22 week old baby; night wakening....help?

[louise24]

Hi

could anyone please give me some general advice? My 22 week old baby daughter has been a fantastic sleeper since birth;slept pretty much straight through. She is on 4 hour easy routine and working well. On the rare occasions she did wake in the night, we were able to settle her with pat and shhhh or PU/PD if needed without having to feed her.

She recently had a sickness bug and was not drinking much of her milk during the day; feeds were having to be watered down and she was only drinking bare minimum in fluids during day. She is pretty much back on track health wise but feeds still a few ounces less during day atm. She has now started waking in the night and previously where pat/shhhh would work, this now makes her worse and she becomes very distressed. I am now having to feed her during NW but she is only taking about 3-4 ounces which makes me think she is not that hungry and maybe using this as a prop to get back to sleep??? I'm worried I am getting her into bad habits by feeding her in the night as she is now waking every night when she never used to. As she is still only taking a slightly smaller amount of ounces during the day at the mo, I am wary not to feed her in case she is hungry? Please help xx

[Bex09]

Hmm this is a tricky one because I would be tempted to say if your DD is still not fully recovered and not drinking much then go ahead and feed. I do take your point though that she is only taking a small amount so does she really need it?

Hang in there hun and I will see if I can get some more eyes on this for you. Hugs for your poor DD too, being sick is horrible.

[*Kara*]

Hugs hun!

I would maybe try reducing the bottle in the night by an ounce every few days and then add a bit extra to her first bottle in the morning to encourage her to wean that feed.

Does she wake at a random time each night?  How much is she taking in during the day?  Weight?

[becj86]

Just checking in - how's it going, Louise?

[louise24]

Sorry for the late replies, had problems with my internet. My LO has always been a good eater and has consistently gained weight; she now weighs 15llb 110z. She was seen by HV last week however as I was worried she was still fussing to much over bottles and taking only approx 20oz within a 24 hour period as opposed to the 26oz she would normally take. HV stated she was not concerned as she was fit and well and told me to relax; easier said than done! She also thought it may have something to do with the fact I am weaning atm with first tastes and that she may genuinely be bored with her bottles.

Were now back to 4 hour EASY and although she is only taking about 22oz per day, she seems happy and back to her normal self. On the few occasions she has woken, we have tried patting in cot to read her signs (which have all been just tiredness)then used the PU/PD; its very exhausting doing it and not nice when my LO is crying but we've stuck to it and thankfully she has always gone back down to sleep. To date, my LO has started sleeping right through the night again, hoorah!

Thanks for all the advice, very much appreciated indeed xxxx

[*Kara*]

Great news!

If she drops her milk any more, I would cut back on solids... nutritionally, milk is far more in terms of fat/calories than the solids she has.

[louise24]

Yeah will do; so far so good, she took 26oz today so I can breathe a sigh of relief! x

[*Kara*]

Phew!  I did find that DD would drop her intake for a few days if I increased the amount of solids I let her have... and of course, when we added in new "meals".