Weaning help !! 8 month old still not sleeping through night!

[DaisysMummy17]

Hello, I’d really like some advice. My 8 month old little girl is still waking several times throughout the night. I’m exhausted. We are still breastfeeding and I try giving her her dummy sometimes it works other times she will still want two feeds throughout the night. Is this comfort or hunger ? I’m thinking probably hunger.

She currently has baby porridge in the morning. A homemade fruit purée and toast for lunch and a vegetable purée for dinner. We’ve had big issues with constipation so hence trying to go slow with foods. Her constipation was bad when we started doing purees with lots of mixed veg so we stopped that. Her poos were coming out like a big tube of toothpaste and causing her so much pain and upset. We tried porridge with cows milk but have a feeling full fat cows milk causes her issues like it did with my older daughter. We are worried about giving her anything too binding.

Do I need to add a protein ? I’ve tried eggs which would have been a good protein source but she had an allergic reaction and got a red rash round her mouth.

She’s not overly keen on yoghurts. We’re trying to avoid jars if we can (not saying there’s anything wrong with them just preference).

Please can you help me with food ideas. She is just starting to get her bottom two teeth through hence not giving meat yet.

Thank you I really appreciate your help

My little girl is one and still wakes numerous times a night, she's bottle fed though, just one of them things really, have to get on with it. Theyll stop waking one day

Thank you for replying. Do you think the food I am giving her is enough ? I take her to get weighed and she’s still gaining weight.

Does she fall asleep on her own?
That was the main issue with my DS, not amounts of food.

You can give her things like cottage pies, lasagne, Bolognaise. Her gums are strong enough to chew the meat, she doesn't need teeth to be able to have meat. Try giving a more substantial meal at tea time but she may still wake, just one them things

She fall asleep on the Breast before I put her down. Sometimes when she wakes she will go back to sleep with her dummy but not for long.

Thank you I can handle one or two wakings but more than that and I’m exhausted lol.

I am afraid that all of mine got worse with their sleeping after weaning and I think there is an 8 month sleep regression!

DD is 10 months and wakes several times during the night.

You could try giving her porridge in the evening to see if that keeps her sleeping for a little longer, instead of the morning.

Have you looked into baby led weaning?

You say you have an older child, so you could give the same food to the baby and see how she gets on. Babies can have everything excerpt whole nuts and honey.

Today DD will have...
Tiny squares of peanut butter sandwich
Omelette with sweet corn
Bits of fish from her brothers dinner with some vegetables.

Try to keep her awake when breastfeeding before bed. Then put her down while still awake, even if sleepy.
Sleep patterns mean that we, and babies, sort of wake up every two hours and fall back to sleep. If things are different from when they fell asleep, then they'll fully wake up.
If they fall asleep on their own, they won't notice any difference during those cycles and will just fall back to sleep with no trouble.
It may be a bit hard at first, but you'll see that it will make a difference.

Have you tried more food? My DS who is 9 months eats a lot more than this (tbh he is greedy ) and since more food he sleeps slightly better (doesn’t wake for milk in night, but still doesn’t sleep through).
Add plant proteins like chickpeas/beans to veg, and like a PP has said cottage pie/lasagne etc are a good mix of protein/carbs/fats. They don’t need teeth for meat if you purree or mash it.
We have constipation issues but the more we stuck with solids the better it got.

Don't assume it's got anything to do with weaning

Ds2 is 2 next week still doesn't sleep through and up at 4.56 this morning i

At 8 months, I would expect her to be trying the full range of foods, not just fruit and veg purée, regardless of constipation. I’d focus on upping fibre (try prunes) or fluids to deal with constipation, but only if you’re getting rabbit pellet like poo. Normal solid poo shouldn’t be too much of a concern. They all have to get it at some point.

But I don’t think it has anything to do with night waking really. My first weaned off all milk feeds at night by 9 months and was eating loads of normal foods (like a large part of a quiche plus sides) and she still woke regularly until she was 3.5. That’s just how some of them are. But definitely if she isn’t getting plenty of filling foods during the day, it makes it more likely she will wake at night to top up on milk.

Lots of people say banana before bed can help but it didn't really for me. There's probably the 8 month sleep regression too.

