8mth old waking at night and screams until i BF him back to sleep - what can I do?

[LuluMum]

My 8mth old DB waking 2 or 3 times a night and wont be settled apart from me feeding him back to sleep. We put him in his cot at 7pm awake and he falls asleep by himself. We have tried my DH going in but no use. water also tried and rejected. Dont think he is hungry cause eats well and still having several BF in the day. even if DH picks him up he really screams and gets distressed until I come out and feed him. I think it is a comfort thing but dont know how to break it - I am getting v tired!

Try co-sleeping perhaps. Once you get over the initial disturbance of sharing your bed with a new person it's easy and may resolve the comfort issue

With my DD, at the same age I'd co-sleep and cuddle when she woke. If she protested for too long I figured she was hungry so fed.

Lulumum, you might think he isn't hungry, but babies can eat incredibly well during the day, digest it all and wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

When you come out & feed him, does he have a proper feed or is it just a few sucks then back to sleep? If the former, he probably is hungry, and it might be best to just bite the bullet & feed him, sorry!

Hi LuluMum - the same happened to us, just had to break the habit gently, i.e. went to comfort but offered water/cuddles only, I know it's awful!

We just had to be a bit persistant with the comforting IN the cot, I lent in and put my hands on DS firmly until he calmed, then I left. We left it until he was about 10m before we went through this, it was a harrowing 2 weeks or so, but afterwards he slept through without fail.

There are some good books about sleep available in the library etc, and you can ask your HV for help and advice! Different children = different solutions I guess. In the meantime, go to bed early and take naps! Being tired out means it's so much more upsetting when you've tried everything in the middle of the night!

HTH! Good Luck!

OK freaky why in active conversations did it just say this had 0 posts?
BTW I didn't come on just to say that, I also have an almost 9mo who has started waking twice in the night for feeding. Met up with a friend today who says her LO does the same so hopefully it's a phase. She's been told that at this stage our milk is richer at night so the babies wake for it - anyone have any ideas if that's the case?

weird, can anyone else see it?

Hum yes sometmes he pretty much has a proper feed although sometimes its a couple of sucks and nods off again. Do you really think an 8 month old still gets hungry in the night?

thanks legoleia - i'm sorry you had to have a difficult fortnight but glad someone else has had the same problem!! - and we were always so big on trying to get him to settle himself early on - cant believe we have got into this habit - it just sort of happened and cause you arent always sure if they are hungry or not so you just feed them (plus at 3am its soooo easy!)

Hi PolarBear - i thought your milk was always richer at night no matter what stage you are at? my HV did say that some BFers need to feed in the night to keep up supply. Not sure i agree tho'

That is true, I had heard that, so it's still a mystery as to why the suddenly start waking.
Silly point, you probably already thought of it, I used to have a nightmare settling back after the 4am feed (the 11pm / midnight one was fine). Last night I did that feed in the dark. Boring as I couldn't read, but settled straight away. Just thought I'd mention.

have 9 mth old ds2 and I just feed him when he wakes. He's a baby. And he sucks well and takes a full feed then peacefully nods off again ... Much easier IMO

That's DS that settled, I never have a problem myself!

Oh btw he reverts back to two hrly from time to time. Sometimes growth spurt, usually a new tooth

also co sleep, dd wakes a couple of times, it'll pass

Ds2 (9mths) used to be like this until I gave him a lot more food during the day. And has made a huge difference. Typical food day -

6/7am - bf
8.30am - breakfast (cereal and yoghurt/toast)
10.30 - small snack (not all the time, depends what mood he's in)
12pm - 2 course lunch
2.30/3pm - bf
3.30/4pm - yoghurt/fruit/toast/crackers etc
5.30/6pm - 2 course dinner
7.30pm - ff

hth

(he now sleeps from 8pm til 6am)

meant to add that we used to co-sleep with ds2, but he was fidgeting so much that it kept us all awake.

Sometimes it feels like hardwork, feeding him so much, and I know that babies can be expected to wake during the night (to a degree) but it really is worth it when you can have a full nights sleep

"Do you really think an 8 month old still gets hungry in the night?"

Sometimes I wake up hungry in the night. I'm 30 years old.

You could try what runnyhabit says, increase his food intake during the day, maybe try one or two more bfs too, as this is the ultra-high calorie stuff.

You could try a "dream feed". Basically, just before you're ready to go to bed for the night, you feed baby. Don't try and wake him if he's in a really deep (no movement) sleep. Wait until he's in a light sleep (twitching, moving around, rapid eye movement etc) and then pick him up & put him to the boob. Use breast compression if you need to keep him awake longer to feed. Then go to bed yourself and it should be longer before baby wakes again needing milk.

You could try moving the cot back into your room, or getting dh to get up and bring baby to you for feeds and take baby back, that way you share the burden of the night waking. Or you could try bed sharing (works a dream for me).

Are you still on maternity leave? If so a daytime nap might help alleviate some of your tiredness.

Oh and all the usual stuff like have nice quiet bedtime routine (bath / massage / book / whatever) with lights low. Keep lights off during the night so baby knows night is for sleeping, maybe even try blackout blinds if you can be arsed. Don't bother with nappy change during the night unless baby has pooed; use good booster pad if cotton nappy, or get one of those ultra dry ones if disposable. You're probably already doing this but just in case you aren't these things may help.