help with 6month easy ? help please ! x

[lozzy b]

hi my son is 6 months old next week and i am getting so confused his day are so funny he used to be on a good 4 hr easy but now he wakes up lots at night and his naps are ok but he has to be swaddled which he breakes out off loads
  his current easy is like this ? he is ok 2 small meals a day as hv said to start weaning him earli,

WAKES - 7am ish

E- 7am- 2/3oz ( isn't really hungry at this time)
(S)-8am- 4teaspoons - baby rice

A-7am
S-9ish - 10.30/11am

E - 11am - 6oz
A - 11am
S - 1.15pm -2.15pm

A- 2.15pm
E- 3pm - 6oz
A-
S-4.15 - 5pm

A- 5pm( bedtime routine at 6pm)
E-7ish- 5/6oz
A-
S- 7.15ish pm ( goes to bed )

wakes at 9ish( goes back to sleep)

Df - 11pm - 5 oz

wakes at 1.30am ( goes back to sleep)
wakes at 3.30am  (6oz of milk)
wakes at 5isham (chats thn goes back to sleep)

wakes at 7am (start day)


please help me as he dosnt drink anymore that 6oz at a time but is still hngry at night ?/


laura x

[frano]

Hiya, sound like you've really got the hang of easy!! It's great isn't it.
Don't know if this is right or wrong but my dd (now 8 mo) was in a similar situation with the middle of the night feed and not keen on morning bottle so I decreased the amount I gave her in the middle of the night, only giving her enough to stop the hunger and settle her back to sleep. Then in the morning she took a few more ounces and I gradually got rid of the middle of the night feed and increased the morning feed. It needed tweaked a few times but woerked for me.
HTH
Fran

[lozzy b]

yes fran i do love easy lol but not evry day is the same my little one went to sleet at 7pm half swaddled i left his arm out and he fell asleep fine so i am definatly going to try and decrease his milk tonight just so that when i take the bottle out he dosent scream anymore . when did u stop you dd's Df??

laura x

[frano]

Just stopped it about 3 weeks ago, it actually happened accidently, one night she just went without and that was it!! But with Ds I sarted to bring the time I gave it to him forward at about 7 months and it was gone by the time he was 8 months.
She's also only been out of the swaddle for a month and still sleeps with a piece of the swaddle blanket in her hand. I thought that I'd still be swaddleing her when she went to school lol

[*Liz*]

Do you think fighting the swaddle might actually be disturbing sleep? Are you weaning it at the moment.

The routine doesn't look too bad - but the luchtime nap is a little short at only 1 hr, and then there is 2 hrs A before the catnap and 2hrs 15 until bed so I'm wondering if he might actually be a bit OT at bedtime, leading to some of the NWings.

Have you tried any other A times to lengthen that nap? How does he wake from the lunchtime nap? Happy and chatty or crying?

I'm the WORST person to comment on night feeds as I still feed my 9 mth old at night - although he has reflux and is very small. But ((hugs)) it is frustrating, isn't it? I have never dream fed as my DS didn't take to it when I was BFing, and I decided he was too old to bother when I switched to bottles. I would try to slowly decrease it by 1oz every 3 days and then see whether your lo is prepared to take more during the day. I think there are some babies who cannot manage more than 6oz of milk as their tummies are too small. If that is the case it will be a metter of slowly waiting until the solids are more established. But you don't want to give any more calories at night than you have to.

Lots of people keep the dream feed until 9 mths or so depending on how well their los take to solids.

[lozzy b]

yes he dose sometimes fight the swaddle well today was hard for me at his morning nap i swaddled him but at his lunchtime nap i was out and had nuthink to swaddle him in so i just tried to get him 2 sleep without being swaddled he just cryed and cryed and cryed untill he started sucking on his teddys ear and he fell asleep and for his atnap in the late afternoon i gave him teddy and didnt swaddle him and he fell asleep. and at bedtime i put him in a gro bag and gave him teddy he fell asleep and hasn't yet woken up!


last night he woke at 1.30 3.30 and at 5 and 7am
so very hard x

he ate a 5 oz bottle at 3.30 but only drank 4oz at 7am x

laura x

[*Liz*]

Well lets see how he gets on without the swaddle. Sounds like weaning it is a good idea. The time is right, as they say!! Fighting it at this age is a cue that they should be ready to leave it behind - but you might get a few bumpy days while he learns how to self soothe with his arms.

My DS soothes the same way - he chews on a little teddy.

Let me know how tonight and tomorrow goes and then we can see what we need to change. Best sort the swaddle first now you have started - too many things at once is just toooo confusing.

Fingers crossed for tonight for you 

[lozzy b]

hi

last night wasn't to bad he woke at 9 and cryed so i did pu -pd but it mad him worse i think he just screamed and i gave him a dummy to help soothe him and he kept on taking it out with his hand which mad things worse he final fell asleep and then he ate 6 oz at his d/f and woke once at 4 to drink 4 oz of milk he then woe at 710am and wasn't hungry he  ate 1oz of milk? should i go col d turkey with the dumm ydo u think?

laura x

[*Liz*]

PU/PD never really worked for me either - I found he was easier to resettle with a cuddle, calm, back in the cot and shh/ptt in there. Although by 6 mths I guess he had got fed up of the shh/ptt really. PU/PD isn't really compatable with dummy use either as it is to teach self soothing - but they cannot use a dummy for theis as they cannot contol it themselves.

That doesn't sound too bad for a first night out of the swaddle - his wakes were the same perhaps he just found it harder to go back to sleep.

I'm not sure about the dummy - how often do you use it? Does he need it to fall asleep? Do you want to get rid of it? My DS never took a dummy so I'm not the best person to advise on this one. If you believe it is a sleep prop then if often is worth weaning. Perhaps post on the props board and see what others think.

I still think he is a bit OT at bedtime and that is contributing to the NWings.

I would try increasing the A a little bit before the second nap to see if that improves the length of it a little - so try and extending with some low key activity to make the A closer to 2.5 hrs. I know the first A is nearer 2 hrs but it is often the shortest, and at 6 mths your lo should be able to handle 2.5 - 3hrs when well rested. Only add 10 mins or so the first time though. If we can lengthen that nap then the catnap will be a bit later to get you to bedtime. At the moment you are doing a full A on a short catnap.

When he wakes at 4am I assume you cannot resettle without the feed? I would try and slowly reduce the amount by 1/2oz every 2-3 days to try and eliminate it slowly.

Hope this makes sense - let us know how it goes today.

[lozzy b]

today he only ate 13 oz of milk all together he didnt want his bottle at all he ate 4 oxz befor bed he has had good sleeps today and yes we do use the dummy to fal asleep but today he didnt use it wen starigh to sleep ! xx

[*Liz*]

Its hard when they don't eat very much. I know something about that as DS have severe reflux and is a terrible eater.

I would still aim to give the minimum you can overnight though as you want him hungry tomorrow to make up for it - not catching it all up with night calories.

Do you think your DS is teething? Its about the right age!

If your DS is sleeping without his dummy then you could just cut down its use slowly. Saves you from the horror of a cold turkey. It is best to encourage true independent sleep if you can.