Night feedings with 8 month old ..

[Millie1]

DS is still, at 8 months, waking up 3 times a night for feeds - and then is so full that he won't eat his breakfast! Last night, for example, he went down at 7.15pm, woke at midnight, 3.15am, 5.30am (got a feed each of those times), 6.40am (just gave him a cuddle and he went back for half an hour, then we got up).

I think, at this stage, that it's okay to try to call a halt to at least one of these feeds, particularly given that up until about 3 weeks ago he was going from 7.30pm til anywhere between 2.30/4.00am. Any advice - which feed, how to do it. I can't really remember how I handled this with DS1 but by this stage he was only up once during the night.

BTW, he gets his tea at about 5.30pm - fruit. And with the exception of the first time he wakens up, the feeds aren't big ones and to my mind are more comfort than anything else.

Thanks

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Millie 1, don't know if you have read gina ford book, but the book she has written on sleep(not the contented baby book), has a few case studies on excessive night feeding at various ages once weaned. It gives you a rough idea on amount and types of solids a baby that age should be having, obviously they all vary though. I am sure at that age, they should be having a good breakfast, a protein lunch, and tea including carbohydrate, eg potatoe, pasta dish, soup and sandwich etc. Sounds as thiugh having only fruit at tea is not enough. There is an example of a baby in there doing exactly the same when having a fruit tea. If you would like more info I will have a proper look at it again-let us know?

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Sound to me like he needs more filling food at teatime. My wee man is sleeping through now, but ony since he's been having three meals in the day. The teatime one always includes something like potato, rice or pasta. He's 6.5 mnoths and has been on solids since 24 weeks one meal a day for a week etc progressing gradually to three. Hth

Millie 1, meant to say the "SLEEP" book is the one with the case studies, but it is her book on weaning that gives the detailed examples of meals for different ages etc.

Ooops .... I'm starving him, poor wee soul!!

He gets his 'proper' meal at lunchtime, ie. a veggie mix although he did get chicken for the first time this week so lunch would soon turn into a chicken/beef/fish meal but maybe I need to do a pasta dish in the evenings. Should I be giving him desert then at this stage in order to get fruit into him? I checked our Annabel Karmel's book a few days ago and think she didn't start deserts til 9 mths.

Alibo, I'd love to know what Gina says in that book.

Twiglett - thought about offering him water but maybe I'd better stuff him full of food first before taking the hard line with him!

Thanks everyone.

ps. he's a rolypoly with yummy little rolls of flesh everywhere so maybe I'm not quite starving him!!

ds2 is eight months and has been sleeping through from about 12 weeks. He goes down between 7.00 and 7.30 pm and wakes around 8.00am. If he stirs during the night one of us goes and puts his dummy back in. Even whilst he's had chicken pox and he's been up most of the night it's never occured to me to give him a bottle. He has his last bottle just before going to bed and it's 9oz. Then he has a 9oz bottle when he wakes up followed an hour or so later by breakfast. Then dinner and tea as normal.

I hope you get things sorted out soon. You must need some sleep.

Millie1, in gina ford weaning book typical meals for 8-9 months are:
7/7.30am bfeed or 7-8oz formula
cereal+fruit, or yoghurt+fruit
11.45/12 chicken casserole, or lamb hotpot, or
fish pie, or macaroni cheese etc
water or diluted juice
2/2.30pm bfeed or 5-7oz formula
5pm veg broth or similar with rice cakes or
sandwich,or pasta with veg +sauce, or
baked potato with mashed beans
water
6.30pm bfeed or 6-8oz formula

HTH, I am about to start the whole weaning buisiness, and bought the book as recipes look fairly easy in it!! Good luck!

Oh, forgot to add, she recommends if baby seems hungry before set meals, offer fruit or yoghurt at 10am or after lunch. If hungry after tea, offer yoghurt,milk pudding or cheese.

it could be teething causing the waking and then he has devleoped the habi? I know my ds woke thru the night for several breastfeeds until well over a year. More fool me...
I would says one feed top up before you go to bed and then try and soothe and settle without feeding.
TRy some carbohydrate for dinner as well..
I found porridge makes an excellent dinner!

I've been meaning to come back to this thread for over a week now - Flip and Piffleoffagus, thanks for your advice and Alibo, thank you for typing out all Gina's info.

So a week on and what's happening? Well, he's on chicken or pasta at lunchtime (mince to be introduced tomorrow) followed by fruit for desert, then teatime is veggies with more fruit. In other words, he's getting double what he was getting. Sometimes he's not that interested in the fruit, presumably cos he's full. Breakfasts, he still has little or no interest in.

We have at least 2 teeth about to cut through which seem to be annoying him a bit today.

Nighttimes. Hmmm. Up until 2 nights ago he was STILL waking 3 times, same pattern. The last couple of nights he's done better and last night he went from 8pm til 2.30am then til 6am which was great for me. I'm not jumping up and down with excitment yet though as we were away all day yesterday, he missed naps, slept in the car when he shouldn't have, refused feeds and was generally upside down so may just have been exhausted. Will see what tonight brings.

Am hoping that a combination of extra food (will have to get freezer organised and more meals prepared so as have protien lunches and pasta dinners at the ready) and these teeth cutting through will equal sleep for me!

Thanks again everyone!

Have you tried giving something milky and cerealy at teatime? At that time I tend to stick to things like porridge or rice pudding with fruit mixed in, on the basis that it's all nice and filling and soporific-making. Works for us, anyway.

Thanks Frogs ... I'll give that a go this evening. Last night he had his bedtime feed at 7.15pm and was up at 11.45pm, 3am and 6.30am - or thereabouts. I think I'll also give him dinner a little earlier so that he's hungrier for b/f by bedtime.

Millie - firstly I need to say how remarkably upbeat you sound considering the amount of sleep you are getting! - my ds didn't sleep through properly until he was about 7 months old and I was about ready to jump off Albert Bridge

Anyway it turned out that I was underfeeding my greedy guts - and it wasn't until I massively upped his food that he stopped waking up hungry. Once I was absolutely sure that he was getting enough to eat in the day and had been doing for about a week I bit the bullet and did controlled crying - which took two nights. Since then (he is now 15mths) I can count the times he has woken on one hand. I used the Gina Ford weaning book for ideas on quantities and types of food to give at which times. I thought v useful. Annabel is a bit light on protein i think for hungry babies. I agree about giving milky carb stuff for tea like baby rice, mashed potato, sweet potato and cheese.

HTH - good luck

My DS2 was a bit like this until recently (similar age). I agree with the others re the bigger tea. DS now has rice puddingy type thing or savoury rice for his tea but he also has 2 courses three times a day so maybe he's just greedy!

Eeek ... maybe I have been starving him!!! I gave him a huge lunch today which he scoffed every spoonful off, he ate breakfast (yeah!) and also had a big (and earlier) dinner so here's hoping. So glad to get all the advice about more food - thankyou! Oiseau ... the cc is just what I plan to do when I'm convinced he isn't hungry but for now I'll put up with sleep deprivation!