6MO night waking...

[greeneone12]

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 :(

Whine away! A problem shared and all that......how is your DD's weight?

greeneone - how about:

7am -feed
9.30am -feed
11-12pm - nap
12pm - feed
1pm - lunch
3-4pm - nap
4pm - feed
5pm - tea
6pm - feed
7pm - bed

MamaChocoholic - I did have to restrict nightfeeds though, or I think ds would have fed 2-hourly/slept latched on all night too. Do you have a partner? Maybe tackle one twin at a time, get one down to 4 hourly at night, then the other.

greeneone, mine don't feed to sleep in the day (or only rarely). mostly I rock them in an armchair or walk in a buggy. they can be quite grumpy though, and will often be crying with hunger/tiredness within 2 hours of waking (having fed all night). perhaps it's because they can only get one side at each feed.

Have you tried offering an extra feed maybe at 10am or 6pm to try and tank up in the daytime? Not that I know anything, obviously, given my frequent feeders

Yes I think I will start adding in extra feeds :)

RitaMorgan I will certainly try what you suggest and try that tomorrow.

Just to add I think my problem is that I am feeding at the same time as solids....so one side then solids then the other.

I think maybe she has been cutting back on the other side too much maybe?

I would do a full breastfeed both sides, then do solids an hour later. You want the solids to be in addition to milk, not replacing it yet.

dp too grumpy without a full night's sleep to consider that Rita! I also need to get them quiet as quickly as possible to avoid waking other baby, so I do perhaps feed earlier than I might. I think dt1 could go 3-4 hours if dt2 didn't wake her, and dt2 is easier to get to sleep by rocking than feeding generally. perhaps I just need to bite the bullet and rock him if it's been less than 3 hours (sleeping latched on is the lazy solution). but if they won't go 3 hours in the day without a feed, is it fair to expect them to do so at night?

greeneone, I have read it is best to give solids at this age an hour after milk. tbh, though, I probably give milk closer before solids than that, as a milk snack often buys me time to cook while they steal each other's toys play

My friend bought me a book and I have been following that which says solids inbetween boobs but maybe I can change things around a little. Will let you know how I get on.

Thanks a million.

mamachocoholic you deserve a medal!

I'll settle for some sleep

Good luck with the new plan.

I wouldn't give DP the option of shirking night duties! How dare he, you shouldn't be doing it all on your own

I can't go 10 hours without food or drink in the day, but I can at night. Similarly my ds doesn't go more than a couple of hours without something unless he's asleep. I doubt they need to feed constantly at night, and you need to get some sleep too.

I've had lots of success with pick-up/put-down for sorting sleep out - I have never had to stomach for leaving ds to cry alone but don't feel so bad if I am with him!

I know this is slightly off topic but I have been doing solids now for a month between boobs - will it throw her all off kilter if I change timings?

I doubt it - give it a go and see though!

MamaChocoholic, if you feel you can wake up enough to rock dt2, I can't see why it's a problem them going for longer without food in the day than the night. My guess is that the night feeds are them wanting comfort / help returning to sleep rather than needing food.

The number of feeds doesn't sound that abnormal to me though. At 11/12 months, DS was having 7 daytime feeds and 2-4 night time ones, depending on how often he woke. He didn't need more than one night feed (from a nutritional point of view) but he did need more in order to sleep IYSWIM.

OP, I'd agree with the milk an hour before solids - it's to make sure that until 12 months, the majority of their nutrition comes from milk rather than solids. It's only after 12 months that the WHO recommend that more than 50% of a babies' nutrition comes from solid food. (In practice, I often ended up giving bf about 10 mins before food as we'd been busy prior to that).

I'm sure changing timings won't matter, especially at this early stage. I could skip a meal (or two) until DS was 11 months, as long as he'd had bf instead.

MamaChoc-my DS used to feed like yours, very frequently and only for 5 minutes...I went to see a BF counsellor once who improved my latch and since then he feeds for 15 minutes straight every 4 hours during the day. Nighttime different story but there he is more comfort feeding - I think....

greenone just to say, don't feel bad about having not offered more feeds. Imo some babies/people just aren't that food motivated. My friends ds was completely disinterested in milk. Took little bits and not that often. He went through phases of night feeds, as though he some days hadn't been interested enough to fill up during the day, but some days had. Even on solids he is a hit and miss eater and my friend is just coming to terms with the fact that that is his way. Her ds seemed to never ask for food. Mind raids the fridge in the middle of the night. I imagine your ds is on the same end of the spectrum as my friends.

Thank you :) I guess I am just struggling with the thought that I was trying to force her through the night when she really was hungry. I am getting her weighed on Thursday so that will give me an indication of if she has been getting enough. So far today she has had the breast at every grizzle and has actually fed when I didn't expect her to.

Lots of kind people on Mumsnet. Thanks for all your support.

greeneone I kept having those horrid thoughts too that DS2 must be starving and how could I do this do him(as said I wanted to feed him whenever he cried but was very sternly told not too by DH because he does not need it in the middle of the night and I needed sleep). Awful awful feeling..

But they don't starve and they're not silly - he quickly made up the feeds first thing in the morning by feeding loads every 2 hours. He's now settled back into 3hours between feeds. I'm sure yours did the same the next morning too and drank the milk she missed so don't feel bad at all.

Hope your new feeding works. Good luck and wishing you a good night's sleep and good feed! :)

Thank you very much. I fed her lots more yesterday and she only woke once in the night! woooowooo! Thanks RitaMorgan especially! I just hope when I get her weighed it shows has been growing ok!

Brilliant greeneone :)