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Sleep

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Original poster

How do I know if ds doesn't need feeding in the night anymore?

15 replies

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 11/03/2011 10:24

I want to start cc because he's a nightmare during the night. He goes to sleep fine but it's once he wakes up that is the problem.

He used to be so good and would wake twice in the night for a bottle, drink it then fall straight back to sleep.

However now he will pick at the bottle, not settle again and this continues all night, evenutally he will drink a full bottle but this can be over 3 or 4 hours.

Does this mean he doesn't need it or am I doing something wrong in the night?

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lorisparkle · 11/03/2011 11:15

You don't say how old your DS is.

With all my DS1 I started extending time between feeds after about 6 months when I started giving them solids.

Depending on how long they were going between feeds I would increase this time by about 15 minutes every couple of nights and instead of a feed I would cuddle and rock them (I am a big softer and can't do CC!)

ShushBaby · 11/03/2011 11:18

How old is he?

It does sound like he's not really hungry, at least not when he first wakes up. Why not try resettling for the first feed (PUPD worked for us) then still giving him the second feed.

We weaned our dd off her one remaining night feed at 7 months because:

She was fully established on solids- 3 meals a day plus snacks and 4 milk feeds. It was important to me to know she was getting enough food.
Her night feed (bf) was a half hearted nibble rather than a proper guzzle, she wasn't feeding properly in the night at all.
She wasn't interested in her first-thing-in-the-morning feed.

HTH

Original poster

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 11/03/2011 11:23

Sorry, he's 7 months.

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Original poster

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 11/03/2011 11:29

He's never interesting in a first thing in the morning feed either ShushBaby. It does sound to me like he doesn't really need the nightfeeds anymore now.

I'm dreading doing cc because I can't stand him getting upset but I need to sleep! It's not possible for me to sleep during the evening when he he first goes down (normally sleeps 7-8pm until 12-1am this is the best part of the night for him) because of everything I need to do around the house (like eat my own dinner lol).

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ShushBaby · 11/03/2011 16:32

You may not need to do CC. We used pick up/put down to wean dd off her night feed at 7 months. We waited until we knew we were at home and there would be no upheavals to the normal routine for a good couple of weeks. Then we- and the we is vital, if you have a dh/dp you must get him on board- worked together. The first night she whinged for over an hour, the second night she whinged for 50 minutes. The third night she slept through! For some reason it also sorted out her other random night wakings and she started self settling.

Since then she slept through most of the time, unless she hits a major sleep regression... Or is ill... or is teething. I'm afraid there's no magic sleep garuantee but PU/PD made her sleep sooo much better.

sedgiebaby · 11/03/2011 16:59

ShushBaby may I ask how you approached PUPD, I find if I don't get baby really calm and sleepy(not just stopping crying) before the PD she gets proper upset. This undermines it really as she is a bit reliant on us then and going off on our shoulder. It isn't the case in the daytime but at night she's extra sensitive and upset somehow. She is a bit of a drama queen (kind of runs in the family, nuff said) anyway if I let her not just whinge but sob, and there is a fine line at night, we can't console her. Just wondered how you went about it (how quickly you did the PD). For naps, I can just leave her having a protest cry and it rarely escalates - totally different at night.

harecare · 11/03/2011 17:02

I think it's pretty normal to have a night feed at 7 months isn't it? By 10/11 months he may not need it. I don't know if things are different with bottles though?

Original poster

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 11/03/2011 18:14

I have no problem with him needing a night feed, the only problem is that he doesn't drink it properly, once he wakes up at about midnight he picks at the bottle, having an ounce or so then falling asleep then waking up 5, 10 or 15 minutes later for another ounce. Eventually he wakes himself up fully and I can't get him to settle in the cot again.

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pigstrotters · 11/03/2011 21:58

No he does not need a feed at this age. ( unless he is premature or very tiny)

All mine were below the 9th centile and I stopped their feeds at 6-7 mths ( and they were breast fed)

Mumcah · 12/03/2011 00:04

We did CC as like your DS a bottle wouldn't settle him anymore. If you do go down the CC route just make sure you know what you are doing and remember you are teaching your child how to learn to settle themselves to sleep.
A good book is 'Teach your child to sleep through the night'.can't remember the authors (two I think) but if you go to Amazon you'll find it.
I did CC with DS and the results are quick.He is also sleeping through after months of bad sleep.
Good luck.

