What am I doing wrong? Suggestions please!

valeriej6

DD is 6 months old and wakes at least 4-6 times per night. 

She has never really taken to the bottle during the day (eats Maybe 2-5 oz and I come home and feed her over the lunch hour).  She gets solids once per day (cereal plus a veggie or banana or avocado). She feeds every 1/1.5 hours from when I get home and until she goes to bed at 8/8:30. She co-sleeps with us, which I've read can make them want to eat more at night. She never really wakes at night just fusses and then dream-feeds and falls right asleep. I'm so exhausted that she only eats from one side, which I'm sure is why she keeps waking. 

My questions:

Does anyone else's baby still wake this often? How can I get her to feed from both sides without her falling asleep halfway through a feeding? Any no CIO methods to transition her to her crib?

 Thanks if you got this far!

drbethc

My DS is 9 mos next week and still wakes that often to nurse...

kaybee10

There is a way to stay on the same side and offer the other breast, you kind of have to tilt over them a little.  (Look it up online,I dont do it often). My lo is breastfed but shes been in her crib since 3 months old. It will be tough and CIO sucks but probably will have to happen

violajack

My DS still wakes that often. I just rotate a little whichever way I need to to get whichever breast is next to mouth level for him.

Suzanne68

My daughter was waking the same amount. Now we are down to 2-3 times a night yet she sleeps a total of 8 hrs per day including naps! I formula feed and stopped co sleeping 2 months ago. Just want you to know you are not alone. We all sleep a tiny bit better since she started in crib. Maybe start her out playing in crib with toys during day so she associates it positively. She still wakes for 7 oz at night even though I keep reading they don't need it. But I can't do CIO either. I know breast fed babies need to eat a bit more and are comforted by the breast. I know I am not much help but know you are doing nothing wrong. It's hard though. I have a ton of friends whose babies started sleeping through the night by 2 months. Keep hoping for that miracle and almost 10 months. 

APendola

My LO was waking up crying 5-6 times a night starting around 4 months.  She slept next to us in a pack and play.  I started sleeping with her.  She usually wakes up once or twice and nurses to fall back asleep.  I don't worry about her having both sides at night - I just let her fall asleep and then I'll use the other side next time she gets up.

I think I wake her up sometimes.  I want to transition her to her crib at some point in the next few months.  I have the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution" but I haven't tried the methods yet.  It is a more gentle approach to sleep training rather than the CIO methods.  It has some night weaning suggestions too.

You aren't doing anything wrong.  It is normal for babies to wake up a lot at night.  Maybe try to comfort her at night without nursing and try to increase nursing sessions during the day.  Lately when my LO wakes up at night, I just cuddle her and that gets her back to sleep most of the time.  In the past, I think I was too quick to give her the boob.

 You can also try getting your DH to help calm her.

emilyec1

My suggestion would be to transition her to a crib first. She may do really well and surprise you! Perhaps being away from her nursing source will help her sleep a bit more soundly. It's kind of like sitting next to a candy dish. If you're there for awhile, you'll want to keep eating the candy, but if you put it on the other side of the house, you won't get up to snack as often.

Not sure about methods, but I would imagine the "No Cry Sleep Solution" book would be of help. I might also suggest transitioning to an earlier bedtime if the night waking doesn't improve after she goes to a crib. It helped our twins soooo much. Last week it took them an hour to settle down and go to sleep, and they woke often, sometimes almost every hour. This week we tried aiming to have them asleep a half-hour earlier and not letting them fall asleep while nursing. It made all the difference. GL! 

zbeesma86

DD is 7 months and still wakes once or twice a night.

Last night I had to feed her twice!

Lots could be going on-- growth spurt, teething, hungry.

Have you thought about adding a second solid feeding-- we do bottle in the am, then an hour or two later do fruit and oatmeal. then bottles throughout the day then at 5 or 6 a veggie and rice. 

bigbootyjudi

DS hasn't woken to eat in the MOTN since about 4 months old, when he was waking once to eat. He dropped to twice at 3 months.

We used CIO to transition him, so no advice there, but any pediatrician will tell you that there is no need for a child this age to wake that many times at night to eat.

AAA024

When my son wakes up for his ocasional night nursing he usually falls asleep on one side too. I tickle his foot or take his blanket off, it wakes him up enough to nurse a decent amount on the other side.