4am waking

[marleysmom]

I don't know what to do. My little Marley is know 17 weeks and almost 16 lbs!! I wrote a post weeks ago, but the problem has not resolved. She awakes between 4 and 5 am every morning for a bottle!! Her normal feed is between 6 - 7 oz, and at this feeding she takes only 3 oz. We have been watering down the formula to help get rid of the bottle, but it doesn't seem to work. Last night we gave straight water. She drank about 2.5 oz and went right back to sleep until 7:30 am??? How can I stop this habit.
She goes to bed around 8pm, drinks between 32 - 36 oz of formula a day and eats about 2 teaspoons of cereal around 7pm.
Please Help

[Mom to M&M]

Why is your 17 week old on 2 tbsp of rice cereal already? That is quite a lot of cereal at such a young age and could be causing digestive issues (gas, cramps, etc) and increasing the wakings. Often babies with gas with wake to suck (which eases the gas).

I'm not for solids at such a young age, but if you are going to give cereal I think 2tbsp is a lot at this age and wouldn't give it at night when it's just going to sit in the tummy...

My DD has always been a big baby too - but I don't think solids so young is the answer.

What is her routine like otherwise?

[Kimberly®]

I have to agree the cereal is  lot. It may be the calprit.
Send us your routine and we'll take a look and see what we can find.

[marleysmom]

Marleys Routine
 7:00am Wake, Bottle 6-7oz,playtime (about 1 hour)
 8:30 nap
10:00 Wake, Bottle 6 -7 oz, playtime
11:30 nap
1:00 Wake Bottle 6 - 7 oz, playtime
2:30 nap
4:00 Wake, Bottle 6 - 7 oz playtime
She stays up and takes a cat nap from about 6:00 - 6:45
7:00 we have been giving her about 1.5 teaspoons, NOT TABLESPOONS for the last week because she was still acting hungry after recieving 35-40 oz of formula.
7:15 bath
7:30 Bottle
7:45-8:00 bedtime.
She gives NO fuss at bedtime, we put her in her crib wide awake, she talks herself to sleep within 10 minutes every night.

She is on a 3 hour EASY schedule, I'm not sure how to transition to 4 although it would be great!! She gets HUNGRY after 3 hours without a bottle!!

I was very against the cereal also in fact I fought with my mom on the issue for the first four months. Due to her size, and the fact she can sit up almost without support I gave into the idea. We have only been giving the cereal for 8 days, and she does seem more satisfied. The 4 am waking has been going on for atleast 3 months. She used to take a normal bottle, so I figured she was hungry. Now she will drink 2oz of water and go back to sleep, so I am very confused now. We have tried letting her cry, it doesn't stop after 5 minutes. Last night she cried on and off for about 1 hour. At 5am we gave in and gave her the water bottle.

Thank you for any advice!!!

[Mom to M&M]

I would try to just SLOWLY move her to a 4 hour routine. You can start with 3 1/4 for one week, then 3.5, etc. You may find that this helps her take more at each bottle - like 8 ounces and helps her go longer at night.

Please don't let her cry on and off for up to an hour at night. This site does not support CIO or CC.

I'm still quite against cereal for such a young baby but that is of course your decision. It certainly doesn't seem like it's helping matters though if she's still waking. Many babies will often wake once a night for a feeding or simply because they are scared, lonely, etc. I think it's great that she's only waking this one time at her age!

[teezee]

i also think it is great if your lo is only waking once a night at this age!  my lo woke way more than once a night at that age and i was just THANKFUL when it was finally once a night.  it wasn't until 8 months that she actually started sleeping through the night - a lo that age may still in fact need that night feeding.

[marleysmom]

By no means did we let her CIO, I feel that is horrible and honestly I can't handle hearing her cry.
At night her cries are much different than during the day, it seems that she cries in her sleep sometimes. When I say she cried on and off for an hour I mean she would cry for about 5 minutes (which is my limit at night, I can 't go any longer than that) and by the time I would get to her crib she would be asleep again, but 10 minutes later it would start again, 5 minutes of crying, I'd go to her and she would be sound asleep. After an hour of this, we picked her up gave her the 2 oz of water and she was down until morning. Could this be a sleep pattern? It always starts around 4am and doesn't stop until we give her the bottle. Should we not pick her up if she settles down after a few minutes. Is it possible that she knows we will come, but is so tired she falls asleep during her attempts to reach us?
I really wouldn't mind doing the feeding, if she didn't barely suck at the bottle, turn her head half way through and act as if she isn't hungry after she has had an ounce or so. During the day she eats 6 - 7 ounces in about 10 minutes. Sometimes it takes almost 30 minutes to get less than 3 ounces in her at 4am??

[teezee]

if she is not taking a full feeding at night i definately wouldn't start a bad habit.  i know sometimes my lo gets water in the night because it is very dry in our place with the heat and everything - but that is it.  it does sound like maybe you should just let her be unless she continues crying.  many babies make many different noises in their sleep.  if she is stopping on her own and going back to sleep then just leave her, she is doing things right 

[marleysmom]

Thanks! Last night we let her be, although she went through the same cry for a few minutes, sleep for about 10 - 20 minutes. She started around 3:30am, and around 6:00 she cried for longer than the 5 minutes so we gave her a bottle and she took a full feeding. I guess we will just watch her and see what she does tonight??? I did read that a hungry baby won't settle and go back to sleep, so I assume she is not hungry when she starts fussing since she falls back to sleep so easily.

[Kimberly®]

rather then leaving her be have you ever tried Pat?Shush or PU/PD?? I think that may be a good thing to try, if she's going back to sleep without eating then its more then likly habitual waking, try the pat/shush or PU/PD and it should help. Also you can try Wake to Sleep.
Set your alarm for one hour befor her normal wake up time, go in and rouse her to semi consciousness and then let her go back to sleep, this should help brake the cycle. Try not to wake her to full consciousness you just want to make her stir.

[marleysmom]

She gets very disturbed with pat/ shush it seems to really make her more upset that I am there.
After 3 nights of delaying the bottle until 6am and just trying to soothe her rather than give the bottle right away, this morning she didn't make a peep until 6am this morning!! Hopefully she will continue with this new schedule!