Is he really hungry at nite or is it seperation anxiety?

[a_astorga]

Hi,

I put my baby 6.5 months old down for bed at 6.30 ish but then wakes up after 2 hours really crying loud. I try to get him back to sleep but that can take several tries, also he used to eat 2 times a night at 10-11 pm and then again 3-4 am. This was ok I was used to it, but all of a sudden he stopped at 3-4 am and for weeks I only gave him his bottle at 10-11 pm sometimes 1-2 am, and then for like 4 days last week he didn't ask for any food he would just wake up and start talking to himself. This was great!! But then he want back to one feed per nite, than all of a sudden back to 2 feed for about 3-4 days (I assumed it was a growth spurt) and then back to 1 feed. But last nite he woke up once at 10:30 pm and drank his 5 oz. and then woke up again at 2 am, so I let him complaint a little to see if he goes back to sleep and he did but then woke up crying at 3 am hard so i made a bottle to see if he drank it, and he did, he drinks it like he's starving. So I don't get it, what makes him so hungry sometimes and some other times not? I feed him exactly the same amount of food every day (solids, the big jar and and one bottle before breakfast, lunch and snack time, all 4 oz. and one before bed of 5 oz.)

So is he really hungry at nite or could it be seperation anxiety (what exactly is this and when do they get it?) but he drinks all his milk and goes back to sleep happy.

and what is a mantra cry?

Thanks

[15milner]

What time does he have dinner / tea in the evening.  He may well be hungry.  If say, 5pm is the final food of the day, and perhaps a few oz of milk before bed at 6.15, it's a long time at 6.5months until breakfast.

What time does he wake and when does he have breakfast.  It could be 12/13 hours between last feed and breakfast. 

Just one idea.

Alex

[a_astorga]

He eats at 5:15 pm and then his bottle at 6:15 pm, then wakes up from 10- 2 am for one feeding then bottle at 7:00 am and breakfast at 7:30.

My question is does he really want the second feeding in the middle of the night?

[sa]

how about doing DF at 11pm? so you don't have to wait for him to wake up to feed him.

i do DF at 11pm. then will not feed him after that until 7am. it takes a while for him to get used to this idea. i believe baby at this age can go without feed for 8 hours at night.

you can go cold turkey like me to drop the 2nd feed. or you can try do it gradually by reducing the amount you feed him each night.

hth

[Katet]

a-astorga
I posted a response on your comment on the "not coping with Motherhood thread" & wanted to say, have a read of that, but the short of it is looking at your routine & the volume of milk you offer I think you need to offer more at each day time feed.
Given the age of your lo my understanding (  from the information in my books)  6-8oz 4-5 times a day is normal, on average at around 6 - 9 months, so you would expect about 30oz of milk  a day although it could be higher, but shouldn't be less than about 24oz