DS waking throughout night

[Leobynature]

DS is 6 months old. Until very recently he was mainly breastfed. 2 weeks ago I started to wean him and formula feed. However, he is waking up around 4 times per night wanting to be breastfed back to sleep and/or sleep next to me. I have tried not feeding him as he can’t be hungry and I have also tried letting him self- soothe but he just goes ballistic. He naps 2 or 3 times during the day and is good weight. Generally he is a happy baby but I desperately want him to sleep longer at night.

Any advice?

It might be he’s feeding for comfort and connection more than hunger, if some breastfeeds have been replaced with bottle feeds. The other possibility is hunger - at 6 months your baby’s energy needs are really high but they aren’t really getting a lot of calories from food, so they can suddenly go through a phase of being very hungry.

It will likely resolve itself in time, but in the meantime you could try a dreamfeed when you go to bed to try and get him through the night?

He may also be overtired. At 6 months he probably needs 3 naps rather than 2, so on 2 nap days he may be overtired and therefore sleeping more lightly.

I'm sorry OP but this sounds totally normal, I know the official advice is that they may sleep through at 6 months but I have only met 2 babies in my whole circle of acquaintance that actually did this- 20 or more didn't, including my own kids.

It's developmental and unfortunately you can't make it happen before they are ready. They are either hungry or need comfort, or both.

6 months is an important age - there's a growth spurt and all kinds of developmental stuff going on. Breastfeeding and wanting to be close is really normal! Also if you're weaning he could well have a sore tummy and breastfeeding will be soothing to him. This is a really common phase - you aren't doing anything wrong, just give lots of cuddles and feed on demand would be my advice. I've breastfed both my dc and been in your position both times- it will pass.