8 month old night wakings

[Lucysmom]

Hi -

My dd has basically slept through the night since she was about 3 months old.  I am getting concerned now as the last two night she has awoken at 3~4 am and we have fed her.  She takes a full feed.  I don't know if we are doing the right thing by feeding her but last night she literally drank the bottle dry and turned her head to the side and fell asleep. 

Some things that might be helpful to know:
-  She falls asleep independently for naps.  We could put her down awake for bedtime but right now she falls asleep on daddy's lap.  This could be the problem I guess but I am not totally convinced.
-  She is not close to crawling so I don't think her wakings are developmental.
-  She does not have any teeth yet.  She was fussy last week and it seemed that teeth were coming but she is not fussy anymore so things have stabilized.
-  She is on 2 meals a day and will be starting a third today.  I have not introduced any new foods recently.
-  She still is on 4 bottles a day.
-  I have been trying to extend her awake time to get her to take 2x1.5 hour naps.  I have not been able to extend past 1.5 hours even though I think she needs more sleep.
-  Her last bottle of the night (at 7ish) she has not taken a full feed (only 5 oz. instead of 7-8).  I try to feed solids at 5.
-  We have not done the dreamfeed in ages.

Last night when she woke up I gave her a bottle with 3 scoops of formula but the same amount of water needed for 4 scoops (from the sticky about eliminating night feeds in a 9 month old).  This is the only thing I can think of doing.  There isn't an 8 month growth spurt is there?  I thought just 9 months.

Sorry for the length of this post.  Just trying to think through what is going on with her to help her sleep through again.  Thanks in advance for any ideas/suggestions.

[Mom2X&F&V]

Hi again.... I only can think that maybe it is time for more solids.  You say you are putting her on 3 meals today so try that one and see what happens. Also what about introducing some protein.... beans or lentils first or chicken soup and veggies. I think she may need some more proteins. Introduce new fruits and veggies too and maybe some diary. Ask your doc about that and then try it as she really seems hungry during the night you should put up her calories during the day. I know that every baby is different but I can tell you that Ximena is now having beans, lentils, cheese, yogurt, bread, chicken and recently meat. She can have 2 baby jars each meal (of course Ximena doesn´t like milk). We are now with 3 bottles. So maybe introduce a slight protein and some bread. Hope it helps but you should first ask your doctor. 
Kisses to both.

[Katet]

Firstly 9month growthspurt could be anything from 8-10months, so that may be it. But I also thing a 3rd solid feed might help your cause.

Secondly develpomental wakings often occur before you realise that it is that reason, so crawling might be just around the corner...we call our ds the Phantom as we find out he is doing things when he is in the cot in a different position... he takes about 2 weeks of 'doing it in private' before it goes on 'public display'

[Lucysmom]

Daniela and Kate - Thanks for your replies!  We had an interesting  night last night....

I fed Lucy dinner at 4:45 and included pureed chicken with gravy (from a jar).  I mixed it with pears and cereal and she did eat it but did not love it.

Then at 7 dh gave her her last bottle and she was not having any of it.  I told him not to force her but it was too late as she started vomitting.  So we had to strip her down, change her, clean up the floor.  Then we put her to bed.  30 minutes later she wakes up moaning and I go upstairs immediately and by the time I enter her room she is vomitting again.  So we change her crib sheet, change her, etc.  Then she gets the hiccups so I sit with her on my lap in the dark until they go away and then put her to bed.  Before I go to bed, I check on her and I can feel there is a small wet spot by her head so she has vomitted again.  So we change her position in the crib away from the soiled spot and clean her up with a towel without waking her.  And then she was up at 3 and drank 8 oz.   Now (7:30 am) she does not want her bottle - drank 3 oz.

We don't know if the chicken was the problem but I am not going to be giving it to her for a while.  And dh has learned his lesson about forcing her to eat.   

I will keep you posted as to how we get on.  Having a baby sure is an adventure!    Thanks again!

