8months old, NW 3 nights, I don't want this to become a habit

[LucK]

Hi,
I need some advice my LO almost 8 months started to NW 3 nights in a row at different times always (10pm, 2:30am and 12am).  She’s clearly hungry as my DH went to comfort her the first night and I think went to her 3 or 4 times until he realized she was hungry.  After I BF her she goes right back to sleep.  BTW, my LO is independent sleeper.  She also has an EW (I treat as NW) around 5 to 6am for BF and then she goes back to sleep. I’ve noticed she’s sleeping longer in the morning I guess to catch up on lost sleep at night?  I wake her at 7:30 if she’s not up then but should I wake her sooner?
Other stuff going on is that she seems to be less interested in BF during the day sometimes, she tends to be distracted and wants to play rather than nurse or if she nurses doesn’t seem to finish the first side before asking for the second side.  Can’t really figure this out as she’s been on solids now for almost two months but haven’t been introducing any new foods or giving her more solids for a while as we’ve been dealing with constipation and trying to get that under control.   I think last 3 days her poos are becoming less painful.  Prior she was waking up from her second nap screaming as she was pooping.  I think was getting OT and started to wake from her second nap after 35minutes for about 4 days so I thought NW could be related to her being OT but yesterday she had two good naps and still woke at 12am.

This is her EASY:
5-6am BF and back to sleep

6:30-7am BF (not always hungry)
7:30am solid food purees

9am nap usually 1 to 1.5hrs

10:30am BF
11:45am solid food purees

1:30pm nap usually 1 to 1.5 hrs

5:00solid food finger foods mainly as an active to join her 3year old sister

Depending on her naps and how tired she is the BT is between 6 and 6:30 (prior tried for later bedtime to get her to drop EW feed but never worked but should I try again?)

5:30/6:00 BF, bath and bed

What should I do, I don’t want to start night feeding again now?

[LucK]

So yesterday she STTN but woke for a feeding just before 5am and then slept to just after 6am.  She had good naps during the day but last night woke 12:45am for a feeding and again at 4:30am.  She was up for the day at 6am....   

I'm also wondering if it's BF connected, she feeds great at night but is distracted during the day and seems to be more fussy.  I'm thinking teething but there is no gum swelling and my dd1 got her first tooth at 12 mnths so don't want to put this on teething.

any suggestions?

[LucK]

She is biting on anything she can get her hands on much more so maybe it is teething.  When she wakes my DH tried to console and she got more upset.  When I pick her up she is asking to feed so I haven't tried to sooth another way.  I think if I did she would cry and get more upset.   Any suggestions?

Solids are going well but she's a bit more gassy now (this was always a problem).  Last few days after she is put to bed, we may have to go to her 2 or 3 times to burp her.  Normally she falls asleep at BT within 5 minutes or at least she is not moving.  But now she's more restless and grunts and has little burps when we go to her to burp her.  She's been constipated after starting solids and for about 2 weeks i've been giving her flax seeds which is working well as a laxative but it may be causing the gas.  I don't think the gassiness is making her wake at night though but it takes her longer to fall asleep and i think she's OT too now.

[creations]

Couple of things you might look at:
- Are you offering water at meal times?  I'm just wondering if there is thirst considering she is asking for the second breast without finishing the first, ie looking for the quencher and not the hind milk?  It could be thirst in the night if she hasn't had enough liquid in the day.  Lack of water could also be leading to constipation?

- As you have an early BT I would try out the last solid meal even earlier than 5pm.  When I started DS on solids we also had increased requests for milk (but he is bottle fed and getting water too) and NWs but it did not continue for as long as your LO has.  I found leaving a good gap between solids and BT helped, a couple possible reasons for that 1. time to let it go down and get the wind out to prevent discomfort in the night, 2. longer between solids and BT milk to give a good chance for a full milk feed prior to sleep.  This may go against common opinion but I feel a good milk feed gets them through the night rather than filling up on solids.

- avoid whole grain foods for any of the solids meals whether finger food or purée.  These fill up their tummies too much and don't allow them to eat enough.  So no whole grain pasta, brown rice etc.