Original poster

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 12/03/2011 09:30

Well last night I planned on offering him his bottle the first time he woke up, letting him have what he wanted then it was back to sleep for ds, just because I don't want to risk starving him incase he does still need the bottle! I planned on using cc if necessary. I got myself all psyched up and ready for a night of misery when this happened:

12.00am he was stirring so I went in, replaced his dummy (I know! I know!) and he turned over and went back to sleep
12.15 he started crying so I went in, picked him up and fed him - a full feed for once!
12.45 he was back in his cot, rolled over and fell asleep.
5.30 ds woke for the morning - I left him playing until 6am because 5.30 is not morning imo lol!

This is the first time he has done this in so long (and the first time 1 feed was enough). I gave him his breakfast bottle at 6.15am and he drank it all for the first time in a long time!

The only thing that I can think of that I did differently was that ds's musical projector was much louder than I normally leave it (because I forgot to turn it down). We use it as part of his bedtime routing then it will play music again when ds cries (or hits it as he has discovered much to his delight {doh!}

I think the volume of the music helped keep ds calm, whereas I would have thought it would have the opposite effect.

OP posts:

lorisparkle · 12/03/2011 18:38

glad to hear you had a better night. i think some children do come to it by themselves especially if you have a plan ready (don't ask me why but i have found that just making the decision to sort out their sleep helps - not always though) ds3 is really variable and unpredictable and what with teething i think that he will get better with age! fingers crossed for more sleep but don't forget they are little for such a short time!

ShushBaby · 14/03/2011 21:07

Sorry have not been online for a few days.

Glad you had a better night. Here's to it continuing! But if not, re PUPD, I think the idea is to put the baby down as soon as they stop crying. Our dd never really bawled when we did it so I'm not sure what to do when they really kick off.

Having said that, when she got bigger and hit a sleep regression, we started doing PD (without the PU- ie lying her down each time she stands up), and she was pretty shouty some nights. But I just told myself that it was ok because I was right there with her, she was not scared or alone. She was just overtired and didn't want to/didn't know how to go to sleep!

I think you do have to steel yourself a bit for it.
For me it was worth it as now she has a lovely night's sleep (usually) and can self settle when she wakes, and is happy and rested when she wakes up. I hope that doesn't sound smug! I have been there at 2am with a wakeful baby many times! But PUPD just really did work well and I would recommend it.

Lindt · 14/03/2011 21:47

Hi,

Can anyone please give me some advice?

I have 10 month old boy twins. One is a great sleeper and the other has been a nightmare since birth.

We go upstairs around 6pm, bath, change nappies and clothes and then give them their last bottle in the dark.

One goes down and sleeps straight away and the other cries as soon as his head hits the cot.

We have tried controlled crying with us going in every few minutes, picking him up and he calms straight down, (even does a sigh of contentment in my arms every time!!) then as soon as you put him down again he screams.

Tonight we had screaming for an hour and a half!!

What can we do, as I think its possibly getting worse as he gets older and I'd like to try and get this solved.

When he's crying, it sounds like its the end of the world for him and I don't know what to do anymore.

Please help.....

Thanks,

lorisparkle · 15/03/2011 13:28

What a nightmare for you Lindt. It just shows how individual children are!

DS1 was a terrible sleeper from birth and we decided at about 8/9 months to do something about it. The Health Visitor recommended a book called 'Teach your child to sleep' by the Millpond Clinic. I read every sleep book I could get my hands on and this was by far the best. It recognises that every family is unique and does not try and get you to follow one 'philosophy'. It also gives you step by step instructions which when you are sleep deprived was fantastic! Basically we chose the gradual retreat method for our LO and although it took quite a while it worked fantastically with very little crying and stress and DS1 now sleeps through the night every night.

In a nutshell we taught DS1 to go to sleep by himself in small steps. Starting with rocking him to sleep then holding him, then lying with him, then sitting by him, then sitting in room, then sitting outside of the room. We did each step after a couple of nights but being softies we went back a step when he was poorly! If you have the time and patience I would recommend it! We also did the same to teach him how to sleep in the day. At about a year he was having two lovely naps and a good nights sleep - bliss. I have to say you need to dedicate yourself to it but if your other LO is sleeping well then hopefully you will be able to.

Sleep problems are such a nightmare if you excuse the pun.

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