3 1/2 month old GF baby going wrong

[Wrighty]

My baby has roughly followed the GF plan and at 7 weeks had it down pat. At night she would go to be at 7, I'd wake her at 10 she would feed and sleep until 6.30-7.00. Since 13 weeks, she has woken at around 3.30. am. I've tried settling her with dummy, but she wakes every 1/2 hour. I've now resorted to feeding and she then goes back to sleep until wake up time. I don't see her stretching out this feeding to 5 or 6 am like she did when she began on the routine. Should I try settling with water then feeding or perhaps keeping her awake at the 10.00 feeding. She used to be quite happy to have 15 mins then sleep through. Should I keep her up for closer to an hour to see if this will help? Looking for any advice as I really enjoyed sleeping through and don't want this to be the start of a habbit.

Wrighty ... my sister had this problem and had to sit it out until her DD was old enough for solids ... she was a big baby and so was ready for solids at 4 months (I know that some people like to hold back until 6 months). Solids won't solve it immediately to start with ... IMO it is a myth that babies sleep through as soon as they have solids .... but she might be more hungry than you think.
Is she feeding enough during the day? Could you fit in another feed somewhere to fill her up a bit?
I used to give my DS his 10pm feed at 11pm ... as he was difficult to wake at 10pm (not quite ready) ...
Is your baby breastfed or bottlefed? Only asking as the GF routine worked a dream with my bottlefed baby but I know it is not as easy with breastfed ones ...... Don't get me wrong ... I am NOT for a minute suggesting you switch to bottles, it is just easier to guage how much they are having on bottles .....
Hope you get some sleep soon ...

Hi - I agree with Ghosty. I followed the GF routines and had exactly the same problem. As soon as I started to introduce solids, DD slept through again. Good luck!!

Thanks, dd is breastfed and has a top up bottle at 7.00 if she doesn't settle. Tried giving her a bottle at 10 last night but didn't want the bottle. I think she isn't drinking much at this feed so might try pushing it back to 11 as we are becoming 1/2 hour out with all sleeps etc. DD doesn't appear tired until 9.15 am, 12.30pm and getting closer to 7.30 pm.

Wrighty - I think you are absolutely right to try adjusting the routines to fit with your little one. When I first started doing the GF routines, I got really stressed on the occasions when it was going "wrong". The more stressed I got - the more DD picked up on it, and the more the routines went out the window. Once I realised that I could adapt the routines to fit with her - everything went much more smoothly.

Dd (8months)has also followed GF since 6 weeks (so anyone who has seen the holiday routine thread will know why I am so panicky about her routine as it is hard work at first and PandaBear like you when it goes I get stressed) but when I was confident and comfortable with it I did begin to adapt it I also bought her second book - "From Contented Baby to Confident Child" - when I bought it I thought it would be for when she turned 1 but it's not it gives brilliant tips for during the first 3 years including from newborn. It has a whole section on Sleeping problems in the first year, there is a story in it about a baby who followed the routine from 3 weeks and then at 4 months started waking during the night. It also has a part about excessive night waking and basically gives you a checklist to what you should be doing all through the day from naps to feeding to the darkness of the room and also about a sleeping bag. It also talks about about sleep associations, for instance the dummy and the feeding, it is all to long to go into but maybe it would be worth buying - if anything goes wrong with dds routine my mum just always tells me to read my 2 books - you may feel that you are starting all over again but everything will be fine - good luck

Well, I tried the 11pm feed and she still woke at 2.30 and settled with a cuddle til 4 and then had a feed. So skipped that idea and tried sleeping her on her belly (I know) as she has had a cold and blocked nose and slept better then. She slept through until 5.15, had a quick feed and I had to wake her at 7.15. Last night she stirred at 2.30 and slept through until 7 and again she was on her tummy. This morning I tried to put her on her back for her morning nap and she didn't settle until I put her on her tummy. I guess I have started something else now but as she is almost rolling over during play time it won't be long before she can sleep anyway that she wants. Thanks for the advice and I will buy the other book which like you Wog, I assumed was for 1 year on.

Can anyone tell me what the GF plan is. I have never heard of it.

Snowqueen you should take that back now and never say it again ! Any quick search of mumsnet under Gina Ford / GF / Evil Control Freaks ( ) will soon lead you to plenty of info about Gina's infamous routines ... and the opinions of her fans and critics ... enjoy !

