Author Topic: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?  (Read 3625 times)

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Offline Newbie mum

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6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« on: September 14, 2014, 18:15:31 pm »
Hello, my dd is 6 months and 2 weeks old. Always had a windy tummy which has meant she's never been the best sleeper but not the worst either. She's always wanted to sleep but woken because of tummy not for any other reason.

For the last week she has been waking at 0010 or 0015 for a feed then back to sleep until 0700ish or waking before that with wind but going back to sleep without coming out of the cot.

I'm starting to wonder if this midnight waking is becoming a habit as its the same time each night? and a lot earlier than it used to be. She is taking some solids too and the same amount of milk as always. What do you mums think? If it's habit, what can I do about it?

I was always too scared to try a dream feed and guess it's too late now?
Any thoughts appreciated  :)

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Offline Newbie mum

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2014, 12:31:06 pm »
Last night she woke at 0230 so an hour later and the lasted until 0600 so maybe not habit?

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2014, 13:03:02 pm »
I'm thinking not then hun. I wouldn't do a DF now as you'll be looking to drop it any way in a month or two. Does she go back to sleep ok after the feed? Of so, I'd just feed whenever she wakes around that time.

Later on, when you're happy to drop that feed you can use the same principles of cutting out the DF by offering less and less each time, or diluting the formula with more water gradually.

Hth xx



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2014, 19:44:38 pm »
Thanks for the advice, yes she goes straight back to sleep. Will see what happens tonight. Unfortunately I made a big mistake today.. After a lovely calm day with excellent naps ai stupidly let her nap for an hour at 5.30 and she's now wide awake and won't settle  :'(

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2014, 06:28:35 am »
Oh dear, thinking that might be the start of the 3-2 anyway, that happens around this age. BT shenanigans especially after good naps and that long CN is too be expected I'm afraid. Live and learn eh?!  ;)



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2014, 09:18:36 am »
Sure did! She has also started waking earlier than normal 6ish rather than between 0700-0720 so I am going to start the 3-2 nap transition today... Fingers crossed! She's currently sleeping and was awake for about 4 hours as we was weighed today at the HV drop in. She did very well as she must have been tired..hope she naps well. I will have a look at the 3-2 nap resource on here, but am I correct in thinking the 1st morning nap will become the long one? Rather than the one after lunch? Am I still aiming for 3-3.5 hours of sleep in the day?

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2014, 11:50:31 am »
It really does depend on your LO hun. The idea behind dropping the CN is that once the A times reach around 3hrs, there's just not enough hours in the day anymore. Initially you may find the NS increases slightly, then as she gets used to being on two naps and the A times increase slightly again, BT gets a little later.

Ideally you'd get two long naps in the day. Remember if any of the naps are shorter EBT is key to help them catch up. Here's the link for you. Let me know if you have a questions. Also there's a 3-2 support thread that's really helpful with others that are in the same boat All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2014, 16:52:46 pm »
Hi *kellyj* my little one is now waking twice in the night for a bottle and is really hungry for it. It's the only thing she wants and when she's drunk it falls straight to sleep. She's not needed two feeds over night for months :-(
She is having solids in the day and the same amount of milk as she always does (4 hourly).. I guess the obvious thing is to give her more food in the day but I am a bit nervous about that as she has been waking with wind at night I think more so than normal because of the introduction of solids (although I think I have been giving her food too late and perhaps giving her too much food too fast).
Any suggestions?

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2014, 11:41:02 am »
I would actually increase the amount in the bottles in the day by 1-2oz and see if she takes it rather than increasing her solids hun. Milk is far more important before they hit 1yo and actually has far more calories in it so is more likely to see her through the night than solids iykwim?

