my 20 week old ds has been waking several times through the night for nearly two weeks, i wonder whether it is a sign he needs solid food. he has been a textbook babe and slept through from 10pm until 7am from about 5 weeks.
he previously slept from around 7pm until 7am and after a few unsettled nights i consulted tracys book and read that it was innappropriate for a four month old to be on a three hour feeding schedule so i changed to four hour easy and introduced a dream feed.
he continued to wake. being a textbook babe we hardly hear him cry, except when he is hungry or over tired so when he was waking and screaming within minutes i presumed it was hunger and fed him.
he typically wakes around 10pm and between 1230 and 230am crying hard and will not accept his dummy (paci) or any other means to calm him so i feed him and he eagerly takes both sides on both occasions. he then sleeps only fitfully (i give him a dummy) until 7am when we get up.
i have since returned to that three hour schedule to try and get plenty of calories in him through the day but i am not sure of this is the right thing to do.
he weighed 15lb 7oz 2 weeks ago he was 9lb 8oz at birth so has dropped from the 75th percentile to the 50th. he sits well and is very active, he uses a spoon very well (we tried him with just breast milk as he often chews his tongue). his tongue thrust reflex seems all but gone. he has been taking both breasts at almost every feed (only recently). i did a yield the other morning when he only wanted one side and expressed nearly 9 oz from the other side!! he had a growth spurt during christmas week so i thought its unlikely to be another one (??). he doesnt seem to notice when we are eating.
i have planned to and want to exclusively breast feed for as long as possible so am not keen to rush in with solids... unless of course he is going hungry. but i am very confused about it all.
could he be telling me that he is ready?
i know this is long winded (sorry) and i wasnt sure if this needed posting on the sleep section or not, but i figured it is most likely a food issue.
please advise!!
