8 months with disturbed sleep

[TimTam]

I have an 8 month old daughter who is so perfect during the day its unbelievable.  But at night she wants to feed lots.  I am still breastfeeding.  She has 5 or 6 good feeds during the day and 2 meals (lunch and dinner).  She goes to sleep in her cot by herself. During the day she has 1 nap of about half to one hour and a nap of about 2 hours.  She goes to bed around 7.30pm.  She wakes around 11pm for a dreamfeed.  But then she also wakes between 1 and 2 then 3 and 4 and then between 5 and 6.  She gets up around 8am.  I only feed her one side each feed during the night in the hopes it would stop her waking but it hasnt.  Do you have any suggestions?  I know there is people out there with babies much worse than this but I figure with three other children I really need a good nights sleep!  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi TimTam

It sounds to me like your DD has fallen into the habit of snacking - taking many small feeds in each 24 hour period rather than a smaller number of decent feeds.  Your DD would probably benefit from having breakfast introduced as well - most babies 8 months are taking 3 solid feeds per day plus around 4 milk feeds.

An example routine (based on your DD's wake up time) for this age might be:

8am - Breakfast
9am - Milk
10.30am - Nap (the shorter nap i presume is the morning nap)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Milk
2pm - Nap
5.30pm - Dinner
7pm - Milk before Bed

There are more sample routines by age group at the top of the EASY board

It sounds like you have the independent falling asleep sorted out - I really think that if you got those day time feeds a bit consolidated then DD would start to get those night wakings sorted out as a result.

HTH and good luck
Jo

[TimTam]

Thank you for your suggestion.  I will definitely give breakfast a go!  I will let you know how it goes.  My Fingers are crossed!!

[TimTam]

I have been able to reduce the night feeds with help from Dad and lots of patting!  But she is still not feeding any more during the day.  I have reduced her to only 4 feeds but she only feeds for around five minutes each side.  Any ideas on how I can make her feed longer?  Or is she getting enough?  She is really happy and contented so she isnt hungry and she is perfect weight.  What should I do?

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi again,

By 8 months your DD is probably a very efficient eater, getting quite a lot of milk in 5 minutes per side.  I know my DS was only doing single sided feeds for about 5 minutes at that age (any longer and it interupted his play time    He now is back into a more leisurely feeding routine but for that phase around 8 months he was managing fine with only short feeds.  I think the key is that she is happy and content - I'm sure she would let you know if she was hungry.

Good luck on continued success during the nights!
Cheers
Jo

[TimTam]

I just wanted to thank you for your fantastic suggestion!!  My little girl is now sleeping all night apart from once when she has half a feed on one side.  She is feeding more during the day and is not distracted by whats going on around her.  She is doing really well and I am finally getting lots of sleep.  Again thank you so much!!!!

[Jo-FrasersMum]

That's great TimTam! 

So pleased the suggestions helped. 

Hope your good sleeps continue!!!