Getting my 7 month old to sleep more than 4 hours at a stretch...

[Spanna36]

Does anyone have any advice to help me encourage my dd to sleep for longer stretches at night? She goes down at 7pm, and gets up at around 6.30am, and always wakes for a feed sometime between 2am and 4am. That's fine... I can cope with that, but she also nearly alway wakes somewhere between 9.30 and 11.30pm. Usually the only way to get her back to sleep is to feed her (exclusively breastfeeding ATM) but I can't believe she's hungry. She has 3 good meals a day as she loves her solids, plus at least 5 milk feeds. I have tried controlled crying, which works temporarily, but then it always starts again. I always put her down awake both during the day and at night, so she can self settle. I started to dream feed her around 10.30pm which, if I get to her before she wakes naturally, stops her waking which made me think perhaps she is genuinely hungry, but I'm curious if anyone else's 7 month old wakes this soon after going to bed, and why you think it might be happening... Thank you!

Yep sounds like I have an identical dd to you! Mine is 7 mths, bf, loves her solids and has 3 meals a day. In bed by 7.30 but without fail wakes anywhere between 9.30 and 11.30 - average is 10.30 ish most nights. Then wakes again around 2ish, and sometimes once more after that.
She hasnt got any teeth yet so hoping once they appear it might improve?!

mines the same except she generally Wakes every two hours. Can self settle fine at bedtime
ebf

Same here! DS is 7 months next week, not been v quick on solids but getting there and 75th centile - ebf and feeds 5+ times a day. He goes down awake a treat at 6.30pm, is dreamfed at 10.30 and wakes again at 3ish before waking for the day at 6.30am. I should be grateful - we did controlled crying a couple of weeks ago which worked brilliantly as before that he was waking each 2-3 hours.

I'm going to test him without a dreamfeed tonight and see if it changes things. Afraid no useful advice but you are not alone!

we dream feed just to solve this problem. I don't like it but I like waking up at 11.30 even less...

I would carry on the dream feed for the time being. She might just be going through a growth spurt?

Suggest a weetabix right before last feed in case its hunger, My 7mo was exactly the same until we started giving him this!

Dd is the same. I have done the weetabix before bed for two nighta, but no joy. Health visitor suggested increasing food calories which I am doing. Stayed up and feed her at 10.30 ish and she still wakes about 3. I am tired.

Thanks for the feedback folks! I haven't tried weetabix but she doesn't eat her tea till 5.30, then bath at 6, so not quite sure when I'd fit it in... And it's not a growth spurt as it's been like this for a few months. I have a feeling it is habit combined with hunger. her milk feeds aren't much good since she started solids, so I don't think she gets as much milk as she should in the day, but I think think that the only way of getting her to kick the habit at night is a bit of tough love, and am building myself up to some controlled crying again, once I've weaned her off breastfeeding. Fingers crossed!