need advice !!!! pls help !

[cords]

Hi there ... been a long time since I last logged on !

I have now stopped breast feeding and DD is now 4 mnths and totally bottlefed since last Sat ...

I have successfully managed to get her to settle herself to sleep now in her own cot without rocking (AMAZING !) but now am tackling the issue of here waking abt 3-4 times at night ...

Her last feed is usually btw 6-7pm ...I never used to wake her formt eh 10-11 feed as I did not believe in waking up a sleeping baby. However, now that she is on the bottle , I need to give her the 5th feed at some point ... QUESTION IS ... Do you advice that I wake her or do I let her wake naturally as I used to . The problem is that she has NO PATTERN to when she wakes for a feed ! It is driving me to despair. After her feed , whether it be at 11:30 , or 1:30 or 2am , she still wakes around btw 4-5am and thereafter needs to be patted back to sleep up to 3x before 7am, which leaves me exhausted. My DP insists that I leave her and not rush in but I am sooo afraid that if I leave her too long, she really wakens up .

She never takes her full 6oz at any feed. If she wakes at 4 or 5am , should I give her a small top up ? Or would this be encouraging her to take an extra feed ?

I am so wiped out and feel as if I have no control over my life as her constant wakening leaves me so sleep deprived that I cannot function..

At least by eliminating the bad habit of rocking her to sleep has saved my back though but now lack of sleep is eating at my sanity !

I hope that some of you can advicce me as to how I shld approach and tackle this !

Hi Cords

Firstly, WELL DONE for your brilliant effort at breastfeeding - you managed a long time even through sleep deprivation and frustration you must be very proud

I dont like to wake babies for a late feed either BUT I think its preferable to try and get extra calories in during the day when your awake than lots of awful night feeds! What about cluster feeding her the couple of feeds before bed time then giving her a feed while she is still asleep at about 10-11pm. I wouldnt like to advise really on night feeds as until she is taking more during the day she may well be genuinely hungry.

How long is she going between feeds?

Could the bottle, teat, temperature be a reason she doesnt finish her bottle - Harvey (18 weeks) wont touch his feed if it isnt quite warm for example!

HI Beccarollover ... when was Harvey born ?! DD is also 18 wks ...born 09 sep !

I am roughly on the GF feeding schedule, which worrks , but because I am very flexible with it, she goes btw 3-4 hrs ... usually though her feeds are before the 4 hrs . Funnily enough I did what you suggested , and after she only took 2ox at her 2.30pm feed, I took an extra 2oz out with me so that at 4pm if she was willing, I'd feed her to make sure she did get the cals ...SHE DID ! so I think you are right, and to do that to ensure she gets daytime cals rather than rely on nightime .

And yes, my little princess prefers WARM !

Harvey was born 7th September! Almost the same age then

Which bottles are you using?

Cords, my dd2 is 19 weeks, born 2nd sept. If I don't wake her for a feed about 10.30pm-11pm she wakes up at 3am, when she has this last bottle (most nights) she sleeps until about 7am. If she wakes up any earlier I usually bring her into bed with me and dh, she'll then go back to sleep until her normal time. She has 4 or 5 8 or 9oz bottles each day.

When I told some of my friends that I wake her before I go to bed they were horrified, and all said never to wake a sleeping baby. In my book, I'll continue to wake her if it means I get a full nights sleep.

I am using NUK ... she seems to be getting better as each day goes by , so I think that I will stick with it now.

At the moment she gets 4 bottles during the day and she never finishes the 6oz . I am afraid of trying to wake her at the 10-11 feed in case she still wakes at 1-2am . Also, I am so tired at the moment that I can't usually last until 10pm at night !

However, good news from last night is that she woke at 1am for feed, took 5oz, then I switched off the monitor, heard her go through the 4-6am wakenings, but she resettled herself and went through till 7am !!!!

If it continues like this for one more night I am going to be in danger of becoming highly optimistic abt things to come in which case I will then pull the 5th feed forward !

Fingers crossed for me pls !

Why not try leaving her a little longer as your dh suggests and just see what happens. She might go back to sleep on her own. It can't be much worse, can it? I do sympathise.

Aloha ... did that last night and can you believe it worked .. she slept through !!!

I am not going to jinx myself by saying more, but this is very exciting stuff ... I guess that I have to give her the chance to go back to sleep ...

BTW ... I now turn the Baby monitor off !