7mo stopped sleeping through when started on solids. Sleep deprivation is now seriously getting to me

[26minutes]

I thought I'd struck lucky with DD. SHe was sleeping through from 7wks and I couldn't believe my luck. She'd go down at about 9pm, then wake at about 6, I'd feed her in bed then put her back in her cot and she'd sleep until I woke her to take ds's to school. She had the odd few days of waking for one feed in the night around the growth spurt times but would then be straight back to sleeping right through the night.

Fast forward to when she started solids and now she's just not sleeping through the night at all. Most nights she wakes twice, some nights 3 times and other nights (like last night) she won't sleep for longer than an hour and a half. She woke last night at 11.30, 1, 3 & 4.30 and was then up and awake before 7 this morning. I can't function with so little sleep. I tried putting her back down without feeding her but she was having none of it and at stupid o clock in the morning I'm just not feeling up to letting her cry it out.

I've tried cutting down her solid meals so that she has more milk, I've tried increasing her solid meals so that she's more full up, I've tried pushing her last feed of the day back, I've tried formula instead of breastfeeding, nothing has any effect on her at all, she is still up loads in the night.

Any suggestions as to how to help me her sleep?

[greeneone12]

My DD used to wake once a night before solids but her sleep got a hell of a lot worse when she started food and I had a few days where I was constantly in tears through sheer exhaustion so I do know how you feel.

I reduced the solids and more or less offered feeds at every whinge for a few days and that seemed to help but I can see you have tried that already. How long has this being going on for? Are the foods she is having at night giving her wind? I really am no expert but you really are not alone. I was on the phone in tears to our Early Years Practioner asking what was going on as I was at such a loss with what to do.

[26minutes]

I don't think it is wind as she certainly doesn't seem windy at night and it purely seems to be milk that she is waking for. Last night each feed was for approx 1/2 hour (so only actually 1hr sleep in between each one), sometimes at night she will be taking milk for over an hour so I think it is definitely hunger that is waking her rather than anything else. (I'm so tired I nearly spelt anything as enything!) She's also no problem with getting rid of wind herself!

She started on solids at about 5 months as milk feeds didn't seem to be satisfying her as much as I thought they should, she took to it so readily that she was having more solids earlier than I'd intended. E.g. I'd planned on taking it slowly and building up to 3 meals a day over a couple of months but once she'd had her first taste of solids she just wasn't happy with milk adn so I ended up offering her more solids and she was on 3 meals a day within a few weeks and that's when the sleepless nights started, so this has been going on for about a month and a half, but believe me it feels longer. I think it's the fact that she went onto so many solids so quickly that caused the problems for her but once she'd started she point blank refused to go back. If only I had a time machine, then I'd be going back to when she started solids and taking it very slowly no matter how eager she seemed!