Nighttime piggy

[Little toes]

Not sure where to put this, so if it's in the wrong place pls move.

My dd is a nighttime piggy. I try to feed her more during the day, but she seems to be getting lots of calories from formula at night. She's waking up approx every 3hrs to eat, and she's really hungry. She'll take 3oz and if I try to get her back to sleep with paci or rocking, she'll complain and complain til she eats. I tried giving her an extra ounce of formula per feed during the day, I even tried dream feed but she'll still wake up to eat during the night.  Oh, and I should mention it's not a growth spurt...at those times she'll eat every 2hr.

Anyone had same prob? Need advice. TBH I'm tired of having to wake up and feed her.

Thx.

[koe2moe]

We had the same problem but we had success with DF from 3 months.  And then it failed when DS wouldn't take DF.  It's two night bottles and he just could resettle until he got a full belly.  Some advice I got here was that perhaps it's habitual.  Does she wake at exactly the same time?  If so, perhaps you can try W2S 1h before that wake time and work on getting rid of one NW at a time.  DS was taking 6-8 oz at each waking @_@.  I still get between 5:30-7:00 wake up for hunger these days. 

Or if W2S doesn't work, you can also try diluting the bottle gradually.  Work on one bottle at a time.  Work first on the one you want to get rid of first!   Is she eating solids well??  DS was on "hungry baby" formula and that made a huge difference.  HTH  hugssss :*

[*Liz*]

Your LO is 9 mths, right?

How do they fall asleep for the night and naps etc?

3oz bottles are pretty small for that age and genuine hunger so I'm wondering if it has become a prop and a 'learned hunger' issue. How big are her daytime bottles? And would dhe take a bigger one at the first wake-up and sleep longer?

I certainly think we can go ahead and wean the night feeds if I have your LO's age right. It gets to a point where you have to cut some night calories before they will take more during the day.

Can you post the rest of your feeding routine and bottle sizes to see if any adjustments there are needing in terms of 'filling a daytime tummy' before we work on getting rid of the night feeds.

[Lolly]

I agree with Liz - I wonder if it's become a prop at night to help her get back to sleep. That feed size is a small feed for her age so she's having a few snacks not full feeds. We weaned my DD's nightfeed at around 8.5 months, she was taking about 8oz and we cut it back by 1oz every few nights and eventually just offered water if she woke.

Please do post your routine and we'll see how we can help!

Laura

[Little toes]

Ok, I gotta be quick cuz she keeps waking up.

A time is 3.15hrs. She gets solids about an hour after she wakes, and bottle befor she sleeps - takes 4-6oz before am and pm nap. BT is bf with 6oz formula (which takes her usually 30mins to drink - she'll drink 2x to finish bottle).  At night she's predictable, wakes approx every 3hrs (never at same hour tho) but takes only 3oz. Bottle holds 7oz. I tried holding off on the night feeds, stretching them out, but she'll just fuss til she gets fed then she'll fall asleep again.

I wouldn't say the night feeds are a prop cuz she's genuinely hungry and there's no way of tricking her to get her back to sleep. But I do need to find a way to remove the night feeds, but slowly.

Your advice is appreciated!!!

[Lolly]

How many nightfeeds is she actually having? Does she have a dreamfeed? Does she have a dummy at all.

Can you post your day in terms of

E -starting from wake time, what times how much
A - how long
S - what times how long for

I do think that the nightfeeds are a prop though, if she is eating well in the day then she doesn't need those extra calories at her age. She should be sleeping longer than 3 hour stretches - she is going longer than that between milk feeds in the day, and the fact she fusses until you feed then sleeps but is only taking a small feed, she probably isn't that genuinely hungry but is enjoying these snacks in the night. I know my DD seemed genuinely hungry at night feeds but it only took a few days of cutting the feed down until she slept through one night then we only offered water if she woke.

You could try watering her feeds down - so you add less formula to the water for a few nights, then a bit less formula again so eventually it's so watered down she should not want it any more. Or do what we did offer less and resettle then cut again after a few nights. Have you tried just offering water? It could be that she is just thirsty at the wakings. I think I would start by trying to only feed once in the night too, if it is only 3 hours since she last ate then I would offer water only and resettle with pat/shh or PD - which ever works for you and her.

What do you think?

[Little toes]

Last night she took 4oz, so to me that's more than a prop or habit. But I do need to work on it and lately I've been wondering if she's dehydrated. I'm buying a new sippy cup today cuz the one she uses she just chews on and barely gets any water.

This morning
E- bf at 630 and was up
A - 3hrs
S - 4oz and slept 45mins. 945-1030am.

Her solid foods are mainly raw fruits, has only 1 cereal feed each day. I wonder if it's enuf. I'm going to try adding more vegs today.

She'll nap again at 145, will take bottle then 4-6oz. Hopefully sleep 1.5hr (fingers crossed)

BT - 7pm bf and bottle 4-6oz.
Up again at 1030, takes 3,4oz.....then about 3hrs later 3oz, again 3hrs later....then up for the morning between 630-7am.

[Lolly]

Does she have a bottle before every nap - does she have a bottle and then go to sleep or is she having some A time between the bottle and sleep?

Laura

[koe2moe]

LT at 9 months she might need a bit more solids.  I got the same feeling that DS was hungry and he always took more than 6oz.  What do you think about diluting the bottle so she would eat more during the day? 

[*Liz*]

Does she have a bottle before every nap - does she have a bottle and then go to sleep or is she having some A time between the bottle and sleep?

That is what I was wondering as well.

The slow and gentle route is bottle dilution - but we need to decide which bottles etc. That will only work for a 'learned snacker' type hunger though. If the bottle is a feed to sleep prop then we will need a different approach.

If you gave a 6oz bottle at the first NWing would she take it all and sleep longer than 3hrs?

[Little toes]

She has a bottle before nap....which is not BW, but it has just worked out that way.

diluting the bottle so she would eat more during the day

That's what I was trying to understand about diluting, and a gentle way of getting her to eat more during the day. Cuz just trying to get her not to eat at night just isn't happening. It's been hard to get her to eat more during the day, cuz she's taken lots of calories at night. She'd just refuse breakfast and only eat a bit of solids during the day. Lately I've had to chase her with a spoon which I hate hate hate.

add less formula to the water for a few nights, then a bit less formula again so eventually it's so watered down she should not want it any more.

So how do I do it tonight? She has bf and bottle 7pm then is already hungry before 11pm. If I keep the DF (tho she's awake) can I dilute the other feeds? Just water them down? So if I usually do 4oz water, 2scoops formula....then how do I prepare it...4oz water 1 scoop formula?

My goal is to get her interested in foods during the day as opposed to bottle at night.

Thanks for all the help.

[Little toes]

Liz, I can try to stuff her at bt with bf and bottle, but it's never enuf (cuz she's so used to night eating/snacking). So for a DF she'll take 4oz but still be a pain in the butt the rest of the night.

[koe2moe]

LT, like Liz said.. if you give her a bigger bottle, would she take it?  If not, then yeah dilute it gradually.  Not too drastic, or else she will wake up again sooner LOL.. you don't want that. Give her a few days to adjust the day time intake, 3 days later, dilute a bit more.  Say start with 1.5 scoops.  

[*Liz*]

Essentially yes - you dilute all the way to water - but hopefully they will drop it first.

Sorry I missed this part - DOES she fall asleep on the bottle for naps and at night?

[Little toes]

Yeah, she eats then sleeps. I know it's not proper bw, but it works and considering all the health probs we've been thru, i'm not gonna try changing it.

Diluting starts tonight! Wish me luck!