7 mo not bf well during the day but super hungry at night!

[eviemummy]

My little girl is 7 1/2 months old and has started waking in the night for several feeds (last night she had a dream feed at 10, then fed at 1, 3 and 5!). The trouble is that she really isn't interested in bf during the day. We have tried to give her a bottle of formula at bedtime, in the hopes this might fill her up, but she will only drink about 50ml  and consequently she is hungry throughout the night!

She has always been a really efficient feeder, and only ever feeds for about 5 mins max, and at about 5 months, she refused my left breast entirely - the supply slowly dwindled, and now she only feeds from my right breast, which means I haven't got the option of feeding her on both sides any more!

She has 3 solid meals a day, so I don't know whether to reduce these in the hopes that she will bf better? Any advice would be great as I am at a loss as to what to do!

Thanks! 

[eviemummy]

Forgot to mention that she has a cold at the moment and I think she is teething!! Happy days!

[Erin M]

Forgot to mention that she has a cold at the moment and I think she is teething!! Happy days!

I think this is your answer right here -- a lot of times our LOs are in such pain and discomfort during the day that they'll avoid nursing.  At night, she's probably not only hungry, but looking for some comfort from nursing (and there's a lot less distraction).  Have you tried some pain meds?  Or during the day, have you let her chew on something cold (teething ring, frozen washcloth, etc) before nursing so she's not so uncomfortable when it is time to nurse? 

[eviemummy]

Thanks Erin - the teething seems to have eased off a little and she is feeding much better during the day especially if we use a little teething gel a little bit before the feed, so that was probably the problem.

She is still feeding in the night though - we are trying to wean her of the dreamfeed and are currently at 9pm for that, but she is waking at 11 for a feed and then at least once in the night, usually around 2 or 3! So tired now...! However, bottle is going better, and she is now up to about 100ml of milk before bedtime. Do you think the night waking means she isn't ready to stop the dreamfeed? Whilst she is nearly 8 months, she is a small baby 

[Erin M]

It might be that she's not ready to drop it, many bf babies need nfs until a year or so.  Is she seeming like she needs the feed? (Taking a full feed, not settling without it?). The past few nights I've finally been able to settle my Ds with only feeding one side but that's been a really new development.  How is her solids intake?  You're really looking for 3 good meals of solids before dropping the df.  You might keep it for a week or two and them try again.  Things change so fast for these babies at this age!

[eviemummy]

Ahh - ok! I'll keep her on the dream feed until everything else is fully sorted then: I think the main priority has to be stopping her feeding throughout the night, so I'll try to work on that with some shh/pat and pu/pd - fingers crossed!!

Thanks for your advice - as you say the babes change so quickly that it seems that just once you've got over one hurdle another one appears: however, the smiles, laughs and cuddles is more than reward enough for a few tears here and there!! And advice of someone sane is a major plus!! 

[Erin M]

Yes, definitely cross those fingers!!  That's what I do, some nights it works, some nights not. 
Glad I come across as sane, don't feel it some days!  And yes the smiles, laughs, and cuddles are amazingly wonderful.