10 week old going backwards with night wakings, help please

[Ellagirl]

Hi, my DO had been going 8 - 2/3 - 6/7 until three nights ago, then she did 8 - 1 - 6 twice (I can cope with that!) then last night it was 8 - 12 - 5.  I really don't want to get into two night wakings again.  Yesterday we tried upping calories in the day, but all that did was reduce her 8pm feed from 7 oz to 3 oz, then she took 4 1/2 oz at 12 and she only took about 2 1/2 oz at 5.  When I woke her at 7am, she only took 3 oz :? .
Should I just go with the flow as this might be a growth spurt or is there a chance it is a habit forming that I need to do something about.  I would appreciate any feedback please.
Thank you.

[rachelle]

How old is your baby?  Could you post your daily schedule?

[Ellagirl]

Ella will be 10 weeks on Wednesday.  She feeds roughly 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm (v small feed), 8 pm.  I don't do the dream feed as when she was only waking at 2/3 am, that suited me fine as I could go to be early.  Napping is erratic, but I always try to get her to stay asleep for longer than an hour after activity, usually with sh/pat. 
Last night she only took 3 1/2 oz at 7.45 pm then 4 1/2 at 12.30 am, at 4.45 am she woke but wasn't hungry as I put on the breast and she just suckled rather than drinking, I tried sh/pat but she screamed so I've just taken her out in the buggy and she's only just stirring (it's now 6.10 am).
Any advice, suggestions for changing this habit would be appreciated.  During the day, when she is not asleep she is usually very contented and a joy to be with.

[rachelle]

hmmm yeah you definitely want to try to get "rid" of that midnight waking.  One thing you may try is giving a dreamfeed and see if she might sleep all the way through the nite or something.

Let's see...are you doing a combination of breast/bottle feeding??

I wonder if she could be going through some developmental stuff.   Do you swaddle?  This age is so full of developmental happenings, I found that a good, tight swaddle was essential to my dd sleeping well.  you may give that a try as well.

I will keep thinking on it.  Other than using pat/shhh and some soothing, I can't think of much else off the top of my head!  good luck!

[Ellagirl]

Thank u for your thoughts.  It was 1 am and 4.45 am last night, this time I fed her both times, she was definately hungry and settled herself after both feeds.  I know I've got to get more calories in her during the day, but when I tried that before it just reduced her 8 pm feed.  Do you think she is too young to try a 4 hourly routine? As when I held her off til 6.30 am (out in the buggy!), she took 7 1/2 oz of formula and could have waited til at least 10.30 am.  I think this is my plan if the next two nights r the same.  What do u think? I only give one whole breastfeed a day at lunchtime.

[rachelle]

If your baby is bottle-fed, she might not be too young for 4 hour feeds.  I have heard that bottle fed babies can do that earlier.  So you might try that.  Good luck!

[Ellagirl]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me.  I tried the dummy yesterday evening to try and space out her feeds, she loved it and sucked for 1/2 hour before her 8 pm feed then took 3 oz and slept til 4.50 am!  Could that be because she had been needing extra suckling time do u think? Anyway, I think I might try that again this evening and see if it was a coincidence.

[rachelle]

how did it work? 

Babies do have a strong need to suck, so that very well could be.  Keep me posted!

[Ellagirl]

Thank you again for taking time to talk to me.  Well, she didn't suck on the dummy for long at all yesterday evening, fed at 8 and then slept 'til 3.30 am and then 6.45 am, I do hope that means she's broken the pattern (and the habitual 4.40 am waking), we'll just have to wait and see.  Also, I've been trying over the past couple of weeks (not totally consistantly as I find it hard with a 3 1/2 yr old lively boy to entertain) to break the 45 min nap waking with sh/pat pu/pd.  The best bit is being able to put her down in her cot totally awake for some of the naps and not having to intervene at all, but also, I sometimes have to wake her for her next feed now.  I think the BW is a godsend!  Speak soon, Susie.