Baby waking since weaning!!

[KateFret]

Baby waking since weaning
Hi all

I just need a bit of advice, I will go over my DDs routine but basically she's always slept through since being 4 weeks old, I've never had an issue with her waking in the night. I started weaning her two weeks ago. She's 23 weeks.

I started on one meal a day, building up to 2 then to 3.

This is her usual routine, she is bottle fed.

7am - 6oz milk

9am - breakfast - usually baby rice with banana followed by 3oz milk

12pm/1pm - Lunch - Veg purée followed by fruit purée. She will take some water.

2pm/2.30pm - 5oz milk

4pm/4.30pm - Tea - again Veg purée followed by fruit purée and water. I have been offering a bottle after but the last few days she's not been taking it.

7pm - 6oz bottle but she never drinks it all. Usually 4oz or 5oz.
Then she goes to bed.

She has started waking at 4am. I persist with her and keep going putting her dummy back in etc, it could go on for an hour where she is just tossing and turning and moaning. Then I eventually give in and give her a bottle and she will take about 5oz and then go back to sleep until 7am.

She is teething and has been for about 2 months but it doesn't really bother her.

She's not much for napping in the day. She will have 3 naps a day which are 30-40 minutes tops.

My question is, she seems to be waking due to hunger and I don't know why, is she not taking enough in the day?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you.

3 naps a day at 30-40 mins is a lot for her age , maybe try doing just 2 naps , and give her longer to play around tea time and bath to relax before last bottle ,
Hope it helps X

Thank you. I didn't think it was a lot, almost all of my friends babies sleep 3-4 hours a day. Yes she has a bath before her last bottle. I will try by cutting a nap out and see if that helps. Thank you. X

She's 23 weeks, yes? So 5 months old? 3 naps is normal! Don't cut out a nap, you'll have an overtired baby.

She's taking a lot of veg and fruit purée given that she's not yet 6 months old. I'd try reducing the solids and see if she'll take more milk during the day/evening. You're only doing 3 or 4 milk feeds in 24 hours which doesn't seem anywhere near enough for her age.

Maybe try giving a small mushed up amount of rusk with her evening bottle X

I thought up until they were about a year they should still be taking roughly the same amount of milk but with some solids 'on top'? My DD is a couple of weeks younger, not weaned and takes 28ozs a day.

Every baby is different just because 1 sleeps more or eats less doesn't mean that every baby should do the same,
If it's really bothering you maybe you should ask your health visitor for some advice X

True, but it stands out from the schedule that the OPs baby really isn't having very much milk compared to typically. Milk will have more calories than rice, veg or fruit, and rusk is high in added sugar (even the so called reduced sugar ones), so also not ideal.

She's a big baby. I was advised by the health visitor to wean. She has on average 20oz a day. Do you think maybe giving her bottle then her food to ensure she's getting the right amount? Or is that a no go? I could try cutting the solids down but I only give her what she wants at the time. Health visitor wasn't much help hence why I posted on here for advise. Thank you to everyone who has replied.

The thing is that veg/fruit purée has less calories than milk, and less nutrients. Milk should be prioritized over food till much nearer to 12 months. At this age I'd give more milk in the day and see how it goes. You don't need to get to 3 meals a day until 8 to 9 months so you can afford to take it slowly.

How big is she? How soon after waking is her first nap? Ds is 5 months old and not begun weaning yet, he is never awake longer than 2 hours then a 30/40 min nap. Awake time over 2 hours and he's overtired and wakes more through the night.

Don't cut out naps - be led by her - and don't assume it's food related. Exactly the same happened with both mine and it was teeth. Nurofen / calpol helped us.

Thank you for your advice. I will try and get more milk in her and see how it goes. She was last weighed at 20 weeks and she was a stone and a half. I'm going to get her weighed this week. She has 3 hours awake time between naps. Like I say she's always slept through and always had the same sleeping pattern. Waking up at 4am is a new thing since weaning.

Having said that I just saw the 20 oz milk thing - I agree with PPs you should try and up that if you can. You could try cutting back the afternoon milk a little so she takes more of the bedtime bottle.

I was thinking it may be her teeth. She was crying before going to bed tonight, a pain cry. They might be starting to bother her.

She's already starting cutting out her afternoon milk herself. I just think her routine is all up in the air at the moment. She's just not consistant at the moment with her feeding like she used to be.

I'd try a dose of calpol or nurofen then. Teething is a big old pita and starts being way before any teeth actually show up!

5 months is really young to be dropping down to 2 or 3 feeds a day.

We do bottles of 7-8 ozs at 7am 11am 3pm and 615pm. The 3pm I've cut back to 6 ozs as he wasn't taking enough of the 615pm milk. Puréed fruit / veg at 8am and 12pm and something more substantial like sweet potato at 445pm. Naps 830-930/45 and 1230-230. Bed 630. Currently with a dose of nurofen at bedtime though obviously we can't do that for more Han a few days at a time.

I think it's not enough milk either. Vegetable puree has very little calories in. At 4-5 months many have a growth spurt so need more milk

At that age mine breastfed, but fed roughly every 2 hours, and fairly long feeds. Something like milk at 8am, 10am, 12pm,2pm,4pm,6pm,8pm,10pm.

How old is your baby? That routine was like mine at the start of it all but it's just gone here there and everywhere since she's been waking up at 4am and having a bottle then. With her milk she was always little and often since being born rather than taking more and lasting longer. I've always fed on demand but it still followed some kind of routine. Because she's waking up at 4am and having a bottle would you give another bottle at 7am rather than her breakfast, then give her breakfast at 8/9am?

I will try and get as much milk in as possible. its like she's getting disinterested in her milk. I'm going to cut down on the solids a bit and see if she will take more milk.

I personally wouldn't feed mine if they woke at 4. I'd do anything I could to stretch them longer using dummies etc. But every baby is different and yours may really need the food if she's not getting enough in the day. Mine are 2 yrs and 6 mths and both have had pretty similar routines and I'm lucky in that my younger one eats pretty well during the day.

Mine are now 5 and 6 years! But that's what they both did roughly from newborn until 8-9 months old

Yes I would give another bottle at 7am.

Mine didn't drop to 3-4 feeds until over 1 year. The problem is at 5 months the food they are eating just isn't calorific as its only fruit and veg really. At 6 months mine started food but took a few months to really be eating enough to actually replace milk.

So meals would at 6-9months still be something like 8am milk feed, 8.30am a bit of my porridge and gnawing on 1/2 banana ( with 1/2 that smushed on their face rather than eaten!). Once they are better, they still had milk with meals, just a bit of regular milk in a glass, and then 3-4 breastfeeds in between.

At their age now ( primary school), they still have a glass of milk with breakfast and dinner, and get given a carton at school. So that still 3 lots of milk a day at 6 years old. So no rush to drop milk

Teeth pain could also put her off the bottle. Try some teething gel maybe and see if that makes a difference if you don't want to give medicine.

Teeth pain could also put her off the bottle. Try some teething gel maybe and see if that makes a difference if you don't want to give medicine.