6mo waking up 2 1/2 hours after bedtime - why oh why and what should I do?

[mizzles]

Hi all, first (and last)-time mum hoping one of the seasoned experts of Mumsnet can help. Apologies in advance for the long screed!

DD is 6 months old, mostly breastfed but gets a bottlefeed in the evening. We have just started small portions of solids, which she loves. Daily routine is as follows:

Wake: 7 am or so
Feed: 8.30 am (she doesn't wake up very hungry)
Naps at 9, 12 and 3, feeds roughly 3 hours apart in the morning, closer together in the afternoon. Naps are in her pram (bedroom isn't dark enough during the day, we are moving shortly and will have blackout blinds in the new place) but stationary: i.e. she is put in the pram, the snooze shade goes up and she settles herself for a nap. I make a point of not rocking or feeding her to sleep. Sometimes the settling takes a while, sometimes it's quick.

Bedtime routine: from 4pm bottlefeed at 5.45, bath, read to her, take her to bedroom, breastfeed her, put her in cot while awake, leave the room, she gurgles/coos to herself for a bit, then falls asleep between 6.30 and 7pm.

So far so good. But then she wakes up without fail 2 1/2 hours after bedtime (so around 9/9.30pm) We had (up until this waking started) been doing a dreamfeed at about 10, so presumably she is conditioned to expect feeding. We try soothing her back to sleep but it never works, so I feed her instead, She goes back to sleep quickly when I do, although I don't nurse her fully to sleep but instead put her in the cot while she's awake. She then tends to sleep until 5.30 am or so, when she wakes for a feed, then back to sleep for an hour or so.

My assumption is that she is genuinely hungry and that once she is eating more solids in, say 2 months' time, and is less likely to be hungry, she might stop waking of her own accord, and if she doesn't we can try sleep training methods at that stage. I'm reluctant to do this now as she does seem to be hungry (although it's not that long after her big evening feed). She was slow to gain weight when a newborn and is still small (between 9th and 25th centiles) so I am always happy to feed her. And she clearly can settle herself to sleep (and generally settles herself back to sleep if she wakes up before 5 am).

But is this misguided? Am I just reinforcing bad sleep habits by feeding her when she wakes up at 9/9.30?

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom!

Sorry, that should have said "from 4pm, turn lights down, calm reading rather than noisy play, then bottlefeed at 5.45".

So she sleeps from 10pm-5.30am?

How is that a problem?!

Massive development leap, weaning, potential separation anxiety. Just ride it out. Infant sleep is not linear.

Honestly OP, I mean this kindly, but she sounds like a complete dream. That's fantastic sleep.

Look at the other 6 month threads on here, they'll show you how good you have it! I mean that nicely, but really, that's an amazing stretch. What I wouldn't give for that...

O.P. isn't complaining about the sleep itself but wondering if she should be trying to settle more prior to feed at 9/9:30. We are going through something similar so I'd love to know the answer!

My health Visitor did say that the increased waking due to actual hunger was a sign they were ready for weaning so perhaps yes?

My health Visitor did say that the increased waking due to actual hunger was a sign they were ready for weaning so perhaps yes?

This isn’t always necessarily true especially considering early weaning foods are lighter than milk (traditional or BLW). There’s a huge growth spurt around this time that requires more milk feeds.

Sounds fine to me as others have said. If you think she is still hungry then definitely carry on feeding for a bit and you can try dropping the dreamfeed again once she is more established on solids. It is perfectly normal for a 6 month old to still need a feed at night.

However... If you think it is habitual, rather than hunger, you could try the wake to sleep method instead - especially if she is waking up at roughly the same time every night. You go in an hour before she usually wakes up and give her a little nudge - enough to make her shuffle around a bit but not enough to actually wake her. The theory is that this will help to move her into the next sleep cycle without waking for a feed. Then if she does wake later you know it is most likely hunger. If she doesn't, it is probably a habitual waking. You do this for 3 days and then leave a night. (Disclaimer: I've only used this for naps, not at night, but it is supposed to be more effective at nighttime)

She’s a great sleeper! 10-5am! Just feed her at 9.30 - it’s worth it to keep that great chunk after. Honestly - most bf babies are up every 3/4 hours at night still at this stage!

My 5 month old has started waking looking for his dream feed. I was googling yesterday when to stop it as I was also concerned that it's a habitual wake up. There was varried advice from the 'baby experts ' but one said stop around 7 to 8 months, until weaning well established . I plan to carry on as having him wide awake for an hour at 10pm makes my night smoother...

OP - I think your DD genuinely needs a dream feed.

My DD is a really good sleeper (she was sleep trained early) but I was only able to drop the dream feed when she turned 8 months. When we tried to go without a dream feed at 7 months, DD started waking up before 6am moaning and stirring so I quickly realised she was not ready. At 8 months the transition was very smooth and painless.

My maternity nurse (whom I used for a couple of weeks when DD was a newborn) told me that based on her experience any healthy baby weighing more than 12-13lbs can sleep for 11-12 hours with one dream feed. However, to get to 12 hours of consistent uninterrupted sleep (including periods of growth spurts), the baby needs to be well established on solids (including proteins and carbs). I would continue dream feeding (keeping it as a proper feed rather than a "snack") until your DD is ready.

Thank you for the helpful responses. I am conscious that (by pure luck) she is a pretty good sleeper, I was just concerned that feeding her when she wakes at 9/9.30 might be giving myself an easier life but not helping her develop good 'sleep hygiene'. But from the sounds of it, it's quite reasonable to keep feeding her at that time until the solids are well-established. Thanks all - and hope you all get a good night's sleep.