close to chucking in the routine - please advise!

[mummy2millie]

My baby girl has always been a good night sleeper - since 8 wks old she has fed about 8pm and slept till around 3am, fed and been back to sleep within 30 mins till at least 7 - 7.30am. Infact, from about week 11 till now she was beginning to sleep till 4 - 5am so had thought she was close to STTN, but the past few days/week it has all gone a bit wrong - insted of managing one long core sleep of 7 - 8 hrs, i'm lucky if she manages 5! Last night, for example, she fed at 8pm as usual - took 6 0z (she drinks anything between 4 and 6 at a time) but woke at 1am! I tried to resettle without feeding but she wouldn't. She ate 4 oz and then slept till 5.30 am - again i tried to resettle her without feeding - but no - she took another 4 0z. Went back to sleep. I woke her at 7.30 to start our daily routine (plus have older brother to get to school) and attempted to feed her her 'breakfast bottle' but of course, she wasn't interested after all the night feeding - which has completely messed up our day routine! Also, when she does wake for a feed, she is takes the first 2 oz quickly but then slows down, only managing 4 - before, she was waking once and taking a full bottle in about 15mins falt - so im not too convinced she really needs these extra night feeds?

Am really confused - do i continue to feed her when she wakes - even though i KNOW she can manage a 7 - 8 hr night? Or do i persevere and wait till this time has passed since bedtime feed before i feed her - apparantly that would put her back on track within a few nights?

Please advise - am so close to chucking it all in and go back to feeding/sleeping on demand - did this for first 6 wks but REALLY wanted a routine as it was sooo demanding and effecting family life - plus i feel she needs a routine as i go back to work soon!

Just don't know what to do - seriously, she has been sleeping a 7 - 8 hr block at night for a good month!

[jess, lukeys_mom]

hi there,

i'm going to pop your post over to the bottle feeding boards to discuss weaning night feeds.

in the meantime, can you please post the age of your lo, and an example of your EASY routine so people can help you?

thanks x

[* Paula *]

Hugs I am sorry you are going through such a rough time.

How old is your lo?  How well does your lo nap during the day?  Does your lo take a dummy / pacci?

If you can post how your day looks at the moment, so we can help you wean the night feeds.

E  - how much
A - how long
S - how long

Also what size teat are you using?  Do you think your lo could be getting bored with the flow and need a faster flow teat?

[K's mom]

If I had to guess I'd say your DD is going through a growth spurt.  The waking suggests she needs the food.  My DD is 7.5 months and has been STTN since she was about 12 weeks (she gave me 8 hours then, she now gives me 10) but every time she hits a growth spurt or big developmental phase her night sleeping suffers as she needs more food to fuel that growth and development.  For my DD it usually lasts a week or so and then she settles back into her routine.  She had a big growth spurt in March (at 6 months) and started waking twice a night again, never the same time, but she grew 1.5 inches and learned so many new things during that period.  She has since settled back into giving us 10 hours.  I'd say hang in there and don't chuck the routine yet.  If she takes a bottle at 5:30 a.m. could you delay that breakfast bottle to give her more time to get hungry?  How often is she feeding during the day, is she on a 3 or 4 hour routine?  I'd maybe treat the 5:30 bottle as "breakfast" and then give her the next feed when she'd be due on her EASY routine.  That's what I do with DD - she had me up at 5:15 this morning for a feed so I gave her the next bottle at 9:15 (she's on a 4 hour EASY), it's messed the rest of her day up but I know she'll get back on track tomorrow.