My DD was 10 months old this week and I'm still breastfeeding her. I've always given her a dream feed at 10.30-11pm, but for the last few months she's woken up for this before I've gone in to her so it's not really a DF anymore as such. I changed the DF to a formula feed around xmas so that hubby could give it and I could get a bit more rest, she'll generally take around 4-5oz. She then settles well but nearly always wakes again in the night between 3 and 4.30. Not usually at the exact same time every night tho. If I feed her at the NW, she'll settle again well. If I try not to feed her, she screams blue murder and gets hysterical. I have to be careful she doesn't wake her older sister and I'm also aware that my hubby has work the next day. So I generally end up feeding her. She did sleep thru the night for a couple of months around 5-6months but then when she had a cold/teething, I made the mistake of feeding her at NW to comfort her so I think she now has "learnt hunger" at around this time.
During the day, she's a bit fussy over solids and doesn't eat that much really - I suspect perhaps because she's having those 2 extra BF's in the night. My health visitor has said that altho she is gaining weight fine etc, I should try and reduce the BF's to one at wake up time and one at bedtime so that she eats more solids throughout the day which may in turn help her sleep thru the night.
Trouble is how to do it! I don;t know which "issue" to tackle first - the DF or the NW. This is generally how things have been going for the last couple of months:
6.30am - wake up - don't tend to give her a BF as she's only had one a couple of hours earlier at NW
7.30am - breakfast - generally a tiny bit of toast, fruit and cereal
9am - sleep
10.30am - wake up and usually give a BF as she's ready for this having not had one first thing (HV says this feed needs to go)
12pm - lunch - tiny bit of sandwich or few spoonfuls of solids. bits of cucumber and fruit. few spoons of yoghurt
1pm - sleep
2.30pm - wake up
3.30pm - little snack of breadsticks/ricecakes or fruit
5pm - tea - maybe few spoons of solids, bit of bread and butter, veg, yoghurt and fruit.
6.30pm - BF and bedtime
10.15 - wakes and hubby gives her 4-5oz formula
say 4am - wakes and I end up giving a BF
6.30am new day
Sorry this is so long. I know I need to get this sorted as altho it could be worse, I'm at my wits end with it. My hubby says to leave her to settle herself in the night and don;t get me wrong, I don;t rush in at the first sign, I do wait to see if she'll settle. She's such a handful, totally different to my calm, relaxed angelic first daughter.
Any suggestions how to tackle things?
x
