HELP!! 5 months feeding every 2 hours!!

[munz]

nightmare night last night up every 2 hours again so far this week we've only had one night where he's slept for a solid 4 hours - or at least he has he wakes up cos he comes out of his blanket, creates so I go in put him back in and so it goes on last night he went to bed at 8.15pm, woke at 10.15 for a feed as I fed him at 7pm, then midnight out of the blanket wide awake - back in it and went back to sleep till 3am, then fed then awake at 5am, 5.20am, 5.40am (fed) back to sleep till 7am. what can I do??? surely a 5 month old baby should be able to go for longer than 2 hours without a feed? I was sure it was just the heat but last night was nowhere near as hot as before. We've tried dream feeds which made him worse so stopped those, his naps during the day are getting back on track again, mondya was a v good day for napping and actually a good night for him this week. should I start weaning properly? the few times I have tried him he likes to do things himself and we end up with food all over his mouth/hands/legs - rather amusing to watch thou, has to be mr independant! lol. tried the porrige this morning again - thru lack of anything else, he took a mouthful and has decided that's not for him anymore lol.

failing all of those is it possible that my milk's deminishing? althou he's settleing/contended by day feeding every 2.5 hours or so, i'm just so tired it feels like we've gone back to him being a NB again. i've been offering water all week as well, some day's he'll take a lot others not so much, and has a (what I term to be) full/good feed on top. the water I was offering b4 and after a nap of 1.5 hours esp when it was v hot in the week.

any help greatly taken! this has been going on for about 2 weeks I think. I didn't want to wean just yet till after we move in about 4 weeks time. jsut can't see how it's anything else, would a top up of formula help? my h/v said now I can start him on babay rice or formula to see if that helps, but i'm just not sure.

is he teething munz? in retrospect, i wonder if my dd was teething sometimes when she woke up a lot for feeds. also, they have another growth spurt at 6 months-ish. i've also found with the light mornings they come into a light sleep. this am my dd was on and off from 4.30 am till 6. (she is 15 months by the way.)

god don't say that, the 4 month one was a nightmare it took about 2 weeks for him to settle properly after that one.

possibly teething, at 16 weeks he had a tooth where his fangs should be poking out of the gum, and the nurse said it was defiantly teething/a toothy pointing out, but it's since gone back in again (quite random) so I thought he had stopped for a while of does it not stop once it's started?

he seems to be taking a good feed thou every 2 hours, (he seems to take it if it's on offer iycwim.)

if he is teething why o why do they have to start coming thru during the night?? lol.

We have had this problem with Saffron this week, i have put it down to the hot weather, last night was the worst, she went to sleep at 8pm, woke at 11pm then up evry hour. A few weeks sgo she was only waking for one feed and even sleped through a couple times.
We have started her on baby rice (slap my wrist) and she seems more settled during the day.

lol, marne, the day's fine he's lovely good as gold, eitehr napping or playing only really gets ratty around nap time etc so no complaints there it's the blinking night.

u have my sympathies hon, so far this week we've had last night, 2 nights up every 2 hours one up every 1.5 hours. (since sunday). it's a nightmare.

I really must get cleaning as we're moving but I just don't have the energy to do anything bar sit down

look to see if he is drooling today otherwise, with a combination of growth spurt and heat it must be yukky for them. if he is active during the day then there is possibly enough to distract him from any discomfort but not at night when he comes into the natural light sleep patterns. also i remember some book saying that they are more restless at night when they are doing new things developmentally like sitting up, standing etc. all in all, it is an awkward age and we can never be sure why they are are UP!

Would it help if you bed shared then maybe you could nap while feeding. I used to lie on my side and go back to sleep ! That worked well for me but made sure we practiced safe bed sharing. I think its probably the hot weather.Had my dd1 during a similar heatwave and it really tested my confidence in total bfeeding-got through it and ended up exclusively bfeeding for 9 months.It must be really hard for you to moving house also-could you express at some point and maybe have a whole night off and get someone to do the night shift in another room and give your expressed milk ? You could catch up ready for the next round .

Munz - my ds did this. I always found a reason for it like "oh he's teething" or "oh he didn't feed much today" or "oh he didn't nap very well so he's unsettled" etc etc. But I reckon the bottom line with my ds was that OF COURSE he was going to cry regularly through the night if it meant that his crying resulted in Mummy coming through and cuddling and feeding him. I waited until he was weaned and on three meals a day (around 7 months) and then we did controlled crying. It took four nights. We are all so much happier and now ds sleeps 7pm to 6.30am and naps 2 x 1.5 hours (sometimes longer) through the day. I know it's not for everyone, but it worked for us.

