GONE FROM ONE NIGHT WAKING TO TWO

[mom2liam]

Hi

I wondered if anyone can help me...

My son for the past 2 nights has woken up at 12-1am and then 5am. It just used to be 5am!!! It always confuses me as to whether I should feed him or not...

He is 4 months old today. I don't have time to post his routine now, as I have to run out, but I wondered if anyone could help me, I will post the routine later.

I posted before when my son went from not waking in the night to waking at 5am, and it was suggested that I should feed him at the 5am wake, which we are doing....is this OK? We don't do a dream feed as he has never taken any of the feed in the past. Should we try and start doing it again now we are on the 4 hour EASY?

Thanks for your help
Wendy

[Sylvia.]

i still fed dd twice a nigt at this age

[KellyC]

Hi

It would probably help to post your routine when you've got some more time to spare.  We had to introduce a dreamfeed when we moved from a 3 to 4 hour EASY as although Zander was eating better during the day he was waking in the late evening hungry (around a normal DF time).  I think he still needed 5 feeds during the day but over a longer time period.  It might be worth trying the DF again now you've switched to a new routine.

Kelly x

[brightside]

How much does your DS weigh and how much milk does he have in the day? Do you bottle feed? The night waking could be him wanting extra feeding as he is growing. I wojuld definitely introduce a DF and see if the 1am waking stops. Or you could feed at 1am and see if that stops him waking at 5am too. Feeding at 1 is better than feeding at 5 because the 5am feed will mean he's likely to take less in the morning, therefore possibly reinforcing the need to wake in the night. The waking could also be to do with overtiredness at bedtime so try to post your routine if you can. Also, my DS started waking more at 4 months for no apparent reason so it could just be a phase.

[mom2liam]

Hi Thanks for your help

My DS weighs 16llbs and is 26.5 inches. He is bottle fed and takes approx. 27 oz per day. The doctor suggested today that I feed him 2 x per day with 1TBSP of cereal. I tried it today so I'll see what happens tonight. It's never the same time when he wakes, last night it was 3am then 4.30am. my husband fed him at 3am, so I don't know why he woke at 4.30am?? any ideas. I went in and placed his dummie in his mouth and he went to sleep until I had to wake him at 7am......I'm hoping it's just a phase also...I'll let you know if anything changes tonight with him having the cereal.
Thanks again
Wendy

[VLR2006]

Wow, i'm having the same issues.  My son was sleeping for 12 hours a night and did this for 3 weeks.  He had one night right after he turned 12 weeks where he woke at 2am, gave dummy and he slept until 4 but wouldnt settle so i fed him then, and then he woke at his usual 7:30.  i thought that was his growth spurt so a complete one off as he settled down again so quickly.  But he's decided to wake again during the night for the past 3 nights.  the first 2 nights he woke at 2am, 4:30 and 6:30 and last night it was only 4am.  I havent fed him as i really want to try and get him to not feed again in the night.  I have always been able to settle him with just the dummy so i figure if he was really hungry he wouldnt settle again.  i am really hoping he goes back to sleeping longer again as i dont know what to do really.

I have so many friends who had wonderful babies sleeping thru until they turned 4 months and then they started waking eratically during the night.  The joys of mother hood.

BYW - my son is 15 weeks, weights 14.8 pounds and is on 4 8oz bottles a day (32 oz in total).

[mom2liam]

That's funny, my little one, started with his night waking at 15 weeks.....it's driving me crazy. Is your LO napping OK?

We have been feeding Liam at the first waking and not the 2nd, as he goes straight to sleep at 4am. I wasn't feeding him also as I felt like you did that, he would get used to it, but I found if I didn't feed him he would keep waking.

Yesterday I started feeding Liam 1 TBSP of cereal and today the doctor told me to feed him 2 x per day as this may help him sleep....I fed him at 11am and 6.30pm with cereal. I'll let you know if it works.

My LO only takes approx. 27oz per day, he seems to get bored with the formula after a while.
Wendy

[mom2liam]

Ok, so last night was a lot better.....

Liam slept from 7.30pm - 5.30am and I got him back to sleep until 7am ish.......I don't know if it had anything to do with feeding him cereal at 6.30pm but he did sleep better...who knows.....

Now I just have to work on his naps 

[brightside]

Good to hear he was better last night. I was going to say that 27oz didn't seem very much so it was quite likely that he might have been hungry. Generally babies take 2-2.5oz per lb of weight. Of course that is just 'average' and all babies are different but maybe your DS just needed a little bit more and he got it with the cereal. I do think some wakings at 4 months is very common though. Just hope its a short-lived phase.

VLR: your son sounds just the same as mine!

[mom2liam]

Thay do sound very much alike, in fact they have a similar look to them from yur photos

[VLR2006]

I am going to speak to my ped to see if its OK to begin rice cereal.  He will be 4 months next week so its about the time it could happen.  Every time he wakes up i always try and settle him with the paci which usually works for an hour or more each time.  When i do go to him he usually closes his eyes and stops moving so i thought if it was real hunger wouldnt he be screaming.  he woke at 6:15 this morning and just would not settle again, tried for about half an hour, so then i knew it was hunger and got him up for the day.
He's been really fussy and is crying a bit more then usual, wonder if this is tiredness or maybe some kind of growth spurt ?

