6 month old isn’t feeding much during day just wants food! Then wakes every 3 hours at night with hunger!

[Natasha162017]

My 6 month old has taken to weaning food great but she isn’t that fussed now on being breast fed and the bottle has been an going struggle with her…just isn’t fussed. She takes small feeds throughout the day sometimes only 3 minutes but then wakes every 3 hours at night because she is hungry. Any advice on what to do!

Are you BF before or after food?

I am breastfeeding before but she just takes a small amount.

Do you try BF before food? I always give milk first and then food and then offer milk again as the drink. What sort of stuff are you feeding at the minute? I add milk to everything I make. Mashed carrot and potato and fruit I always add milk.

Do you dream feed? That might be the best option so they don't wake through the night again.

I offer it before the food but it’s as if she knows the food is coming next and would prefer that 🙈 I don’t wake her for a dream feed because she has always been difficult to wake up. She wakes around 11 so I just feed her then. I feel like she is waking from hunger or could it be when she wakes up she wants to feed because it’s easier to go back to sleep once she has food? She doesn’t fall asleep but very nearly so she is drifting off once I put her down.

This happened to my DD a couple of times.

You haven’t said how much she is eating in terms of solids but it might be that you need to cut this back a bit. Don’t be in a huge hurry to offer 3 meals per day just yet.

Or just go with it for now - I know it’s tiring though!

She is definitely greedy for the solids so will maybe try and offer smaller portions and see if that works. Would you wake her up for a dream feed or let her wake? Also if you have any tips on getting a baby on a bottle that would be much appreciated!

I'd definitely try mixing milk into food. Even yogurts and things. If you get really stuck you could always ring your health visitor and see if they can help you with some advice. Are they gaining weight still?
It's difficult. My friend weaned her DD from 5 months and she wouldn't touch milk after that. She had to add it to food and just feed her DD a lot of solids it make sure she was blending plenty of nutrients up into the food (harder if you're doing BLW)
Might just be a good idea to keep trying for now, give half the amount of solids you're currently giving and then give milk right away after, if she doesn't take it, give her more food.
I have a very fussy baby. Hates milk and did even before solids. Always been fussy. Loves solids now!

My second DD really didn’t like taking a bottle - would she drink expressed milk from a cup now that she’s a bit older? I used to just use a tommee tippee beaker with expressed milk.

We tried so many bottles and she finally did take the MAM ones but only if the milk was very warm - much warmer than I would have expected her to like and we found this out by accident!

But yes don’t overdo the solids at 6 months - it’s really early and milk is so important at that age.