Doing everything right this time and still 6 month DC wakes every 3/4 hours

[iwantitnow]

Unlike DD, this time I have been stricter and followed no cry sleep solution since birth. DS has learnt to settle himself to sleep, put down awake after BFs, taking lots of solids (unlike DD), but still wakes typically twice a night sometimes three times. He seems genuinely hungry. He is 6 months old. Even HVs have said that I should feed when he wakes. Don't want to do CC until 6 months old, gradual retreat worked for DD but thats because she was fed to sleep.

Do I just have to wait it out? On my knees looking after a toddler too. Beginning to lose hope. Don't want to give formula not sure what else I can do.

'He seems genuinely hungry'.

In that case, it seems perfectly logical that he wakes up then.
What matters most ,his hunger or your decision to 'be stricter'?

i would just wait.
i had similar with ds2, although he woke more frequently (hourly!)
he is nearly 2 now and just about sleeps through the night lol. not that i want to scare you, most will sleep through earlier than that.

kellymom kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html suggests that waking at night is a developmental stage. I have been woken every 90 mins or so by my 25 week old for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks now. "Developmental stage" helps, and I feed him, every time, save the odd one where he stops crying the minute he is picked up and patted.

We've just started solids and he's now stretched to...TAHDAH... 3 hourly . It's not you and your sleep training, it's developmental, therefore won't last forever, and you'll have a very good wee self settler on your hands when it passes.

So yeah, I guess I'm for the "wait it out".

Sorry following the no cry sleep solution from birth is my definition of stricter its not that I've being doing GF or CC. He is only slept a long stretch once in 6 months and my DD woke me up that night .

I've little chance to rest, DD has not had a daytime nap since last Christmas so I'm on the go all day and all night...

iwantitnow, i can totally sympathise. sleep deprivation is awful.
i had a non-napping toddler when i had ds2 and it was hideous.
lookingback it seems like such a short time, but actually the longest stretch i got in his first year was 4 hours, and htat was one time.

personally i found it easier to work MY schedule around him, rather than trying to make him change.
so that meant going to bed at around 8pm (or earlier!), dp just bringing him to me for feeds.
co-sleeping so that I could feed whilst dozing and go back to sleep immediately.
dp taking him downstairs in the morning so i had a bit of a lie-in before he had to go to work.
having at least a doze if not a proper nap on the sofa in the afternoon. did this by putting a long dvd on for ds1, and cuddling ds2 to stop him crying while i dozed.

it does get easier, and in the grand scheme of things it isn't such a huge amount of time.

well done for getting your baby to settle itself - I have been wondering how to do this if I ever have another babe.. getting tired of being the only one who can get DS off to sleep.

Have read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy CHild and the author is quite hardcore - in my opinion - about the endless virtues of leaving babies alone to cry for sleep. I don't think it is right and I couldn't do it - but the point is that even he thinks babies can be hungry in the night up til 9 months. So I find that reassuring as I am night feeding my DS - 7.5 months. Despite what the NHS and HV and everyone else says maybe babies are hungry in the night past 6 months!

Don't do ontrolled crying on a hungry baby. YOu KNOW he is wasking from hunger because you KNOW your baby sleeps when full.

SO doing controlled crying on a hungry baby would be to neglect that baby's need.

He's only 6 months old, only wee, think about it when he's 1.

Sorry mistake in original post as I am so tired, won't do CC until a year old as I did with DD which worked in 2 nights and never had to do again.

Not sure how you can tell if a BF baby is really hungry at night vs habit of taking most of its milk at night.

I really feel for you as sounds like you are doing some kind of endurance test but would echo what others say as remember from about 4 -7 months dd went completely to pot at night and needed feeding quite often at night (from having been ok to go for 4 hours plus) - she did settle down. imho it didnt really get better til after she'd started properly taking 3 meals a day at abiout 7 months.

DS has been having 3 meals a day for the last couple of weeks. He has huge meals, about 6 tablespoons of porridge + toast + banana finger food. Lunch 5 or 6 cubes of veg/protein + 4 cubes of fruits - similar for dinner. Tried cutting down on solids to increase milk feeds didn't work, now increasing solids as he is keen, doesn't seem to work either.

Its impacting not just me but the whole family, feel DD has rights too, so I'm going to reduce the length of the night feeds half a minute a night and see if that helps. Don't think spacing feeds longer apart will work as he doesn't wake up the same time each night.

Just keep doing as youre doing. Its tough I know, I have 4 and the youngest will be one this week. Sometimes she sleeps through, sometimes she doesnt. We have taught her to settle herself but she still wakes demanding a feed in the night sometimes and water or a cuddle dont do it. As soon as she has the feed she is happy to be put down and sleeps. We have noticed that the more we put in during the day (food) the better the sleep is, but its really hit and miss. She only has one brief nap after her lunch too.

Our third child is a brilliant sleeper, but the other three are so-so. It doesnt seem to make any difference what we do with them, its somehow part of their personal make up. At least one of them wakes each night, its a rare night when we get to sleep through.

I know its hard, but before you know it she wont be a baby any more, so keep going. Try to steal some kip yourself during the day so you dont feel too bad, doesnt have to be every day. Ive found that a few times a week an afternoon nap for myself helps offset the sleep deficit.

My dd is 5 and a half months and doesn't get breastfed to sleep (I cuddle, put my hand on her and sing her to sleep) but she is like yours waking all night for feeds. I think its about five times a night lately. It's hard for me to feed her during the day as she seems distracted, so I guess that could be why she is eating so much at night. I also have a near 3 yr old who has given up his day sleep and is with me all day - and who wakes up once or twice most nights! I guess I am telling you this just so you know you are not alone! I am hoping that the night feeds will just cut down when she gets to 6 or 7 months - although I could be wrong! It could be because she ends up in my bed most of the night and enjoys feeding because she is close to me. Whatever - I do think to myself that I will survive and this will pass! And I love snuggling with her and know that she loves it too..and one day she will be far too old to snuggle with me anymore, so I guess its good to make the most of it! Long post - I do empathise with the sleep deprivation - hang in there - hopefully it gets better for both of us soon! (sorry I haven't got advice how to fix it - I know thats what you wanted - but i am hoping that because mine and yours can go to sleep without the boob, it is just hunger so it will change)

You are not alone seems to be the one consolation I'm taking from these posts. We have a 7 mo who never seems to manage more than 2 hours at a time other than the 7-11pm shift so at least we get a break in the evenings! He's down to 2 short sleeps during the day and eats like a horse now he's on solids so we were hoping exhaustion and satiation would help but no!

He will settle with me (father) on his own most times but often won't allow himself to be put down for an hour or more. We've tried the car, moonlit walks in his buggy and sleeping with him but seem to average 3-4 hours sleep a night in total over 3 or 4 bursts (often max 90 mins at a time). He is still breastfed so that is a quicker consolation but it is just snacking most times so my partner is naturally pretty fed up if she has to do all of the duties. Has anyone reading this actually managed to succeed at all or are we just one big mutual support group?