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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

6MO night waking...

45 replies

greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 12:14

DD feeds now at 7am, 12 noon, 4.30pm and 11pm. She also has solids midday and 5pm. Last night I decided no night feeds between 12-7 as she is a good weight and is growing well but after 3am she cried on and off until 5am when she went back to sleep (i was with her).

I just feel bad in case she was hungry and it does seem a long time for her to grizzle and cry but she has a temper on her already......

I am just not sure if I am doing the right thing and feel its just so much easier to offer a feed as it settles her straight away. I also don't want her getting used to waking at 3am either. Arrgghh :(

OP posts:
MoonFaceMamaaaaargh · 06/05/2011 13:32

imo you should offer a feed. Don't worry about her "getting used" to it. They need what they need and will grow out of it when they're ready.

Ignore anyones comments about their miraculous sleeping babies. You are responding to your baby's needs. This will help her grow up into a secure independant child.

Go to bed earlier or nap to help you cope with the waking. Smile

anonMum2 · 06/05/2011 13:55

Hope this is not too controversial.. for me it's no feeding after midnight till 7am.

I demand fed (BF) my now 3 month old - constantly throughout the night for 2 months, thinking that's obviously the right to do especially since I BF him and FF DS1 so surely everything has to be done differently. He was gaining weight but somehow never happy and always looked tired. He was up a lot at night feeding and we accommodated him. During the day he refused to drink much and fell asleep on my breast all the time. He also had bottles which he drank better but even then he would drink 10ml.. fall asleep and drink again etc. Very frustrating! I felt like I was slipping into PND and DH told me enough is enough. He physically refrained me from feeding DS2 or making him bottles from 12-6am, The first night I cried whenever DS2 cried(he cried for around 20 minutes around at 2am, 4am and 5am). I comforted him but NO feeding. Thankfully, after 2 nights, the crying nearly stopped and we found he settled very quickly (5 seconds chirp and straight back to sleep before we even got to him), and we slowly increased that to 10pm-6am. He suddenly started sleeping between 8pm and 7am, never cries and feeds so much better during the day, happy, alert, and people keep commenting on how healthy he looks now.

DS1 was the same, much happier when feeding throughout the day and had a good night's sleep, even when he was weaned.. even now as a toddler he loves his good night's rest, even through illnesses he just sleeps through and recovers really quickly. This is just my experience and I wanted to share that it's not always necessary to feed in the middle of the night. But every baby is different.

anonMum2 · 06/05/2011 13:59

Ps. sorry, forgot to say DS2 was mainly mixed feeding up to 10 weeks and from then completely on FF.

RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 14:56

Once ds was 6 months and eating solids, I also stopped feeding 11pm-6am. I had DP go to him in the night though because if I was there he wanted to feed and wouldn't understand why I wouldn't, so it seemed better to have DP comfort him. Offered water, dummy and cuddles but no milk.

RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 14:58

Though, 4 breastfeeds doesn't sound like very much to me, I think ds was having 6 milk feeds plus 3 meals when we stopped nightfeeds. Maybe try offering more feeds in the day time?

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 17:02

Ok thanks....interesting ready. 4 doesn't feel a lot to me either but I can't see when I would do the other feeds as its:

7am up and feed
11-12 nap
12 feed and solids
3-4 nap
4.30pm feed and solids
7pm bed
11pm feed

If I try to feed her before naps she falls asleep!

OP posts:
Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 17:03

interesting reading

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 17:20

What's wrong with her falling asleep if it's nap time though Confused

At 6 months my ds fed approx:
6am/7am - up and feed
8am - breakfast
9.30/10am - feed and nap
12pm - lunch
1.30/2pm - feed and nap
4pm - feed
5pm - tea
7pm -feed and bed
11pm - feed

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 17:32

I don't really want to feed to her to sleep as she doesn't currently have a feed to sleep association. I guess I could take her off before she falls asleep but in previous experience it just makes her angry!

I also don't feed her just before bed. I started to do this a few months back but it caused her to wake up more in the night.

Maybe I will give it a go over the next few days...

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 17:40

In that case I think you might have to continue night feeds for a while then, because she is probably genuinely hungry. If she's already going 4.30pm to 11pm without feeds then you can't expect her to go 12-7 too.

You could do her bedtime feed before her bath in the evening so you don't feed to sleep.

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 18:37

Even if she is having solids with the 4.30pm feed and at lunchtime?

Thanks so much for your time!

