Help please!! Need advice asap

[Mique]

Hi all
We started CC 2 nights ago. DD currently has 1-3 bottles during the night, I want to wean her off them because I think it is from habit.
So, first night she woke at 3, and I went in to comfort her at intervals, checked she was ok.

She cried for over 2 hours, and was very upset, so at 5am I gave her a bottle.

Second night- (last night) she woke at 3, did the interval thing, and 3 HOURS later she was still crying. So I then gave her the bottle.

What am I doing wrong? Should I not have given her the bottle?? Could she be hungry? What should I do tonight!?

She is self settling at nap times (mostly) and at bed time at night, so not sure what the problem is..

Help! I dont know what to do and am so tired.

[lupa]

Man there are some tough babies out there! You've gotta be proud of them though! My advice would be to leave her for 90 mins max then feed and straight back to bed. I think maybe after that they could work up an appetite and actually cry not because they want you but because they're genuinely hungry!

Have you tried a rollover feed (dream feed)?

How old is she?

[Mique]

Thanks so much for your reply Lupa!

She is 7 months old tommorow. She has a feed at 6.30pm, bed at 7, and then a dreamfeed at 10.30pm. So you would think she wouldnt be hungry!
But I hadnt even thought that she might be working up an appetite crying! Do you think waiting 90 mins she might learn not to cry still?

Could I try moving her bed time to 7.30 do you think? Or leave it at 7....

[lupa]

no leave her bed time at 7, that's perfect.

Try waiting 90 mins, feed then down to sleep. Try and make sure she's awake when you put her down, I know it's hard at that time of the morning. It's important that she's in her cot when she goes to sleep, not your arms. Don't play with her, just do things to let her know that it's time for bed not to be awake.

Let me know if the 90 min thing doesnt work. That's how I did it during the day, I don't know about how it goes at night. Hmm...

[Mique]

thanks! During the day she self settles, well with me going in once or twice to put the dummy in!

How do I keep her awake when she has her bottle? Lol! That is hard!

[lupa]

If she falls asleep there's nothing you can do. Just practice that part during the day maybe. If she falls asleep in your arms, when she wakes up she'll want to fall back asleep in your arms... you get the picture.

You, a feed, dummy etc are currently the cues to go back to sleep. You need to set ones, like a clean nappy, her own cot, night light, whatever special things she has, (things that aren't to do with you) so that when she wakes up and you're not there, she still feels comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

[sara86]

Hi, just thought id pop in and give you my 2 cents!

I took my DD to tresillian at the start of april (she was just 12 months). They told me there that if your still trying to get her to sleep after 1hr, then get her up change nappy (just to make sure she is dry/comfy) or instead you can just pat her to sleep or you could give her a bottle - even just a half bottle. After one hour they said she will just be getting herself worked up and upset which makes the self-settling even harder.

It does work, it had with my DD its been brilliant! (except for right atm due to teeth, but thats a whole other story! lol)

At Tresillian we got rid of 1-2 night bottles + dummy & she learnt how to self settle. So stick with it and i assure you it will pay off!!

[Mique]

oh Sara thank you!! That is just what I wanted to hear. I can deal with 1 hour, you are so right she just gets too worked up and wont go back to sleep!

Im so happy to hear it worked for you! How long did it take for her to drop her bottle?

[sara86]

Oh thanks glad that helped!

Well..... before we went to tresillian, she was having one bottle for breakfast, one after lunch, one at bedtime (which she would fall asleep having - then have to lay in my arms for around 30 mins to be able to put into bed!) and one during the night. I was giving her one during the night pretty much only because i knew she would go back to sleep!!

And by the time we left tresillian (we stayed there 5 nights), she was having a sippy cup of milk with breakfast & one bottle half hour before bedtime.... thats it!!

I also forgot to say we were cosleeping as well before tresillian (again only cos i knew she would sleep when she was in bed with me!).... and when we left she was 100% in her own cot!!

Ive heard "they" say if you do the same routine (in your case be super strong and dont give them a middle of the night bottle) for 3 days in a row, they understand that that is the new routine. IYKWIM?

[Mique]

So Sara when she wakes in the night I should try to resettle for an hour and if she doesnt sleep, then give her half a bottle?