll keep her up to 9 or anything, I'll follow her cues on that. If she wants to sleep at 7, then I'll let her.
Last week dd started peeing so much during the night that her diaper weighed at least a kilo and her clothes were totally soaked. Any advice on that?? Should I double up the diapers or stick a maxipad in it or something??

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2007, 11:54:25 am »

Nighttime Pee: We use a diaper insert for night time. It's very much like a maxi pad, just designed for diapers. They are much cheaper than night time diapers and work really well.

Waking at 5:45: If your lo wakes up and isn't crying I wouldn't go in and pat/shh, I would leave her and wait and she if she'll fall asleep on her own. If you go in there it will make her think you are there to play, etc., making it harder for her to go back to sleep especially since she already has had so much rest. I would only go in if she is crying, otherwise leave her. She'll play by herself and you can get some extra sleep if needed.

Pacified: Maybe the 5am wake up is starting to disturb her sleep and causing her to wake after just a few minutes of going back to sleep. Just a thought. That started happening to us at around 5/6 months and we knew it was time to drop our final night feed. I am not saying that is what you should do, just letting you know what happened to us.

Have a great day everyone.

Melissa

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #13 on:** February 27, 2007, 12:18:43 pm »

Following her cues Sounds like a great idea! Hope all goes well, Let us Know how you get on! Anna

Pacified · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2007, 20:23:53 pm »

So, dd was was cranky by 7 so I just put her to sleep as usual instead of seeing if a later bedtime might help with the early waking. So much for that thought!!
Last night she woke at 2:15am and cried for about a half hour while I did sh/pat, then she just fell asleep in about a minute after she finally quit crying. I knew she wasn't hungry as I did a dream feed at 11:00pm and she took a full feed. She slept until 6:30am, which was really nice. I'm thinking that she should probably be able to make it all night without the wake up. I'm not sure why she wakes in the middle of the night. The past few nights she has been waking in the wee hours of the morning crying. Erratic waking usually indicates hunger, right? I don't think it is hunger though, as I will go in and do sh/pat and she will stop crying (eventually) and go back to sleep. Is my sh/pat becoming a prop?

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #15 on:** March 01, 2007, 21:02:58 pm »

I'm no expert but think you have to do this for a week(so she gets the idea) Sorry things are not getting any better! I thought if babies were over tired they were more likely to wake in the small hour! Thats only what i think i know. And if she was hungrey, then shorly she would just keep crying till you have fed her. Sorry not much help, just thought i would post to give you some support.

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #16 on:** March 02, 2007, 00:20:51 am »

The random wakings could also be from teething (my daughter had 2 teeth at 5 months) or from being overtired.

I would give what you are doing at least a week before determining if it is working or not.

Have a great night.

Melissa

Pacified · « **Reply #17 on:** March 03, 2007, 16:20:51 pm »

Teething... hadn't considered that possibility. I just felt around in her mouth and couldn't feel anything. I'm sure they could still be under the gums and not popped out or anything. I can see two white bumps on the bottom gum, but I've been able to see those bumps since she was 2 months old.

Pacified · « **Reply #18 on:** March 03, 2007, 16:57:15 pm »

Back to the topic of what to do when my dd wakes at 5:00am hungry... I just thought of a piece of information that I definitely should have mentioned earlier in the post. My lo has reflux. She is on Prevacid to reduce her stomach acidity so that her esophogus (sp??) doesn't burn as she spits up. When she wakes at 5 hungry, I feed her of course, and I have tried feeding her again at 7am to start off her day, but she just starts puking like crazy. Is it worth it for me to attempt feeding her again, just for the sake of keeping the routine? Should I just do sh/pat at 5 hoping to get her to sleep a little later? She has slept later of several occasions, so I know she is capable of doing it. I just don't know.

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #19 on:** March 03, 2007, 17:27:09 pm »

If you know she doesn't need the feed that I would go with tyring to break the habit of waking early. However, you are breastfeeding her and may want your dh or dp to go in and help her go back to sleep. Even if she isn't hungry she can smell the milk when you come in the room and that will trigger something in her and she may want to eat even if she isn't really hungry.

If you need to feed her at 5am, maybe give her a half a feed and then finish at 7am. That is what we did. Actually while we were trying to wean that waking, we would have 4oz of water and use only one scoop of formula so that she was still hungry at her morning feed as that one is important as well. And, just make sure before you go into her at 5am that she is really crying. If she is fussing, just leave her and she may go back to sleep. Mommy knows best so do what you think she needs.

I am sorry that your lo is having a hard time with reflux. We dealt with the same thing but once we were on prevacid and had the right formula we thankfully didn't have too many problems. I hope things get better with that.

