7 months and waking a bunch of times...normal?

babykin18

My dd will.not.sleep.  She naps very little during the day, usually twice for 30-45 minutes each.  At night she is waking every 3 hours and eating.  You can tell from her picture that she is not starved, but I swear when she wakes up all she wants to do is eat.  We are giving her solids twice a day, but not noticing any difference in her sleep.  Is this normal?  Should I talk to the doctor about it?  My ds was such a good sleeper I have never had to deal with this before.  Thanks.

Zenya

my son was like that and it didn't get better until 13 mos or so (a little better).  we coslept though so it was manageable!

Brewster

You will get a million and one opinions on this.  If it were me, I'd try to reduce the amount I was feeding her in the middle of the night and wean her from night feedings. 

femmegem

Ditto Brewster. It really depends on how you want to handle this. Every baby is different. We were feeding DS during the night until he was 11 months old or so, but it wasn't every 3 hours. I just felt like if he was waking and seeming hungry I wasn't going to let him just cry. My pedi insisted we stop the night feedings because he didn't need them but it didn't feel right to me in my gut despite the fact that DS was always big for his age (in the 90th+ percentile for height and weight).

Ultimately I did a lot of reading on the subject (I read tons of sleep books) and ended up just letting things take their own course. It took awhile but DS started sleeping through the night on his own. I think it was around 11 months and he's had some setbacks for teething, illnesses, etc. but it's just what felt right to me.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are lots of different schools of thought on this. Even the experts have different opinions. You need to figure out what works best for your family. Looking back it all seems so easy, but at the time I was completely conflicted and confused. Of course you can talk to your doctor, but keep in mind that she/he does not have the final say in what you do. You need to do what is right for you. 

And keep in mind that solids do not necessarily make babies sleep better. Sleep is a developmental thing.

Good luck. I know it's not fun to go through. 

ridesbuttons

This is very personal.  I was lucky that my little guy starting sleeping through the night fairly early.  I remember on a few occasions when he would wake up at night and not immediately go back down I would be tempted to feed him (particularly if he was really upset or sick).

 

I decided to never go back there.  I never offer food or drink after bed anymore (and haven't since he was about 5-6 months old, I think...wow, how quickly you forget!). 

 

Your dd's sleep patterns are probably normal for her.  But you might be able to encourage longer sleeps if you reduce or eliminated the reward for waking up (food).

 

Good luck. 

momintn

I could have written this myself!  It is so frustrating! 

babykin18

Thanks everyone.  I am tempted to stop the nighttime feeds but knowing my two year old will be up bright and early I sometimes do whatever gets her back to sleep the fastest.  I'll do some reading and talk to my dh about it.

LanaM

yes, if you ask me I have exactly the same kid. On our best nights he's up at 11pm for a feeding and then again at 3am and up for the day at 6am.

I just started giving him watered down formula... I give him 4oz. of water and only 2oz. scoop of formula. He's definitely not starving @ 26lbs and just wants a snack.

Watered down never worked for Ethan, he kept waking up until I cut out his feedings all together at 9 months. So I may have to do the same here.

Is she taking a full meal during the night? Will she be satisfied if you give her less... and less... and less? That may work too.