Don't Know Why My DS is Waking!

[M and N's Mom]

Hi.  My DS is 5 1/2 mos old.  He is BF and we've just started a bit of solids.
The routine (when it flows smoothly) looks like this:

E - 7:30 (BF)  Solids 8:30 - 1 tbsp of Rice Cereal
A
S-9:20-11:-00/11:15

E-11:30
A
S-1:00/1:10-3:00 (Wake him at 3:00)

E-3:30
A
S-5:00 (if we're lucky)-5:30...but often ends up being 5:20-5:40ish if we're fighting with him

E-5:30 Cluster Feed then 1 tbsp of Veggies
A
E-7:00
A
S - In Bed 7:30/7:40...asleep ?? (Bedtime is a battle)

No DF as it seemed to cause more night wakings.

He is partially swaddled (one arm out and legs free), no paci, has a lovie, BF both sides at each feed.
Introduced solids because he still seemed so hungry at night (keeps waking earlier and earlier to eat), and VERY interested when we are eating.
He rolls a lot.


Ok...I think that answers most of the questions.  My DS has been waking for 1 feed for a while.  BUT...it used to be 3-4am, then 2-3am, then 12-1 am...lately it has been 11-12am.  So, he is going less time at night.

Also...the past few nights he has eaten at 11:15ish, but is up again at 4:00.  I tried feeding him again thinking it might be a GS, but he obviously wasn't hungry, so I didn't let him continue (he just wanted the boob)...so we did pu/pd and shh/pat for a while.  Then he was still awake, but not content, for about an hour!  I don't know why he is up.  He won't just play himself back to sleep.  Am I missing something?

Thanks.

[macsmum]

no real answers but my son started waking earlier and earlier till he couldnt even make it to 10pm, once he was up to 2 solid feeds a day i started watering down the night feeds and then i stopped feeding when he woke, after 10 nights he rarely wakes now if he does i just pop his dummy in and go back to bed.

you might want to feed the solids earlier on and not introduce any at tea time till he is well established feeding, i know when i fed solids at 5pm ds slept worse , veggies could be causing excess wind?

Emma

[M and N's Mom]

How old was your son when you were doing this? 

We've only done squash at night thinking it shouldn't cause gas (wind)...would it?

I've heard of people who FF watering down the bottle...I wonder how you do the equivalent if you BF?  Anyone know?

We had to take his paci (dummy) away at 4 mos as it was a prop he was waking 4-6 times a night for us to replace.

[Colin Macs Mom]

I was also thinking that perhaps that evening solids wasn't helping. It's a myth really that solids will help a LO sleep better. It will actually make things worse more often than not.    If you do want to do two meals right now then offer those veggies at lunchtime rather than in the evening. That should give him more time to get rid of any gas or tummy upset. Squash can defininitely cause gas unfortunately.

Also, you can essentially do the equivalent of the water down method when BFing by offering less and less minutes untilt he feed is gone. But make sure that the daily intake increases to compensate.

[M and N's Mom]

Thanks Colin Mac's Mom.  Any thoughts why he would be waking earlier and earlier? 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Who knows... it seems that most LOs go through a phase of early wakings.    This sounds crazy but it helps to put LO down for bed earlier. Don't ask me why, I can't begin to guess but it most always does the trick!

[M and N's Mom]

I actually put him down a bit earlier last night (or tried to) and spent an hour doing shh/pat because he wasn't tired enough.   

I started the solids because I figured if he used to be able to go from 7pm-4am before needing to eat, and it is becoming less and less time, he must be requiring more than the BM is providing.  Make sense?  I hear what you are saying about the solids = gas sometimes, but he seems to need more food somehow    What a mystery!

[Colin Macs Mom]

I wonder if he's getting his 6 month growth spurt early?