Almost 6 months old - still waking in the night for milk, help?

[sweetkitty]

DD2 is almost 6 months old (hard to believe) exclusively BF although this week I've started giving her some mush to lick off a spoon (sounds great).

Anyway she still wakes at least twice in the night to feed and I am knackered. I never had this problem with DD1 who slept 11-6am from 6 weeks. DD2 is far bigger and I know she feeds a lot more from me than DD1 ever did.

She has no routine as such just slots into our day with DD2, ie sleeps in the car/pram. Some days like today she has had very little sleep so she went down at 8.30pm but I know she will be up looking for milk at 1 and 5 am (her usual times) however, yesterday she was awake until 11pm I fed her then and she was still up at 1.30am. Is it comfort or does she still need milk? She does have a dummy and I have tried giving her the dummy in the night to see if that will settle her, it rarely does. She is a complete boob fiend though much more than DD1 ever was.

Has anyone else had this problem and did upping the solids make a difference? I think I want to know there is light at the end of the tunnel?

[hunkermunker]

SK, can you check your DD2 for a walkie-talkie as I think she must be in communication with DS2...

He fed a lot of last night - I just lie next to him like a snack bar He's in the cot in our room now till I go up (managed to get DS1 in a bed - hooray!), then I have him in bed - might try leaving him in the cot tonight and seeing how long he sleeps (although will feed him when I go up, I think).

I'd say she still needs milk at this age, so feed her. But threads about CC make me wince, so I'm possibly not the right person to ask there. I still fed DS1 in the night till about 10 or 11 months, and occasionally if he woke and wanted it after that.

I'd say upping solids is not a good plan - the milk you're giving her is more calorific than any of the bits of food she's getting atm. I've not given DS2 anything yet as I want him to do it himself - going down the BLW route with him, so no purees, just pieces of food (that's the plan anyway ). He's bigger than DS1 was too, and more active at this age, so I'm hoping he wears himself out in the day

[sweetkitty]

hiya hunker - sorry I'm not upping her food straight away (sorry if I was misleading) I meant in a few months when she is taking a lot more solids. I'm only giving her a few spoonfuls of puree right now to have a lick at to start her on new tastes. Hopefully I will be going down the BLW route and fast (I hate the puree stage too).

I do believe she still needs milk right now but I'm trying to get some reassurance that maybe at 8-9 months once she's having a bit more food she might start waking less for milk in the night. Don't worry I couldn't do CC at this age (or any of truth be known).

I've got a bedside cot so I just pull her over at night and forget to put her back. She's just so different to DD1 who was 8-8 at this age.

[LeahE]

DS woke a lot at 6 months in fact (you might want to skip this bit) I think actually got a bit worse around 6 months. But his sleep did improve around 9 months he started to sleep through about 50% of the time and only wake once the other 50%. I think he just wasn't ready before that.

[hunkermunker]

SK, sorry, just reread and it sounds like I thought this was a CC thread - I don't!

DS2 feeds more from me than DS1 used to as well - although MUCH less when we're out - he'll literally have three sucks then pull away and I cannot get him to latch again - I figure he'd feed if he was hungry/thirsty and I make sure as soon as we're somewhere quiet and familiar to him, he has a massive feed.

Is she feeding a lot during the day too? I think sometimes if DS2 is having distractible days, he wants to feed more at night.

[babaworshipper]

I think it was on kellymom that suggested that it is perfectly natural for BF babies to need nightfeeds until one year. Racks brains to recall from the haze of sleeplessness of the time

I think it was to do with BF babies being
1)masters of regulating their intake so you can't feed them up during the day
2)solids being less calorific so tummy full of carrot represents less calories taken in during the day than a tummy full of milk.
3) curious babies feeding less often/taking less during feeds during the day so they can see more of what is going on. Not a prob for a bottle fed baby cos you can face them out the way while they drink their bottle.

I just remember thinking thatk god it isn't just me and relaxing a bit about the sleeping through the night.

[Tatties]

Sweetkitty, probably not what you want to hear, but my 15mth old still feeds in the night When he was younger, I was always looking to the next landmark, "oh when he's on solids, he'll sleep through; when he learns to crawl, walk, etc.. he'll sleep through..." He's never done it though! Things got much better for me when I accepted that this is just him, and I stopped expecting him to 'conform' and instead looked at how I could make the night-waking more bearable. No way I could do CC, but I also couldn't keep getting up to him several times a night - I was just too tired. So from about 6mths we started co-sleeping for half the night, and now I barely (if at all) notice when he wakes to feed, and I feel like I'm getting a decent night's sleep. So now there's no problem (apart from people thinking I'm a freak beacause my baby doesn't sleep through )

I think you're doing the right thing using the bedside cot. I can't really say whether it's down to hunger or comfort, but my attitude is always, well does it really matter? She's asking for it, therefore IMO she needs it, at this age. Solids has made no difference to my ds. I am sure there is light at the end of the tunnel, but only when your dd is ready

[GarfieldsGirl]

Again sweetkitty, probably not what you want to hear, but you're not alone.

DS1 - can't ememberr exactly, but I think it was until about 10mths he was waking every night, and until about 14mths a couple of times a week.

DS2 - now 8mths. When its very hot, he either wakes at 1a, then 4am, or if I'm really lucky just at 4am. A normal night, however, is hourly waking from 1am.