But agree in general with the others - do try more varied foods. Her diet seems to be lacking in protein - cheese on oat crackers? cream cheese on apple slices? peanut butter on apple slices? As others say you can def give meat even without teeth - how about cubes of poached chicken, thats nice and soft, or fish? easy to poach some fish fillets (oat milk maybe if you're avoiding cows), maybe try a little rice with it.

(and when I say banana didn't help for me I meant for my two children!)

I also meant to say that porridge before bed is a good idea, I am sure this worked a little. Maybe mix a little banana in too just to cover all bases ;)

Thank you I will try this.

I don’t agree that getting them to self settle means they sleep through. I worked hard to get DD2 to self settle after feeding Dd1 to sleep. DD2 is bf, self settles beautifully, eats an absolute ton of varied food and still wakes up regularly at night. She’s 19 months and this has been the case for ages!

Thank you @mindutopia I think where she’s had constipation I’ve been so weary of what to give her. What sort of things would you recommend ? I’ve given her some banana with her lunch just now and some toast with cheese spread. Thanks for your suggestions

@orangedaisy my eldest who is seven (yes I’ve forgotten this much since I had her lol) was also breastfed and slept perfectly she’s always been a good sleeper and I used to put her to sleep the same way so yes it can work for some but not for others x

Thank you to anyone that replied and if I haven’t replied to you individually then sorry I’m still getting used to this forum lol. I’ve taken onboard all of your suggestions and will definitely bear them in mind. I’m making shepherds pie for tea tomorrow so we will give her some of that and try more proteins! Is there anything I should avoid that might be too binding when it comes to constipation or should I just persist with solids as a pp said earlier ? Thanks everyone. I also asked a health visitor but to be honest I think it’s better to ask ladies like yourselves ! You seem to be more understanding. Xx

Please can you help me with food ideas

You need more food groups in your DC's diet.

● Can of blitzed chickpeas (mixed with breast milk or water from the can to make smoother, if needed)

● Sloppy scrambled eggs (made with full fat cream/milk or breastmilk)

● Cooked red lentils

● Full fat natural or greek yoghurt

● Peanut butter on toast

Have you given her drinks too? My daughter is 7 months and since giving her baby juice she has been quite "regular" pooing once a day. Water helps too!

I bottle feed, are you expressing? She may not be getting enough at one time, that's all.

My daughter has 9oz bottles. 1 in the morning when she wakes and then a couple of hours later I give her a weetabix mushed with cows milk (could use expressed breastmilk), usually a bottle at midday and then for dinner has veg/mash/toast/purée/pouch and then it's bath and bed. If she's not settling very well I do a 7oz bottle and that usually sends her off and I know she's not going to sleep hungry. She usually goes to sleep about 8pm and wakes up at 7 ish

I wouldn't give eggs for the constipation but would offer water with each meal. I also found that some prunes or dried fruit helped to get things moving!

Definitely give water at eat meal. Avoid baby porridge, eggs and bananas to help with the constipation. Ella prune pouches help too.

Definitely time to add protein and she needs vitamins until she is 5 years old.

8 months is prime speration anxiety. Where is she sleeping? Maybe try cosleeping for a bit and see what happens.

At that age my formula feed baby had 3 to 4 bottles a night.

Thanks everyone. She will happily have water throughout the day, she guzzles it down. Interesting that you mention separation anxiety @anotherangel2 , her cot is still in our room at the moment.

Today she has had :

Breakfast :Porridge
Lunch :Toast with cheese spread and half a mashed banana
Dinner : A scoop of jacket potato with baked beans sausages and cheese.

Hopefully we have a better night - I’m so tired. I can handle being woken up a couple of times 2 times is fine. But anymore than that and I’m a zombie. It feels like I have a newborn again but when she was a newborn she probably slept better 😂

Will take all the tips onboard thanks everyone

Ok so it is 11.10pm I put Robyn down to sleep at 8pm. She has since woken at 9.30pm and every half hour since . What is going on ? She’s not unwell. I literally can’t take much more of this. She has had 3 milk feeds since coming to bed. How can she still be hungry ??? I’ve tried only offering the dummy but that’s not working. I’m so upset I’ve come down to sleep on the sofa as I usually do when Robyn won’t sleep. I’m exhausted. Really thought we might have gotten somewhere tonight but upping her food. Please help.

As I and others have said, it's probably not a food issue.

Maybe look at reflux.
But I'd definitely try to start putting her down still awake.