5 month only meal times and milk feeds

[firsttimemum90]

hi ds is 5 month old and took to weaning really well so is on 3 meals a day now, the problems i'm having is he has become quite unsettled in the afternoon and throughout the night which is starting to get to me as he use to be so good at night!
at the moment he is going down at around 7pm-7.30 and that feed is hit or miss with how much he takes anywhere between 4-7oz, then he tends to stir anywhere between 1 and 3 where he use to self settle but he is now needing me to put dummy back in, then on a bad night he can wake every hour crying untill around 6amish where he wakes up happy i then was offereing a milk feed, but again he would take 3oz max and go back to sleep untill 7.30ish. i have tried feeding through the night to see if it makes a difference but he usually takes less then half an oz and is asleep again. as soon as his dummy is put back in he straight back asleep.
when i was feeding him at 6am when he woke at 7.30ish he wasn't intrested in breakfast or milk, so i changed that to just his dummy or a few oz of water.
now when he wakes at 7.30 i offer milk he usually takes 4oz, then we have a bowl of porridge which he's sometimes really into others not then we have a play and he usually has another 3-4oz about 9am then goes for nap 9 times out of 10 with out a fuss. he then normally sleeps for either 45mins or on a good day 2 hours. if he has the 2 hour nap he has an early lunch about 11.30ish where he takes 7oz milk and a good size bowl of purree veg normally butternut squash sweet potato that sort of stuff, he then stays awake untill 1 has a 20 min cat nap then he wakes again 1.30ish and is happy for an hour or so then the fussing begins, should i introduce another milk feed as he wont fall asleep peacefully is a battle. if i'm out and about he screams his head off untill he eventually gives up, i usually end uo giving him his sippy cup and he takes a good 4oz of water, so was wondering if it could possibly be hunger even though he's had a big lunch? i have tried somtimes giving milk he takes it or he just fusses and eventually falls asleep.
then on a good day he wakes again 4.30ish and we have dinner and 5 and anything up to 5oz then bottle and bed at 7.
few questions and experiences, has anyone else baby become more unsettled once weaned, i though the meals would make him more full as he use to go 4 hours between feeds now he seems to want something every 2 hours night and day! any advice would be very appresciated one very tired and stressed mumma!

what are your milk and food times? How many milk feeds is he having and when. When ds was 6 months he had 3 solid meals and 5 milk feeds. Milk was at 7, 11, 3, 7 and one in the night. Food was at 8, 12 and 5. You could try splitting milk and solids and see if he is more settled with his feeds. I gave water along with food and milk on its own

p.s. I got rid of ds's dummy around this age as he was waking repeatedly looking for it to get back to sleep.

Maybe replace the water with milk. Higher calories will take longer to digest. There doesn't seem to be enough milk (not including what you cook with)
I am a bit out of date WRT formula so I'm going off what I've seen recommended on here

thanks for replys, he has 4-5 milk feeds and 3 meals, the milk feeds are pretty hit or miss and normally ends up snacking on his bottle on and off for an hour, sometimes suprises me and take the lot it one go!, think i will replace water with milk as he obv does want a bit more, and have taken your advice seona on splitting feeds, this morning he had 2 oz milk at 6 then slept will 8, then at 8 had big bowl of porridge and then took 7oz at around half 9 and went dow for his nap at 10. i think for lunch i'll try solids first then a milk feed say 2 hours later, do you offer water with their lunch if you do it that way or still a small bottle?, so confusing just got my head around his milk feeds then the weaning throws me again! i took am trying to get him off the dummy, day time naps i'm starting to wean him off it, sometimes he does fall asleep without it other times we need it!
his routine is something like this but gonna try alternate milk and solid feeds to see if he's more settled then....
6am- small milk feed sometimes water
8am-breakfast plus anything up to 7oz
12-lunch plus anything up to 6oz
4-5pm-tea plus 5oz
7pm-5-7oz
then he sometimes wakes around 10 depending how big his feed was at 7.
if i change his routine to solids then milk hour or so after, do i offer water at meals? he does have a sippy cup and getting use to it, or do you think i should give milk with meals to get more calories in?
thanks for advice

I would give water with meals but give milk first and solids an hour or so after. Milk is much more important at this age and stage so if you give solids first he may cut back on his milk too quickly.

thanks for the advice i gave milk first then meals yesterday and an extra 5oz bottle mid afternoon and he was so much happier for it! even slept from 7-6 without stirring, hopefully tweeking his routine and adding a few extra oz of milk in here and there will help :)

excellent!

re the dummy - ds1 had a dummy till he was 6 months. I read somewhere that you should just make them go cold turkey when you take it away. The theory is that they are too young to really remember it after 24-48hrs, BUT if you give them it sometimes, then they cry when they dont get it.
And if you wait till he's older, he'll take much longer to forget about it too. x