8mth old waking 6-7 times anight

[Florena49]

Hi Ema,

How are naps going?any easier to settle him?
I have no experience with gradual withdrawal here, everythi g we have done was pretty much cold turkey.

[geordiemummy]

Hi Victoria, naps are great he goes down in his cot and holds my hand for about 5 mins and goes to sleep for around 1hrs 50 mins. Just wish he could go that long at night!!

Fed up today 

[Florena49]

Hang in there! Have nights got any better at all? Its worth posting ur routine to have a look at, as generally ST is easier when the routine is age appropriate.

[Skadiver13]

Yes post your EASY and we'll take a look. AS for handholding you would wean that the same way you would wean patting the back. You could start holding his hand till right before you know he's in a deep sleep then the next night when he's pretty drowsy and so on. There will be crying but you just need to reassure him using his sleepy phrase. The key is to do it gradually but always moving to the next stage after a day or two. 

[geordiemummy]

Okay EASY is as follows Monday and Tuesday as yesterday he was teething quite bad and the whole routine went out the window as he had difficulty sleeping day and night!!
Monday WU 5.45
             E 6.30 and 7.30 porridge
              A 2hrs 30 ( tried stretching but he's ready for sleep after 2hrs so really hard work)
              S 8.15 - 10.00
              E 11.00 and 12.30
              A 3hrs
              S 1.00 - 3.00
              E 4.00
        /     A 3hrs 45
              S 6.45
He woke about 8 times in the night and was Fed at 10.00, 1.30, 4.45

Tuesday
WU 6.00
  E 7.15 and 8.00
  A 2.45hrs
  S 8.45 - 10.30
  E 11.45 and 1.00
   A 3hrs
   S 1.30- 3.15
   E 4.00 and 5.00
   A 3hrs 45
   S 7.00
Woke 4 times between7 and 10.30 so Fed him at 10.30,2.00, other awakenings ( about 3 ) just turned him on side held hand and put dummy in.

I had Ralph weighed yesterday and health visitor said he should only be having 2-3 bottles a day and that he should be on 3 meals plus snacks by now,he's gone up another percentile taking him to the top one so worried I'm overfeeding him,  when I breastfed my other children I always Fed them before meals, is it different for formula? Having enough problems just getting a bottle down him during day and porridge and lunch down him let alone snacks as well!He's not taking to food as well as my other children did. She told me to drop all night feeds and to try CIO. Couldn't believe it!! Thought they were supposed to be helpful and now they've got me worried on top of everything else AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

Anyways hope EASY routine might shed some light Thanks xx

[Florena49]

Wow those naps have really lengthened havent they! Thats a victory!

Just briefly looking at your easy, I would say he is OT by the time he goes to bed. I think slowly u need to bring that first A time to 3 hours so te day shifts a little too and the awake time from last nap u til BT is not as long.

I hope u are getting some rest during the day or weekends, i know its hard with so many night wakings, we had those at some point or another. In terms of feeding in the night, im no expert at all when it comes to feeding, but Os still gets two feeds at night (9 months tomorrow), i know I have to wean one of them, but our nights only recently started getting better and if I we had a really rough night i would feed him more, just so we all can get sine sleep. Os is a big baby he weighs around 10 kilos. Do u feel he is overeating, does Ralph let u know when he is not hungry? Oskar will let me know when he is done eating whether its breastfeed or solids, he is rather explicit.

[Skadiver13]

Hi hun sounds a little like OT at BT which could cause those NW'ings. How are you settling him before 10:30. Let me address a few things as I think your health visitor in my opinion was very wrong in her advice and did nothing to help your worries.

 

I had Ralph weighed yesterday and health visitor said he should only be having 2-3 bottles a day

At this age he "should" be on a 4hr easy. So basically eating every 4 hours or so during the day and at night.  So in all reality he would still be gettind 3 or 4 feedings during the day and some babies need more some need less. You can't really over feed a baby. They tend to self regulate unless they are overfeeding due to reflux but in that case you'd see some vomiting/reflux afterwards. I really would just remove that worry all together. 

he should be on 3 meals plus snacks by now,

Again should is a relative term. My lo at this age was on 2 solid meals and they were maybe a few bites and no snacks. I found they affected his milk intake which is what he needs more of. At this age solids should be for fun. I'll see if someone else can pop on with their opinion. Can he be on 3 meals and have snacks. SURE as long as it doesn't affect his milk intake as that is where he gets his full vitamins and calories from. It sounds like you are having trouble getting him to take enough milk during the day so I really would not worry about solids right now. There is no harm in reducing solids or just not introducing more to help up his milk intake during the day.  When are you doing his solids?

She told me to drop all night feeds and to try CIO.

So tough when they don't follow the same philosophy as you but you are his mum you will do what you think is right.  However I think her telling you to drop all feeds and do CIO is harmful.  BW obviously does't believe in CIO for many reasons. As for dropping the feeds, you can ensure he's not feeding unnecessarily at night by making sure he takes a full feed right before BT  and then if he wakes before 4hrs just resettling him. So looking at your easy you feed him at 4 and 5 but are you feeding again right before bed?

As for your routine 6-7 but I'm still wondering why you turn him on his side? Can he turn on his own? Does he gets practice during the day? It sounds like the dummy could really be a prop and if he's unwilling to plug it back in himself it might be time to just wean it. I do agree with Viktoria that it might be time to push that first a to at least 3hrs.