Constant night wakings at 11 months. Need advice please

[FlisD]

My son Kees is 11 months old and has never STTN!! Only twice has he slept from 7.30pm to 4am.  For a while he was down to waking only twice in the night but over the last couple of weeks it's back to multiple times. And to make matters worse he is often waking for the day at 5.30 then has to have an early nap which throws out his routine.

I still feed him during the night and am reluctant to discourage feeding because I had so many problems with low supply for so many months and am still taking medication to maintain supply.

When Kees wakes we try to get him back to sleep in his own bed but after putting him back down a number of times I tend to bring him to bed with us. He sleeps a little bit better there but still wakes often.  I'm working full time and am like a zombie at work.

His routine is:

7am        BF
7.45am   Breakfast
9am       Nap (30mins to 45mins)
10.30am  Snack
Midday    Lunch
1.30pm   Nap (1 hr to 1 1/2 hours)
3pm       BF
5pm       Dinner
6pm       Bath
7pm       BF
7.15/7.30 Bed

I'll appreciate any advice on how to get him sleeping better at night without having to deny BFing. Thanks

[Khalam's Mama]

how does he get to sleep? Do you feed him to sleep or can he sleep independently?

I understand you wanting to not deny the feeding but it will be hard for him to be getting fed sometimes and not others when he wakes esp since at this age it is unlikely he is really needing feeding overnight

[FlisD]

Hi there.  He goes to sleep for his naps and in the evening by himself really easily - 5-10mins.  I do try to put him down after night wakings without feeding him - sometimes it works and sometimes he starts screaming his little head off...

[alohahellokitty]

Sometimes wakings get habitual and babies of this age are wanting to suckle to relax again. I understand your supply issue. I've done tons of herbs, teas and prescriptions to boost mine. What a nightmare!! one thing I've done is pump in the middle of the night and save the milk for a supplement after the bed time bf.

At this age, in my opinion its very confusing to feed sometimes but not others. I don't think I would do that. He really don't need any calories at night. He should be able to make it just fine... Now that being said, he's used to getting them at night as well as they day. So he doesn't 'tank' up as much as he should during the day b/c his body knows its available at night as well. And its so relaxing he enjoys being able to suckle when he wakes instead of just going back to sleep himself.

How's he doing with his solids intake?

Since you are having a supply issue have you offered a supplement after your bedtime bf? (either expressed milk or formula) To see if he's getting full enough before bed?

How many nwings does he have and how close together are they?

Does he take a paci? You could use this to help resettle him.

Your goal at this age is probably to get him to get most of his calories during the day and not at night..... You could even think of a dream feed... I've never done one at this age (I weaned mine from df's about 8 months or so... after solids are established well) but you might give it a go. That way it can help him get more calories while you are encouraging him to sleep longer at night. So if he wakes up really soon after the df you know its not hunger and its def habitual and he's wanting to suckle to relax again instead of just falling back asleep. DF might help you get a little more calories in him while your teaching him to fall back alseep by himself and not have nwings.

It seems like you still want to consider bfing at night. If this is just for your supply issue I recommend pumping at night as to not encourage lots of habitual wakings that he gets used to suckling to go back down after.

If you want to bf at night regardless of the supply issue I'm not sure how to guide you on that. But I'm sure you will get plenty of advice if you need it for that.

This is just what I know.
Good luck!!!!!

[FlisD]

Thanks so much for your reply.

He's great with his solids and I also top him up with formula at the BF before bed time using a suppliment bottle and tubing.  He wakes up on average four times during the night.  At the moment he wakes around midnight and is extremely hard to settle even after bf - he'll wake 10-30 mins after he seems to be asleep. That will happen about twice after the midnight waking.  Then he'll wake again about 2 or 3am.  Then we wakes at 5am keen to feed but will most times go back to sleep for a while (pity I don't!).

Thanks for your ideas. I might try to get him to take extra formula at that feed tonight.  If that doesn't work I might d/f just before I go to bed.

[alohahellokitty]

Okay well could it be teething? The midnight after the bfing and still being hard to settle might be teething. If he's never sttn it could be partly a matter of him not knowing how to fall back asleep on his own.

Yes if he'll take a df that would be great. B/C you could know the waking is not for hunger.

Also giving him more ounces of the bottle before bed (after the bf) is a great idea. I think when I supplemented I always just fed until they stopped. So if the bottle was empty and they were still sucking I would make one or two more ounces.

tbh I think most of his wakings are habitual and then he doesn't know how to resettle himself. Have you tried pu/pd to resettle for the wakings you know aren't hunger? (like you just fed him a bit ago) This is where it gets kinda messy b/c if you feed for some but not the other (at this age) that will get confusing to him and the sleep training might not work well.

Are you still reluctant to wean at night? If you are we probably need some new eyes on here to help you with that. I'm not sure how to advise at this age (teaching him to resettle himself) while feeding for some wakings and not the others.

My lo's (24 months and 4.5 months) both wake a couple times some nights but chat to their selves until they fall back asleep (unless its illness or teething). That is what you probably are wanting your lo to learn to do. Some night wakings is very normal. Its just we need to teach them how to resettle their selves when it happens.

[FlisD]

Might be teething as you say. He only has two teeth so far so we're expecting some more soon.

Last night I gave him an extra 3 oz of formula then he woke at 9.30pm! He was awake again at midnight, 2am, 5am and then 6.30am.  Then he slept until 7.45 - amazing.

Tonight I'm going to start trying pu/pd and holding out on feeding him as long as poss. I'll try the extra formula before bed again.

Fingers crossed 

[alohahellokitty]

Yes it could very well be teeth!!! Have you tried some motrin and orajel before bed? This works wonders for teething babies!!! I would do that for sure. It could just be teething and he's in pain.

Its so hard to figure these lo's out sometimes.

[Khalam's Mama]

Good luck.

I must say my LO used to wake every night for a feed even when he could go to sleep independently just because that was what had always happened at night but after one time using pupd he stopped waking up. Well as pp says he does wake, sometimes I even see him sit up on the monitor and rub his eyes but then he lays back down and goes back to sleep. Saying that he only used to wake once so yours might take a little longer but you might be surprised