Night feeds for 7 mo

[lochiesmum]

My DS is 7 mo and along with a dream feed (which he sometimes wakes for) he is still waking in the early hours (anywhere from 2 to 4 am) for a feed. I always try and resettle first to no avail, just wondering if this is normal and is there a way to get him to drop this feed and sleep through. He is on 4 hour easy and is having solids 3 times per day. My child nurse told me to up the solids which i have but this just means he drinks less formula. he is still getting about 600 mls per day sometimes more. His naps are ok usually 2 good ones and one short one and he settles to sleep by himself. Any thoughts appreciated

[*Mona*]

hi

My dd is almost 7 months old, she hasn't been feeding at night [apart from DF] for over a month now.
in the beginning when I decided it was time for her to stop feeding at night [she was not eating much for her morning feed which was just throwing our routine out of the window...] I would offer her sth to drink instead. so I always had a bottle of infant herbal tea prepared it took her some 3~4 nights to 'understand' she would not get her milk and stop waking for feed.
she still wakes sometimes because of teeth pain or thirst but it's enough if I give her a drink ad she goes right back to sleep.

HTH

[LŠuren]

lochiesmum - can you please post your routine? 

My child nurse told me to up the solids which i have but this just means he drinks less formula.

Your Lo's intake should not decrease that much with the introduction of formula, becasue milk is still his main source of intake.

[lochiesmum]

Ok, here is our normal day:

0700 up and dressed
somwhere around 0730 and 0800 he has breakfast 3 tablespoons of cereal and fruit plus 100 to 150mls of formula
around 0900 to 0930 he has a nap usually 1.5 hours
around 12 he has lunch which is pureed meat & veg, he eats most if not all of a pot that holds 150mls of liquid, then has a bottle of formula about 100 to 150 mls
he is usually ready for a nap about 1330 to 1400, this is a shorter nap of about 45 mins
at 1600 he has a bottle of formula 150 to 200 mls
He usually (but not always just lately) has a late afternoon nap around 1730 for about 1 hour
1830 he has tea, which is 4 cubes of pureed veg with a teaspoon of baby rice plus some custard and fruit
1915 he has his bath and massage
1945 he has his bedtime bottle which he will usually finish 150 to 200 mls
2000, bedtime, settles by himself quickly asleep, no dummy or prop
1100 to 1130, husband gives dreamfeed of 150 mls formula
sometime between 0230 and 0400 he wakes for a bottle but takes only about 100mls

I have tried to settle him at this last feed but it has not worked and I must admit of being a little afraid of the fight, I am working full time and getting up once per night is ok, but having an unhappy baby awake and crying at 4 in the morning for a long time seems really hard. However, sleeping through sounds great so I am willing to do whatever it takes. He obviously does not really need this feed, 100 mls hardly seems worth getting up for.
He goes to childcare 3 days per week and is looked after by MIL for the other 2, I do not know how well either stick to my routine, but he seems ok and on track on the weekends so I can assume they are doing the right thing
So, what do you think??

[*Mona*]

to me it sounds like your lo is getting both enough milk and enough solids to stop that middle of the night feed.

when did you go back to work? maybe those wakings have sth to do with it?
I'm working full time too and at first when I got back to work maja would wake 2~3 times per night and I ended up feeding her. but then decided to stop it and so we did.
it's worth 'fighting' for some time to have those nice sleep through nights later

but one more thing I can think of is that maybe he's sleeping too much during the day? we're having only 2 naps already, one is 2 hrs and second 1~1,5 hrs. it means her bedtime is a bit earlier now but I've noticed she started sleeping better at night with no catnap.
just a thought thou...

[LŠuren]

lochiesmum - am I right in assuming from your routine you offer solids first?  At this age I would strongly recommend milk, then solids a while 30-60mins) after.

At 7.5 months your Lo's main intake should be milk and solids should be given after milk, so LO's are not filling up on solids and not wanting their milk.

if I have this right your LO is taking about 22/24oz per day inc. a dreamfeed, so it isn't really that much. However I am not aware of your Lo's build/height/appetite, etc.

I believe if you start milk first then solids, her milk intake will go back up again so she is not waking in the middle of the night. It seems she is waking for genuine hunger as the wake times are not the same every night.

if you are unsure of what your care givers are doing with your Lo, then ask them to fill out a notebook your give them on a daily basis (like the easy logs). I did this when DS starting going to MIL's when I returned to work.

it let me see what was/wasn't working with DS's routine and I could tweak where necessary.

[lochiesmum]

I got MIL to write down today's feed / sleep times etc and it seems as though she is keeping him on track as well as he is taking about 27 to 30 oz of milk over 24 hours. I was always offering milk first, but changed on advice from the nurse, as he was not gaining as much weight as she thought he should be. At the last weigh in he is just over the median percentile, so is doing fine. I am going to try tonight to reduce the amount he has at the early morning feed, so will keep you posted. Thanks for all the great advice

[lochiesmum]

Well, this morning at 3am we finally had the showdown, when he woke, I offered him water, (which he refused) after about 10 minutes of crying and fussing, he went back to sleep, waking at 6am. Suprisingly, he does not seem very hungry this morning, not really interested in bottle or cereal, but has managed most of both over about an hour. How long does this process take on average??? I am working on three to five nights of this before he gets the idea, but would love to hear from other mums who have already been here

[*Mona*]

great it's working for you. even if it's just the very beginning.

in our case it took dd some 3-4 nights to get the idea.

plus I personally think your son's milk intake isn't that low. we're on some 25~27 oz a day, including dreamfeed so about the same.

good luck and keep us posted

[lochiesmum]

Ok, for the last 3 nights we have not had a feed at 3am, the first night he woke, I resettled him and after about 10 minutes he went back to sleep and slept until 6am (was not really hungry at breakfast), the next 2 nights he has woken at around 3, I have resettled him quickly back to sleep and then he wakes every 40 mintes to an hour and is almost too tired for breakfast, certainly is not starving hungry at 7am. Has anyone else experienced this kind of waking when trying to drop this feed, it cannot be hunger as he is not really interested in breakfast, bottle or cereal? Am confused and tired but determined not to feed him in the early hours of the morning again as he clearly does not need it, but waking every sleep cycle from 3am is very draining for both of us, I am finding it difficult to function at work in the morning and he seems really tired as well, any suggestions???

[*Mona*]

hi

I'd say hang on there. it take time and effort but it's worth it.

if you're sure he's not hungry, don't feed him. but maybe offer him sth to drink? he may be thirsty after all. plus are you sure he's not teething? my dd wakes at night like that when teething.

please keep us posted how your days/nights look like from now.

[* Paula *]

I agree with PP - It sounds like your lo could be teehting.

When my DS is teething he wakes in the middle of the night crying and can be hard to re-settle and in the morning also refuses his milk and breakfast.