7.5 months eats every 3 hours at night....confused!!?

[MikeysMom28]

Hello All,
I am writing for ANY help or advice because I am totally confused about my baby boy's sleeping. He is actually pretty tired around 7pm every night and will start screaming unless we put him down for bed.

However, 2-3 hours later, he will wake up and want to eat. This continues every 3 hours until morning.

Example:
Monday night - slept at 7:30pm. Woke up at 9:30pm, 12:30am, 3:30am, and 6:30am.
Tuesday night - slept at 8:00pm. Woke up at 11:30pm, 2:30am, 5:30am, and 6:30am.

His daytime schedule is supposed to be like this:

6:30 wake up
7:00-7:45 BF
8:00-8:30 breakfast
9:30-11:30 nap

11:30-12 BF
12:00-12:30 lunch
2:30-4:00 nap

4:00 BF
5:00 dinner
6:00 bottle feed 2-4 oz formula
7:00/7:30 bedtime

I would like to mention that prior to this week, he was eating about every 2 hours in the day time. Basically, I would feed him before and after every nap at around 5-6 months of age. The reason I did this because I was trying to increase my milk supply and also I was not sure he was getting enough breastmilk. I am still not sure if he is getting enough breast milk...

I tried the new schedule this week and he does not seem to mind the eating sessions being further apart.

Overall questions -
--Why does baby wake up every 3 hours to eat at night, when he eats every 4-5 hours in the day time?
--How should I approach night weaning?  Should I try to eliminate one of the night feeds? which one?
--Should I stop breastfeeding since I can never tell if he is getting enough milk?

All my friend used CIO and I just really hope there is a better way. I really don't want to hear my baby cry for 3 hours.

Thank you so much for your help!!

[PuppyLuf]

Just out of curiosity... is it possible he might have reflux?  My baby screamed a lot at night and drank milk to ease the burn.  If he does, teething often makes it worse.

I'm an adoptive parent, so not a breast-feeder, but could you pump so you would know if you are giving him enough milk? I don't know the logistics of doing this, but figuring out how much you're putting out might be helpful.  My 7 month old drinks 30 oz. a day of formula, plus he has cereal at breakfast; oatmeal, yogurt and fruit for lunch; and pasta/rice, meat, and veggie for dinner.  He does not wake at night.

Good luck.  You must be exhausted; I hope he's sleeping for you soon.

[MikeysMom28]

Thanks for the suggestion! Wow...I think my baby needs to be eating a lot more solids. Usually I just give him sweet potato and avocado, and some baby food of broccoli and barley.

Unfortunately, my baby does not like the bottle unless he is REALLY hungry. I do agree that bottle feeding would be more mathematical, but unfortunately, I just can't get him to eat from the bottle unless he's really hungry.

How did you approach night weaning? Or did your baby just stop eating in the middle of the night by himself?

[PuppyLuf]

I'll start by saying I'm absolutely no expert on any of this, so take it with a grain of salt..

I just decided one day to not give LO his dreamfeed and see how long he went (usually I'd wake him up for that) and he just went all the way to 5 in the morning.  Until that time, he was eating at 10:30 and 2:30 at night.  After a few nights of this, I started dreamfeeding him again because he was losing weight, and he was used to the longer stretch so he did the rest of the night.  This was, however, when he was 12 weeks old and he was only on formula.  He was also a very big baby drinking over 48 oz. a day.

I think formula babies can last longer, but I don't think it's usual for 7.5 month babies to actually be hungry that much at night anymore if he's getting enough milk per day (and I guess there's no way to actually check how much he's getting since he won't take a bottle).  Have you tried pumping and seeing how much can come out in one go?  Sorry - again I have no idea about breast feeding.

My baby has 7 teeth already, and he chews pretty well with his gums.  He started disliking smoothly pureed foods about a month ago, so I switched to mashed.  I have put chicken and ground beef (cooked) in the food processor, and I mix it with a vegetable and a starch for his 3:30 meal.  He also eats not-too-spicy foods I make for my own dinner (casseroles, pastas, couscous), although I usually mash them, too.  He also enjoys chewing on rice rusks or toast with butter, though I don't think much of that actually stays in him.  I read "Bebe Gourmet," and I realized how many different foods a baby can actually eat at this age.  It is a pretty book, and it was helpful for me.

I freeze veggies, canned fruit, meat, etc. in ice cube trays.  Then for a supper meal, I give one cube of each: veggie, meat, starch.  Breakfast is 2 scoops of baby rice and fruit in some formula.  Lunch is 2 tablespoons baby oats, one tablespoon yogurt, and one cube of fruit.

Again, this is what works for me and for him.  We had pediatrician's approval on an early wean because he was drinking so much formula and he was such a big baby.  He night-weaned long before starting solids, though.

As for night weaning, my only (weak) suggestion would be to not feed every time he cries.  Go in and reassure him and sit with him and pat him, and try to get him to hold out a half hour or fifteen minutes longer each time.

Good luck and hang in there.  Maybe a moderator will help you out and give you more help.

[jessmum46]

Do you BF him to sleep?  If so that could well be the issue if he doesn't know how to fall asleep on his own....

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I am wondering the same as Katherine, if it has become a prop (when you said you used to feed before naps - are you still or does he go down for naps on his own?).

As for if he is getting enough, is he generally content and having enough wet diapers then all is probably good. Bm does digest faster than formula so it is normal for a bf baby to needsl nfs longer but if baby is going 4-5 hrs in the day then every 3 hrs at night is probably not needed.

Oh also just wanted to address doing a yield that a pp brought up - current advice says this really does not give an indication of supply as the baby is way more efficient than a pump and some women (myself included) can have an abundance of milk and not be aable to pump at all!

[*Ali*]

I actually wouldn't let him go over 4hrs in the day between feeds especially if you have a history of supply problems. Maybe he is waking at night to feed because he is t getting enough overall in the day. How do you feel about offering top ups, perhaps after his solid food meals? Although Tracy wasn't a fan of snacking she did recommend putting the baby to the breast more often if they were taking a significant amount at night suddenly.

Will he drink from a cup? You could even pump and offer a sippy of milk with his solid food.

I also wonder about whether he is an independent sleeper and if that may be contributing to his need to feed after every couple of sleep cycles since it is so regular.

[MikeysMom28]

Hello everyone,
Thank you so much for your replies! I need to figure out how to get the replies sent to my email because I did not know you all had replied!

THANKFULLY, the baby started being able to go 5-6 hours without eating at night. It just started this week. What we did is that when he woke up at night, we would rock him for about 15-20 minutes and if he went back to sleep, we put him back in the crib. If not, then I would feed him. For 2 or 3 nights, he actually went back to sleep for 2-3 more hours!

I am just a little worried that he will be dependent on us rocking him back to sleep. Yes, at night when he eats, he would eat and then fall asleep at the breast.

Lastly, yes, during his solid meals, we give him a sippy cup with formula to try to get him to eat more milk.

THANK YOU again for the suggestions!!

[*Ali*]

Good news you have managed to cut down on the NFs. Maybe try working on independent sleep for naps and BT and see if that helps him not to need the rocking at night so much.