I really think this is quite, quite normal

and next week might be different - they change so much at this age

as long as he seems healthy and alert I would just go with the flow

that's why my baby is always tucked into bed with me because I'm too lazy to get up all the time

kis - yes lots of drooling/thumb sucking/fist sucking (althou prefers the thumb) lots of rooting as well thou. had a feel of the gums today - v hard ther's 2 ready in the front but yet to break thru the surface.

sleepy - i'm on my own at the mo, mum & dad are down for a week week after next to help me out packing/cleaning etc, DH is away on a course at the mo so he's no help! lol. I have done the co sleeping on really bad nights but now we've got him settled in his bed I didn't want to disrupt that as for the first 2 nights he was in there we (I) was up every 1.5 hours then with him to tend to him.

maw - lol., u read my mind, those are the excuses i've been giving, now resulting in my milks' no good at night time for him as he's not willing to work for the feed not sure on doing CC, DH want's to once Joeys' a bit older so we shall see about that at a later stage. his napping at the minute is approx 3 x 1.5 hour naps and perhaps 1 45 min nap, (but nothing after 5.30 normally) betime's 8.15 latest 7.45 earliest i've managed.

he is alert/healthy, a fair weight gain, obviosuly it's slowed down but still putting on, happy within himself, has ben a bit clingy this week, althou I guess DH going away hasn't helped the issue for him as at the mo when I leave the room he's crying/I put him down. developmental wise he's been rolling about/had a lot more tummy time this week, also he's been sitting up/trying to balance sitting up in his ring. and has been playing wiht his musical ball toy thingy (i'm v proud he's worked out how the music works - he presses the button) so I guess he's done a lot of development this week then.

should he still want feeding so regually then? I've tried jsut water as well on a night when it was 1.5 hours which tbh didn't really do much apart form quench his thirst. (every other time was a feed iycwim) I'm careful not to interact too mcuh at night time.

i would say it is this heat my 11 month old is waking up where he never has before etc, he is unsettled and very thirsty i would put it down to the heat, and try to keep baby as cool as possible during the day just wioth a nappy on and try to give baby as much milk during the day so that he wont want quite so much at night, i took my son on holiday to turkey and it was so hot i feed evry two hours every night for two weeks, i suppose u should be pleased he is taking on as some babies fail to eat and drink in this heat, not that that helps u with ur sleeo deprivation, u could try baby rice, at night, but i would keep offering feeds during the day as much as u can which might help during the night a little, also wont baby be too hot with any blanket on at the moment, ?? my ds is going to bed in a vest thats all and he is still very warm??xx

also he is probably having a growth spurt, and i am sure ur milk is fine as long as ur eating and drinking well, make sure u drink lots as baby is obviously taking off such a lot at the moment, x i always used to worry about my milk and baby sleeping through then one night at 8 months it just happened i was a zombie till then xx

I don't think so, he only has a nappy on and it's a thin cotton blanket (no more than a sheet really). by day he's feeding well, perhaps I should fed 2 hourly by day as well as water? I'm happy he's getting enough fluids by day, and i'm keeping him covered up on the odd occassion i've taken him out- other than that we've been in all day in the cool. during the day he's only wearing a nappy, today he's got a t shirt on as the temp is right down to 20oC with a breeze. unfortunatly I don't think baby rice agreed wiht him as it seemed to make him poorly after each feed/unsettled for about 3 days before he settled again, so I've only tried that twice.

I wouldn't bother feeding water during the day at this age - just offer the breast

or just give a sip from your own water cup if he is interested and wants a slurp

ah i see about the sheet, sorry they seem to like something over them, for securtiy, maybe it is too early for his for the rice my ds never bothered with water just offered bf on request till 6-7 months during the day

yet another bad night this has been going on for a week now. am getting really knackered/down about it. yesterday he fed during the day at:

7.30 10.30 1 4 (think it was around then/3.30) 6 8 10 then woke at 12 2 (fed/brought in with me) 4 5.30 (taken back to his room) 6 nanna came and took him downstairs for me.

I've noticed this stems back to last week, prior to this episode, DH was up with him for 4 nights so I could get some good sleep in, he was waking once at around 2/3am then going till 6am/6.30 so was good. (from 8/9pm feed) anyhow during those 4 days DH gave him 2 EBM each had 5 oz in and 2 8 oz bottles of formula as i've ran out of EBM. the next night was when the every hour started then night after every 2 hours. tonight i'm going to try him with 1 bottle of formula to see how we get on, it's not possible surely thou for him to be allergic to my milk after so long? or for it to only occur late afternoon/for bed. perhaps I should stop feeding him every 2 hours? he went form 2.30 feed to 7am this mornign before grizzaling for a feed so i'm sure he's getting enough and when he does suckle it;'s for comfort - can u over feed a BF baby?

he also sometimes crys when i'm winding him/when he lays down on the pillow, but will then suckle away bobbing on/off.

any thoughts?

munz it sounds very normal - lots of babies are like this. This sounds like a very typical night with me and my 9-month old.

The path of least resistance is to wait it out, probably bring him in with you, and see how things change over time. Get to bed when he goes to bed so you can get extra hours in. Most nights, I lie down with my baby when she goes to bed and I read next to her for an hour or so, and then I go to sleep myself.