Pacified · « **Reply #20 on:** March 03, 2007, 21:18:10 pm »

I wonder if I were to pump some milk tonight, maybe only 2oz and dilute that with water to be 4 oz total if I could feed her that at the 5am waking. I have pumped fairly regularly so I can go out once in a while

and dd takes a bottle well. What do you think?

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #21 on:** March 03, 2007, 23:15:53 pm »

I think that sounds like a great idea. If you aren't sure how much she drinks you could start with 3 or 4oz and then dilute the bm and do that for two days or so and then go down to 2oz for a few days and then maybe just water. Soon she will figure out it's not worth getting up for, kwim. Good luck tonight!

-Melissa

Pacified · « **Reply #22 on:** March 05, 2007, 21:05:26 pm »

I was so tired that I forgot to pump before going to sleep... but when I woke to crying at 5am I remembered that I was wanting to cut down on the amount of food she gets at that time. I fed dd for only 5 minutes, instead of 10 or 12 and put her back to sleep. This morning, I fed her for only 4 minutes. Is this going to work the same way as if I was diluting breast milk?? I figure I could go down to 3 minutes tomorrow and then after that I should be able to just do sh/pat? Does that make any sense or do I have the wrong idea here??

mich0902 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 19, 2007, 22:34:24 pm »

Just up-ing this one to see if you had any success? I'm dealing with the same issue and it's killing me! She won't eat at all at 7-8 AM after the 5 AM feed. Cutting the feed short (I'm BFing) just has her crying for what seems an eternity (10-15 minutes) and pat/shh doesn't really do it anymore.

I wonder if I just need to wait for things to get better or cut the entire feed all together.

Tell me what you think!

Michele

AnnaBenwell · « **Reply #24 on:** March 20, 2007, 14:16:23 pm »

Michele, your baby is the cutest i have ever seen! Sorry not any help, hope things get sorted for you soon. Anna

Pacified · « **Reply #25 on:** March 20, 2007, 16:27:55 pm »

I'm not quite sure what happened, I'm thinking maybe dd is having her 6 month growth spurt a little early (she'll be 6 mo in 2 weeks??) but for the past 3 nights she has been waking up somewhere between 2:30 and 3:30 and she is just famished.... it's always something different!

Michele, I still haven't got this problem cured as you can probably tell... but after this growth spurt is over I am going to start working on it again. I think I am going to be diligent about pumping (I BF also) and slowly give her less and less milk and more and more water. I just hate pumping so it will be tough for me. Have you figured anything else out???

I'm scared to cut out feeds in case I am reading cues wrong and she really is hungry at 5am. If you decide to go that route, I'd really like to know how it goes!

mich0902 · « **Reply #26 on:** March 20, 2007, 17:09:01 pm »

Well, our night last night went great, but we started solids last friday and I found out that baby is HUNGRY!!!! She eats way more than what's recommended in books.

I don't know if I feed her too much but last night she had a feed at 7PM, was asleep at 7.30 and she slept until 6.15 AM! So obviously, something is working... Knocking on wood, but I sure hope we're on to something here.

I'll let you know in a couple of days if it lasts...

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #27 on:** March 20, 2007, 17:42:38 pm »

mich0902: Congrats on your lo sleeping through. You must feel so rested! Some babies do eat a lot more than the 'average' and that's ok (for there to be an average there has to be some on either side of the scale, kwim

. My daughter is the complete opposite and eats quite little for her age but I think as long as they are happy and healthy things are just fine. Hope you have many more nights like this

Pacified: los can go through their growth spurts at different times. Grace's never happened right when they were 'suppose' to happen. She always had them earlier or later. I would definitely try adding some more oz to your day but if she is truly hungry during this growth spurt in the middle of the night than go ahead and feed her. It should be over with in a few days.

Pacified · « **Reply #28 on:** March 21, 2007, 00:54:44 am »

Grace's mom: I have been following the steps to increase my milk supply, but I also started solids recently. I started dd on rice cereal as per my pediatricians advice and she also wants to eat way more than the "reccommended" amount. When do I cut her off though??? I started with rice cereal 2 weeks ago and then added mashed avocado last week and squash this week. She is wanting to eat like 3 or even 4 tablespoons at each meal. Is that normal?? (Is this topic going to get moved to the solid food forum??) I also BF about an hour after she eats and she seems to be taking a full feed there too. This whole solid food situation has me confused!

Grace's Mom · « **Reply #29 on:** March 21, 2007, 11:45:15 am »

Pacified: I think as long as her milk intake isn't dropping (too much) than you are fine. Right now solids are just for practice and milk is still the most important meal for them. I think as long as she isn't getting all her nutrients from cereal, fruits and veggies than you are fine. Once you start adding proteins than you will notice a decrease in how much milk they get and that is ok (just not be a HUGE amount).

Mel

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Author Topic: 5am hunger waking wreaking havoc on rest of day (Read 2724 times)