WWYD? DD isn't sleeping well anymore.

globalwife

I'm not sure if this is BF related but since I do EBF then I figured I would try here first. DD has been a great sleeper.  She goes right to sleep t bedtime every night and if she wakes a simple feeding or sticking the pacifier in the mouth gets her right back to sleep.  She even STTN  a couple of times but mostly always woke once around 3am to eat. I never minded since I would feed her on one boob and pump the other and got a good amount for my stash this way.  Well, for the past couple of weeks, my now 8 month old is waking several times....like every two hours!!!! I am a full-time teacher and need all the sleep I can get. At first I thought it was a growth spurt, then blamed it on the weather, then teething, etc.  Well, it's a couple of weeks later and I am out of excuses.  WTH!?! The only way I have been able to get her back to sleep is to feed her if it has been 2 hours since the last feeding and she is awake. DH is convinced she is not getting enough milk and wants to give her a bottle right before bed. I'm not so sure though because it seems like she is finished every time she eats and doesn't seem upset with the amount I am producing. I do have a stash I could use but I am starting to run low and I never replace what I use daily, so I really would rather not use it.  My pump is crappy too so I don't think I could pump to replace what she eats. I think it is better if she eats directly from the source. 

Another thought has been to up her solids at night. I'm pretty confused as to how many portions she should be eating and what size. Any advice for an 8 month old. I want to ensure she is still getting all the BM that she needs. 

Any other suggestions? I really don't want to pull out the bottle at night but if it will help me get more sleep, I might..... 

jlsimon56

I would recommend reading the Ferber book.  I am not saying to DO the whole Ferber thing...but just read the book.  There is a lot of info in there about how babies get "used to" feeding at night, and how you can't just stop nighttime feedings cold turkey, etc.  It was interesting to me.  We went through the same thing, and LO is finally back to waking 0-1 times per night, thank goodness.  We did not CIO or Ferberize her or anything - I still nurse her to sleep.  We just tightened up on the bedtime routine and made sure she was napping during the day and getting enough to eat during the day.