There is rarely an 'answer' to erratic sleep - that's just what lots of babies do for the first year or so.

i went through this till aboutt 8 months!! i do not think u can really over bf as baby will only take on what they want and if they have been greddy they r generally sick

have you tried a grobag? you can get really thin ones 0.5tog or 1 tog, they're just as thin as a sheet. might work better than the sheet he has now cos he won't be able to kick it off and he'll feel more snug. my dd never settled with sheets. now, once she's zipped into her bag she knows it's time for a long sleep. you asked about whether your milk may be diminishing, well maybe it is if you're giving water and formula, cos then your body doesn't actually know how much your baby is taking.

Sorry munz, Are you saying he slept better/ longer after the bottles than normal and then started the hourly wakings after the formula?

If so 2 thoughts. 1) is he being lazy about feeding off you after 4 nights of bottles, and taking lots of small feeds or 2) Did he not tolerate the formual well resulting in lots of wakings the next night which have habit formed?

we've tried a sleeping bag, althou to no avail - his arms flap/thrash everywhere and tend to keep him awake which is why we use the sheet. I did see those rugbug thingys but apparently your not supposet to cover a babys head when they're asleep?

anyhow, I asked DH about the bottle thingy, he said he took the EBM and fomula both fine, each time he'd have the bottle then sleep for 4 hours or so - DH is of the view he's got to wake up too much to feed from me and he basically doesn't want to work for his supper! lol. (nice thought! lol)

he was fine the day after he had the formula it was the night after when he went back on my boob the problems began and have continued. i'm not sure how much is him being a lazy bones/tired/sleepy at night and how much is habit. I brought him in with me last night and it made absolutly no differnce to anything. he still woke up after 2 hours.

(I am fully BF'ing, water's been given as an extra during the v hot few days we had this week, and the formula was only given as I ran out of frozen EBM)

fed every 3 hours today to see if that helps giving him a bit longer between each feed, and I won't cluster feed either to see if thta makes a difference - can't get any worse surely??

you won't cluster feed? is that because you already tried that? does he 'ask' to cluster feed? dd cluster feeds from about 6pm til she nods of finally at 8pm. is it worth a try? i just plonk her on my lap and she feeds away while i watch tv. once she's asleep i take her up.

Oh you could be living my life!!! They are only days apart too.

I have been very very determined to leave weaning until 6 months - but a mixture of him swiping anything in my hand, plus the constant night feeds is making me doubt myself... add in my mum who is convinced that he needs food, and when I said that he was wanting oodles of feeds in the night, said to try formula, when I said I didn't want to I got the very sympathetic "then you just have to put up with the waking and get used to it" I know that b/fed babies can sleep through the night.

I'm sure teeth aren't the problem here.

He is contented enough during the day, it is just night that he wants to be fed every 2 hours or so. he spends most of his time in our bed, but I never sleep soundly like it, so it is still very very draining.

No advice, because I am completely lost over how to deal with it myself, just wanted to say that you aren't alone!!

Could the baby just be thirsty with this weather and be needing a bit of water or tea?

I know WHO recommend waiting to wean a baby until they're 6 months old - but nobody tells the baby that. We started weaning DS at 20 weeks with HV advice becuase he was feeding so much, so often. We've always given him healthy food, started off with very pureed veg. He's now 8.5 months, bang on all the right scales, loves his food - especially his veg.
Can you express so that your DP/DH can do a feed?

ik I can't get enough out, I stopped expressing about 8 weeks ago as we were going on holiday and now it's quicker just to whip me boob out now my supply has completely settled down.

DB - i've been clster feeding for the past 5 months! lol. I have stopped the cluster feeding as a) the two night's i've stopped he hasn't missed hte feeds and b) CADS suggested to me on another thread that it would well be heartburn or something comeing back up after about 1.5/2 hours waking him up - and I must say since I stopped feeding him so regually/cluster feeding and feeding only every 3 hours, he's stopped being as sick, and no longer bobs on/off the boob and will have a nice suckle.

CFS - I feel for u hon, I don't have him in with me cos like u I don't co - sleep v well at all, i'd rather get up and trase down the hall, althou DH did suggest sleeping in his room to see if that helps. i've had the weaning thing since the boy was 13 weeks and 'perhaps your milk isn't enough (nothing to do wiht the fact we were away on holiday in a differnt place then! lol) anyhow, i'm going to try baby rice again but a differnt brand to see if that helps at all. I've started a completely new routein as well, bed time is now 7pm, bath boob bed in that order starts at 6.30 so he's down for 7pm. and 3/4 naps during the day depending on how long he has but no napping after 5pm any more so as he sticks to his bed time. i'm sure it's not teeth either, i'm resigned to the fact that he'll go back when he's ready - but if I get a definate answer b4 I'll def let u know, as u say only days in it for our 2! lol. (ooh and I now know SMA caused the every hour up so that's a big no no for this household boobs only!) also got a gubby now as well for bed times only he nussles up to it now so fingers crossed for tonight, we're slowly perlonging it again to 2.5 hours.

Sandy - tried water was the exact same every 2 hours regardless.

ho hum who'd be a mummy eh! lol. CFS - we'll have to meet up when I move down to compare notes! lol