5 month old baby waking more frequently in night!!!

[cbrownlee]

The longest he has ever gone is 4 hours since he has been born. I understand he is still young and they all develop differently but its especially hard as my cousin had a baby on the same day and she bottle feeds and her baby girl has been sleeping through the night for months . Almost started giving my baby formula until my mum has said she is going to buy me the Medela swing (melted 3 manual breast pumps so far lol) so at least i can have a night off and try to get a little sleep. Lately he wont even sleep 2 hours and I can only usually settle him with the breast. He still has quite a few really short naps during the day, sometimes not even for half an hour. I wondered if expressing my milk and getting my partner to wake with him to feed him in the night may help him to sleep a little better as he wont associate me with comfort. Think he has been teething for a while also and I know this can add to the night wakenings. Oh and to top it all off the poor mite is on antibiotics due to a lump under his nipple which is messing his delicate little tummy right off so I have decided to wait a bit longer to start giving him a little baby rice as the HV suggested this may be a good idea, he was born 8lb 12 oz and when he was weighed at 19 weeks he was 19lb 4 oz so he is definately getting enough food off me x

[angpixi]

it sounds like he might be going through a growth spurt, im sure this is around one of the ages they do that , they tend to go on as much as possible to try and increase the milk supply, it should settle down soon once the milk supply is established again.
also you could be right about the comfort, if he is feeling a little ikky because of the antibiotics he will be turning to you for comfort.
dont worry about the sleeping through, my daughter is 3 and still bf through night! im in the process of trying to wean her and i think the night time one will be the hardest as it so easy when your tired to just give in!
hes a fantastic weight so youre definately doing it right!!
hope you sort things out soon

[cbrownlee]

thanks angipixi, hes been wakin frequently for about a month now, didnt bother me too much at first but this last 2 weeks i have been moving houses and im now full of cold so the lack of sleep was getting to me. I know its not forever and hes worth it so suppose i will just have to keep with it for now, i always get a much better sleep if hes next to me in bed and now i have just bought a kingsize i feel much less guilty if he falls asleep with me as i feed him on my side at night xx

[angpixi]

it is much easier when youre in the same bed (though much harder to stop )
obviously you need to look after yourself too, its always stressful moving house and having a cold wont help, see how it goes but dont suffer in silence - we're always here too

[cbrownlee]

Im going to order the medela swing electric breast pump tomorrow so i can get plenty milk stored away so that he can stay over with his nain (gran in welsh) now and again to give us a little break, he is such a light sleeper, even during the day sometimes he just has lots of little catnaps instead of a couple of longer naps. Its funny how if you take them for a walk they sleep the whole time and as soon as you get home they wake, kind of defeats the whole saying of try to sleep when they do!!! Im sure social services wouldnt be happy with me sleep walking with my little baby ha ha. xx

[angpixi]

no im sure sleep walking isn't what the professionals recommend!!
it may be just his pattern of sleeping, going by my last two babies they couldnt be more different, Aeryn was a little and often feeder and did what your son is doing cat naps unless in a pram or car, she 5 now and still isnt a big sleeper, i stopped bf when she was 2 but she didnt start sleeping through until she started school. Willow she from birth would feed for longer lengths of time and have larger sleeps. If she doesnt nap in the day ( the only one of my kids to have afternoon naps past the age of 2!) shes asleep by 7/7.30 ( still awake at 6.30) whereas Aeryn goes about 9 and wakes at 7

I guess that was my long winded way of saying that theyre all different and this could be just his pattern!

the breast pumps great, ive never been very good at pumping but when i have thats the one i used, good idea to stock up to give yourselves a break

[Natasha]

Totally agree with advice already given by Ang.

Please make sure your eating and drinking well, eat things with oats in as they can help with supply etc.

Also just a question, how long do you feed on the one side? and do you swap straight away or go back to the one you fed off before?

Only saying as block feeding might really help (if your not doing so already) basicaly you go back to the same breast that was fed on before until your breast is totally pancaked and drained, it ensures that the fattier milk gets into baby too and baby gets full feed from the breast. Then you go onto the other and start the same thing when baby totally refuses the other breast/totally drained.

