Still waking up for two feeds a night at 6 months....

[fizzpops]

Can she be hungry? She takes a lot of milk during the day (around 23oz - including 9oz just before bed), and she has just started solids so has two small 'meals' of these. One first thing and another at lunchtime.

The waking has been going on before she was on solids though and she still takes two 7oz bottles in the night - one around midnight and another around 4 or 5 am. If she wakes at 6ish I get her up and wait to feed her at around 7.

When she wakes at 6 (if she hasn't woken at 3 or 4) she doesn't seem hungry just wants to get up and then goes back to bed 1-2 hours later.

Have been thinking about offering her a bottle more frequently.

Any ideas? I am shattered....

I don't know what the answer is as dd1 stop having 2 bottles a night when she was about a year. And it was another year before she went through the night.

I know that probaly not what you want to hear. but i always thought as she was waking and drinking a 9oz bottle then she must be hungry.

Thanks for your reply - I am trying to feed her more often today, every three hours approx instead of every four. I am used to her being a starving newborn squawking when she wants feeding but she has obviously got over that stage. She is taking the extra without making it obvious she wants it so maybe I am on the right lines.

DS3 still wakes 3 times for a feed and is bf (just so you know that its not a ff thing) he is 7 months. Are you able to comfort her when shew wakes? does she DEF need feeding?

Hi there. Well last night it was 1am and 7oz and then 4.20 am. I tried to comfort her at 4.20 and she calmed down and went back in her cot but not to sleep we just went through the same routine again until I fed her (7oz) and then she slept till 7.10 which was a great improvement.

I would still prefer to only be woken once but she is hungry - perhaps the six month growth spurt?

She used to sleep from 6.30 till 3.30 then had a feed and continued till 6.30 or 7 on a good day.

Hoping this is just another phase that will pass, and will be feeding her more frequently during the day.

It's not so much the being woken up I mind as the waking at 5.20 and knowing that that is it for the rest of the night as even if I feed her she is unlikely to go back to sleep....

Try giving her a solid feed about half an hour before bed, then milk immediately before bed as usual (I presume) and see if it madkes any difference. If the problem is she's hunmgry then this may tide her over and cut her night feeds to one. DD2 woke for her 3 am feed until after she was one. I had so much trouble trying to get her out of the habit, and that's the thing, they do actually get into a habit of it.

Thanks for the advice, I will try that later. I did wonder whether giving her solids early on in the day may be the reason they weren't having any effect on her sleep pattern. We are being careful due to allergy issues but she has had enough variety now that I have some things I can give her which are fine.

My DS is just the same, also 6 months. He was going to bed about 7.00pm, waking for a full feed at around 4.00am then sleeping til 8.00am, which was ok. But for the past 3 nights he's also woken at midnight and taken a full bottle. I have tried to settle him without feeding but with no joy, and he does actually seem hungry as he takes it all and then goes back into his cot awake and settles off to sleep.

I'm going to try an extra solid feed about an hour before his bedtime milk, thought would try some baby porridge, and see if this helps get him back down to one night feed.

I think we've also got teething thrown into the mix here though as I recognise the signs from his first tooth so maybe the extra bottle is a comfort thing - who knows??!!!

Congratulations, you have a normal 6 month old. 6 months is a very common time for sleep regression if babies have previously slept through. The combination of growth spurt, gross motor development and starting solids upsets the sleep of many a 6 month old. However, if you baby has never slept through, 2 or more night wakings is perfectly normal for much longer than 6 months, even if they're night weaned.

Wow thanks for that Ches! So difficult to remain objective when babies are sleeping through left right and centre and mine never has as well as the sleep deprivation being a factor.

Tried the extra solid feed last night - she wasn't particularly hungry but still took all her bedtime bottle which I was worried she wouldn't. Then woke again at 10.30 - luckily I was still awake and she then woke at 3.30 and 6. She is currently going down for her first nap of the day. I must have a head start on the rest of you but I reckon that will last for all of 30 minutes!

We are celebrating that our 20 month old "only" woke up twice the past two months. He hasn't done that since before the '6 month sleep regression' (which happened at 5.5 mth). His sleep is highly affected by development so we're not expecting sleeping through anytime soon, but are more than willing to be pleasantly surprised. His grandpa is getting impatient with not being able to have him overnight.

imo, I wouldn't be to worried or in to much of a rush iykiwm....seems normal to me.

NOW ds at 20 months has a feed at 7pm, bed then wakes at 11pm AND 2/3/4am for a feed .

A dream feed has worked well for us. at 9 months we're still doing 2 feeds a night, but doing one at 9 or 10pm pushes the next feed along to any time between 3 and 5am (at the moment, who knows whether that will keep happening) which means I get a good stretch of sleep, when I need it.

I sit in my feeding chair with only the light from the hallway on, DH brings DS over very gently and if he wakes at all, he goes back to sleep as soon as he latches on. I'm not sure of the logistics with a bottle, but I know people do it successfully.

We introduced the dream feed then DH settled him between 10 and 4 instead of feeding him, and its seems to have taken about a week for him to not bother waking up before 4ish (fingers crossed it continues!)

Well it keeps getting better here! She was a little restless last night but only really woke at 3.30 - this is after quite a lot of baby rice at 5.30pm. Is all change though so who knows what tonight will bring! Thanks for your replies!

That sounds good Fizzpopz - we had a bit of a rubbish night in that he woke at 1.00am for a feed and I hoped that would see him through til morning, but he woke at 4.30am. I knew he couldn't really be hungry just 3.5hrs after a feed so was determined to settle him without milk. I was in and out a few times but finally managed it! He then slept til 7.30am. I'm shattered though as I lay awake most of the night after the feed then after settling him aaaarrrgggghhhh hate it when that happens!

It does seem reassuring that this is normal, like you said, it can feel like everyone else's bubs are sleeping through - or maybe I just imagine that...

Elli - that sounds familiar to me. It is the not getting back to sleep that is the killer.

7.30 sounds like paradise though - never thought I'd say that!