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Please help baby waking up at. 4am!!

Hi, wondering if you could help! My 7-nearly 8 month old daughter has for the past week been waking up at 4am. It used to be 5/5:30 which was bad enough (6 would be the ideal) She goes to bed great, settles herself and sleeps well but wakes at 4 and can cry on, move around loads and not really settle so by 5am we have to give her her morning bottle that I'd class as breakfast bottle and she will sleep again! As I say this is only recent but wanting to stop the habit of waking during the night for a feed when she's slept through for ages before! At first I just thought she was cutting more teeth, or having a growth spurt but now I'm unsure! I've upped her solids during the day too so her tea is more substantial. I had to do this more slowly as I've found in the past she's never been interested in it. She goes to bed and is asleep every night by 6-any later and she will not settle as we've passed the 'window' of sleep so she's overtired. The only thing I can pinpoint is that her HV and dietician said to reduce her formula a few weeks back. This was because she's on a prescription milk that she's had since she was 2 weeks old. She is cows milk intolerant. So if I need to make food such as rice pudding/creamy sauce dishes I need to use her milk-same with breakfast cereals and baby rice-her milk only not cows milk. But naturally she doesn't have creamy dishes everyday so doesn't always have this! Her old routine used to be: 5:30 wake up and have breakfast bottle. (8oz) 7am readybrek porridge with fruit mixed 4oz of formula 10:30/11 snack of fruit or baby biscuit and 5 oz bottle 12:30 lunch. Chicken with veg and a pudding 3pm 5oz formula 4:30 tea, baby rice mixed with fruit or a small portion of homemade soup with a small pudding (anything else upsets her) 5:45pm 8oz formula The HV and dietician said this was too much formula??? I have 2 older sons that followed a similar routine as above until they were about 10 months and then we cut one of the bottles at a time. And werent on just 2 bottles until they were nearly 1?! The dietician said she needs to have this routine now: Breakfast bottle 8oz Breakfast at. 7 Snack normal time but with no bottle just water or juice Lunch as normal Juice/water as afternoon snack Tea as normal Bedtime bottle of 8oz Ie only 2 bottles of formula a day? With average oz of milk going from 18 oz to 24 oz depending on what she has to eat and if it needs formula in it!? But now she's waking and I'm thinking does she need the formula more (misses her day bottles?) Any thoughts would be appreciated! Doing a trial day of introducing bottles during the day again to see if helps !! Rachel x

Replies

  • i was gona say try putting her bed a bit later but if she won't settle then that's not  an ideal option! Maybe she just wasn't ready to drop that formils feed in the day yet and hope it works with the trial run! X

  • My LO was waking up 2 or 3 times a night, so my HV recommended having tea about 5/5.30pm as we were doing, and then a snack (rice/fruit/yogurt) just before going to bed and then the final milk feed as usual. Also she suggested just offering water as a drink in the night - the theory being that it isn't worth them waking up for just water!

    We followed these ideas, and after 2 nights Flo was sleeping through to 6.30ish image

    Hope you find a solution that works for you soon! I know how horrendous you can feel!

     

     

     

  • hi

    i think when a baby wakes in the night, has all the bottle, and goes back to sleep its because I they are hungry.. Personally I dont like the water for milk strategy... if they are waking its for a reason.. If they sleep longer its because they content and not hungry... If LO is taking bottle and going back to sleep then I'd go with It.. . When she wakes after then start the day with brekkie etc...  as she is soundo by 6pm .. wanting  her to sleep for over 12 hours with no food maybe she can't do? All babies are different!

    i followed my baby lead with milk.. Once she stopped finishing bottles and was sleeping until 7ish then I scaled them down when it was obvious they  werent wanted...

    maybe delay the routine a bit.. Dinner at 5 Bath at 6, book, bottle at 6.30 then settled for night ? 

    YOU know your baby better than anyone else... Your two sons are alright??! so you do know what your doing.. Go with your instincts.. If she needs more milk then so be iThey she'll let you know when's she's had enough! Breast feeding mums are encouraged to feed on demand.. So why shoudnt you do the same! ( i exclusive breast fed for 3 months sit firming on fence!)

    Good luck!

     

     

  • You could try a dream feed when you go to bed - we offer 8oz at 10:30 -11ish and our lo normally drinks between 5 and 8oz (we dont even wake him up for it, just pick him up and put the bottle in) he then sleeps till between 6 and 8am - if we dont dream feed he wakes in the night hungry and he has a big appetite so it's def not that he doesn't get enough dinner. X

  • Hi! I know this is old but I was wondering what you did/if it changed back after the growth spurt?! My son always used to get to 5ish but now 4ish is just too early! Any help would be ace! Thank you!x

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