What am I doing wrong?

[user1465146157]

Hi

I know theres no answer to this really and everyone wants to sleep through but wondered if anyone can see a pattern in what I'm doing that makes my DD wake in the night.

She's 7 (very nearly 8 months) old.

She sleeps quite late at around 9.30pm (it used to be much later so we have improved)

she will wake around 12.30- 1.30am, cry mentally so we change her nappy and give her a milk bottle.

she will then sleep til about 4.30-5am - do the same thing, cry really loudly - screaming, so we change nappy and give her milk, either left over from earlier or a new one if she finished it.

then she's awake around 7.30 for the day.

I don't know why she cries so violently - and if we can feed more in the daytime would this help?

she started on solids properly around 6 months so we have breakfast, lunch and dinner on solids (mostly purees) and some milk too during the day.

Is there a way to avoid the night hunger?

any help or thoughts appreciated

thanks

The key is identifying if it is actual hunger (as in baby needs more calories than is getting in the daytime) or is milk has become a comforter for baby and that baby needs the milk in order to get back to sleep rather than when hungry.

I would suggest separating milk and sleep at bedtime and naptime. Don't give milk immediately before going to sleep, give it 30-60m before going to sleep. Then develop ways to comfort baby to sleep that does not involve milk.

A dummy is the simplest soothing method - have you tried giving baby a dummy?

If not, then settling may involve you spending a fair amount of time soothing and calming baby down in the cot by patting, shushing and stroking. Baby will probably cry throughout this if you are not using a dummy, but you don't leave baby and stay to comfort through the crying throughout.

She sounds hungry....how much of the solids is she eating? You could try offering her a supper about an hour before bed. 9.30 is very late...what naps is she having?

thank you -

FATEdestiny - she possibly does associate the two so will try this - she does use a dummy and sometimes just settles once we give her that again. But often she won't settle until food is offered.

MrsOverTheRoad - its changeable really e.g this morning she wasnt really into her breakfast. I do think she could be eating more during the day, i have been worried about over feeding but the crying loudly would suggest she is hungry. Napwise, she naps 2/3 times a day - one nap for a good hour or more, the others just short spells of sleep through the afternoon

agree 9.30 is late, it used to be around 11pm as we couldnt get her to sleep any earlier so hoping this will improve more in time and we can get her to sleep at 7 ish as time goes on

Quality and length of naps really affect night sleep. If she isn't having a good nap in the afternoon she may be overtired, hence her not going down until 9.30pm on an evening. Do you try to resettle for naps? How long does she sleep for? Ideally she needs 2-3 naps for 2-3 hours, any less and she will be overtired which in turn can lead to night waking. So my advice is look at her naps first, then make sure no association with sleep and food. Good luck (my 2 year old still won't sleep through the night )

Still quite little so it sounds like hunger really. No real need to change nappy though unless poop in the night! When you give a bottle does she finish it all the time or is there a teeny bit left? Perhaps the amount needs to change?

thanks everyone for your posts and help

last night she went to sleep a lot earlier than usual - 6:45 until 6am - but woke up several times during this for feeds.

She had around 3 bottles during the night and its the only way she would sleep.

It must be hunger related so will try and up her food intake in the daytime.

naps is a good point though and I will keep an eye on this

thanks again

How much milk is she having in the day? This should still be her main source of calories at 7 months.

My dd was having three bottles a night at that age.

Remember a bottle should be chucked an hour after it has been started.