8 month old waking lots and still feeding in night

[emmyheats]

Hi all!
So my son is now 8 months old and has always fed in the night and shows no signs of dropping this! He will wake at different times each night so I don't think it's habit, plus he will take anything from 6 to 8.5 oz bottles.  Some nights he'swoke up at 12 am aand fed and then again at 5! We cut out the dream feed at 5.5 months on advice from the he to see if he would go through, and he can sometimes go from his 7 pabbottle through to 2 am but that's a very good night. If he's not teething he will sleep soundly either side of the night feed, waking up at different times in the morning.  He has always been very fussy in the day on his bottles as he's so nosey and inquisitive I always found it hard to get him to take his bottles unless he was tired or distracted.  Now he's on 3 meals a day and loves his solids he refuses any bottles in the day, so I'm stuck feeding him at night! Although he was feeding in thenight bbefore he started dropping all his bottles! I don't mind getting up and feeding him in night, my worry is just that he will never drop that feed!! I don'twant him to gget to1 year aand still be feeding him!! Any ideas?!

Thanks

P's I tried giving him water in night but he just screamed until he got a bottle then drank a full 8.5 oz!!

[katie80]

Hi there, sorry you haven't gotten a reply yet. So, is he not having any bottles during the day, only solids? And how many NFs?

I think you definitely need to cut back on solids if he's not taking milk during the day. It's not unusual at this age for kids who really like solids, but milk is still more important. Solids aren't all that necessary before 1yr.

I'd also start working on lowering the oz he takes in the MOTN and try to get him to take it during the day instead. Do it slowly, one bottle at a time, but you're right, if you don't push to change it, he likely won't change on his own.

As for distractibility... does it help to feed in a darkened room or right upon waking from a nap when he's still a bit drowsy?

[emmyheats]

Thanks for replying! Appreciate it 

he feeds once in the night but will take a good bottle. He wasn't taking any bottles in the day but iv discovered that he will take bottles in the day if he'sIin his pushchair or car seat,  or even propped up by pillows,  just doesn't want to be held?! Guess he wants his independence? He will also take it if he's sleepy too - iv noticed that I just need to get him distracted enough or to b still enough to slow down to take it. So he's some times taking his morning bottle now at 7 followed by breakfast,  then a good 6-7 oz at 11 followed by lunch at 12 /1230, then sometimes one at,  followed by small tea St 4/430 and a bottle at 7. I sometimes find that it's best not to give him the 3 pa bottlebbecause he then won'ttake his 7 pon one or doesn't take much of it and wakes earlier in the night.

No darkened room doesn't help, pushchair is only thing working at the moment! Is this weird?!

So on trying to getting him to stop feeding in the night what do I do? What if he is genuinely waking because he's hungry? Shouldn't I feed him? I don't know what to do!! He's quite hard to settle if he wakes up fully in the night and after trying everything else usually the only thing that works is giving no him a bottle and then he will take a good 7-8 oz, which what makes me think it's hunger rather than comfort?

He's always been very fussy on bottles and iv always had to work hard to get him to take them, by trying different temperatures,  positions, feeding when sleepy etc etc. Solids are things he likes most! Even when he's taken 25 -30 oz in a 24hhe period plus 3 good meals (with cars and proteins) he will still wake in night and I end up having to feed him!!

Any advice would be great xx

[geordiemummy]

Hi,

Just to sympathize with you really as my LO feeds frequently during the night too and he's terrible with distractions when he's feeding. He's just turned 8mths. I find it helps if I feed him sat up on my knee facing outwards so he can tilt head back to look at me and I sing something to him or I just talk about anything,i.e. what we're having for tea, where we're going etc and he becomes more interested in my face and just stares and drinks away although generally in 2-3 oz bursts so feeding can be a long and drawn out process but I stick with it.

Inquisitive little things aren't they?  I'm sure you will get some help and support that will point u in the right direction.

Ema xx

[Skadiver13]

Can you post your EASY with oz's drank and solids eaten?

[emmyheats]

Hi

yep I think our babies are similar Emma! Iv tried lots of things to get himtto takehis bottles but the ttruth is he's always been a very nosey baby and as soon as he noticed his surrounding he was very easily distracted. He is teething badly at the moment as nearly all his teeth have cut through in the space of 2 months,  so I was thinking that might be what is up at the moment as he's worse than usual. He's even fussy on his solids which isn't him!

It's at the point that he will never take his 7 on bottle unless he's sleepy and not always then either.  This is a problem because if I out him down to sleep he will go to sleep without the bottle but then he'smissed tthat bottle and therefore not taking enough oz in the day. I was thinking of trying to give him a bottle at 4 on instead of his solids at that time,  then giving him his tea at 530/6 to swap it around so that he doesn't get the 7 on bottle. ... what do u think?

In terms of his routine this us a typical day at the moment:
6 - wake up - A for bout 1 orcas he won't take bottle straight away
7 - E - this Iis bottle propped up on mat (won't take it if held) and can vary from 3 oz to 6 oz. Followed by big bowl of porridge made with 3-4 oz of milk. Sometimes bit if fruit too.
730-830/9 - A
830/9 - S for anywhere bbetween 45 mins to 1.5 he's
10 is -A
11 - E - I offer him a bottle which he takes in pushchair anywhere from 3 oz to 6 and sometimes when sleepy.
11 ish - S for maybe 45 -1 hour usually in pushchair
1230 - E - solids - protein and carbs and veg, roughly 12th followed by yoghurt or fruit.
1300 -230- A
230/3- S for anywhere from 45 mins to 1 hr
430 - solids same as above but no pudding usually.
430-7 A including bedtime routine eg bath book etc.
7 -E if he takes bottle
7-130 am -S
130 am - E
2-5/6 - S

does change though because today he napped late from 430 on to 5 pm and was fed late. Naps are an issue as he will have a good nap in the morning usually but the othertwo are hit and miss. He's always been a cat napper.

any advice would b great x

[katie80]

Sorry to reply, then disappear!

I've never been a bottle feeder, so you may want to take my advice with a grain of salt, but honestly I'd cut back on the solids a bit. At his age, he really only needs two meals per day and I'd rather get that good BT feed with milk than to be full from too many solids at that point, as the solids he is getting now are still likely to be much less calorie dense than milk.

It also looks like your EASY could use a tweak. At 8mo, you want to be shooting for 2 solid naps and a bit more A time. I'm guessing this is some of the cause of the NWs as well. I don't think it's uncalled for for him to still have just one NF, but I think typically you want to start working at getting rid of that by 9/10mo. And, I think his not eating in the morning and having more oz at night than he does in any one bottle is an indication he doesn't really 'need' the NF.

What if you tried an EASY more like this...
W/E 6/6:30am
A solids 7:30ish am
S 9:15/30am
E 11am
A solids 12pm
S 2:30pm
E 4pm
A
E 7pm
S 7:30pm

The other option would be to not do solids at 12pm, do another bottle before the second nap at 2pm and then solids after at 4pm. Then, he'll hopefully take a good bedtime feed at 7. Here are some links that might help with the EASY... chronological EASY samples, 7-9 months, Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

So on trying to getting him to stop feeding in the night what do I do? What if he is genuinely waking because he's hungry? Shouldn't I feed him? I don't know what to do!! He's quite hard to settle if he wakes up fully in the night and after trying everything else usually the only thing that works is giving no him a bottle and then he will take a good 7-8 oz, which what makes me think it's hunger rather than comfort?

He may be hungry, but it could be 'learned' hunger. Have a read through this and see what you think... How we stopped the night feeds with a 9 month old