waking to eat right after being put to bed. Or, is comfort feeding bad?

[Confused New Mom]

With wonderful advice from the naps board, things are starting to improve in the day.  My little girl will be 5 months (adjusted -- she's 5.5 by DOB) this week.  She doesn't nap great but she does sometimes take 2 hour naps, which means we're getting past the 45 minute intruder.  She sleeps about 13 hours at night, though she wakes a few times to eat.

We have a good nap/night routine.  I avoid feeding her within 20 minutes of putting her down.  I turn on her mobile, put her in her sleep sack (she can roll, so swaddling is out), read good night moon, put her in bed, turn off the mobile, and leave.  If I time it right she doesn't cry at all, if she's OT she might cry for a few seconds.  Then she goes to sleep.  I put her down between 7 and 8.

The new thing is that she will wake up and want to nurse, even just half an hour, sometimes less, after I've put her down.  Then she'll wake at 10 and at 1.  Sometimes she'll sleep without wanting to feed from 1am to 9am, or sometimes from 3 or 4am until 8 or 9. 

If I try to settle her without feeding at that first waking she quickly escalates to frantic cries.  I end up feeding her, and she eats, a lot.  Even though she's just eaten, if I don't feed on both sides as much as she wants she's back to the frantic cries.  Then I put her down (awake) and she cries for a couple seconds and goes to sleep.

I'm confused about what's going on with that first waking.  I'm also confused about whether I should try to do something about it or just roll with it.  I think it's just comfort feeding.  But maybe she needs comfort?

I do think being overtired or overstimulated may have something to do with it.  One night I put her bed right on time, but company was over, one night it was a half hour past her bedtime (going by 4 hour easy, that is).  One night I kept her up (again, just by 10 minutes or so) so her dad could say goodnight to her.

[deb]

If she's taking a full feed, she's hungry for sure. I'd think comfort feeding would be more of a nurse one side tops and drift off.

Are you cluster feeding before bedtime, spacing feeds closer together to tank her up? It's possible that she's doing the "6-month" growth spurt on her own schedule, too.

[Confused New Mom]

thank you!!
I have been feeding more frequently later in the day, because I've begun to think that what I thought was late day fussiness might just be hunger.  Yesterday it seemed like she wanted to eat constantly all day long.  This gets in the way of the EASY schedule, because it's hard to keep feedings and nap times separate. Hopefully you're right and it's a growth spurt!

[deb]

If her adjusted age is 5.5 months, it could well be growth spurt.

Have you started any solids? Not saying you *should*, most babies don't need them til 6 months, but some want/need them earlier, and I didn't see any mention of them so I thought to ask. If not yet, which is fine, once that starts, it will TOTALLY change up the feeding schedule. Making sure we fed plenty of nutrient-dense good fats especially afternoon/evening helped us get better sleep.

[Confused New Mom]

She was due on May 7, but was born April 20.  So going by due date she'd be 5 months on Oct. 7, but by date of birth she was 5 months on Sept. 20.   Never sure how much all that affects things. 

I did start solids, but I haven't been giving her a whole lot -- just a little bit about the size of her fist, bananas mixed with oatmeal or something similar.  I feed her that little bit of solids in the morning.  Should I be feeding at night?  And what would a good fat that I could feed her be?  Seems like all the baby food options are low-fat/low-cal.  I know avocados are good but I'm not sure if I can give that this early.  She's in 4% for weight (15% height) so anything that can bring her weight up would be awesome!

[deb]

Avocados were one of my DD2's first foods! :-) DD1 was my Learning Curve baby; she got the grains first.

Babies shouldn't be getting low-fat foods; fat is important for growth, especially brain/nerve growth & health. Avoid transfats for sure; otherwise, best fats are fish oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, avocado - and naturally-saturated fats like coconut oil or animal fats, including butter. Egg yolks, assuming no egg allergy, ditto nuts & seeds, when introducing meat use dark meat when possible (more natural fats) and oily fish take preference (although they can have strong flavors). Aim more for Omega-3's than Omega-6's; both are essential but it's far easier to get the 6's and the two kinds should be close to equal in the diet.

Wouldn't see any reason to NOT try at least a small afternoon/evening solid feed, see if it makes a difference. I wouldn't put a new food there but rather one you've done over the course of several days so you know it isn't causing tummy trouble or other reactions.

Might want to start a new thread over in Solid Food for more specific advice there.

[Confused New Mom]

thank you!  I eat a lot of healthy fats, especially avocados, so hopefully she's been getting some through the breastmilk at least.  I will try some avocado and check out the solid food board.