My 5 month old baby still wakes every 2 ish hours during the night to breastfeed

[cupcake1975]

Hello, I wondered if anyone can make suggestions.

I have breastfed my Son since birth and continuing with this and he has always woken up about every 2 hours during the night to breastfeed.  A few weeks ago he was waking every hour and I was exhausted and I thought that either my milk wasn't filling him or that he wasn't getting enough.  I noticed that when I expressed breast milk he does not drink more than 3-4 ounces from the bottle at any one time.
I started:

weaning him on baby rice once a day to see if this would help.  Building this up to 3 times a day for some pureed food.
I also purchased formula milk to see if this would help- this didn't work because he hates the taste of formula.

I am expressing breast milk using a machine about 3 or 4 times per day and getting 3 to 6 ounces each time I express and I always offer him the milk when I know he is hungry and ready for a feed.  I then offer him a little pureed food afterwards which he doesn't always eat it all which is fine as I now know milk is first and foremost.

He has always been a baby that wakes every 2 hours in the main during the night.  I thought that by 5 months he should be sleeping a good stretch.  He has a lovely bed time routine consisting of a bath time at about 6.30 / 7pm then he has a story and has about 4 ounces of breast milk from the bottle.  He is sometimes awake when this routine has finished so I put him in his cot to settle himself and he always goes to sleep no problems.  This is around 8pm.  He is then up every 2-3 hours.  I don't use the bottle during the night he feeds from the breast.  Sometimes he will feed a lot of breast milk and others only for a few minutes then back to sleep.

Someone recommended trying cooled boiled water instead of feeding but I'm not sure.

Can someone offer any suggestions?  I am new to the site and noticed the easy routines but I'm not so sure because I don't want to start leaving him crying in his cot,  and I don't want him to become upset if he is hungry as this feels against my motherly instinct  

I'd appreciate any suggestions.  I've had a 16 year gap between my first and second child.  My first was sleeping through from about 8pm/9 until 6am each day around the five month mark so there is obviously a big difference.

Many thanks

[anna*]

Hi there. Does he go to sleep independently for naps nd at bedtime? What is a normal days routine like?

[cupcake1975]

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply  

A typical day (approximately) normally goes like this:

7am breastfeed followed by calm playtime, getting washed, ready for the day etc

8.30 am breast milk from the bottle about 3 ounces and a small bowl of porridge

9.30am Naptime, baby placed in his cot, he settles himself to sleep no problem.

10.15 to 10.45 am baby wakes and will have 3 ounces of breast milk and will then play.

Around 12 noon he has 3 or 4 ounces of breastmilk followed by pureed food in a small bowl

He will then play for a couple of hours followed by a breastfeed.  In the afternoon there is no set routine really but he does tend to have a couple of hours play and about 45 mins nap after a breastfeed.

Tea time 5pm - 4 ounces of milk and  pureed food then play time.

Here is one example of a night time that I recorded:

6.30pm  bath time and story, breastfeed or 4 ounces of milk

7.30 pm bed time, placed in cot settles no problem.

9.30pm  wakes crying, has large breastfeed

12 midnight starts waking and some crying noises, breastfeed

2am wakes, breastfeed

4am wakes, breastfeed

5.30 wakes, breastfeed


Each day slightly varies although I do know that routine is important.

I think the problem could lie with myself because I don't let him cry for any period in the cot during the night.  As soon as he starts stirring in the night and waking and has some crying I get up and start breastfeeding.  One thing I did do on two of the nights is to place my hand on his chest or hold his hand to get him to sleep but this has only worked on the two times out of the 4 or 5 times that I tried.


I hope this helps..  Thank you

[1stimer]

Im just now dealing with the safe issue with my 11mo. We are having to sleep train him.

[anna*]

Yeh I think there will need to be a little sleep training at night. I would decide on what you think is a reasonable number of feeds overnight - what is a reasonable amount of time between them - and be determined to settle him without nursing if he wakes outside of those times. You know he can sleep independently, it is just habit that means he has to nurse to sleep overnight.

[cupcake1975]

Oh that's lovely,  thanks to both of you for your replies.  I know now that this is the direction I need so I will look into sleep training.

Have a lovely evening, thanks