Feeding to sleep and multiple night wakings...

[babypowder]

Hello,

I haven't been on here for a fairly long time but I always found it useful and full of good advice previously so I hope someone can help me a little now?

I have a 7 month old baby who is EBF and we have started to wean her at 5.5 months. From 8 weeks to 3.5 months she slept well, never a full night but 7pm, 3am and 6 am feeds roughly. At 4 months it all went wrong (sleep regression?) and since then she wakes multiple times a night.

She feeds during the day on demand which is roughly 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm with meals at 7am, 12pm and 5pm alongside her big brother. She has a good bedtime routine, dinner, bath, story, feed and bed by 7pm. She then wakes by midnight if not before (sometimes 9pm) and then 2am, 3am, 4am....until 5am or 6am when I hand her to my husband so I can sleep. She doesn't have a dummy not will she take a bottle. When she wakes I feed her to sleep and try and stir her so she's not asleep going down (same for first feed of night at bedtime).

What am I missing?! I'm exhausted and she cannot need feeding this much surely?! She takes good feeds at bedtime and during the night though she only lasts about 5 minutes but that has been normal for her since she was small.

I need some sleep, I can't do CIO, it just doesn't sit well with me but something has to give. Do I introduce a dummy? What do I do?

Thanks for any advice x

 

[babypowder]

Oh I forgot to say she has naps at 8am or 9am for an hour (goes to sleep in chair downstairs without any sleep prop) and at midday or 1pm for 2 or 3 hours in her cot with white noise when I feed her to sleep. Thank you x

 

[Here_we_go]

I think it maybe all the milestones (crawling, walking, learning to talk, etc.) plus teething that's causing this. My daughter starting sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old and while she never had the 4 month sleep regression, when she turned 6 mths old on the dot, trouble began. She starting waking up frequently through the night. I would nurse her and then lay her down in her crib at least 3 times a night, sometimes more. (We used to co-sleep but she was ready to be moved in the crib when I was the one causing her to wake up some nights )

Unfortunately when she was 7mths old, I had to have brain surgery and was in the hospital for 4 days. Afterwards, I couldn't do any lifting for 3 months and my hubby wasn't into the getting up and down all night long (she isn't fond of a bottle at all and was never impressed with pacifers). He started just putting her in the bed between us and I would nurse her laying down and off to sleep all 3 of us would go. It quickly became habit and she STILL sleeps with us Talk about regressing. It wasn't so bad at first, she'd just help herself to the boob, sometimes neither of us waking all the way and all was well. Now she's into flip-flopping around between us and it's a pain (especially when she kicks hubby in an unmentionable area or headbutts me in the face )

Getting back on topic, whenever babies are going through all these changes, they will want to nurse more. It's comforting, it reconnects them to their mother, and breastmilk nourishes them. I have always nursed on demand, sometimes she actually DOES nurse, sometimes I'm just a pacifier. I'm now starting to make sure she doesn't have easy access anymore so I know it's less pacifier more actually need to nurse.

Co-sleeping certainly helps but I long for having room to spread out (we're in a queen size bed and between hubby and daughter, I'm stuck laying on my side on the edge all night long My poor, poor back )

Hope you find something that works for you.

 

[babypowder]

Thank you, it just sometimes helps to know you're not alone. Sounds like you had a rough ride and I think it's commendable that you carried on nursing throughout!

Appreciate the input too, she is starting to try and get on to her hands and knees so that probably isn't helping and though she isn't teething yet then once she masters crawling I am sure she will be!

X

 

[Here_we_go]

That's how it started with DD. As soon as one goal was accomplished (woohoo! a good night's sleep! ) , it seemed she quickly started on another (toothpicks needed during the day for eyelids ) Sleep was pretty much erratic after that.

It does make a person feel better knowing they aren't the only ones suffering. Misery loves company, eh?

I've always found breastfeeding easier in the long run than formula so I never even considered anything else as an option. I had to switch to formula when my son was about 4 months because I was working fulltime and HATED it. Washing bottles is not a favorite pastime

Hopefully she'll soon reach her current milestone and you'll have at least a few good night's rest before something else pops up.

 

[cait]

I remember the 4 month regression with DD - the night feeds were killing me! We tried putting her down awake (a good habit regardless), sleeping in a different room, early weaning etc.
Then after about 6 weeks we tried putting her down on her tummy (she had great neck strength and could roll over by this point) and suddenly she started sleeping for big chunks again, waking just once or twice in the night. It was such a relief. She still sleeps on her tummy now at 2.5 and is a brilliant sleeper.

 

[babicyntaf]

It's been a long journey but we're getting there now. I decided to try and take the "feed to sleep"boob away and started to give her a bottle at bedtime. This, plus a weetabix at supper time, started to extend the periods of sleep. She still woke two or three times and I would give her a bottle the first two times and then boob after that. Now she is going down without the bottle at bedtime and waking two or three times for food over night.
It's made such a difference to me as I am finally beginning to feel human again. I'm still tired but not the zombie I was!! We've had a few difficult nights lately becuase she's teething again but I'm hopeful it'll get better soon!