18 weeks sleep issues

[Jbraide17]

My LO was sleeping 9pm til 4/5am then having a 7oz bottle and going back to sleep until 8/8:30am.

Since I started to wean him at 17 weeks he has been waking more often in the night wanting a bottle.

This is a typical night/day for us,

He goes to bed between 9 and. 10pm, wakes at 2:30am ish and taking 2/3 ozs then again at 5am for another 2/3ozs then back to sleep until 7:30am.
We get up at 7:30 but he won't take his first bottle until 8:30am where he takes 4ozs. I make him some weetabix at 9:30am with the remainder of his 7oz bottle.

He will then sleep for approx 40mins between 10/11ish

He will then have a bottle at 11:30/12 and his lunch at 1pm.

We have playtime and then he has another nap (approx 90mins) at 3pm.

Bottle at 4pm, and tea at 5pm. Playtime again then bath at 7/7:30pm he will then nap for 30mins after his bath (I really struggle to keep him awake and he won't take his last bottle unless he's had the nap) he will then have his last bottle between 8/9pm then go down to sleep until 2:30am!

I don't understand why he's started waking more than once in the night again for milk when he's getting more food in the day? Can anybody help please? X

Milk is still his main source of nutrition so he could be going through a growth spurt or sleep regression. My daughter woke every 45 minutes for a week to have milk but then went to waking 2-3 times as normal. I hadn't weaned her then either so I don't think you weaning is a factor just coincidence x

Is there any reason why you've started weaning so early?

Why are you wearing an 18 week old?

Weaning

She almost certainly needs the calories.

The most calorie dense foodstuff baby can have is milk. Per oz eaten/drank, baby will get far more calories from milk than from any solids you could give.

So if you are giving, let's say 120g of low calorie fruit or veg to baby, this is replacing what could have been 120ml/4oz of milk - which would have given loads more calories.

Food should always be in addition to as much milk as baby needs. Meals should not be replacing milk until portion sizes and food groups have significantly increased.

On what basis are you weaning early? There is this persistant misconception that filling a baby's tummy is somehow more important than calories. It is actually making her more hungry, not less hungry.

At 5 months old my 91st centile daughter was having 7oz bottles (drinking about 6oz) every 2 hours. 7 bottles a day:
7am 9am 11am 1pm 3pm 5pm 7pm

I said she, and it shoukd habe been he. Accept my apologies, I copied and pasted from a similar reply I gave the other day.

Read up about the 4 month sleep regression. A baby's sleep cycles alter at this stage - I can't remember all the info but have a Google.

I'm weaning on the advice of my Heath visitor.m as he is a very hungry baby. He started to refuse milk but was crying as he was hungry.

He still has his usual bottles every 4 hours and I am gradually introducing meals.

He had breakfast and tea last week and I have started with lunch this week. He only has a few spoonfuls after his bottle.

I think it's the 4month sleep regression tbh but I just thought I'd ask for some advice.
Thanks

Have you tried giving bottles more frequently? It's very rare I have come across a 4 hourly feeder. 3 hourly seems to be most common, many feed 2 hourly (my large 91st centile fed 2 hourly).

Is baby gaining weight and following a centile line?

I've tried offering milk more often but he's not really interested.

I'm going to eliminate solids from his diet for the time being and just offer milk and see how we go with that.

Thank you all for your advice.

Even if it was just half an hour earlier, it is better than nothing. I assume you are already offering bottles with more in than baby will drink? In which case offering more makes no real difference.

You could try Feed>Wind>Feed. That might get more milk in. As in you feed baby until refusing. Then wind thoroughly. Then reoffer the bottle.

You could also try Feed on Waking plus Feed on Sleeping. As in baby wakes and you offer a full feed (via feed>wind>feed) then baby has awake time. Then when ready to sleep again offer another full feed>wind>feed.

Definately Definitely the answer will come through ways to get more milk into baby. It's calories a hungry baby wants. Foodstuff that fills the stomach is often low calorie and will have the opposite effect, making baby hungrier then if milk was given instead.

You could also look at minimising distractions when feeding and not feeding when baby is exhausted.

Has your LO always been following this schedule? The thing that surprised me is the waketime between the 2 naps (have I read it correctly that it can be as long as 4 hours?). It is quite long for an 18 weeks old so he may be overtired (and overtiredness is one of the main reasons for night wakings for babies between 3 and 6 months).

Another potential reason is that your DS digestive system may be adjusting to solids. Babies may start to wake up more often once they go on solids. They are not necessarily hungry - they just need to get wind out.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the issue is not necessarily calories. My DD was having around 35-36oz of milk + 1 solid "meal" (vegetables or fruits) at 18 weeks and that was sufficient. I knew I could not offer her more milk (she has acid reflux and having too much liquid food causes her pain, even with medications). Early weaning helped me to eventually increase her calorie intake when we moved to proper food (e.g. chicken, fish, cheese, yoghurts, etc) at 5 months. Looks like it is not your case but if your LO does not take milk, introducing solids earlier may help at 5-6 months (you will also be able to move to proteins sooner).

You're HV has given some very outdated advice there I'm afraid which isn't unusual. Babies really should only be weaned before 6 months in cases of severe reflux where they cannot keep milk down. Babies go through fussy phases and it doesn't really mean they are 'too hungry' - I recommend downloading an app called the wonderweeks it was a lifesaver for me and explained so much about when my daughter would feed and feed and feed and still cry.