habitual wakings

[tiki_mama]

my dd is 4 months old, but as she was 3 weeks early we are currently on the 3.5 hr EASY (will move to 4hr once she is able to increase her activity periods).

She is a really good sleeper and goes down at about 7pm. She would always be asleep when i went in to give her a dreamfeed between 10pm and 10.30pm, but in the past week or so she has started waking at 9.30 (almost on the dot) and crying! 

my dh and i have been shushing her back to sleep and mostly she'll go back down til i go in for the d/f.

i'm wondering why she would suddenly start waking after so many months of staying asleep til the dream feed? and why hasn't the habit been broken despite over a week of shushing and not feeding her when she wakes?

i can supply our schedule if required but it's basically your normal 3.5hr EASY starting at 7am and including 1.5hr naps and 1.75hr activity periods

[Richelle]

Hi,

Maybe she is hungry and that is why she keeps waking everynight?  Have you started any form of solids yet, maybe a little cereal?  I would also suggest 'tanking up' in the early evening before bedtime, feeding every 2 hours, for example 3PM, 5PM, 7PM.  At 4 months a lot of LO's start to really distinguish day and nightime sleep and it can be a pretty rough transition for them.

Maybe if you did post your routine it would help to see the forrest for the trees! 

[tiki_mama]

thanks for the reply

i've decided i won't be introducing cereal or any solid food til she's 6 months. i don't want to create a bigger problem just cause she's waking early for her d/f 

i 'm confused when you say 'tanking up' by feeding her at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm cause i thought that is cluster feeding and should only be done when the lo's going through a growth spurt. i've been keeping her on my lap for 30 minutes each feed and making sure she takes as much as she needs. she's a very efficient eater, but the extra time and the little extra 'sucks' she has during the 30 minutes has definately helped her go longer through the night (after the d/f)

what i was really getting at with my question is that i wonder how you can avoid the dreamfeed becoming a habitual feeding? it's most definately part of the night time routine and i'm sure my lo know's that, so if i am feeding her between 10pm and 10.30pm every single night isn't she now learning to expect that feed and is possibly anticipating it and therefore waking up? 

i've always thought the d/f was an excellent idea and tbh i'll continue with it, even if it's no longer a 'dream' feed. i just wondered if anyone else had experienced this. i mean she wakes every night at 9.30 on the dot (give or take a few minutes!). if that was at 2am or anytime after midnight for that matter i'd be into the whole pu/pd scenario to try and break her habit. it's just a bit confusing! lol

anyway...our schedule is roughly as follows:

7am - wake and b/f
7.30 - activity
8.45 - nap (usually 1hr 30 - 2hrs)
10.30 - b/f
11.00 - activity - we usually head out at this point and go swimming or to the cinema
12.15 - nap (1hr 30 - 2hrs if she's at home in her cot, about 50mins-1hr if she's out in her stroller)
14.00 - b/f
14.30 - activity
15.45 - nap (usually 1hr 30)
17.30 - b/f
18.00 - activity/ bath
18.45 - i give her the rest of the milk from whichever breast she fed off at 17.30
19.00-19.15 - bed (always put down awake)
22.00-22.30 - d/f

she wakes up anytime between 3am and 5am for a feed. she is still only 5.5 kg (she was 3 weeks early at birth) and i am happy to feed her during the night as i feel she is too small to cope with more than about 5-6 hours in the night.

[Richelle]

OK, Until my dd was 6 months old I cluster fed her so I suppos you make whatever work for YOU whenever you need to.  The DF is usually dropped at around 7 months and until that time I don;t think your LO has the cognitive abilty to 'expect' a feed, it is her tummy controlling things, which is why I suggested 'tanking' her up in the early evening.  At bedtime I always offered my dd both breasts and she would drain them both.

It just sounds like your dd is treating bedtime to 930 as a nap which is quite normal and should iron itself out, with a little assistance from you.  The best you can do is make sure she is full when she goes to bed and I would reccomend pat/shhing back to sleep at 930 and do the dreamfeed while she is asleep at 1030 or else she WILL expect the dreamfeed after too long IF she is waking and getting fed back to sleep.

Hope I was more helpful this time.....

[tiki_mama]

thanks very much for both lots of advice. i will offer her both breasts at her 5.30pm feed and see if that helps keep her asleep til the d/f. trouble is she's one of those babies who brings up a lot of her milk so quite a bit ends up on the carpet!! 

thanks again