10 month okd waking 2am every night for a feed - your advice please!

[PontyGirl]

she eats well during the day, has one nap in the morning 2 hours after she initially wakes up (typically 7am) normally lasts about an hour, maybe two.

she has a bedtime routine and is asleep for 7 most nights. but she wakes between 1 and 2 every single night, v v upset and won't settle until she has a 5oz bottle of milk. I've tried watering this down gradually as per previous advice in order to give her nothing to really wake up for, I don't talk to her or anything like that so its not like she's rewarded for waking iyswim.

its every night and I really struggle to get back to sleep which is killing me at work. my question is - is this normal - does she actually need the feed or is this a bad habit? and if its the latter, how the hell do I get her out of it? just letting her cry is not an option, I'm talking lots and lots of tears and really stresses herself out until she gets the bottle.

thank you in advance!!

It sounds like a fairly ingrained habit, as I understand by 10mo they are physiologically able to go for 10-12 hours not feeding.
Have you tried increasing the qty of her final evening feed?

she has 7oz before bed - how much would you recommend?

Not sure sorry, as I breastfeed myself, maybe someone else would know about qty?
My friend who mix feeds found that giving the heavier formula "hungry baby" settled her lo down for longer at night.
She might also just grow out of it any day now :)

worth a try!!

Have you tried waking her and giving her the milk before she would naturally wake for it? My 9 month old was still having a dream feed, and I KNEW he didn't need it, because he ate like a horse during the day. Except it wasn't a dream feed anymore because he'd started to wake up for it at 10 on the dot, every evening. So I brought it forward by 15 mins every 3 days, lifting him gently out of the cot and putting the bottle in his mouth. He'd drink the lot without waking. It broke the habit of the 10pm wake up, and one day I just stopped giving it to him, and he pretty much hasn't woken since. 11 months now, and nothing to do with sleeping has come easy, it's all needed some kind of technique, but we're getting there!

Marking place as my 9mo is doing exactly the same apart from his wake up time is 4am??

shatter sounds like a good idea, I'll start doing that tonight. anything for at least 6 hours solid sleep! its been SO long

Good luck. I really believe a baby that old is waking out of habit, not hunger, particularly if around the same time every night, regardless of how much they've eaten that day.

I don't know if this will be any help... I breast fed my baby, and found she woke up hungry in the middle of the night (after previously stopping night feeds) and would find it very hard to settle. I was reluctant to introdce night feeds again after stopping. We found that giving her some 'supper' before bed has really helped. I give her some porridge, make with whole milk, I think the slow release energy helps see her through to the morning.

Try a dream feed about 11pm??

I totally agree it's habit not hunger. I weaned by reducing the ounces and then Cio but he only cried for 10 minutes max before drifting back off again. If sshe's at 5 then I'd reduce by 1 oz every 3 days or so. It's pretty gradual and the upset was minimal.

Once you've done it, don't reintroduce it. No milk is necessary At this age so remove it from your ways of settling at night time

I'm going to be in the minority but if she's draining a 5oz bottle then I would say she does need it. If she was waking, taking an Oz and going over I eoukf say its habit.
How long does she take to finish the bottle?

Sorry I posted that by mistake