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 19:02

Yes, I think 1 feed between 4.30pm and 7am is too little. 4 breastfeeds and 2 lots of solids isn't very much over 24 hours. If you want her to sleep through the night you need to get all her calorie intake in during the day, and tank her up before bedtime.

AppleAndBlackberry · 06/05/2011 19:11

I have to say she was probably hungry if she cried on and off for two hours. I personally used to send DH in first once DD was well established on solids but if she didn't settle relatively quickly with him I would feed her.

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 19:41

:( Thanks for your help. I feel terrible now but I guess your right in what you are saying. Will try and feed her up more in the day.

Thanks again.

OP posts:
MoonFaceMamaaaaargh · 06/05/2011 19:43

most solids eaten at this age (baby rice, veg etc) are lower in cals than milk.

MoonFaceMamaaaaargh · 06/05/2011 19:48

x post. Don't be sad greenone. There is a lot to figure out and lots of contradictory advice. you sound like a lovely careing mum.Smile

mewkins · 06/05/2011 19:49

My dd is 10 months and though generally sleeps through she does still occassionally have growth spurts where she will wake for a night feed for 2 or 3 nights in a row. There is no point trying to fight this in my experience as she will just have a really unsettled rest of the night and then be up mega early. If it continues more than a few nights and she starts taking less milk and refusing her breakfast, I start diluting the formula and giving her an extra snack before bed.

Hope this helps. If its any consolation my friends 3yr old still sometimes wakes at nighy for a snack with a rumbling tummy!

RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 19:53

Hey, don't beat yourself up about it - it was one night and won't have done any lasting damage!

Does she not ask for any more feeds - nothing between 7am and midday? I don't know if I could go that long Grin

How about offering a mid-morning feed at 9.30am? Might be long enough before her nap time that she won't fall asleep and you can still put her down without feeding at 11am.

I would try offering a feed when she wakes from her afternoon nap, then tea at 5pm, then another feed at 6pm, then bath, then bed at 7pm.

MoonFaceMamaaaaargh · 06/05/2011 19:54

x post. Don't be sad greenone. There is a lot to figure out and lots of contradictory advice. you sound like a lovely careing mum.Smile

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 19:57

Thank you. I feel awful that I have probably made her go without milk. The funny thing was when she went back down at 5am she then slept until 7.30am and was all smiles etc when she woke up. She was also a happier baby in general today although it's hard to know how much grumpiness is down to teeth right now.

Anyway I shall try and tank her up more in the day and maybe feed her when she wakes up at night for another month until she is on 3 meals a day at least.

It's so hard and I know I am being selfish but I am desperate for some rest and DD won't take a bottle so it's always me up in the night. I know I am not alone but feel a breaking point after so many sleepless nights :(

Thanks all for your time and for being so kind. I feel like a terrible Mum right now!

OP posts:
MamaChocoholic · 06/05/2011 19:58

Just counted and my 7mo dts feed 7/8 times in the day (plus occasional snacks for comfort), plus at least 2 hourly at night. How do you all get your dcs to go so long between feeds? Are the feeds quite long? Guessing that a feed here rarely extends more than 5 mins. Sorry for thread hijack, but feeling quite disheartened.

RitaMorgan · 06/05/2011 20:02

Mine eats like there's no tomorrow - he fed around every 2.5 hours until he was on solids. He cries when his food is finished now Hmm

Original poster
greeneone12 · 06/05/2011 20:03

Well mine feeds for about 10 minutes each side at each feed. Between whiles she plays happily and then gets tired and has a nap so it doesn't occur to me to feed any more than I am already doing.

After her 7am feed she doesn't seem hungry until she gets sleepy so I feed her next at midday after her nap. Same again for the afternoon...she is happy enough until she gets tired at 3pm ish and then sleeps.

I just don't know how I would fit in extra feeds - unless I do it just before naps and stop before she falls asleep but I have a feeling that will just make her angry!!

OP posts:
MamaChocoholic · 06/05/2011 20:06

Rita, they're on solids. And your schedule above suggests 6 feeds per 24h, whereas mine feed at least 12-14 times. sorry, I know I'm whining, I'm just so damn tired :(

DialsMavis · 06/05/2011 20:07

I don't want to do get DD back into feeding to sleep either, here is her rough timetable, she does still wake at night every few days but it is teething related and i haven't fed at night for a few weeks.
Wake 7ish-milk
8ish-Breakfast
9-10-nap (between 30mins and an hour)
10.30/11-milk
12/12.30-lunch
then nap
around 3 (either before or after school run) milk
hopefully another nap
5pm-Dinner and often milk
6pm bath
loads of milk
bed 6.30ish-7pm

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