very confused .....how much Milk and food 24 weeks ??

[patsypancake]

so dd is 24 weeks and Breastfed I started weaning at 17 weeks with just few teaspoons of root veg (bizarre advice from HV which was a whole other mn thread ) she didn't seem interested so I carried on offering a tiny bit every day ish so I didn't confuse her but has only just started to actually EAT it since around 2 weeks ago

she is now wolfing down breakfast eating a half a small childs cup of baby porridge and then veg at night but happily eat 3 ice cube sizes with added milk and then a full bottle after .

I have also very gently started dr Ferber sleep training and is going great except she keeps waking up in the night even after falling asleep with out a peep at bed time .. I cant figure out if she is hungry or if I should sleep train the feeds out of her.. I am making her wait four hours between feeds but is often crying after 2 hours will go back to sleep and keep waking up and falling to sleep until fed .

her general routine as is
up 6am ish Bf
Breaky - rice /porridge 1/2 cup
Bf 9/10 am
nap easily
up 12
BF every 3-4 hours
Dinner 5pm fruit/veg puree
bottle formula 5.45
bath bed 6.30 asleep mayb 5 mins crying
wakes and wimpers a couple of times before 10pm when wakes and I feed then wakes ever 2-4 hours through night .

I don't know weather she keeps waking because I am feeding her back to sleep I try waking her but she just wont wake up and im worried that she really needs it

[mumeeee]

It's normal for a baby of that age to still want a night feed. She is also very young to sleep train.

[poocatcherchampion]

milk is the main food until they are one. they may also still need it at night. go with what she wants.

[ZuleikaD]

Yes, she is likely to need night feeds for a few months yet. Also I would be feeding her more often than every 3-4 hours during the day - a baby of less than six months who's not properly on solids yet should have 8-12 feeds in total during 24 hours.

[patsypancake]

my hv told me she should be feeding every 5 hours .. and to try and make her wait ?

[NitramAtTheKrap]

Every 5 hours is too long. Mine woke for feeds well after they were 1. It's normal. Annoying in our babies should be seen and not heard world, but normal.

[ShatterResistant]

Why make her wait? What did the HV think you'd gain from that?

[JuniperHeartwand]

Feed Milk. On Demand. Stop worrying about solids yet for a few more weeks.

[LittleBearPad]

Why did you start at 17 weeks?

[mumeeee]

Your HV is talking rubbish, A baby shouldn"t wait 5 hours between feeds.

[ZuleikaD]

Especially a breastfed baby. I agree - your HV should get stuffed. This is why I never visit them. Feed your baby when she's hungry.

[patsypancake]

she told me that at around 3.5 months I don't know why because I was talking to her about something different I was still happy to feed her when she wanted . she said it with concern that I was feeding her to often although that wasn't my concern she is chubby but charting correctly

as for the weaning a different HV came into a parenting group I was on and told us all that was thr correct age now,,,,, furious as no1 seems to know anything about this but her . by then it was too late I don't want to confuse dd so just carried on doing it most days with very little on spoon. she didn't seem to interested any way but now is wolfing it down..

doesn't seem sensible to stop weaning now with only 2weeks till she is 6 months .

also only partly CCin as she began to wake between every 15mins to an hour and ended up in my bed was getting worse by the day so had to do something before we ended up in a bad situation tried pu/pd but that was horrendous so went for my version of dr Ferber
I started at 30sec, 1min, 2 mins was asleep by the 3rd check if not asleep in 15 mins get her up .

so I should still be feeding ever 3 hours or so ? even through the night ?
I have had so much conflicting advice I just feel so confused I can usually judge what she needs but I just feel so confused and whatever I do is wrong ...

[ZuleikaD]

I'm sorry to sideline things a bit here but under six months is far too young to do controlled crying of any sort! Medical professionals (by which I mean doctors, midwives etc, not health visitors) are not permitted to recommend it for children under 1 year old any more because of the neurological damage it has been shown to cause.

Yes, you should still be feeding every 2-3 hours, even through the night. Milk will be her main source of calories for at least another three months - even if she's eating solids enthusiastically her gut is too immature to extract the calories from them efficiently so they aren't actually feeding her, they're just going through her.

