Should she be sleeping through yet?

[Jesse]

Hi, I'm a bit unsure of how to proceed with my little one and am in need of advice. My lo is six months old and doing well on 4 hour EASY. She is breastfed and started on solids about 3 weeks ago.

I would like my lo to sleep through (wouldn't we all). At the moment she goes to bed at 7.00pm, I dreamfeed her at 10.30pm and she wakes up for another feed any time between 1.30-3.30am. I think this waking is habitual, even though it is not at the same time each night .

When she was 3 months old we visited the UK for 7 weeks (12 hour time difference). Before we came she had just started to sleep through (10.30pm dreamfeed -5-6am). The change in time zones upset her and she started waking earlier. However, before we left the UK to return home, she had adjusted and began to sleep through 10.30 dreamfeed-5-7am. Since our return home about seven weeks ago she has not begun to sleep through again, and does not seem to be even moving in that direction and I'm unsure how to proceed.

Should I just keep feeding her once in the night in the hope that she'll lengthen her sleep times by herself and wait until she's abit older before I try intervening?  Should I do pickup/put down to break the habit? Should I dreamfeed later (12.30pm)to push her to wake up later, and then gradually try to bring it back to the normal time? I have thought about waking her up before she wakes as Tracy suggests but her wake times are so varied.

I have been gradually reducing the time feeding her in the night, but this has made no difference, she still wakes and wants a feed even though right now it's not very much. I'm pretty sure this night feed affects her first morning feed as she's never that hungry. I have tried once to just rewrap her and put her back to bed, she wasn't having any of it as she wanted some breast time.

I would appreciate any help and advice. Thanks.

[Kimberly®]

I think that at 6 months your LO is ready to take that last step towards sleeping through, however every baby is different.
I think your doing a great job to be where you are
Whats her routine like?
My first suggestion would be to try PU/PD or pat/shush to see if you can  help your LO settle back into sleep. 
Please send me a copy of your routine and I'll see if I can maybe be more help.

[Jesse]

Gosh it's so good to get another opinion and thank you so much for your support.
My lo's routine goes something like this, it varies slightly each day depending on what time I manage to get up and how long each nap is.

7.00 get up and breastfeed
8.00 solids
9.00-10.30/11.00 nap.  She's tired after being up 1 hr 45 min so I wrap her and put her down, its takes her about 15min to fall asleep

11.00 breastfeed then play
12.00 solids
1.00-2.30/3.00 nap

3.00 breastfeed then play
5.00-530/45 nap, length depends on how long previous naps were
6.00 solids
6.45 bath
7.00 breastfeed then bed. I try to get her in bed by 7.30 at the latest, no matter how the rest of the day has gone as she doesn't settle as well if i put her down later.

10.30 dreamfeed
1.30-3.30 night feed

Up till now I have always fed my lo in the night when she wakes, and I know because I have done this she will get very upset if I refuse to feed her. I am willing to do pickup/put down if this is the best way to go, but I would rather it be a last resort as I know it will be a really hard slog for both her and me over a period of several nights.

Your help is very much appreciated, thanks.

[Kimberly®]

Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
That looks like a pretty good routine to me. Your doing really well.
Have you thought of dropping the dreamfeed? its possable that  your LO is waking due to a full diaper. Otherwise I think its time to start PU/PD. I know its hard but it may be time.

[Jesse]

Thankyou for the advice, I needed someone to tell me it's probably time as I wasn't sure. I didn't want to put my lo through it if she wasn't ready yet. I'll wait for the weekend before I start so hubby can help in the day if I get really tired, and I'll gear myself up mentally in the meantime. Once again thanks.

[Kimberly®]

No problem I hope things go well for you. please keep us posted and feel free to ask for any help you feel you need.

[shells]

I've been going through the exact same thing with my lo, she wakes up every night between 2-4 for a feed she is 6months 1week. I have been told by my Dr that some babies need a feed at night up until 1 yr. I think that it is more eating out of habit because she was sleeping through the night at about 3months until she started teething, at about 4months then she started waking every hour or so so by 3:00 I started feeding her just to make sure it wasn't hunger. She has been eating that way ever since.  She just cut her two bottom teeth last week and now only wakes up for that 3:00 feed. I also stopped the dream feed around 4and a half months it did not seem to make a big difference in her sleeping better or longer, and was making me more tired staying up to do it. I'm really interested to see if your lo adjusts well you dropping that feeding as I was thinking of doing the same thing. sorry this I so long winded.

[Jesse]

I dropped the night feed two nights ago, and it's gone alot better than I expected. The first night my lo woke up at 3.00 am for her feed , and when she realised she wasn't getting it she started to cry. I gave her a cuddle, a drink of water, and her dummy (which she normally never gets at night) and she settled in about 30 minutes and went to sleep. Woke at 6.30 am (a bit early but we got up anyway). Last night she woke at 1.00 am for her feed, I just gave her a cuddle and a drink of water. She settled and woke again at 5.45 am. Re-settled her with her dummy this time. Woke again at 6.30 am (another early morning). Definately has not gone as badly as expected, and didn't have to do pu/pd as she didn't get too upset. I'm hoping she'll eventually stop waking up once she realises there's no reason to. I guess I'll have to wait and see. I hope dropping your lo's feed goes well too.

[RosieMum]

I think you're doing the right thing and you and she are finding the right rhythm. My HV said to me recently that babies don't need feeding in the night after 6 months and we started  just offering water in the night. She started doing really well and sleeping thru however this week to bouts of illness have struck us so we're back to night feeds as she's not eating well
Good luck and I hope it goes well xx

[Jesse]

Another couple of days on and the pattern is still the same with my lo. Dreamfeed at 10.30pm , she wakes at 1.00am on the dot, and again at 5.45am. I have started feeding her at this time as I've heard a definate hunger cry.

The 1.00am waking seems to be for her paci (she can't possibly be hungry when she's only just had her dreamfeed). I caused the paci problem when I gave her the paci instead of her feed, and now when she wakes she refuses to re-settle without it. With hindsight I should have done pu/pd at the start, not resorted to the quick solution of giving her the paci which has just caused further problems.

Any suggestions as to what to do next. I think I'll try waking her at 12.00 to see if that will get her past the 1.00am waking. I feel as if I've taken a step back at the moment, she's now waking up twice in the night, not just once!

RosieMum - hope your lo has recovered from her illnesses and started to sleep through again?