5 month Habitual NW - is she hungry?

[katiej9781]

My DD just turned 5 months and has never STTN. We've come a long way with the BW techniques in the last month to correct some AP, but I'm thoroughly confused with the latest roadblock we've hit!
She is 14 lbs on 4 hour EASY
Eating: EBF at home, EBM at daycare (and occasional formula to supplement) - we have not really started solids
Sleeping: Swaddled with pacifier

Typical day looks like this:
Wake (6:30/7)
E (7): Breast, very inattentive, very short feed (presume she's full from last AM feed)
A (7:30) Dropped off at daycare, plays
S (8:30/9) sometimes sooner if she was restless the night before
E (11/11:30) EBM Bottle, 5 oz, usually refuses more
A: Very active period
S (1:30/2)
E: (3/3:30) EBM Bottle, 4-5 oz, usually refuses more
A: Very active, picked up between 4:30/5
S: (5/6) Short catnap, 20-45 min. in stroller, swing, or carseat
Bedtime: Bath, book, breastfeed (usually a longer feed @ 7) and asleep by 7:30
E:  (10:30/11)  - DF 15-20 min
S: Back to sleep with paci
NW – anywhere between 2:30 & 3 AM!

When she wakes at this time she does not seem too upset, just whining for her pacifier. With her paci she’ll doze off for 10 minutes or so, then get restless again and repeat over and over again! I’ve tried Shh-Pat, PUPD, paci, and letting her settle herself…all with the same result – waking again within 10 minutes. If fed during this NW she eats like it’s the only meal she’s had all day and will usually fall asleep again within 5 minutes of being put down. Doesn’t appear to be comfort nursing either, she seems genuinely hungry

I’ve been consistent with these methods to try to get her back to sleep when she wakes, but we still have yet to overcome this obstacle. I’ve tried cluster feeding with an additional feeding around 5PM, and upping her ounces during the day but neither seems to have made an impact on this waking. I’ve considered W2S, but I think this is unfair if she really is hungry…I just don’t know!

Any help is much appreciated…I’d like to figure this out soon! My DH travels all week and I am working full time as well, so whatever technique I try needs to happen when I have some backup at home 

[~Emma~]

At 5 months and being a bub fed on breast milk I think you can assume its hunger if she's taking a good feed.

 You could try w2s if its the same time every night. If she's hungry she'll quite simply just wake to eat again so I wouldn't worry about starving her.

[~ Vik ~]

Completely agree with Emma - breastfed babies often need night feeds well into their first year! We were doing a dream feed plus 1 night feed with Dylan until about 9mo and that's quite normal in an ebf bub. I would say that when she wakes you could try the paci once to see if she'll go back off, but if she wakes again I would just feed.

I'm just on my iPod so difficult to post links, but if you go onto the breastfeeding board FAQs there's one called night feeds and the breast fed baby with more information if you want

[katiej9781]

Thanks for the feedback!

She took large feeds yesterday at daycare (14 oz instead of her usual 9-10 oz) and had a good BT feed and DF...she slept through! Glad to see her interested in eating this morning, i hate dropping her off at the sitter unsure wherer she ate well or not. Hoping it wasn't just a fluke, but she seemed much more alert and content today...and I'm glad to have the support as it can be a bit tricky with breastfeeding!