Help please - Is there a way to get a 6mth bf baby to sleep thru the night?

[Holymoly321]

DS is 6mths and bf - although he has one bottle of formula at dream feed. Thing is, he is now waking up twice a night for feeds - currently around 2pm and then 4.30. I feel that I've done my bit re bfing now and really want some proper sleep. Anyone got their bf baby to go through the night? Been weaning for 2 weeks and he seems to have got worse not better at sleeping!

i read somewhere that when you start weaning it can unsettle the nights, i guess they are getting used to digesting something different. How much does LO feed during the day? FWIW i did CC (ducks, against barage) but then i went onto FF at 4 months so a bit different. You could try reducing the time of the night feeds to wean LO of ie if you feed for 10 min then drop to 9 etc etc. Do you use a dummy?

Hi TD - he won't take a dummy - we've tried every diff one under the sun! I have tried reducing the feeds - makes him wake up more often! Was thiking maybe I should try him on a bottle at night so that he just gets the food not the comfort? Then reduce the amount in the bottle or switch to water? Seem to think I did this with DS1 as he was formula fed from around 3 mths.

i did this too, went on to FF at night first of all then gradually watered it down, then reduced the amount i gave, then offered dummy, then let her cry. Not everyones cup of tea i know.

I think you have to do what you feel comfortable with. You could ring one of the breast feeding advice lines - NCT or La Leche League, perhaps they could help?

Did the method work for you TD? - how long did it take?

It did work, as i said not everyones cup of tea, took a month - i took a thermos to bed etc etc. But that was when i was getting her onto a bottle. Some nights she would fight it, so if you LO happily takes a bottle you may be able to do it quicker.

I have a sleep book and they suggest reducing the volume of the feed over a two week period, so night one the volume is 7.5 oz, and they suggest reducing the amount by .5 of an oz every night. Alternatively they suggest reducing the amount of time you BF by 30 seconds everynight.

How much formula do you give at the dream feed? Could you increase this? Would that help at all?

Hi again TD - I'll give tehe grqadual thing a whirl. No good trying to increase dream feed - we offer him 7oz but he only ever takes 5 at the most and soemtimes only 3!

I think if you've got a six month old baby who sleeps through the night you are very lucky. It isn't that normal and if you think that your ds is just behaving as babies do and still needs you in the night, it might help you and your feelings towards the whole issue. IYKWIM. Having said that, I hope it gets better sooner rather than later for you.

My dd slept 7-7 from 5 and a half months and she was excl bfed.
At 3 and a half months, she slept through from dreamfeed to 7am with a little 'help'. Basically, she was waking at exactly the same time every night (to the minute), going on the boob for a few minutes before nodding right off again. I reckoned she was waking out of habit, so one night we set the alarm an hour or so before her usual waking time, woke her up then put her back in her cot (she fell back to sleep straight away). She never woke up in the night again, I guess because her 'habit' had been broken.

hth if you think your ds is waking out of habit. If not, and it's hunger, I'd just feed him.