7 months old, waking 2/3 times for bottle of milk through the night

[1stTimeMummyy]

I’m exhausted!

My daughter has turned 7 months old today and is doing brilliantly on solids. She has one tooth and her second one is cutting. She’s always been an amazing sleeper since day 1. But for about 2 months now it’s changed and im struggling!

It got the point I was letting her get in bed with us just to try and sleep but over he last week I’ve managed to keep her in her own cot which I’m happy about. But she’s waking through the night for bottles of milk. Sometimes only a couple oz sometimes 5or6. She’s normally down about 8/9pm. Wakes around 12-1 for normally 5oz and then again at 4/5 for abit more. Before waking up at 8/9 ish. Am I just being ungrateful as I know many other mums and dads get far less sleep then this! Or should she be getting through the night by now?

Thanks!

I'm Sorry but it's totally normal. At that age both my DC were up nearly every hour. Cosleeping was the only way. 1st went through the night at 15 months, 2nd did it occasionally from 10 months but she's nearly one and it's certainly not every night! I breastfeed though so apparently that makes them wake more.

Anyone including professionals who makes out a 7mo should sleep through the night is either very very lucky with theirs or lying.
That's probably not what you wanted to hear but hopefully you can find a way to get some rest such as partner helping you as you bottle feed!!

That doesn't sound bad at all, it's normal for them to wake through the night until quite a bit older than she is.

ahhh Thankyou! All these “should be doing this by that age and this age” throws you off doesn’t it! Glad it’s normal !

I breastfed and was still sleeping g in the same room at that age. Sounds about right from my memories. You could try a snack before bed (rusks were a bit in my house). Then I’d feed her when I went to bed to try to get a bit of a longer sleep. But she regularly up in the early hours for a top up!

Hit not a bit!!

My experience was different to all of the pp, 3 dc stopped night feeding at 8, 11 and about 16 weeks. Are you sure shes not waking from teething pain rather than hunger?

I think by that age they should be having around 20oz of formula a day. Make sure she has all of that in daytime hours and a bigger bottle before bed then try just offering water at night. I did it with my second and she started sleeping through within days although she was closer to 8.5 months.

Hello! She is teething and I give her gel before bed. I was wondering if it could be pain too but she drinks quite a lot of milk and then goes straight back down for another few hours. Thankyou everyone for your advise and sharing experiences. Definitely going to try giving her a larger feed before bed, I did try that a little while ago but she drank her normal amount and then just didn’t want anymore. But will try again. I’m not too worried as long as this is to be expected stil at her age as she was always such a good sleeper when she was abit younger. Thanks

I’ve tried offering just water at night but she cries until I give her milk. If anything the water makes her even more frustrated !

My grandson sleeps 12 hours now. He's 5 months old. Only on milk. He has 7 oz ever 3 hours, so 8am food, 1/2 hour play, sleep, play, feed at 11, repeat, food at 2, 5 then get ready for bed at 7, last feed by 7.30, make sure he has it all! Down for 8 at the latest. He will wake up around 4 but entertains himself and drops off again for a coup,e of hours, then wakes again around 6.30, chats to himself for a while. So he has about 35 oz milk a day. Nothing in the night. All sleeps in his cot now.

Ahh that’s brilliant ! So we’ve tried something new of leaving dinner til abit later and having a banana for a snack. She ate every bit of dinner. Had bath and bottle and she dropped straight to sleep. Will see how it goes.

She always gets herself off to sleep in her cot quite happily. But only in the night she wakes crying immediately and then just gets louder and more distressed until she has the milk. Then again she happily drops off once she’s had some.

If she just needs a little longer with night feeds that’s of course absolutely fine. Just read a lot of she should be able to sleep for 12 hours by now and can definitely say we aren’t there yet!

Babies are so variable. When mine started sleeping though it was after having the same routine for months, it's just that they were ready to do it.

Also I thought about it this way - if I woke in the night incredibly thirsty would I be able to get back to sleep without a drink? No. So your baby is just being human really!

That is a good point. Thankyou! Fingers crossed for tonight! Just glad it’s not just us!

My ds is 9 months old.. On a good night he wakes for milk feeds at 1030, 0230 and 630...
Nights like last night he could fed every hour or 2!
Like you I find the water just makes him even more frustrated although I think i might try again in a week or so (he's teething also atm and don't think there's any point + at least I'm off work next week)

Ahh so may go on for a few more months then! Which there wasn’t so much about what they should be doing. No mention of how normal It is! They’re still so small aren’t they!!

Honestly they all sleep through at some point. There will always be the baby who sleeps through at an early age, who makes you think there is something wrong with yours! Same for crawling, walking, talking etc. There will be mums who make you feel worried because their kids did it earlier, better, etc. Don’t worry, just enjoy your baby because soon enough they will be a toddler and you’ll miss those baby days.

Totally normal. My DS was waking in the night for milk until at least 18m.

You’re right about just enjoying her. I’m new to mumsnet. This is my first post but I’m so happy I’ve joined. Feel much much better about now (she just woke up for a bottle and I’m sure I’ll see her again around 4am!) haha ! Thankyou all ❤️

I would put her down to sleep earlier and do dream feed about 11. So she would then only wake you up once