question about night feedings 6 month old?

[lindseybanks]

Hi,
I posted here before and it was so helpful. But now I am confused all over again. My 6 month old wakes at around 10:00, 1:30 and 4:30. I have feed her at these times and she takes a full feed. So I know she is hungry, and I cant seem to get her to eat more in the day. Our easy is

6 am wake and A
7 bf
7:30 solids
8:45 -10:30 sleep
10:30 bf
12 solids
1:45 bf
2 - 3:30 sleep
4 bf
5 solids
6 bf
6:30 bed

I know it seems like a lot of feeding... it is because I have been trying to feed her more in the day time. But it has not made any difference. The 4 pm bf is always light but the 1:45 one she acts like she has not eaten all day.

She does put her self to sleep. But we do have a slight prop issue with a dummy but I am just trying to ride it out until she can put it back in herself. I think we are almost there

Also, it is daylight savings. I have been trying to get her to wake up later and go to bed later for a month. I dont think she has ever slept past 6:30.... which will now be 5:30. Does anyone have any other advice. (besides the putting to bed 1 hour later and changing in 15 minute increments. I have done both.) I was thinking about keeping her up supper late one night but I am afraid. We just got through the 45 minute nap faze. I hate the idea of getting into an ot ut loop. But 5am is sooooo painful.

Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it! It seems like everyone else I talk tells me I will just have to let her CIO. Yikes!

[becj86]

I know it seems like a lot of feeding... it is because I have been trying to feed her more in the day time. But it has not made any difference.

I'd say its probably ok, actually.

There are some developmental things happening at 6 months that can affect sleep, as well as a growth spurt. http://www.thewonderweeks.com/index.php/about-the-wonder-weeks/your-babys-10-leaps/mental-leap-5

Are these 3 feedings just carrying on as before or are they more numerous than before? What happens if you give her the dummy instead of feeding?

re: daylight savings... maybe try sneaking in a catnap (APOP likely required) and PD for bed at say 8:30 instead of 6:30 - doing it for one day isn't likely to cause too much of an issue and my just get her sleeping a little later. The other thing is are there any noises/lights or anything that would wake her at 6:00 regularly? Just thinking that if its the neighbour going for work or something, that will change to 6am with daylight savings anyway unless they're off to milk the cows

[lindseybanks]

Thank you for the link to that artical.

She was waking only 2x's at 4 months we even had a few nights where she woke up only once, then she started waking like 6xs when I tryed to give her the dream feed. Now most of the time it is 3xs. If I give her her dummy she will settle for a few minutes then spit it out, and she starts to get upset. How do I know when it is time to start night weening. When should I expect for her to sleep through the night?

I will try to keep her up tomorrow night. She is having a rough day today. But I hope it works ! Thanks for the advice. 

[becj86]

How do I know when it is time to start night weening. When should I expect for her to sleep through the night?

It varies from baby to baby. Night Feeds and the Breast Fed Baby The general rule of thumb is that she should be going as long at night as she can in the day, so if her feeds are 4hr apart during the day, then resettle if she wakes before 4hr and feed if she wakes after 4hr (always ensure that LO has gone back to sleep even if only for 5 min before feeding if you reach the 4hr mark while resettling).

3 feeds overnight is not unusual at 6 months. Are her wakings habitual? Just wondering if the DF trained her to eat at that time too, yk?

[lindseybanks]

So I did not keep her up any later tonight. She missed her afternoon nap. So yea 5am. Maybe she will be tired enough to sleep a little later.

I do think that trying the df led to the extra waking. I want to try w2s but she wakes anywhere from 10am to 11:30. So I dont feel very confident. Same with the other wakings. They are not a specific time, and it seem like she eats a lot.. maybe even more than when I feed her in the day time. Less distractions I guess.

"rule of thumb is that she should be going as long at night as she can in the day"
So I am a little confused about this too. Does that include solids? Should I be feeding her solids closer to the time that I am breast feeding?

Thank you again!!!

[Erin M]

"rule of thumb is that she should be going as long at night as she can in the day"
So I am a little confused about this too. Does that include solids? Should I be feeding her solids closer to the time that I am breast feeding?

No, that does not include solids, it just means that if she can go 4 hours between breastfeeding sessions during the day, she should be able to go that long at night.  Solids don't add a whole lot in the way of calories at this age, so we don't count them when we figure out how long they can go between "meals"