Sudden NW at 7 mo, refusing breast during day

[julia_V_]

Hello.  I am a new member I am desperate.  Please help.

My 7 mo has been sleeping through the night (without dream feed) since 3 months old.  I started to introduce solids at 5.5 months and generally give him 2 table spoons of solids each day (morning and afternoon).  For the last 2 weeks he has been not interested in his afternoon feeds: sucks a few times and turns away, I keep offering the breast but he sucks a few times and turns, sometimes gets fussy too.  He has also started to get really fussy at bedtime (7:30), refusing the breast completely.  All he wants is a pacifier and got to sleep (he sleeps in his crib).  So far, I've been feeding him in the dark around 10 pm so that he gets his evening dose in. 

However, he still wakes up crying between 1 and 2:30 am and once again later.  I normally offer him a pacifier and try to settle him to sleep.  However, he spits the pacifier out, and the more I offer it to him the more frustrated he gets and his crying get out of control.  He also follows my hands in the dark and trying to grab my fingers as if to suck.  When I offer the breast, he eats both breasts.  So I know he wakes up from hunger.

He constantly draws his hands to deep into his mouth and sucks his fists very hard.  I do not see any teeth buds though, although his lower gums seem to be a bit swollen.

I understand that he wakes up at night because he's not getting enough food during the day.

Question:  Why could my baby be refusing the breast during the day?  Should I still feed him at night if he wakes up so hungry that he eats both breasts?  I do not want to establish bad habbits here.  It's already been going on for 2 weeks..

(btw, I haven't been giving him solids in the last 2 days thinking that maybe it was getting in a way of him nursing, but it does not seem to make any difference)
Our schedule looks like this:

8am wakup and breastfeed
10-11:15 am nap
12 pm breastfeed
12:30 pm solids 2 tbs
1:30 - 2:30 nap
4 pm breastfeed
4:30 solids 2 tbs
5-5:30 catnap
7:30 breastfeed
8pm Bedtime
10pm dreamfeed if didn't eat at 7:30

Thank you all so much

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Your feeds look fairly well spaced out but the A times are pretty low...most lo's have dropped the catnap by now, so perhaps nw's are a combo of being ut and hunger. We have just managed to space feeds 4 hourly and I have to feed in a dark quiet room to get her to feed well. Hmmm...maybe a growth spurt? I know there is one at 6 months but I dont remember when the next one is!

[*Ali*]

Have a look at this link with info on reverse cycling. It could be that it started out as distraction in the day perhaps? http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling/

I agree with pp she likely needs much longer A times to be tired enough at night. Your routine is more typical of what we would expect of a 4-5mo. Most 7mo are doing 3hrs or more between naps and only having 2 naps a day. Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

I would also work on doing a DF for now even if she eats at BT as that will be easier to phase out once you get back to having the other feeds in the day time.

Could she be teething?

[julia_V_]

Thank you both very much for your replies!!  I do realize that most babies at this age loose their catnap but I find that because my baby only naps for 30 min in early afternoon, he is so tired at 5 pm that its either bedtime or a catnap to get him to his 7:30 feed...

He is drooling a lot and chews onto everything, so I also wonder if it might be teething..  However, I don't see any teeth cutting through...

Last couple of days he has also started to wake up frequently during the night screaming and arching his entire body...  He does NOT want bf, cuddling doesnt help either...  He cries like he is in pain...  Don't know if it's teeth, tummy...

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Have you tried any new foods the last couple of days? Back arching seems more like pain from tummy upset than teeth.

My DD3 would drool and gum and gnaw on things off and on for weeks before her teeth actually showed up!