5 and a half month old now waking at night

[HMF192]

I need some help please

Our DD has successfully been on a 4 hour EASY routine and sleeping through at night for a while.
Her feed are approx. 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm and a dream feed at about 10:30pm.
She had been sleeping through the night for ages.

At 4 months I introduced solids (root vegetables and fruit) as she had started to wake at night very hungry, and again that worked well and she started sleeping through at night again.

She is now on 3 solid meals (fruit or veg) at the 7am, 11am and 3pm feeds.  Again this seemed to work well.

I have also been moving her from breast feeding to formula over the last six weeks as I am due to go back to work full time in a fortnight. As I had been doing this change over very slowly it seemed to work well also.
She has been a little constipated but likes the formula well enough.

She is now on formula for every feed.

She takes on average between 6 and 8 fl oz per feed. So she gets a fair amount of milk a day I guess between 28 and 33 fl oz.

She is over 18 lbs weight and very healthy.

Then last week we changed her formula to a lighter type (hoping to avoid the constipation) and she woke in the night, hungry and took an 8oz feed.

We assumed it was the result of the lighter formula so quickly changed back to the heavier type (for hungrier babies) however she now continues to wake each night (for the past 5 nights) with real screaming (not normal mantra) cries.

I have fed her for 4 of those nights and she has taken between 5 and 7 oz each time. However this has upset her appetite the following day where she is not as hungry and takes a little less at each feed.
 
Our health visitor is at a loss as to what is the matter with her. She suggested leaving her to cry at night in case she is starting to get used to waking and is now waking to just get comfort at night.

So last night when she woke at 3am I gave her some water (which she hated) and then put her down.

She cried for about 45 mintues and eventually fell asleep. I stayed awake a lot later worrying about her.

I am really not sure what to do.

Does she really need more food at night when she is having at least 28fl oz in the day?
Is it OK to let her cry it out at night?
Is it because of the solids? Should she be having more or less solid food? Should we introduce a new food group - like dairy?

Has anyone out there had a similar situation or have any ideas about what might help?

All answers gratefully appreciated.

A very tired and equally hopeful

Helen

(Mum to Anya - a beautiful and spirited baby girl)

[rachelle]

hi there, and welcome

First off, how old is your dd??


Second, please don't leave her to cry it out anymore.  Tracy believed crying it out broke the bond of trust and that there is always a better way to deal with issues.  Don't kick yourself over what has already happened, but let's see if we can't find something better for everyone involved!


My thinking is that if she is waking up at nite and eating that much, she could really be hungry.  Or, she could need to suck.  Does she take a pacifier?

Also, she could be having a growth spurt, or be about to hit a developmental milestone.

If you determine that she is not hungry, I would use pick up/put down or pat/sshhh to try to get her to sleep.


Also, you can NOT spoil a baby at this age, so make sure you do go to her if she cries in the nite.

HTH