8 months old - waking for feedings....

[Ambinsi]

I'm not sure if this is in the right spot, feel free to move....

My DD is 8 months old. She never looooved her bottle, as she is/was a reflux baby. She was taking 1.8ml of Axid 3x a day, a few months ago we dropped it down to twice a day with no side effects. In the beginning feeding was a bit of a struggle but as her reflux was managed she would take a decent amount and she really does love her solids. Since we've been upping her solids, we've been struggling with amounts of both liquid and solids. My pedi says she should be taking anywhere from 16 (bare minumum) - 24 oz of milk per day, plus her solids. That includes what is mixed with her cereal, etc. The problem is getting her to take this amount during the day.

We went through a nice spell recently where she was draining 3 large bottles (8 oz) a day, plus solids. Sometimes it would be 4 smaller bottles, but she seemed to be taking larger amounts and we were dropping a bottle and making the remaining 3 bottles larger. It was nice, she was on 3 meals a day. I had dropped the dream feed. THEN - she stopped consistently taking large bottles, so I brought back the DF to make her hit that target number of ounces per day. Sometimes it worked, sometimes she refused it. When she refused it she would start waking up in the early morning for feedings.
 
THEN - she got sick. She had her first major cold and fever. Fever is now gone, but she's still very congested which we're working on with the saline and the nebulizer. Feeding during her illness was torture....There were days she would barely take 10 oz all day. I know this is common when they are congested, but even as her appetite seems to be improving, we're still in a rut and can't get out.

For example, yesterday she took 16-17oz over the course of the daytime hours, in 3 bottles. I tried to offer more, she refused. We did a DF because I knew she hadn't eaten enough and would be up in the middle of the night. She took 5 oz at about 10pm and then woke up anyway at 2:30am for another 5 oz. I just cannot get her to take this what she needs during the day.

During the night I will not deny her if I know she's hungry....but I'm stumped here! What seems to make sense to do (offer larger bottles during the day, try to feed more often, dream feed, add more solids, clearing out nose before feedings, etc.)...none of it seems to be working.

Any advice is very appreciated!!! I know she's still a bit congested which I'm sure isn't helping but is there anything I can do?

[Lolly]

I would give it a little while longer for her to be completly over her cold before you do anything so you can see if it is the cold that is making things wonky. I wonder if her reflux is playing up a bit too - my two always have flare ups with illness and teething.

When you are sure she is well, you will have to decide what you want to do about the night feeds and come up with a plan. It could be that the night calories are taking away from the day, but to change it around then only way is to either stop the feeds or reduce them. At this age they don't really need nightfeeds, but they do get used to waking and having that feed so it does become a habit to be hungry in the night. We stopped my DD's nightfeed around this time, she didn't have a DF because she just wouldn't take it but we reduced her night bottle by 1oz every 2-3 nights and then when it was down to 4oz we just resettled after she had finished it. One night she slept through so after that we only offered water in the night - she wasn't impressed at first, but we stuck to it and resettled her and she only woke a few times after that. We did have a few nightfeeds when she was around 11 months after a week of being sick, but it was only for about 3 nights and she stopped waking again.

What do you think?

Laura

[Ambinsi]

Thanks for the reply....well, a couple of things:

I just noticed she is cutting her first tooth, so I'm sure that's affecting things also.

Also, about reducing the night feedings, I think we'll be trying that. I think we're starting to find ourselves in a cycle of her not eating enough during the day because she's eating at night, and then of course she's hungry at night because she's not eating enough during the day. Its definitely becoming a vicious cycle. She's still congested but she's doing so much better....I'd like to start now, unless you think I should wait.

Should I attempt a DF tonight, and then if she wakes up during the night limit what I offer her? I've been doing 5 oz...should I keep it at 5 for a few days or reduce?

Or should I just wait until she's clear and this tooth is in?

[Lolly]

What about not offering the DF any more as it's not a regular thing, then for a few nights until the tooth is in and her congestion has cleared just offer the 5oz bottle when she wakes for it. Then when her tooth is through and her congestion has cleared then start reducing that night bottle bit by bit.

Laura

[Ambinsi]

We will start tonight!!! I don't want to sound insensitive to her needs; I know she's cutting a tooth and getting over illness...I just want to nip this now before it takes over, you know? Thanks, I'll keep you posted.