- there's an interesting thread over on the solids board which you might glean some insight from
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54820.0
I found it very helpful to identify what might be causing the poops to firm up so much although DS didn't suffer full blown constipation (rather than 'all' solids it might be certain foods).  In our case I have identified carrots (amongst a couple of others) as a firming food, too much carrot and he gets too firm.  Once you identify these foods you can treat the constipation from both angles (ie giving laxative foods but also avoiding the constipating ones).  I use prunes as finger food to balance out the carrots.  If you suspect flax seeds might be causing gas there are lots of other suggestions for laxative foods to treat the constipation naturally (of course if it looks like it cannot be controlled naturally you need to get meds from the doc so it doesn't get too bad).

- If you suspect distraction during BF then set up a new habit of feeding in a different/quiet room away from the TV, toys, other people etc and see how that goes for a few days.  Maybe even a little 'wind down' time prior to the feed.

I've always felt very fortunate for having an independent sleeper, not only because it means we can get some Y time and sleep but also because you then know that when they wake in the night and call for you they really do have a real need.  I think if you have a good independent sleeper she will return to good nights once her current 'problem' is solved whether that is thirst, gas, constipation, teething or something else.

hope something here might help a little x

[LucK]

Thanks for all the info.
- yes I offer water but only with solids because of the constipation,  I guess I thought if she's drinking to much water her tummy will be too full to BF.  She has I would say 5 really wet diapers a day.  I've also started to change once at night since the extra feeding.  How often should I offer water???

-I agree about good BF/milk before BT is important.  The reason for the 5pm dinner is that is when my 3yr old and I eat dinner and she always got upset and wanted to join in.  Her dinner is usually a bit of banana or sweet pot as a finger food so that she doesn't fill up too much.  I was offering her this meal for a bit and night wakings didn't start.  About gassiness, I do think flax could be the cause.  I checked my log and as soon as her poops became softer NW and gassiness started (this is almost 10 days after starting flax though).  So I'll stop with the flax and see if I can find other foods to help her.  She's only eating few foods and I haven't been able to pin point which food is causing the constipation

again thanks

[creations]

It makes total sense that you are offering the finger foods at that time, and in general I don't think 5pm would be too late for dinner at all, it's only that with her having an EBT it ends up being quite close.
How about trying some different finger foods instead?  I think with my DS sweet potato as well as carrot causes him to firm up (which is good if he's on the soft side!), I also remember reading on the laxative thread that some people find banana is constipating (whilst others find it laxative), so it could be these foods?

I don't know enough about breast feeding to give advice about how often water should be offered.  I do believe it should be offered at least at meals times.  I'll see if I can get an answer for you though so bare with me.
With bottle feeding I offered DS water in between meals/milk too once we started solids but formula doesn't offer the quencher drink like breast milk does.  It might be that another BF could be offered just after a solids meal, for thirst reasons rather than hunger iyswim.  But lets wait for some info.

[Shiv52]

Just chiming in on the water!  I EBF and offered a sippy of water at meals but also kept a sippy about throughout the day and just let them sip away. 

My DD2 has a lot of constipation issues too and was diagnosed MPI at 8 months.  Cutting back on dairy help but bananas were so so constipating. 

- If you suspect distraction during BF then set up a new habit of feeding in a different/quiet room away from the TV, toys, other people etc and see how that goes for a few days.  Maybe even a little 'wind down' time prior to the feed.

Have you tried feeding at the end of a nap.  If you can get her latched on before she totally wakes up you should find she gets  a letdown and most of a feed before she even wakes up.

[LucK]

Yes, today I did all feeds after she woke up in her room still dark and the white noise on.  This helps but my boobs still feel heavier after a feed then they used to.  Before she would feed and still suckle for a bit completely emptying them. 

The feeding before bed is tough.  I feed her before bath in my room, bath her and dress her and then take her to her room for a song and bed.   I'm feeding her lying down side by side with me and she seems to enjoy this and eats better but still gets agitated.  I think at this point she's tired but also eager for the bath.  I'm thinking about feeding right before bed in her room but am afraid I won't be able to burp her well enough becasue most likely she will fall asleep at the boob and then more night wakings.  More and more I'm thinking this is a gas problem and I'll try some food suggestions in the laxative foods post for the constipation. 

BTW, she was already eating flax when I gave her banana and it didn't make constipation worse.  I always give her ripe bananas though.