6 mo with early waking/night feed

[ALmom]

I'm not sure which it is.  He regularly wakes around 4am, has a bottle, goes back to sleep on me (he has reflux, so I wait 30 minutes before laying him back down) and then wakes within 5 minutes of being laid back in his bed.  And that's him awake for the morning.  He does play happily in his bed for a while, but it's still not a good routine.

He normally eats "dinner" (approx 7 oz plus some solid food) just before 6pm and is in bed by about 6.30pm.  It normally takes him a while to settle, up to 40 minutes, but then he sleeps through till the dreamfeed around 10.30pm.

Should I give him less at dinner so we can try to tank him up during the evening?  Is it time to eliminate the dreamfeed?  Being up by 4.15am - and then having to go to work - is very tiring for me.

[*Kara*]

This is very likely a routine issue or it could be his reflux causing issues...

I will move you to the EASY forum and get some reflux eyes as well.

A few questions though: how old is LO now?  Is he treated for reflux?  If so, which meds, how often and how much?  Current weight?

What does your current day look like in EAS format?

Like this:

E 7am
A
S  10-12pm etc..

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there, welcome to EASY forum, like Kara says if you don't mind posted your schedule or a couple of days EAS pattern then we might be able to spot something that could help.

[ALmom]

He's 5.5 months old.  Last time I weighed him he was about 18lb.  He's on a minimal dose of Zantac (doctor's trying to wean him off, and he seems to be doing okay).

I don't know his full routine as DH is SAHD, but standard evening-morning:

E 5pm - some solids, about 6-7oz formula
A 5.30pm
S 6.30pm
DF 10.30pm
NF 4am
A 6.30am
E somewhere - some solids, about 6oz formula
S 8ish

I think he might be transitioning to 2 naps, but it still varies so very much.  On the days he has 2 naps it's more like:

E 4pm - some solids, about 6-7oz formula
A 4.30pm
S 6pm
DF 10.30pm
NF 4am
A 6.30am
E somewhere - some solids, about 6oz formula
S 9ish


We can't switch round the morning A and E; he wakes up between 6-6.30am and is happy to play but *won't* eat until later, and then after eating and the 30-minute wait he's tired and needs first nap. 

[Buttonbobs]

Hi sweetie, it's really difficult for me to help without some information on your LOs daytime EASY. Could your DH write down for a couple of days to enable you to post it.

From what I can see it does seem like your DS is having very long days (9-10hr nights). This may e a symptom of needing to lengthen A times or it could be a cause of Ot. Either way, if you post your EAS I can probably hp a bit more.

[ALmom]

These are all +/- 30 minutes or so:

A 6.30am
E somewhere - some solids, about 6oz formula
S 8ish
E 9.30am
A 10
S 11.30am
E 12.15pm
A 12.45pm
S 3.30pm
E 5pm - some solids, about 6-7oz formula
A 5.30pm
S 6.30pm
DF 10.30pm
NF 4am

[Buttonbobs]

That first A time seems really quite short for your LOs age. Many LOs are managing 2.5 hours between naps at this point, have a look at this link for some information:

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

I know the later A times are a little longer, but that middle nap seems a bit UT - 45 min naps are fairly typical sign of UT.

Can you try to get your DH to push that first nap a bit later over a few days?

[ALmom]

Part of the problem is that he's not hungry when he first wakes, so he wants to play (and refuses food) for up to an hour, then by the time he's eaten and had the 30 minute wait he's already been up for 2 hours.  (He tends to wake around 6.15 but is happy to make little noises in his crib for 15-20 minutes.)

If we take him out somewhere he'll stay awake longer, but then he catnaps in the car.

I feel if we could fix the very first part of his day the rest would follow on, but we just can't get him to eat earlier.

[Buttonbobs]

You don't need to worry about him eating earlier really, but can you stretch out that first A time by ten/fifteen minutes and hold at that new A for three days or so and see what happens.

Babies really don't like it when you try and extend that first A as their body clocks are used to sleep at the same time and you're trying to change things, which is for the best but they will protest the change. Be strong!

I would say to focus on the first A usually but if you think you'll have more success at extending the second A time then you try that instead as it is the second nap which is the most UT type nap. Either way, nothing will improve if you do the same thing as is currently not working for you.

[ALmom]

We're still on a 3 nap day, but he's finally stopped waking from hunger in the wee hours!  We're starting to give him breakfast soon after he wakes, and that does seem to be helping.  I also think he just hit a growth spurt (6.5 mo) because he's been alternating between absolutely starving and slightly listless/tired all day today, poor boy.

Thanks for the support and advice.  We'll keep working