8 month old not eating like he was...and waking in the night for milk.

[thisxgirl]

DS has always been a brilliant sleeper - after just a few months he was having a milk feed at 10pm and sleeping through until 7am, then after we weaned at 6 months he dropped the 10pm feed of his own accord - he became more difficult to rouse and started to sleep through consistently without it.

Now, almost 3 months later, he's waking in the early hours for milk and I think it's because he's not getting enough food in the day. Or teething? He cut his first tooth a few weeks ago. I'm only making the food link because since he had D&V a week or so ago he hasn't attacked his food with the same gusto since and mostly just wants to eat yoghurt/pureed fruit and veg/rice pudding. No meat. No cheese. My homemade purees are not responded to as enthusiastically as bloody Ella's Kitchen.

Yesterday his appetite seemed to be improving. He had a full pouch of Ella's banana brekkie (banana, yogurt & rice), a full pouch of fruit and veg puree, he nibbled on a couple of Organix rusks and then had a couple of teaspoons of rice pudding with fruit puree. He had four 8oz formula feeds throughout the day too but threw most of one of those up with the rusks. At 3am I gave him another milk feed, about 4oz, which he wasn't hungrily gulping down....so I just don't know. I don't know if he's eating enough. I don't know if he's waking because he's hungry?

Sorry this is so long.

Probably a combination of teething and growth spurts. Could he be getting cold at night, hence the need for food? If you haven't already tried a little bit of ready brek or something similar before bedtime, you could give that a whirl.

Does sound as though his teeth may be giving him trouble. Have you tried teething gels / pain relief/ cool chews from the fridge? Mine went off chewing stuff for a while until he was feeling better. Give him some options and see what happens. I used to think this whole teething lark was a bit over exaggerated until mine went through it. Bless them!

8 months. He's probably on a roll for them now. D&V can be linked to it all.

Just cast your mind back to when (if) you've had toothache and you may remember how much they thump and hurt at night. Hence why he may be waking.

DD2 (9 months) has just had D+V. Her appetite for milk has increased threefold - she is downing an entire bottle of milk whereas normally she'd have 3-4oz. She is also waking in the night for milk so we have reintroduced the dream feed.

I think their little bodies tell them to get as many calories back in as quickly as they can. Milk and smooth purees are 'easy' calories. Things that need chewing are hard work and harder to digest. But smooth purees have fewer cals in them (more liquid) and therefore, they are going to want more milk for a little while.

Besides, when you've been poorly, you just want 'comfort food' and I don't think babies are any different - familiar flavours and textures are the order of the day

Thank you for the advice, it makes sense. Poor little thing!

I was thinking about reintroducing the dream feed, we'll see what happens.

Hello, I am in exactly the same situation. My DS is 8 months old and has always been a good eater and slept through since he was on 3 meals a day.

He recently had D & V and was quite poorly with it. He's got a couple of teeth cutting through at the top and has been refusing savoury foods for the last 3 days. He will eat fromage frais and fruit puree and the Organix sweetcorn rings or carrot sticks but otherwise not interested. He is also now waking at 3am for a milk feed which he had stopped doing a few months ago.

I am going to bide my time and hope it will pass when the teeth come through. It's frustating throwing the food away and also worrying, but he'll be fine and I just need to go with the flow I guess

In the same situation too (DD just turned 9 months and waking for a late feed and again at 3/4am). They go through a growth spurt at around 9 months and also the teething really seems to effect their eating (think their gums get sore, and all the extra saliva gives them a sensitive tummy). A couple of times she has slept through recently but it's still hit and miss.

I am trying to do lots of active things with her during the day to wear her out, and also not give her snacks in between meals, so she is properly hungry at meal times (also makes her less fussy - before I was ending up trying 2/3 different meals each meal time!). Yoghurt/fromage frais is a favourite here too, I guess because it's cooling on her gums and easy to eat. I don't mind her having lots if she has had a fairly good main course, as it has lots of protein and fat. Also toast works well. Otherwise I have just been giving her extra milk feeds if she doesn't want her food. She seems to be getting better slowly, I think it is just a case of waiting for their appetite to return.