do I just keep going? Nightfeeds?

[nuddle]

bubs is 8 months old, and still feeding twice a night, around 1am, then around 4am... then up around 5.30, its killing me, she has 3 solid meals a day, plus breastfeeds, and then the nightfeeds. Should I offer her water at night? or do I just have to keep going? I am so tired....

[aardvark]

Have you tried co-sleeping so there is easy access to the breast, and you can sleep, and also bub will settle afterwards more easily?

My DS is still having one night feed some nights, mostly after a day when I have been at work, so he has no had access to the breast during the day. He sleeps in with us, and I barely notice he has helped himself to boob during the night. It works for us as we all get more sleep.

[nuddle]

not for me, I dont sleep well when she is in my bed, I was able to do that with my son, but she is such a fidgety baby, keeps me awake, and I am worried she will fall off the bed... settling is not an issue either, she has a quick feed, and goes back down most of the time, but it still means my sleep is interupted, and I am just really feeling it at the moment.

[Sheer Bliss]

:hugs: You sound like us!! Co-sleeping is also not for us - DH has a big fear of rolling onto bubs, and i also don't sleep as well.

DS was waking at 11:30, then 3:30 and up for the day at 6:30, plus 3 solid meals. In total it was 7b/fs per day plus solids - no wonder he is a big boy. With an almost 3yo toddler it was killing me too, so we started the dreaded re-settle at one feed. DH had to do it, as if i went in DS assumed he'd be fed, and fought sleep until i fed him. We tried to ditch the 11:30feed, but after almost 2 weeks of trying we gave-up & i started feeding him again. Then last week i fed him at 11:30, then he woke at 2:30 and i was sooo tired, i went in and told him no bobby for him, gave him his dummy & cuddled him for 5 mins. He slept until 7am - it was pure bliss! We have kept going with that, and he is now used to not being fed in the morning, and for the last 3nights has slept from the 11:30 feed until 8am!! :smiliedance: I rocked him back to sleep the first few times, but now i make sure the dummies (2 in case he looses on - lol) are in his reach when i put him back in bed (he doesn't use the dummy when fed to sleep in the night) ans he puts it in & goes back to sleep himself. A few times i go in if he is crying and locate it for him, but most the time, he lets out 1 cry, finds it & goes back to sleep. I know i am creating a dummy dependancy, but if he can locate it & go back to lseep himself with it, i am happy. It worked well with DD.

If you are totally exhausted (as i was) i don't think it's a good idea to keep going. I was falling asleep on the lounge at 2pm, leaving DD alone and i don't feel comfortable doing that, so for us, cutting out 1 feed was the way to go.

ETA: Dream feeds don't work for us either, if i wake him at 10:30 for a feed he usually wakes at 1am, then 4am for another. It just makes it worse.

[nuddle]

thanks for that advice, might see if I can try and just cuddle her back,maybe offer her some water...

[the_queen]

What if you side-carred her cot? When my boy was born, my husband and I only had a double bed which was high off the ground, so I didn't feel safe putting him in bed with us. So I took one side of the cot completely off, and jammed it up against my side of the bed. So even when I got woken to feed numerous times throughout the night, I didn't have to get up. I'd just slide him over to me, feed him laying down, and we'd both go back to sleep. You could always slide her back into her cot if her fidgetting keeps you awake.
It's an option, because I think babies need feeding through the night until they stop asking for it. I wouldn't give an 8 month old water at night - if she's hungry, she's hungry, and you might make yourself even more tired by trying to re-settle her without a feed. :hugs: :hugs: She might be getting teeth, she might be having a growth spurt. :hugs: :hugs: This will pass, my boy went to only one night-wake at around 10 months.
Oh, on that note - I always gave him a dream-feed when I went to bed around 11pm. It pre-empted the first waking, and got him through until the 4am feed. And that 4am feed got later and later until it morphed together with the 6am feed. I promise, this will pass and you will get through it. :hugs:

[twitch]

Queenie, you're back... :D

Tan and Nuddle, my DD is almost 8 months and still wakes at least twice at night for feeds. She goes down at 7pm, wakes at 11.30, sometimes 1.30am, always at 3.30am then she's up at 7am. I know how you feel Nuddle :sleeping:. I am going to try Tan's suggestion as well, I will try to resettle her definitely at the 1.30 feed and I'll try for the 3.30 feed too, but if she wants to be fed, I'll feed her. She is teething now so I know a lot of it is comfort too, and it won't last forever. I'm not really that happy about giving her water when she wakes cos there have been times in the day where she's fallen back to sleep drinking water from a bottle so it kinda defeats the purpose. Good luck Nuddle, just wanted you to know you're not alone!

[nuddle]

thanks again,

thanks for the side car option, but I dont really see how its that different to me going to her room, which is just off our room, I am still awake.. and I feel that will just cause more problems getting her out again afterwards.

the other thing I was thinking is that maybe she would have more decent feeds during the day, if she didnt feed so much at night, she just seems to snack at most feeds now... but you are right, it could be how many things, she is teething at the moment, so I know now is not the time to try and stop, but its just been constant like this since she was 6 weeks old, she slept through for about a week, and that was it.

[the_queen]

The side-car thing, I had my daughter in the bedroom right next to mine (like, 6 steps from my bed) and I had my son in the side-car, and the difference was that even though I woke up, I didn't have to get up, and so I went back to sleep more quickly and my body was more rested.
But everyone is different, it's just an option I thought I'd mention :)

:hugs: Call the ABA helpline, they will be able to give you some more suggestions :hugs:

[twitch]

the other thing I was thinking is that maybe she would have more decent feeds during the day, if she didnt feed so much at night, she just seems to snack at most feeds now... but you are right, it could be how many things, she is teething at the moment, so I know now is not the time to try and stop, but its just been constant like this since she was 6 weeks old, she slept through for about a week, and that was it.


DD slept through for 2 weeks and what bliss that was. She is also a snacker during the day, it feels like we have 10 small feeds a day, she also has solids too but I have noticed she goes off the solids and even milk sometimes when she's teething, hence waking more at night.

[benjamonkey]

I was in the same situation. At 8.5 months I had had enough of night feeds. DS was not giving it up on his own, why would he. 1 night of CC did the trick. It took 1 hour and that was the end of it, no more night feeds. Thank god, I was so tired

[nuddle]

thanks queeny, I appreciate the suggestion, just not for me... might check the ABA website, thats a good idea.