9 month old still waking 3x a night

[Houx86]

Does anyone else’s 9 month old still wake lots during the night? Mine wakes 3 times for food still, I have tried to get him back to sleep without the bottle but he won’t have any of it. Weaning isn’t going great, he hardly eats anything which I suppose isn’t helping him to sleep through. Everywhere you look it seems like everyone’s babies are sleeping through or just having the one wake at his age! I’m not worried exactly, know babies are all different and if he needs his milk that’s fine, I think I just want a bit of reassurance and to feel less alone!!!

It does sound tough but fairly normal at 9 months, they usually have a sleep regression at that age anyway.

Can you give us an outline of what he has for food and milk on the day, we might be able to tweak it for you

Thanks ☺️ He has about 4 bottles over the day, usually 6-7oz. Food wise I do porridge or weetabix with a fruit mixed in for breakfast but he will only have half a weetabix biscuit or half a porridge sachet. Lunch is usually just picky bits so I will offer a stick of cheese, some breadsticks, some melty sticks, sometimes a yoghurt or rice pudding. For dinner I try to give a carb, a vegetable and a protein but again he hardly eats anything. Solid food, i.e food that isn’t mushy like porridge he will happily put in his mouth but he just mashes it up and keeps it in his cheeks like a hamster until he spits it out 🤦🏼‍♀️
Overnight I’m trying to reduce the amount of milk as recommended by an occupational therapist so he’s on 5oz at the minute.

That’s is a huge amount of milk for a 9 month old and reducing the quantity in the bottles overnight does seem like a good plan.

For context the amount recommended between 10 and 12 months is 15 Floz in 24 hours.

I would drop his first bottle from tomorrow and go straight to breakfast. He might complain but he will have food. You could offer two to 3 ounces of formula in a cup alongside his breakfast too so you know he’s not starving.

It should take him two to three days to get used to the new regime but then he should hopefully start to eat a bit more.

At this age they usually recommend milk then food but due to the huge amounts of milk he’s having I’d be tempted to offer food and give him milk before his 2 naps and before bed whilst continuing whilst still reducing nighttime bottles.

Forgot to add that this guide from the Caroline Walker Trust has some good suggestions on sample menus and portion sizes.

Thanks, I do always give him solids before his bottles, he’s just not interested in food! He’s also quite a difficult baby and incredibly hard to settle when he works himself up so I think we have a tough time coming up!

He may not be happy that you’re cutting down his milk but if you do it gradually, as the OT has suggested then he will have fine to adjust. And no, DC aren’t always happy with what we do and are often quite vocal but they’re just testing boundaries. So from now on it’s breakfast with a cup of milk and then a bottle before nap. Like I said he’ll likely complain but he will realise you’re standing firm, eventually Some babies are just less good at accepting change than others. My DC2 was a great baby, just as long as we did everything exactly how she wanted us to

If he’s difficult generally and is reluctant to eat solids, has Tongue Tie been ruled out? And how does he score on this simple progress checker?

*time to adjust

His first milk in the morning is the bottle he has before his nap, that’s really the only time he has milk is before his naps. He did have tongue tie which has been sorted. The quiz says he could use some support with understanding and social communication. He had colic until he was 10 weeks old where he was inconsolable for most of the day and I think this has made me have no belief in my ability to soothe him.