15 WEEK OLD WAKING 3 TIMES IN NIGHT, ANY SUGGESTIONS???

[shoneshine]

My ds2 is breastfed. He goes to bed between 7-7.30,has at least 5 feeds in the day, I 'dreamfeed' him formula at 10-10.30 (he wont take any more than 4oz) then he wakes aroun 1.30am, 3.30, 5.30ish, sometimes 6.30 then 7.30 for the day! Ive hesitated to let him cry to sleep at night as I have a 3year old ds and 2yearold dd in seperate rooms and I worry they`d wake too (even tho they may not..)
I feel he would starve if I didnt feed him till 3.30ish as he has the feed at 10.30pm. Would I be cruel to let him self settle in the night between 10.30 to 3.30? He was only waking once in the night earlier this week!
I put him down awake in the day and he crys to sleep after a few minutes. Doesnt have dummy as of a week ago so should be able to self soothe??? Maybe I could offer him water instead or am I mad to think solids would help? Suggestions anyone?Thankyou!!!

15-16 weeks is classic growth-spurt time, is it not? I'd feed him, and ride it out, tbh. Hard work with 2 toddlers! I really wouldn't offer solids - it's very early, and more milk will do him just fine.

Thnks Habbibu, ur prob right. Sometimes I wish I didnt get so obsessed about getting more sleep as its most important to enjoy our babies! At least I know its pretty normal for them to wake this much.I know Im not alone!

I totally agree with Habbibu - if you can just go with it and feed him when he wants during the night this might well pass. I wouldn't advocate "doing" anything just now. Hope you get more sleep soon - I sympathise very much with that bit

He's still so diddy - sounds like he needs these feeds.
Sorry - I think you need to roll with it.
Sympathies
x

you definitely need to roll with it

its what babies do

you can start complaining when hes 20 months and still doing it.......like gecko

If you're struggling for sleep, there's nothing in the world wrong with your DH offering formula or settling the baby to sleep between 10:30 and 3:30am.

Starting solids is far more likely just to make things worse as the gut is not yet mature so could cause wind/tummy ache/problems in later life at worst or at best, the food would come through undigested, take up room that would've been filled by milk, and your lo would not gain weight appropriately.

Agree that it is a growth spurt. I'd seewhat happens without the dream feed, it made no difference to my DS and would mean you might get to sleep between 8 and 1.30, which might help a little.

I have 3 DC's as well and my 19week old sounds similar to yours. Her night wakings can fluctuate wildly from the one time a couple of weeks ago where she went from 7 to 7 through to 3 times in the night. The night before last she woke just once at 1am for 10min feed - but I had fed her six times that day which is more than normal. I am just breas tfeeding and going with the flow. She is in trouble once she gets to 6mths as I will be more determined that she settles herself. Your post has been useful to me as I won't bother trying the formula trick. Good luck with it!

My dd's sleep went pear-shaped at this age. Went from doing 7-7 for a couple of weeks to being awake 3 or 4 times a night. Lasted from about 14 to 18 weeks and had to re-introduce a night feed. She is has been back to 7-7 now for a good few weeks (she is 26 wks now) so just waiting for the next growth spurt/teething/cold/tummy bug to throw it all off course

Hi shoneshine, just saw your post. My DS was similar. He had been sleeping through the night, then at 15 weeks started waking again.
He has always been a hungry boy, so much so, that I had to stop BFing him at 2 weeks as I could not produce enough for him (tried just topping up with formula, but the combination did not suit him, so had to switch completely)
After torturing myself for a while I started him on solids at 16 weeks.(I was one of these new mums who was determined to BF exclusively, and not put him on solids til at least 6 months, so it was a tough decision)
We havn't looked back! He's now doing fantastically well. He's growing like mad (which sometimes causes me some concern) but he is extremely happy. His development has been amazing, although as he's my first, can't really compare to anything or say that it's due to his food. But i am happy with the decision to start solids as I am sure now that it's what he needed.
It's not the right decision for everyone, but it has certainly worked for us.

I think this is normal 15 wk old behaviour, and I think it would be a real shame to ghive him formula or solids at this point. He's getting so many benefits from exclusive breastfeeding. Can you co-sleep? My 10 motnth old still wakes at least 2 times in the night, and when he was 15 wks it was every 2 hours - I could only cope with it because he was in my bed!
Hope you feel more rested soon