I am at my wits end as i havent slept for more then 3/4 hours (broken) a night for the past 4 nights now, think tonight if it happens i might give him a small bottle and see if he will go down again.  I cant quite believe that he has gone from sleeping through for 12 hours without even stirring to being really fussy.

He's a very effecient eater and ALWAYS finishes his bottle and cries for more.  i have just moved him to 8oz bottles as i thought this might help but he still drains them and wants to be fed a max 3.5 hours later.  I am wondering if he is just after something a bit more now.  i dont mind giving rice cereal at a young age as i have been told that no baby is allergic to the rice and it isnt hard to digest.

Louise (a very tired louise)

[teezee]

just wanted to make a small suggestion...i started my lo early on rice cereal and although it isn't hard for a six month old to digest it could be hard for a 4 or 5 months whose digestive system isn't quite mature enough yet. i only caution you b/c i started early with my lo as per dr's advice and totally regretted the decision as i had even more night wakings as lo had extreme gas, cramping, constipation, etc...so although it may solve one problem it may tack on a list of others that you don't know specifically what they are so it is much harder to deal with...as well as cause lo pain. good luck with whatever you decide to do.

btw-it is still totally 'normal' for a lo that age to wake at night once or twice for a feeding...it will be over soon enough!

[KellyC]

Hi guys

Sorry you're having so many problems.  My DS also slept through until about 4 months and then started waking in the night and I've just got him sleeping through again at 7 months!  I also wanted to second what Teezee said about introducing solids too early possibly causing more night wakings due to the digestive problems it can cause in an immature system.  It's perfectly normal for a baby to need feeding once or twice during the night at this age and a baby won't sleep just because he's full if he doesn't have the necessary skills.  For the past couple of months I was confident that Zander was only waking because he was hungry but I did lots of my own research and was happy to feed him milk rather than start solids early.  Milk actually has more calories than any of the early weaning foods and even once Zander was on 3 really good meals a day he was still waking in the night hungry!  The only thing that got him sleeping through again, even with all that extra food, was making changes to his breastfeeding routine so he took on more milk.

Kelly x

[VLR2006]

I appreciate why you would tell me to consider waiting to wean as that is what the guidelines are saying now.  But everybody i know who already have children and also my friends now who have older babies all started weaning at 4months and none of them are having problems.  Even the babies that are weaned at 6 months have gas and constipation so i dont think you can escape that now matter how long you wait.  My sons Ped advises to wait 6 months but if you want to start earlier he says its fine, early as in 4 months.  My son also has reflux so spits up a lot of his milk and this is another reason my health visitor suggested giving baby rice in a bottle at 4 months as it can help thicken the milk to keep it down. 

I am trying to increase his amounts of milk during the day firstly to see if this helps with his night wakings.  Last night he only woke at 4am and then 6:45am which i didnt think was too bad.  i still havent fed him as he settles straight away with the paci.  He isnt coordinated enough to suck his thumb but i'm hoping when he does find it he will self sooth that way.  he always needs to be sucking on something.  i dont give him the paci during the day, he shoves his whole hand in there !

Do any of you have your baby sleeping on their sides. I was advised to try this as it helps with reflux but i cant get himt o settle this way and he always ends up on his back, so obviously not propped up enough.

thanks, Louise

[mom2liam]

Hi Louise

I agree, every baby is different. I've been feeding Liam cereal for the past 2 days 2 x per day and he seems fine (fingers crossed). No gas etc.....

I still do suggest that you feed your LO when he first wakes in the night, we feed our LO and he goes right back to sleep until 7am. It is normal that they still require a feeding at this age. It may even help with his naps.
Wendy

[VLR2006]

Hi,

I always just try first to see if he settles without a feed and i only have to go in once and he's out like a light straight away.  Even Tracy recommends in her book that you should be trying to drop the nightfeed and if they start waking to try and settle them with other means before feeding them.  As he always goes back to sleep again i think he's waking out of habit rather then hunger.  If he started stirring again so soon after i would def feed him as i know he can go for a few more hours after.  He is having around 35oz during the day to eat so he's getting enough calories then to last the night I feel. 

I will wait until our next ped appointment before i go ahead and give cereal but i feel that he will be ready to start at 4 months, but will probably do t he whole weaning process slower i.e. not introduce other foods straight away, wait a good few weeks to see how he's doing.

I put a tiny bit of cereal in his bottle this morning and for the first time since i can remember he didnt throw up any of his milk.  i just put about a teaspoon in 7 oz formula and it made it a bit thicker.  Again, will see that its alright to continue with this as its the morning feed that is always the worst for his throwing up, usually most of his feed comes up.

Im hoping by sorting out his daytime eating it might help him sleep better again.  he went for over 8 hours before waking at all which is still really good i think, just need it extended :-)

Louise  xx