Author Topic: 8 months snacking behaviour & frequent night feedings  (Read 7954 times)

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Offline DoritK

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8 months snacking behaviour & frequent night feedings
« on: December 28, 2020, 10:27:20 am »
My almost 8 months old baby has become a snacker. His EASY pattern is more like: EAEASY or EAEAESY. He doesn’t drink longer than 2 or 3 minutes during the day and then wants to resume drinking again an hour later (same with breast milk from the bottle). It seems that he only fills his belly until his first hunger is over and then wants to do something else. I think this behavior started because I offered the breast more often during the day because he still feeds 3 to 5 times a night. I wanted to increase his calory intake during the day but that obviously didn't work. The night feedings stayed the same but now he snacks during the day… He takes three or two naps a day. He seems to be very interested in solid food and will eat really well even directly after his milk feeds because he only drinks so little. I usually would want to wait half an hour before offering solids but in his case it doesn’t seem to matter because his belly is never really full during the day. The only long feeds are before going to sleep in the evening, during the night and in the morning. Any advice how to get rid of the snacking behavior and night feeds? He hardly ever sleeps more than 3 hours in a row.

Offline ulli k

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Re: 8 months snacking behaviour & frequent night feedings
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2021, 05:25:55 am »
Hi Dorit,
Has he ever slept more than 3hrs in a row? With my daughter I realized that at some point her night feeds were not necessarily hunger but more to nurse to sleep. What I did was wait for her to finish feeding, then not letting her fall asleep at the breast but put her in the crib awake. It took 2 nights were I had to use pu/pd to put her back to sleep am then she slept through the night and also ate considerably more during the day.
For me I wanted to make sure that I feed her when she is hungry but not let her fall asleep during nursing.
During the day, is he getting distracted during nursing? Maybe you can go somewhere where he does not get distracted? Also if he wants to nurse after snacking maybe try to distract him until he is hungrier so he eats more?
Hope this helps :-)

Offline DoritK

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Re: 8 months snacking behaviour & frequent night feedings
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2021, 15:36:38 pm »
Hey! Thanks for your reply. The snacking behaviour got better since a few days. I tried to use pu/pd yesterday evening when he woke up after only 2 hours (which he does regularly). Usually I don't feed him for this first waking but just hold him in my arms for 2-3 minutes and then he continues to sleep. But yesterday I tried pu/pd and it took half an hour and I finally gave up and fed him. He got more stimulated and cried a lot every time  I put him back in hes bed. Afterwards it was one hell of a night with him waking up very often... Don't know if it is related. Could also be his teeth coming through. I also tried pu/pd today for his naps but he seems to remember yesterday evening and now doesn't want to go to sleep anymore in his bed. Lots of crying. I'm wondering if I should take a break for a few days. Or maybe I just have to be more persistent for a longer time? I know Tracy said sleep training may take 2 weeks. My oldest son actually only slept through when he was 19 months old after I quit nightfeedings because I was pregnant. :P