5 mo old back to feeding 3x in the night?!

[pumpkinpie]

Hi,
 I am wondering why my 5 mo old DD has recently increased her night feedings. At 3 and 4 months, she could sleep 4-6hr chunks and only wake up once to eat. At that time, I was also working in the day so she would drink 3 or 4- 4ounce bottles of EBM at babysitter's. I've been off work the past month and it seems like she's back to her newborn nighttime eating habits.
Here's an example of last night:

8pm asleep
8:10pm awake, resettled her
8:40pm, awake, nursed
9:15-9:50pm slept
9:55-10:20pm my husband resettled her
10:30pm awake
10:45pm nursed
11pm-1:30am slept
1:35am nursed
2-3:30am slept
3:35am nursed
4:15-6am slept
6:05am nursed and up for the day

I've read BW and have been working on the EASY routine for naps. In the night, however, she will not be calmed by anything other than my breast. She may be starting to teethe, as she's been chewing and drooling a lot. Also, we just began rice cereal but this frequent night feeding started before the cereal. Not sure if this is part of it, but she sleeps in a fisher price rock n' play, which she is outgrowing. It's still safe and I was hoping to sleep train her in there before switching to the crib.

During the day she eats every 2.5-3hrs. I'm thinking she's not getting a full feed, since she gets very distracted while nursing. I'm trying a suggestion to nurse, then nurse again one hour later and gradually decrease the time in between until it's one big feed. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I appreciate any feedback. This frequent waking is taking a toll on me-I'm always exhausted and cry at the drop of a hat. I'm getting to the end of my rope.

Thanks,
Lisa

[Fiver]

How long has this been happening?  Did she have an obvious growth spurt at 4m?

[pumpkinpie]

Well she's been waking up more for about the past week...the past 3-4 days have been the most wakings and feedings.
I don't remember a 4 month growth spurt. How long do growth spurts last?

[Erin M]

Totally depends, sometimes a day or two, sometimes as much as a week.

[Fiver]

It could be that the 4m spurt has been a bit delayed, then.  If you give it a couple more days and then see how you are.

[pumpkinpie]

Ok, thanks for your replies. I think it is a growth spurt, as she just started rolling from back to tummy yesterday. I read that some growth spurts are related to developmental milestones.

[Erin M]

There's something called the "wonder weeks" - weeks when babies typically make developmental leaps -- some ladies here have found them to be dead on in terms of development!  If you google you can see when they're coming.