Night feedings have returned? HELP!

kari11w

I'm mostly a lurker, but sometimes comment on other's posts. I need some help with DD. For the past month she has been getting up 1-2 times per night to eat. She takes 6-8 oz bottles each time she gets up. She won't go back to sleep unless she eats. What can I do?!?! I'm not used to this anymore and was hoping to get some rest before DS comes in a couple of weeks. I have been trying to give her a protein snack before bed and making sure she is eating enough during the day. However, she is not much of an eater. She is just too busy it seems. She definitely has grown a ton lately, but I've never had a growth spurt last this long.

 Any suggestions for this tired mama? TIA!

MouseInLux

Have you tried just giving her water and then weaning her off of that?

M&M227

We used Ferber's method.  DD would wake every night at 1:30 and she too would drink a whole bottle so I thought she really was hungry, once we did Ferber she was fine.

Ferber says to take a baseline one night for wake up time for feeding (ours was 1:30).  So the first night she woke and we did timed checks (1 minute, 3 minutes, 7, and 10) until 2:00 (the goal is to wait 30 minutes), she was still awake so we went in and gave her the bottle.  The next night you wait another 30 and drop the bottle by one ounce.  You continue to do that until the feeding is elimated.  Most kids will stop waking once the bottle gets small.  We got to 2 ounces and she threw a huge fit, so we decided to keep it at 3 and just continue to make her wait the time.  She stopped waking and started eating more during the day. 

If you decide to do this, you do it for one feeding at a time.

I can't imagine still waking to feed in the middle of the night. 

kari11w

Thanks so much for the information. We will definitely try this or the water if it continues more than a few more nights.

stephdruskinis

Is your LO teething?  B has been waking up so often lately with these horrible molars that he wakes up from the pain, and ends up asking for his baba.  He's fine when his teeth aren't bothering him, so I don't mind giving him his milk with the Motrin if that's what he needs - they say not to give it on an empty tummy anyway.