Before I went away, she had finally started to sleep through the night (after stopping BF), but was waking up for the day at 5 - 5.30am, still tired. She would sometimes go back down after an hour or so with milk, but sometimes wouldn't, and usually DH getting up at 6.30am woke her up again anyway.
I had the work tripped planned, and DH was worried about coping with the v early wakings, toddler DD1, and his very busy and responsible job when I was away. So we decided to try a 4oz dreamfeed around 10.30 to see if she would start to sleep a bit later. This worked, and by the time I went away she was sleeping with the dreamfeed till 6.30 or 7.
However, when I was away, she started waking up at 4am and needing milk to go back to sleep, but, she takes a full hour to go back to sleep. She sleeps in our room (no other option) so everyone is awake for ages. This morning she woke at 5.30, I gave her some milk and she drifted off after an hour, but I couldn't get back to sleep, I have just come down to a sink full of bloody bottles and I feel as though I have a newborn again. She eats loads of solids during the day and I know she doesn't need milk at night but how do I fix this? Quickly preferably
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She naps usually for an hour or so at 9am and for around 2 hours at 12.30-1pm, goes to sleep herself in the cot, and has 6oz milk at 7am, 3pm and 6.30pm (as well as dreamfeed and more milk at night if she wakes), meals at 8am, 12pm and 5pm.
I know conventional wisdom is to reduce volume of bottles at night gradually - should I start eliminating the dreamfeed? Or reduce the volume of the random waking bottle first? Any tweaks to her nap / meal schedule anyone can recommend? Thanks in advance... sorry this is such a long and boring post 