Increased night waking, upset whilst feeding, upset at bathtime..........what's going on?

[frogmarsh]

Bear with me I am a bit sleep deprived and probably not making much sense.....

Until recently DD (5 months) has been a very good sleeper going to bed at 7pm and only waking once, at bout 4am, in the night. But in the last 2 weeks she has started to wake more and more often and now it starts at about 9pm and she then wakes at least every 3 hours until the next morning.

This seems to have coincided with her beginning to get really upset at bath time, not actually in the bath but when getting dressed afterwards. By the time she is dressed and ready for bed and her last feed she can be screaming and as a result she is a bit frantic whilst feeding and gets really upset and only has what seems like a pretty short feed (although it could be that lately she has become more efficient at feeding - is it possible that she gets a full feed in under 5 minutes?)

Also coming at this time the HV has recommended that i should wean her. I am not keen on the idea, she just doesn't seem ready yet (still struggling to sit up and quite floppy, she watches what i eat but doesn't try to grab anything) However she is only in the 9th centile and beginning to drop below that, HV suggested she may be hungry which is obviously a bit worrying to me.

I just don't know what to do - maybe just nothing?! Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Oh and also she has started teething and has a bit of a cold.

I should add that the night waking is not too bad as i just feed her and she goes off back to sleep by herself. I guess i'm worried that the waking is becoming a habit not a need

sorry for the long confusing post.

how much is she sleeping in the day? this happened with my daughter and i cut out her morning sleep and the crying stopped. maybe she knows its bedtime and shes not tired?

Yes she may be hungry

Yes she can get a feed down in 5 minutes

But unless you wnat to weaning doens't have to be the way to go.

Just breast feed her whenever she's up for it. It'll mean giving her more feeds - and continuing those extra night feeds - but maybe only briefly as she gets over her cold/teething issues.

Feed her before and after the bath? Or stop the bath at night for a while if it's upsetting her - she can't be that dirty?

yeah i was going to say first off how much is she sleeping during the day? if she is teething / has a cold have u tried 2.5ml of calpol to ease her symptoms. It may be that she could be ready for the first stages of weaning hence the sudden waking in the night as my HV said that this is one of the first signs they are ready to move forward. Hang in there.

Sounds like a classic for a 5 month old to me. Has she recently learned to sit up? It's a big stage for brain development, which always seems to go hand in hand with night waking.

Have you thought about bathing with her?

If you were to start solids then what would you start with? Baby rice? Fruit and veg? All have less calories than breast milk, so if she's hungry then breast milk is more likely to satisfy her. Research has shown that offering any solids reduces breastmilk intake, so by starting weaning you might actually reduce her calorific intake. There's also research that shows that there's no association between reduced night waking and introducing solids. It's bilogically normal (if tiring!) for babies to go on waking at night for at least the whole of their first year. Have you considered bringing her into bed with you and feeding lying down to get more rest?

a cold is also likely to make her more wakeful, especially if her nose is blocked. Babies with colds often breastfeed little and often too. Maybe this is affecting how she feels at bathtime too?

Sorry to start a thread and then disappear. Thanks for all your comments,they are very much appreciated.

Tonights bath was absolutely fine but she still got frantic during her feed, no idea why.

To answer your questions about naps she has one of about an hour in the morning and then usually one around lunch time and one late afternoon - how does that sound? We don't have a rigid nap schedule though, just whenever she seems tired and she often doesn't sleep for very long, then she'll fall asleep in the pushchair or the car. It's all a bit adhoc!

I don't really want to wean her and i think i have decided to wait until she is 6 months. Today i have been feeding her whenever she seems remotely interested, i usually feed before and after the bath anyway but will continue with that.

She only woke twice last night so i am feeling relatively refreshed!! Maybe it has just been the cold and teething all along - maybe i am looking for answers when there aren't any.......

Thanks for your help.

It was probably the cold, frogmarsh. My DS2 (nearly 7 mo) was waking up only once during the night at about midnight for a short feed but when he has a cold/cough (second one in a month ), I just sleep on my side with my breasts bared with DS2 next to me and he helps himself pretty much constantly throughout the night..