[patsypancake]

what is the alternative to cc ? although I am not sure I consider asleep in 5-10 mins cc and being conforted every 3 mins .

[ZuleikaD]

The alternative to controlled crying would be not leaving her to cry. Cuddling, rocking or feeding to sleep - even shhh-patting.

[LittleBearPad]

You shouldn't really try any form of sleep training before a baby is a year. If she cries then sit there with her, cuddle her, check she isn't hungry. Listen to her cues and not your health visitors, who appear to be talking crap.

[LittleBearPad]

I'm sure you do know what you're doing. Have the courage of your own convictions

[callamia]

Five hours sounds like a very long time. My son is a week younger than your daughter, and he's usually a 2-3 hour type. He can go up to four and bit hours if he's really distracted, but I don't like it!

Definitely still feed through the night. She clearly needs to feed then, so just let her. Mod by worry - it's easy to feel like you're doing everything wrong, but you're not - just respond to your daughter when she needs you (which I think is what you want to do).

[patsypancake]

I do want to respond to her and I am defiantly not looking for any easy ways out (if there are any ) I really want to do what is best but I feel as though I have no idea what that is.. as in I don't want to neglect doing anything when something needs to be done ... just as much I don't want to try and force her to do anything she isn't ready for !! I know I should go with my gut but it just seems to be telling me all sorts of thing and I just cant get my instinct to kick in and help me for some reason !

with ds1 I felt confident in what I was doing I took on board all advice and was confident in doing what suited him .... this time round I feel as though I don't have a clue what she wants or needs its as if I don't know her

It may be worth mentioning at this point I am suffering fro ma touch of pnd

so last night I put her to bed in the usual way and she fell asleep without any fuss then woke up every hour between 6-12 and then had a 4 hour sleep (heaven ) then woke 4 and up at 5.30 am for the day ......

[Artandco]

At 24 weeks mine would feed roughly every 2 hrs between 9am- 12 midnight. Then sleep through midnight-8.39/9am

I really would cut down on the food tbh. Veg is diet food basically if you think about it. Where as milk is calorific. Wheat isn't meant to be given before 6 months

Seeing as you have already started I would continue but with just one meal a day. Most babies start at 6 months on one meal, and take until 9 months to eat 3 meals a day.

Try:

6am bf
8am bf
10am bf
12pm bf
12.30pm offer little baby porridge ( always offer food after bf not instead of)
2pm bf
4pm bf
6pm bf
Wake at 11pm if they haven't and dreamfeed. Hopefully then sleep through. This late feed might not be needed if they have had plenty in the day

When bf the recommendation is always offer regularly as unlike bottle feeding you can't measure how much they have actually had

[callamia]

Patsy, could your baby be doing a bit of reverse cycling? Stocking up at night when it's quiet and there's nothing else going on? Mine does this when he's had a distractible day and have fed an awful lot. You might find that more bf during the day will lead to longer periods asleep at night - sometimes this happens for us! We usually get a night much like artandco describes.

You're definitely not neglecting your baby, you're just working what it is that she did need - and working your way through conflicting advice from all angles.

[AnythingNotEverything]

I agree with artandco. The food is just for texture and experience at the moment - calories should come from milk for a while yet.

More milk is the key. Feed regularly during the day and hopefully she won't be as hungry in the night.

DD is 22 weeks and this 4-6 month patch is a funny one for sleep. Huge developmental leaps and new sleep cycles mean lots of nighttime hellos!

I'd be tempted to ignore all of your HVs.

[Sephy]

I can completely sympathise with that feeling of wanting to do the best thing for baby but having no idea what that is, with so many different bits of advice and opinions out there. My 22 week old is certainly not sleeping through the night and many of my friends with similar aged babies are the same. You're not alone!

[Fantail]

My experience with DD was that feeding more frequently during the day (every 2 - 3 hours) did lead to better sleep at night. DD also teethed terribly, could your DD be starting teething causing her to be really unsettled at night? DD was never troubled during the day, it was only at night.

[patsypancake]

So dd has a tooth Sprouting I felt a small scratch of one yesterday. And I could tell that night something was happening so seiced on any sleep training, she goes to bed well at nights and naps but through the night has woke..every hour and only settled with feeding. But will happily go from 11am until 4pm with out a feed even when I try to feed her she refuses.