BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: TimTam on February 13, 2006, 02:48:25 am
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I have an 8 month old daughter who is so perfect during the day its unbelievable. But at night she wants to feed lots. I am still breastfeeding. She has 5 or 6 good feeds during the day and 2 meals (lunch and dinner). She goes to sleep in her cot by herself. During the day she has 1 nap of about half to one hour and a nap of about 2 hours. She goes to bed around 7.30pm. She wakes around 11pm for a dreamfeed. But then she also wakes between 1 and 2 then 3 and 4 and then between 5 and 6. She gets up around 8am. I only feed her one side each feed during the night in the hopes it would stop her waking but it hasnt. Do you have any suggestions? I know there is people out there with babies much worse than this but I figure with three other children I really need a good nights sleep! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi TimTam
It sounds to me like your DD has fallen into the habit of snacking - taking many small feeds in each 24 hour period rather than a smaller number of decent feeds. Your DD would probably benefit from having breakfast introduced as well - most babies 8 months are taking 3 solid feeds per day plus around 4 milk feeds.
An example routine (based on your DD's wake up time) for this age might be:
8am - Breakfast
9am - Milk
10.30am - Nap (the shorter nap i presume is the morning nap)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Milk
2pm - Nap
5.30pm - Dinner
7pm - Milk before Bed
There are more sample routines by age group at the top of the EASY board
It sounds like you have the independent falling asleep sorted out - I really think that if you got those day time feeds a bit consolidated then DD would start to get those night wakings sorted out as a result.
HTH and good luck
Jo
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Thank you for your suggestion. I will definitely give breakfast a go! I will let you know how it goes. My Fingers are crossed!!
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I have been able to reduce the night feeds with help from Dad and lots of patting! But she is still not feeding any more during the day. I have reduced her to only 4 feeds but she only feeds for around five minutes each side. Any ideas on how I can make her feed longer? Or is she getting enough? She is really happy and contented so she isnt hungry and she is perfect weight. What should I do?
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Hi again,
By 8 months your DD is probably a very efficient eater, getting quite a lot of milk in 5 minutes per side. I know my DS was only doing single sided feeds for about 5 minutes at that age (any longer and it interupted his play time ::) :)) He now is back into a more leisurely feeding routine but for that phase around 8 months he was managing fine with only short feeds. I think the key is that she is happy and content - I'm sure she would let you know if she was hungry.
Good luck on continued success during the nights!
Cheers
Jo
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I just wanted to thank you for your fantastic suggestion!! My little girl is now sleeping all night apart from once when she has half a feed on one side. She is feeding more during the day and is not distracted by whats going on around her. She is doing really well and I am finally getting lots of sleep. Again thank you so much!!!!
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That's great TimTam!
So pleased the suggestions helped.
Hope your good sleeps continue!!!