Hi Wrighty, I have no idea what the GF plan is (but quite interested in looking it up, thanks to tomps pointer) but my DS never slept through the night until 15 weeks (waking at 2am and 4am for a feed before waking for the day at 6am - but that's another story) and only because I had to introduce solids at 13 weeks. The poor little thing was starving and not a lover of the bottle. I think he thought I had finally come to my senses when he saw the spoon with 'real food'. Anyway he now sleeps 12 hours, goes down at 7pm wakes briefly at 10.30pm for a brief feed and sleeps through til 7/8am.

Tomps. I am offended by your description of GF as an evil control freak. Would you like to step outside the yurt with me

Uh-oh - realised anybody who didn't read the last GF thread might not realise that was a joke. It was - honest

prufrock - will see you outside for mediated non violent discussion of differing opinions towards parenting in a mutually supportive environment. Just as soon as I've finished knitting myself a keeper.

sorry about that detour. Tomps has now left the thread.

Wrighty - your dd is probably increasing your milk supply by feeding more often during the night. Be very careful about introducing a bottle at night because it can reduce your milk supply - especially if it is formula. If you go with the flow (no pun intended) she will probably revert to sleeping all night again very soon.

Dd won't take the bottle at 10.30 anyway, so will just keep at it. She is now almost 4 1/2 months and solids have been introduced after mid morning feed and 6 pm feed. We will see how we go. Interestingly enough we went out camping over the easter weekend and I left the 10.30 feed until she woke her self at 11.30 pm. Had a feed and slept through the night. Like wise, the other night she didn't settle until 8.30 as we were out, I decided not to wake her at 10.30 and left her until she woke, this time it was 1.15 but she fell back asleep until 3.00am and then I fed her. At least I definitely know that I won't be dropping the 10.30pm feed until closer to 6 months.

Hi, i'm new to mumsnet and have a few issues i need advice on before i go bananas. so, forgive me, this will be a long post!
i have a 14 week old who once ate well and was sort of on the GF routine. this seemed to suit her. in the days she ate long and well and napped pretty well. at night she would often get through to 4 or 5am after the 10.30 feed.
About 4 weeks ago (when she was 10 weeks)all this changed. as she became more alert and more smiley she started to go off her daytime feeds. she would pull away from the breast and arch her back and cry angrily (which she rarely did otherwise). i read lots of posts that seemed to suggest i had a fast let down that she could not handle. this seemed to fit - my milk would spray out when she pulled off. as she was more alert she was starting to realise that every time she fed it was goign to end in tears, so decided not to feed at all - except at night when for some reason none of this happens. so, she nurses quietly and contendedly at night, but pulls off and gets upset during day feeds.
she now wakes after the 10,30 feed at 1, sometimes 2.30, then 4, then 5.50 then 6. or any random times actually, there is absolutly no pattern. at all these feeds she sucks happily for 10 - 15 mins. during day feeds she manages about 2 mins at each feed before getting upset. i am therefore guessing that she is now swapping herself over so that she feeds at night, gaining enough calories to sustain her snackign during the day.
i have therefore had no choice but to ditch all routine. as she is only sucking for a few minutes she now sometimes feeds hourly in the day. yet conversely also refuses feeding for up to 4 hours.
i am losing the plot - waking every 2 hours isn't sustainable. and also, having no routine what so ever is making my days more and more harder to handle.
to top it all i am now suffering from insomnia. my body is now frightened to fall asleep as it has to wake up again every hour and half or so. so, i've gone mad. i have about 2 hours of sleep a night. help me!
i need advice:

1. what to do about fussy eating - am i right about fast let down?
2. what to do about total lack of routine?
3. if i am right about her getting more calories at night, how do i swap her back? and finally, she is little - she's only gained a bit since birth and is only just 10 lbs at 14 weeks. thanks everyone. xx

Hi veggy, would you consider expressing some milk and giving it to her through a bottle?

Veggy you could have been me 9 months ago. I agree with the expressing suggestion and I hope you can gain comfort from the fact that nosey babies turn into very bright children that are wonderous to be around.

I got my dd to take a bit more in the daytime by feeding her the moment she woke up from naps or big sleeps, that way she would still be relaxed and dozing as she fed.