Too many ounces taken after midnight - help!!

[ginah]

Hi,
My 7.5 month old daughter is eating some solids & about 40 oz of formula per day. The problem is that about 16 of those ounces are after midnight!

I try to dreamfeed her around midnight, but sometimes she just takes 2 ounces. Then, an hour later, she wants 2 more, etc, etc. This is exhausting.

Sometimes I try to really wake her up by changing her diaper and singing and sometimes that works & she finishes a bottle, but other times, she just goes back to sleep, only to wake again a few hours later. Most of the time her eyes are closed & she either eats or not.

Also, feeding her lots of high calorie foods (yogurt, avocado) don't seem to diminish her need for formula, especially in the wee hours of the morning....

Any ideas?
Gina (Julia's Mom)

[Leah's Mom]

It sounds to me like she is waking for the comfort of the bottle, rather than the milk itself. Could you post her schedule including the nightwakings so I can have a better look and help you develop a plan to eliminate those night feedings?

[ginah]

thanks Christine.

Here is a basic schedule:
wake 6:45
7:00 solids (cereal, fruit)
8:45 8 oz formula
9:00 nap
10:30 wake & play
12:15 solids (avocado, yogurt)
12:30 8 oz formula
12:45 nap
2:00 wake & play
3:30 solids (fruit & yogurt, still not liking veggies or meat)
4:30 6-8 oz
6:30 6-8 oz
11:00 ? dream feed if possible  this is where it breaks down....Any ideas would be great! 
Many thanks,
Gina

[Leah's Mom]

Hi Gina! Your schedule sounds exactly like mine did at 7.5 months! And yes, my DD also woke and ate MANY times during the night. Here is what I did.
I see your DD takes her bottles before her naps. Is there a reason for this? We did the same because Leah took her bottles better when she was sleepy, but this is where our problems started. Even though she was not falling asleep with the bottle, she was associating it with her wind down. So when she came into a light sleep in the night, she wanted the bottle. I moved her bottles forward about 15-20 minutes. Bottle, then play for 20 minutes, then a wind down routine. Then I began to water down her bottles at night. I have posted a detailed description of this. Here is the link: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=46907.0 I would also stop doing the dream feed. At 7.5 months she does not need to eat at night. Once my DD was no longer taking in milk at night, she started to eat and sleep much better. I hope this helps a bit. Let me know if this helps and/or if you have other questions.