BF 6 month old - feeding and sleeping all over the place, bit long sorry

[puffylovett]

hi, my ds (25.5 weeks) has always napped really well in the day, had max 2 night feeds, 4-5 day feeds and always woken at 7am.

this last couple of weeks it's all gone up the spout.

hes added a 1pm feed, struggling to get him down at evening (seems to just want to comfort suck or be with me), having his 7am feed at 5am or thereabouts and then going back to bed till 9am. then he's refusing to nap during the day without a fight.

i don't like forcing him into a routine and am really trying to just go with the flow and see where he takes me, but have had comments from family re the extra day feed, along the lines of 'well what are we going to do when you go back to work, i don't want to be feeding him all day'. so feeling a bit pressured like i should be getting him into more of a routine. for the record, i'm only going back part time anyway & suspect i may not even stick that out !

developmentally he's just started sitting, and has 2 teeth through. we've been playing with foods for last couple of weeks but not forcing the issue as not keen on ramming food down him before 6 mths. doing BLW.

the only reason the sucking is an issue is cos i feel like i should be cooking more for dp and i can't as spending all evening with ds ! we're not eatring before 9pm at the mo !

anyone got any ideas ? is it a growth spurt ? what should i do re the napping and comfort sucking ?

If you're waiting for the 6mnth mark for feeding solids then you'll be there in a few days.

It may be that he's a little hungry, my hv referred to milk as us eating salad all the time, baby wants something more substantial like we would have steak & chips.

However, there could be loadsa reasons he throws his routine out.

My dd randomly throws her routine out & then will slip back to the old one. I'm generally happy to ride with her moods but not all mums are.

Babies do change their routines. My dh's work pal was worried that his ds was in no routine, he questioned what time he usually has breakfast, then play then sleep & other meals/feeds etc, his mate then realised there is a routine there he just didn't recognise it.

Hi,

I have an 11 month old DD and am still breastfeeding. Had the same problems as you only difference being that she NEVER napped during the day for more than 5 minutes at a time so never got a break. DS bless him slept every afternoon between 2 and 5 and then 12 hours at night so you can imagine my horror with DD.

Anyway she now naps but every 6 weeks or so she goes completely off kilter and wakes up every two hours during the night and no naps again during the day. With hindsight I realise that whenever she does this she has just learned to do something new. Its as though her mind is buzzing with her new skill and she cant stay asleep. You say that your DS just started sitting and got two teeth. Possibly something to do with that. You will be pleased to know that DD now sleeps between 1 - 2 hours every afternoon and all through the night. It honestly does get better. Like you I never tried to force a sleep routine either. I just tried to see the signs and then put her down and in the end it did work. Towards 9 months I realised she was getting tired at the same time of day so gently encouraged her not to sleep in the morning because even a nap of five minutes would stop her getting a long one later. Also there is a big growth spurt at 6 months and could be why he has added extra feed. Maybe ready for solids. I wanted to wait till the 6 month point but she just seemed to be ready before that so I started her at just over 5 months and it did slowly and steadily get better. She is fantastic now.

Hope this is helpful. I wish I had known then what I know now because there were times when I was in despair.

Ax

hi amethyst, that sounds like what i instinctively thought but wanted confirmation really that i wasn't going mad ! thank you so much !

here's another question for you though - what time does dd nap ? i've started giving him porridge for breakfast but in hindsight perhaps should give it at lunch ie where he has added the 1pm feed. but i can't work out where i should be aiming to nap him !

trying to take it slowly with the foods as he has quite bad eczema bless him

Hi,

I would probably still keep giving the porridge for breakfast. How long have you been doing that? because if it is a couple of weeks or more than perhaps start introducing something for lunch as well. The advice I was given by my HV - who is actually really nice - was two weeks of cereal and then start introducing a veg or fruit puree every two days after that. Didn't quite do it like that because it felt like too much and I was worried about allergies or reactions but probably gave something new every 4 days and my DD now eats anything and everything - Avocado, pumpkin, squash, melon, peeled grapes - you name it she has it. You will probably find as he eats more solids that he will drop the extra day feed by himself.

DD gets up around 6.30 and goes down for a nap at 1.30 pm most afternoons, about half an hour after lunch and I do feed her if she wants it but she doesnt always and when she does it is for about one minute and then she is asleep. I have read that some babies move towards one longer nap a day when they are about 9 - 11 months old so you may have to wait a abit longer. Just try putting him down at the same time each day but not expect anything. However if DD has had even five minutes nap before the afternoon one is due she will not sleep and will stay up getting more and more crabby until she goes to sleep in the evening - nightmare!

Ax

Sorry Puffylovett, Just checked my Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book and it says that it is between the months of 10 and 12 that a morning nap starts to disappear and only an afternoon nap is had whereas I put between 9 - 11 months in my last post - don t want to give you duff information. However the "sleep expert" who wrote that book may say that but it did not happen for me like that. Try no naps until 10 months and then 1 - 2 hours some afternoons if I am lucky!

have only been giving porridge for a cple of days, and he doesn't take much (tho it's coming out the other end intact lol !)

we're BLW so he's been playing with toast / green beans / broc / potato / carrot / banana but not much going down yet and so far i haven't given them on the days that i've given porridge.

this morning he got up at 9 and didn't nap till 1.30 and even then it was cos dp took him out in car - so not like him ! saying that, touch wood he went down like a dream at 7.30pm for the first time in ages.

think i may get him up at 7am from now on - been enjoying the lie ins as i'm knackered but i guess short term sacrifice and all that !

ds is the same btw, just a 5 min nap at the wrong time throws everything off ! you're not alone there. thanks for your help.. will let you know how we get on.

god how did you cope ! i live for my lunch break !