6 month will not sleep

[Cloverflower456]

I have a 6 month old and has never been a very good sleeper, but since he turned 4 months hes been awake every hour, he starts to groan in his sleep and then this goes on until he either wakes himself up or I flip him over ( hes just decided he prefers to sleep on his front ) and give him is dummy, this goes on for hours until I give in and get a bottle,he however stopped having a bottle at 4 and a half months and only recently hes been wanting a bottle.Anyway any suggestions I'm so tired and I look after a 2 year old who sleeps amazingly well since 3months, im at my wit's end . Cheers

Sounds like he's hungry.

Quite usual that babies calorific need changes over time and that while he was getting enough milk to not need a night feed at 4m, now he is not getting enough milk so needs a night feed.

IME the simplest answer to more sleep in the immediate short-term is simply to give the night feed. Easier to have 20m awake feeding baby and then a settled night, rather than not having to get up to feed but having several hours worth of unsettled sleep.

Longer term, I would take this as a clear sign baby needs more calories throughout the day. This doesn't necessarily mean more solids (if weaning) or bigger bottles. It is easier to get more milk into a baby by making feeds more frequent. If you were giving 3 hourly bottles, make then 2-2.5hourly so that there is an extra bottle or two per day added in.

Remember that early weaning foods (fruit, veg) are low calories. So early weaning solids should not replace milk feed. Baby should continue having the same amount of milk as before weaning, with solids in addition. Indeed it is not unusual that milk intake goes up when weaning, not down.

It's difficult the whole weaning thing because my health visitor said I need to start reducing his milk feeds not increasing, he eats well and eats all his solids! He has got a undiagnosed reflux just wondering if we need something stronger than gaviscon, totally confused it seemed to work so easily with my first just feel like I'm doing a really crap job this time !!

Well see, the point is that baby is telling you (by asking for a night feed) that he needs more calories.

So usually early weaning starts on low calorie (fruit/veg/rice) food and small portion sizes (esp if BLW). So your HV is right that as weaning progresses then baby has less milk and more food. But it's usually a gradual affair. So at first you keep all your milk feeds, plus add early weaning foods.

If you would rather not increase milk, then you could alternatively significantly increase portion size, food groups and variety to his diet. Maybe add in supper and/snacks between meals.

Also remember fluids throught the daytime. Consider how much water he was drinking before weaning, when all his water came in the form of milk. Now he's not only "eating" less milk, he will also be "drinking" less milk and may get dehydrated and thirsty.

Please don't beat yourself up . Its really common for night wakes/feeds to make a reappearance around 6 months with early weaning. It will all sort itself out in time. For now, just do whatever gets you the most sleep!