6 month old waking at night - HELP!!

[janda727]

I am new to this board. I have been having sleep trouble with my lil man. I read the BW book and he is a "spirited" baby.

This is our EASY.

E: 7:30a - BM & fruit or cereal

A: 8:00a - 9:30 or 10a

S: 9:30 or 10a - (1hr-2hrs)

E: 11:30 am - BM

A: 12:00 to 1:30 or 2

S: 1:30 or 2p - (1hr - 2hrs)

E: 3:30 or 4p - BM & Veg

A: 4:00 or 4:30p to 6:00

E: 6:00 (cluster feed) BM

A: 6:30 - 7:00

E: 7:00p BM

S: 7:30 Bedtime routine and sleep

He goes down for naps and nightime in his crib. I do pat/Sh and it works most of the time. I use a music thing that projects on the ceiling also.

My problem is he wakes 2-3 time a night. He wakes crying and I try to give him a paci but he hates it and wants the boob. So I give him the boob. He eats for about 10 mins and than lets me put him back in his crib with no crying most of the time.

How do I fix the NW's. He will not take a bottle.

I appreciate any info

THANKS! 

[Vicku]

Hi and welcome to the boards!

When you say he takes a 10 min feed in the night, are those full feeds for him, is he swallowing and eating properly or just seeming to suckle for comfort?
The music and lights can often be too stimulaing for spirited babies, maybe that's not the case for him if he goes down ok, but he might be expecting that when he wakes at night too? If he's not taking full feeds you're probably dealing with a 'boob as prop' association.
Do you do a dream feed? It is probably too long for him to do 12 hrs without breast milk (as he might be thirsty as well as hungry), but should probably manage on one night feed plus a dreamfeed (df)

[janda727]

His normal feed is 10 minutes on each boob. In the night I feed him on one boob. If he starts to suckle I disconnect him.
I will try without the music and lights. That makes sense.
I am thinking he is dealing with my boob as a prop. How do I get him out of that?
I agree, 12 hours seems kind of long for him.
How do I know which feeding is the real thing?
I don't mind him waking earlier. He is actually awake around 6am but I don't feed him until 7:30a
When would you recommend a dreamfeed?
Do you think he is getting enough solids? a total of 1 jar a day? He weighs 17 pounds
How do I know if he is really up in the middle of night?
His diaper is huge when he wakes up so I know he is eating alot. I use overnight diapers because he used to wake up drenched.

[Vicku]

If he can go 4 hrs between feeds in the day at times, it's safe to assume he doesn't need to be fed more frequent than that in the night either. If you do a df at about 11 pm you should probably manage on one night feed only (say 3am-ish) and deal with all other wake ups by trying to settle back to sleep in other ways. This way you are dealing with the boob as a prop as he'll learn he only gets to eat at that time of the night. He might need the morning feed slightly earlier though, maybe at 7am. Have a look at the PU/PD board and see if you think this is an appropriate way to help him go back to sleep at NWs. Other options are shh/pat (but might be getting a bit old for that).
Re which feed is the real thing... he should be sucking regularly and you should hear him swallowing the milk. If not he might just be mainly using the boob as a paci.
Yes, I think that is enough solids at his age definitely. Rememer he should get most of his nutritional need met by milk in his first year.