8mth old waking every 3 to 4 hours and crying to be fed!

[Islaclaire]

Hi there,

This parenting business is certainly an interesting one! Just when I think about posting a success story on here something happens!

My 8mth old daughter has never been particularly consistent with sleeping through. We did bw sleep training with her at 5mths old and have had some success with a few weeks of sleeping through but colds and teething reared their heads and 3mths on I kind of feel like we're back at square one again.

She's breasted and on 3 solid meals a day which she just loves. I started work again 2 days per week a month ago and she goes to her care givers absolutely fine. 2 weeks ago her 2 top teeth came through and for a week after that she was great on a night time only waking once a night for a bf. however for the past week she's been waking frequently and not settling unless I feed her, I've tried giving her water instead or my husband going in and sh patting her instead of me but she just cries and squirms and to be honest it's just easier to feed her than stay awake for hours on end. After her feed she goes down awake and we sh pat her back to sleep. I'm just not sure whether she's not getting enough milk during the day because she's so full of solid food and that's what is keeping her waking up at night.

Our easy is...

7am wake up
E -7.30 wheatbix and toast
8am bf top up
A for roughly 3.1/2hrs
S 10.30
A 11.45
E lunch solids topped up with bf
S 3.15 for about an hr to an hr and a quarter
A 4.15
E dinner
Bathtime 6.30, dress, bf and in bed by about 7.15

Then she'll wake between 10 and 11 and again about 2am... Sometimes then she'll sleep until 6.30 but other times she'll wake at 5 and I'll feed her again so she'll sleep until 7.

When she feeds during the day she doesn't feed for long, she's so easily distracted she just doesn't seem interested in bf during the day. She'll feed better at night from both sides.

After that essay - any advice? X

[Islaclaire]

Also I'm not sure whether developmental things might be affecting her too, this month has been crazy for her she is sitting up, waving, clapping and creeping trying to crawl. But how do I handle it if this is the case? X

[PaulsMom]

Yes, these Los do keep us on our toes! 

In the MOTN some times it is easier to feed them    (which is what I'm doing at the moment with my dd).  One thing I've noticed in your routine is that the solid food is first and then bf.  at this age, I would still bf first (eg. Right after she wakes) and then offer solids about an hour later.  Milk still has more calories per ounce so you are probably right about her not getting enough milk during the day. 

Wrt to distracted feeding during the day....  I know exactly what you mean.  I'll I can say is try to bf in a quiet location, dim lights, etc. 

Wrt developmental things, this is the age when there is so much going on.  Unfortunately the only way to overcome this is to allow lots of practice during the day (this also tires them out so hopefully they sleep better  ). 

[Islaclaire]

Thank you! Yes I tried to up the feeds yesterday and she slept much better, I see what you mean about the bf first, I'll swap around my routine for that too. Thanks again x

[PaulsMom]