6month old wants to bf through the night even though weaning...

[MarliG]

My little one has an initial 4-5 hour sleep when I put her to bed, but then wakes every 2-3 hours for feeding. She's starting to not feed very well during the day either, breast or food puree. She's gaining weight steadily but I'm still a little bothered by her feed/sleep habits. She's also been teething for monts now.

Both my children woke in the night at that kind of frequency for breastfeeds until I stopped breastfeeding at 12 months for one and 13 months for the other. It is more comfort than feeding in the night at that age and I couldn't find any way of stopping them waking up. My DD in particular was and still is a very good eater but it made no difference to her waking at night.

Daddy took over night time duty when she wakes, and last night he managed to get her back to sleep twice until around 5am. I thought that feeding her at night was affecting her day eating but today she's still not taking much :(

Perhaps it only takes a little purée to make her feel full, so she's having less milk in the day but still getting hungry at night? At 6 months she probably doesn't need much solid food so maybe you could offer less purée and more milk for a couple of days to see if it makes a difference?

Thank you both for replying, I've been feeling a little pressure to get her off the breast and onto a bottle but she's totally not interested in bottles or dummies. I'm happy to bf for as long as she wants it but shes also very interested in whatever food I'm eating. The balance of weaning seems so difficult but I'm going to keep trying. :)

Her sleep pattern sounds totally normal for a 6 month old baby. It's a myth that they magically start sleeping through as soon as they start solid food (I was promised that one too!). There are plenty of myths around but there's nothing unusual or abnormal about your DD's sleep patterns.

This is a really good website about sleep, it should reassure you a bit.

It's a shame that you're feeling pressured to stop breastfeeding :( perhaps going to a breastfeeding group like LLL would help you feel a bit more supported.

What is it exactly that's bothering you about her eating habits? How much solid food is she eating during the day?

Your dd's main source of calories will be breastmilk until she turns 1.

When you introduce solids they are meant to accompany the bm but bm will still be what she goes to when hungry.

They don't see solid food as something which satisfies their hunger.

As you feed her solids during the day they fill her tummy so she has less milk, therefore waking in the night to get more calories in bm.
Some people assume weaning means less breastfeeding but it often means more, remember as well food should be fun until 1. Plus she is only 6 months old so it could be a couple of months or more before she realises food is filling.

My HV asked me if she was sleeping through the night and when I said noshe pulled a face and said "ooh she really should be by now" made me feel awful. My MIL is putting pressure on although I know she doesn't mean to she just really wants to look after her more.

She's always been a bit of a guzzler, and fed quickly and very often. Now during the day when I wait for her to want to bf she goes on for about 3 mins and then pulls away like she's in pain, and she's been doing this more often in the past couple of weeks. I know she's gotten very nosy about what's going on around her but sometimes whether it's silent or not she still pulls off. I'm sure she hasn't had enough to eat though. She's been just above the 50th percentile line since she was born, but her last two weigh ins have seen her drop below it. HV isn't concerned but told me to give her food with more fat content. It's all so confusing sometimes :s

She has a few spoons of baby porrige in the morning sometimes, and in the day maybe 4 spoons of purée. Then as she seems hungry when we eat I sometimes give her a few more spoons of purée. I know each baby is different so it's hard to follow guidelines sometimes.

More food with fat content=breastmilk
As for sleeping through the night, there is no magic age and your hv is not being fair to you by suggesting an age that she should be. DD2 is 3 and a half and doeswn't sleep through every night and dd3 is 19months and only just stopped waking every night

Oh dear, your HV's advice sounds a bit out-dated. There's no evidence to show a baby of this age 'should' be sleeping through the night, Debs is right that there is no magic age- just like walking, talking etc they do it in their own time. It's not unusual at all for a 6 mo to be waking several times a night. Here is some info about sleeping through the night. How are you feeling about the night wakings? What are your concerns about it?

Not sure about the weight gain as I don't know the full story, but breastmilk is the best food for your baby at this age. There are some ideas here on how to get a distracted baby to feed.

I agree with the previous two posters - your health visitors advice is outdated. She should still be getting most of her calories from milk, and sleeping through the night at 6 months is not the norm.

If you want to get her onto a bottle that is one thing, but you shouldn't feel pressurised because of your MIL. I'm sure she'll get her chances to babysit but 6 months is still tiny.

I wake up easily when I hear her stirring/crying, but it takes me a while to get back to sleep. Since she was born I've not been able to sleep during the day either. Im managing though as all she has to do is smile and i forget hiw tired i am :) The only reason I was worried about her not sleeping through is literally because of what the HV and MIL are saying to me.

DD who is now 10 months old started eating more at night because of weaning at 6 months! As she became more alert she started getting more interested in things around her and more easily distracted from the breast during the day, whereas at night she settles in for long sessions.

She will also eat more at night if teething and also now with the 9 month sleep regression she can eat up to every hour at night!

I too think all of this is perfectly normal for a lot of babies and your HV is very old fashioned. I live in the hope that DD may start sleeping better when she starts walking! :)

Neither of mine slept through at 6months, DD was 2 1/2years and DS is 17months and sometimes does 11-6am but not always. It's very unfair for your HV to say she should be sleeping though, as it's very commone for baby's to still wake at this age.

Somthing like 50% of all preschoolers still wake every night so expecting a baby of 6months to is a bit riddicules.

Think of it like this do you go 12hours at night without a drink? honist I bet you don't so why should you expect a 6month old to.
I still send my 4year old to be with a drink in case she wakes in the night as otherwise I'd have to get up for her to.