So when LO eats less during the day..

Meg4583

And wakes up more at night to eat how are you supposed to deal with it?

I BF on demand.. it doesn't matter if its 2 hours or 6 hours. He eats when he is hungry. 

I used to have a kid who slept through the night from early on, but once the teeth came it in went to well.. ya know...

So we are 8 months now. He nurses 5 times a day. Lately 2 of those feeds are at night ( 11pm and 6am if im lucky).  Other times its 3am and 6am. Other times 4am and then at wake up around 730.. there is NO consistency..

He gets solids three times a day and it doesn't matter if I cut out a session or not. 

I've given oatmeal 2x/day mixed with my milk for increased BM. No help.

I feel like when he wakes at night I have to nurse him back to sleep. He doesn't take a pacifier but im tempted to start offering one.  Some feeds he seems genuinely hungry, others not..

I suppose its just a vent. ..  but suggestions appreciated!  I'd love to "wean" out at least one of those night feedings. I try to offer more during the day but he won't take it!

Last night was a Midnight, 4am, and 630 type of night.. I'm tired  

lanbob

You could try a snack or a meal and nurse before bed. It might help him sleep longer and get you out of at least one feeding. This is what I did at 5 months and it help with DD1. DD2 slept through the night from then on. Good luck.

Meg4583

He gets his last solid around 6 and nurses around 730/8 for bed.. and crashes for bed either right after nursing or by 9pm...

Maybe on the nights he doesn't fall asleep nursing I'll try giving more food after he nurses.. 

Thanks

When he was 3 months he would go 11 hours-- I miss my 3 month old! lol... 

azuremama

Can he put himself to sleep?  A lot of times, when a baby wants to nurse at night at that age (especially if you say he doesn't seem hungry), it's because he needs help getting back to sleep.  If he can't put himself to sleep, you might want to work on that.

Meg4583

azuremama:

Can he put himself to sleep?  A lot of times, when a baby wants to nurse at night at that age (especially if you say he doesn't seem hungry), it's because he needs help getting back to sleep.  If he can't put himself to sleep, you might want to work on that.

 

Most of the time he can't.. so whats the trick??   I just get so frustrated from lack of sleeping consistently that I find it easier to nurse him back to sleep..

azuremama

I wish I knew an easy trick!  We did CIO with my son so that he learned to put himself to sleep initially, but it took a while before I was ready to do it during the night.  Usually, I did what you did and just nursed him so that we could all get back to bed quickly.  He ended up suddenly just starting to sleep through the night around 8.5 or 9 months, right as I was hitting the end of my rope. 

You might try having DH go in there and comfort him instead of you.  If you're there, he'll probably want to nurse.  There's tons of books, too.  I liked Sleep Easy Solution, and the Ferber book and Weissbluth have some good info, too!  GL!