I know you don't want to hear stories like this, but I know for me that its nice to know you're not the only one. As one of the previous posters said, people do make out that your babies a freak if not sleeping through from 6wks.

[sfxmum]

mine at 13m is going through a phase of doing just that, lucky if just twice. think the very hot weather had something to do with that, sorry prob not what uou want to her on the plus side we had lots of sleep through nights from about 5 months

[sfxmum]

apologies for appalling spelling, sleep deprived

[Mumfun]

Hiya SK

I always have had this problem with big hungry babies. DS was up every 3 hours without fail until almost six months. Then he settled a lot more. I do think he was affected by solids - they settled him a lot and specially the more substantial stuff you can give after 6 months and not just veg mush.

I remember reading the NCT guidelines when getting a bit desperate with him and they say (may have changed of course) that the definition of sleeping thru the night is a 6 hour stretch which most babies should be capable of from 6 months.

Tara current baby was a star first 10 weeks and only got up once in the night and then colds and illness and increasing hunger took their toll. Currently has a bad cough unsettling her but would otherwise mostly get up once in the night. I do find it hard not to give a drink to a baby in hot weather - just wouldnt not do it.

I think its very common for babies to get up in the night of all ages. a daily routine does help and babies are supposed to sleep better if they get a good amount of sleep in the day.

Other people have found it helpful to give a drink of water so they dont think its so worth getting up - also partner going to child and rocking them can also put them off the constant milk hunt.

It will get better but I would start trying to get partner to go to them maybe at the weekend. Also maybe try water drink but dont knwo if shes had this - Tara likes to drink water.

HTH maybe a bit

MF

[Notquitesotiredmum]

Hiya SK

My dss both woke at night for a lot longer than you want to know. (IME, and comparing notes with friends, boys tend to be very persistent with night feeding.)

My goddaughter is now nine months, exclusively bf, and has just started sleeping through. Like you, her mum had been aiming for some sleep at 6 months, then feared that she was never going to get a night's sleep. However, they are all looking happy now.

[wherethewildthingsare]

Sweetkitty, Hunker ? you are not alone! There must have been something in the stars when these babies were born. My older 3 were all sleeping through by now ? and by ?through? I mean between 8-9pm and 6 am and they were all bf too. One day they just slept through till daybreak. Finn has two sleeps in the day now and goes down for the night between 8-9pm. He settles very well from awake ? I don?t feed him to sleep and he doesn?t have a dummy, just likes to rub his blanket on his face. Sometimes I wake him for a feed when I go to bed, sometimes not, it seems to make little difference but he is always up at 3-4 am for a feed and recently again at 5-6 am (although he has had a snotty cold). He really seems to need these feeds, when I bring him into bed he grabs my boob with both hands and gets stuck in ? PMSL at the milk bar, Hunker! He comes into bed with me after dp gets up for work at 6am. If I try to slip my nipple out to get more comfortable, he pulls my hair and gives me love bites until I relent!

Conversely, he seems to need far less feeds in the day esp 10am ?4pm, I?m hoping this bodes well for my return to work in 5 weeks, I suppose I can?t have it all ways. As babaworshipper says he is very active in the day and unless he is sleepy it seems that he is happy to take a small feed and then get on with exploring the world. I don?t think solids make much difference at the moment and can even give them indigestion. I think we just have to go with it and as they get older and more able to cope with more daytime food, one day that night will come! (you of course, will wake 3 hrs before him with solid, engorged boobs!)

[Mumfun]

hi

there is hope Sk. DD slept thru last night first time from 7.30 to 5am bless her. I however as Rachey said was up at 3.30 with pounding boob wanting to feed but did manage to get back to sleep.

Hope it gets better for you too!

[harpsichordcarrier]

just wanted to say I have an eight month old baby who wakes A LOT in the night too. it is incredibly normal. I read somewhere (NCT?) that at six months one in five babies are still waking at least once in the night. I would have thought that is an underestimate myself.

[hoxtonchick]

my 1 year old feeds at night too. i'm not sure quite how much as we co-sleep so she just helps herself. ds woke during the night at the same age too (although he was on cow's milk by the same age, & i am still bf dd).

[oliveoil]

dd1 stopped feeding in the night at about 5 months and is a good sleeper

dd2 fed in the night till about 15 months and has only just started behaving herself at 22 months (see my thread that everyone is currently ignoring...)

x

[harpsichordcarrier]

yes, to be fair, dd2 doesn't generally wake up, she just sort of snuffles about and feeds.
co-sleeping is the key to surviving in the circs, imho.

[PiccadillyCircus]

DD is 9.5 months and wakes up in the night for milk. Sometimes only once, but more often more times.

DS slept from 10-7 and then 7-7 from such an earlier age [yawn emoticon].

[PiccadillyCircus]

And she is in a different room. her room has a bed in it as well - kepp finding myself waking up in there (although she is in the cot)

[Tinker]

14 month old still waking 2 or 3 times per night here. Co-sleepers - don't you get a dead arm from not being able to move when they feed?

[suggy]

yep - the pins and needles mean its time for dd2 to go back to her cot for 10 mins...

This whole thread is most upsetting... DD2 is 20 weeks and feeds 3 times a night. Hoped for tips on how to cure it...