[Mom2X&F&V]

Well it sure was an interesting night... sorry about that. 
As far as I remember it took Ximena almost a month to have a jar of chicken, and for her to like it. Still now I have to put a small amount of chicken with lots of veggies. I started with 3 teaspoons with chicken soup and veggies mixed with more veggies and adding 1 teaspoon of chicken soup to veggies every 3 days. I didn´t mix it with sweet so she could know the taste and I remember that I gave it at 12 pm to check on any possible allergie... Maybe try a teaspoon at noon and the 3rd meal make it a thing she already had... fruit or veggie. Chicken is way too heavy so I think it is better if for now you do not mix it with cereal. How about trying lentils or beans juice or soup and then add some cooked rice ? And after that some veggies or mix them together. Try introducing at lunch time. And after that try again chicken like 1 or 2 weeks more. I first gave lentils for a week and beans for another week and the 3rd week I gave chicken soup and veggies with rice but without mixing chicken just the soup and for the 4th week I added very small amount of chicken to the mix.
How many ounces of milk is she drinking daily? Maybe add an ounce each meal... About milk I do not know as Ximena barely drinks milk. How much solids is she having? 3 tablespoons a feed? I guess that maybe if you post your schedule and amount someone else can help you. I am sorry I can not help that much as I am having troubles with milk again...   
 And yes it is for sure a great and unknown adventure! 

[Lucysmom]

Hi Daniela -

I was so stupid to try to the chicken at dinner and to make matters worse as I was feeding her I was thinking, "This is not a good idea."  I should have listened to myself! 

The problem with Lucy is that she cannot tolerate anything with texture so everything she eats is pureed.  I have tried giving her small pieces of bread, of cookie, of potato and she gags and spits it out.  I will have to work up to her eating things with textures as it took her so long to even like pureed food.  She definitely takes her time with things!   

When she is eating properly, she will take about 26 ounces of formula a day and have 2-3 tablespoons of food twice a day.  Now I am working up to three meals a day so I am guessing this will impact her formula intake.  I cannot get her to take any more formula as she very rarely finishes the bottle I have made for her. 

I am going to feed her dinner at 4 pm in hopes that she will take a full feed at 7pm.  I now think that she does not feel well as she has been asleep for 2 hours and I put her down for her first nap after only being awake for 2 hours.  Recently her naps have been 1.5 hours max with me doing wake to sleep at 45 minutes.  Who knows what is going on...

Thanks so much for your reply.  It helps to know that someone is listening and cares!  It sounds like Ximena really loves her food!  That is great!  Is she still sleeping through the night even though she is not drinking much milk?   I hope so!

Thanks again!!

[Mom2X&F&V]

Hello again.... Usually Ximena sleeps 2 hours naps when she was put in bed at 8:30 or more.
Thankfully she doesn´t wake at nights at all. She drinks few milk, but her solids are OK.
It took a long time to Ximena to eat chunks... I think I started with turkey ham pressed with a fork. If you give her a bread stick instead of pieces and see if she can puts it in her mouth by herself?   
She also hated chicken breast so I have to give her chicken wing... with tons of veggies.
It sounds then that maybe is a growth spur... she sure likes milk!
If you put another tablespoon of veggies or fruit would she eat more? So you give milk before or after feeding? With an hour of difference or not? Gee babies are so difficult to read. Usually when she eats a lot at 4 I have to wait till 8 pm for her to drink her milk and she can drink 8 oz. I am still doing the catnap as she is asking for it. She does not like breakfast time so she usually eats more at 12 and at 4. She eats 4 oz of fruit for breakfast and only 5 oz of milk. She is having great naps though and great night sleeping.
Is she waking always at the same time at night for milk?  I know... lots of questions.
Well I´ll keep in touch with you and try to give you some more replies although I do not know if they are useful I can just tell what I did. Please if you need anything you can still pm me.
She is not yet crawling... and still no teething!!!!
  to both

[Lucysmom]

Hi Again Daniela! 

She seems like she might not feel well today.   She only had 4.5 ounces of milk at 11 and pushed the bottle away and closed her mouth.  And breakfast this morning she refused solids.  I did not even bother trying solids at lunch but maybe I should have.     She just seemed to be communicating very clearly that she was not interested in food in any form (closing her mouth tightly and pushing the bottle away with her hands).

My goal with solids is to feed her a bottle first and then an hour later feed her solids.  Before I was feeding her solids too late in the day so I have learned my lesson there!    So dinner will be at 4 pm.  All I can do today is just go with her flow and probably be resigned to the fact that she will have a nightwaking tonight.  Oh well.

I also have the problem that if her meals get messed up time-wise she is not ready for a bottle at 7 yet she really needs to go to bed then.  I think I may have to get her to take a catnap again so she can last longer.  So confusing!!!!

She is waking up anywhere from 3-4 am so 8-9 hours without food.  I am definitely afraid of it becoming a habitual waking.  I am going to continue on with decreasing the amount of formula powder but keeping the amount of water the same (only for this night feed).  Hopefully this will make it so she will take more calories during the day.

Well, that is all from me.  Thanks so much for your reply and for just being there to offer support! It means A LOT to me! 

Kisses to you and Ximena     

PS Also NO TEETH and NO CRAWLING for Lucy!