I would offer her her bottle then do solids an hour after that. We always did dinner by around 4-4.30pm latest so she'd take her nt bottle. Mind you, I don't think we even did dinner until around 8mo. Just did a tiny amount of breakfast and lunch by 7mo. Milk is their primary source of nutrition and as the saying goes 'solids before one is just for fun' x



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2014, 19:43:16 pm »
That's very interesting Kelly, I've often wondered if she needed a bit more milk when she has formula as she'll down the bottle so quickly and then get upset when it's all gone as if she wants more. I've never given more as I've always followed the instructions on the tin and amount they suggest for her age. I also read that you know when a baby is full after formula because they should leave a few ml in the bottle- not sure if that is correct?
I think I was racing to get her having 3 meals a day (as thought this was what I was supposed to do) and now that I have reduced this a lot she seems better from a wind point of view. She's ravenous in the morning and gets so excited when she sees the bowl I make her porridge in and then has some lunch. We've stopped giving her dinner for now (or just give some baby custard and fruit) which I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do, so good to read that your lo didn't have 3 meals until later on.
We bought some Hipp night milk today as noticed it in the supermarket. Have you any experience of it? As I mentioned my lo gets a windy tummy over night and a friend mentioned that their baby was windy with aptimil (which my dd has along with breast milk)  and much better on Hipp milk so wondering if I should switch, but of course there is the risk that it makes things worse...

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2014, 05:07:35 am »
There's plenty of time for her to have solids later on, and it's fun for us too so I can see why you've done it! Milk is so so much more important and once I was told that it had far more calories than solids I scaled ours back too.

Yes, I would definitely increase the amounts in the bottles if she seems like she wants more. Averages are there just as a guide, but many LO's drink more or less than that. It's a case of reading your LO and giving her what she wants until she can tell you herself! You'd want there to be at least around an oz left in the bottles so you know she's full, she'll stop when she's ready. Babies are very good at self-regulating so please don't worry about over feeding with milk.

It's up to you about changing the formula. I haven't any experience with Hipp, I used aptamil too. I'd actually wait a few days and see if the windy tummy settles now you're not giving so much dinner. It might be an idea to not give fruit for dinner as some lo's get a windy tummy with that. Perhaps leaving out dinner for for a few weeks? Worth a try? It takes a long time for their stomach to mature and to adjust to having solids.

My DD always liked breakfast too!



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2014, 16:59:24 pm »
Hi Kellyjs, that all makes perfect sense- thanks. She certainly guzzles down her bottles and some days seems to be taking an extra feed in the days so she is definitely a hungry girl! I did try one feed with an extra oz and she drank it all down! I'm going to keep doing it and just need to work out how much formula to add to the extra water. Fingers crossed I think her tummy is a bit better now that we are just giving breakfast and lunch (with an odd snack if we're eating and she wants to join us). I wonder if I could ask you another question..she wakes sometime between midnight and 2am for a feed and then will last until about 6.30 when her wind raises its ugly head which wakes her. She isn't ready to get up and wants another feed to settle her off and then will happily sleep for another hour of so. Do you have any suggestions on how I can push the first feed to a later time? As then hopefully the wind won't kick in until she would naturally wake up. When she was about 5.5 months (I think) her first night feed was pushing back to as late as 4am and then she slept all through the night for a few nights with no feed and then we moved her to a cot and it all went down hill! I'd love to push that first feed back...that's why I thought a dream feed might help but other mums suggest not to do that at this stage....

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2014, 18:46:12 pm »
Nah I wouldn't bother with a dream feed now either. I'm thinking if you add more to the bottles during the day and the night feed, she'll be less likely to wake for it iykwim? However, 6.30am is a time when she's in light sleep if she naturally wakes an hour or so later so it's a difficult one. Maybe try adding 2oz to all bottles including the nf and see if that works? I think it's a case of riding it out and it should settle down anyway within a month or so (hopefully a lot less!) xx



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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2014, 19:43:25 pm »
Great, thanks I'll give it a go! Ps..your lo is gorgeous  :) my daughter shares the same beautiful blue eyes (although she has red hair...and at times a feisty personality to match!) x

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Offline Kellyjs

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Re: 6 month old waking same time at night- habit?
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2014, 05:53:15 am »
Thanks sweetie, it might be the blue eyes that makes them feisty!  ;) x