Top up with formula before bed!

[SMBT]

My 6 month old dd is still waking up two - three times a night for feeds. I think it is just a learned habit, although she screams the house down if I don't do it. The doctor has told me to top her up with about 60ml of formula before bedtime. Has anyone else done this before??????? Did it work???????? How will I know if she has a reaction to the formula??????

[Ffrenchknickers]

Hi, I think its pretty normal for a 6 month old to be waking in the night. Whether its for comfort or for milk. If its for comfort then i think its still a valid reason being so little!:) They do eventually stop waking when they are ready, my 18 month old just gradually woke up less and less unil he started sleeping all night around 14 months. All bubs are different! Can you take your little one into bed with you when she first waks up so then you dont have to keep getting upagain and again? This is what we did and the time he woke just got later and later until it became 5 or 6am.

Apparantly some babies do sleep longer on formula (although I wouldnt think all of them) and that is because they dont absorb the formula milk as easily as breastmilk so it kind of sits in their tummy.

Goodl uck with it and font worry too much about what other babies are doing by a particular age, they are all individuals!

[JanetF]

First off, waking 2 -3 times a night to feed is normal and necessary to your baby or she wouldn't be doing it. My 2 yr old still wakes at least 2 times a night for a cuddle or boob, it's normal and natural :) Secondly, your doc is uninformed about formula. You're right to be cautious for many reasons.
This is really good info on that:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html

Will giving formula or solids at night help baby to sleep better?
The idea that solids will help your baby sleep is an old wives' tale that has been disproven by medical studies. Feeding your baby solids or formula in an attempt to make baby sleep longer is not a good idea for several reasons:
Read all the reasons at the link :)

And this at the same link:

Gentle methods for encouraging less night nursing

Does night waking last forever?
Remember that night waking in babies and young children is normal and temporary!

Children grow out of night waking, even when we do nothing to discourage it. This period of time will be a very tiny part of your child's years with you.

Your goal is to maximize sleep for everyone in the family, while respecting the needs of your child.

If you're meeting this goal, then ignore anyone who suggests that you do things differently. If your sleep situation is not working (or stops working) then you can always do things differently. All parents find that they change the way they do things as their child grows older and reaches different developmental stages - sleep is just another thing that changes as your child grows.

So how do we maximise our sleep?

For us it's been through cosleeping so even though my son fed every 2 hours until he was 10 months old, because I never got out of bed I was as rested as I could be! You can put the cot in your room, put the baby in your bed or combine the two by putting the cot against your bed with the side off - plenty of room for all that way :) Try this for some more support with that:
http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

Safe cosleeping and cot sleeping:
http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070600.asp

[rynosmum]

Hi Lis,

By 6 months, my DS was dropping from one night-time wake up to sleeping through, which he has done ever since (apart from if he is ill when he might wake once, I give him a bottle and put him straight back down). But this really depends on the bub - it's not a standard pattern for all.

Babies will always night wake but you're right - it can sometimes be a learned behaviour. If they know that when they wake, they will get cuddles and a drink (I love the cuddles though), they're probably more prone to do it. I'm no expert and it's my personal opinion only but with friends who have co-slept, absolutely it is easier to feed the bubba in the night but they also seem more prone to waking throughout the night as they know that it is 'on tap'. Is there the potential for this to also be habit forming ? I'd guess so.

That said, if you are concerned about the amount of times you are needing to wake at night and obviously you need to be well-slept and bright whenever possible to look after an active little bubba, I'd probably try anything.

Breast milk is best but I weaned totally to formula at 5 months. I also had some time with formula and bottle during which he was absolutely fine. Why don't you keep up the B/F as usual but try the formula just a couple of times and see what happens? You can buy sachets from the chemist, you don't need to buy a whole tin.

Happy Baby - Happy Mumma. Good Luck !

[bubbles28]

Hi, my DS was doing the same thing at 6mths. I was fully BF him and I introduced one bottle at night to help him sleep better.
I found that it did not make him sleep any better at all.
In fact it made him totally wean himself from the breast as he preferred the bottle. I was dissapointed as I wanted to BF for 12mths. So for that reason you need to be carefull if you introduce a bottle if you want to continue BF as well.
My DS is now 9mths and is still waking at night about 4 times, not for a feed but just out of habbit I think.
Good luck with it all