Babies are all different, and just because one formula baby sleeps through, doesn't mean they all do! its down to the baby.

Lottie is a snacker and always has been, its only now at the 21 months that she sleeps all night. I co sleep and theres no way I would have coped without it!

Pumps can be great, but try and keep it to a routine so that you don't cause oversupply issues and end up with mastitis.

[cbrownlee]

thanks to you both and yes the medela is great, unless my baby was due a feed i struggled to get anything out with a manual one but managed to get 5oz after using the medela for the first time. I dont think its a problem with my supply as he is growing very well, he even went up a little on the growth chart, 19lb 4oz last time he was weighed!! When i feed him i stay on one breast for the full feed as he only ever really feeds for ten mins or so, has since birth.. If i try to put him back on for more then he sicks up so i just try to go by his cues of when he has had enough. Im so glad my mum bought the medela for me as i really didnt want to put him on formula and I may have to go back to work soon (wish i didnt have to until he is older but its dependant on our financial situation as my M.A ends soon!!) xxx

[Natasha]

I am pleased you get on with it, it sounds like your doing an amazine job hun.

Well done!

When you do have to return to work there is lots of good info and support

[cbrownlee]

Well my MA ends in may but i was made redundant from my last job a month after i became pregnant so i have to find a job first. I dont really want to have to go back yet so my partner and i are going to have a proper sit down and see if theres a way around it. We dont see the point in me leaving our boy with people for a few extra pennies by the time tax is paid etc but if needs be will have to.
I fancied going to college in september so hopefully that is still an option aswell so that i can focus on a proper career path. xx

[Natasha]

Well yes, if your pay only just covers childcare then it would be pointless. I have a friend in a similar position with getting work.

Going back into education would be a great idea though

[cbrownlee]

Yeah thats what we were thinking, plus theres always creches at colleges and it makes it that bit easier if they are only a few minutes away.
Well his antibiotics are finished now so hopefully his pooing will go back to normal lol. Then im going to start weaning him a little. Just baby rice first and then porrige and then im going to add a little veg and fruit a few days at a time. Told everyone i need a hand to make a production line so i can cook loads, puree it and then freeze it in an ice cube tray and transfer to bags so that when i need a bit i can just take a cube or two out the freezer x

[Natasha]

As long as you feel comfortable and know that he is ready then good luck with it, one thing you might want to look into in babyled weaning.

Theres lots on the net about it and I found it far better than puree method

Although the recommend waiting until 6 months.

[cbrownlee]

Yeah i have already had all the info given and read up on it all. My health visitor said that his stomach should now be more than ready to handle solids now as his gut will now be closed. That usually happens alot earlier than 6 months but the reason they keep the guideline there is so that people dont try and wean their children even earlier. He seems a lot better now with his wind etc and maybe it will help to fill him more as he feeds more than he ever has done in the past, which can be a sign of them being ready. Its funny how much pressure there is from people to wean your baby too soon. I have had people commenting from before 3 months that he needed solids and we stupidly gave him a little baby rice only to realise for ourselves that it was too soon. He is 21 weeks now so not far off the 6 month mark anyway. I would much rather start giving him a little solids than trying baby milk. Have you tried both baby led weaning and the puree method? What made you find baby led weaning better? Just want to know all my options really xx

[Natasha]

Well I tried the puree method initially with my first and wish i hadn't tbh.

I weaned her earlier because of outside influences and i 'thought' she was ready.
it was such a faff and she didn't like half of the stuff i gave her if not more.

Now with my second, she started at 6 months and that was with toast, some steamed veg, banana and fish.

I just plonked it on a tray and off she went.

It is very messy, and you worry they are not getting enough, but food before the age of 1 is just to experiment with anyway.

She got the hang of it by 8 months and from then she was very good at feeding herself, now at the age of nearly 2 shes an excellent eater and uses a fork when she fancies it

The great thing about blw is they are getting what THEY want, not what you shoving down their throat
BLW i think is the natural way to wean because of the progression that is made from breast and onto handling food, all done when the baby is ready.

There is less risk of food allergies when you wait, by weanign my first early she had an egg intollerence, I am 100% its because I weaned her early.

I know your hv said about the gut closing, but the only way you will know they your baby is ready is when they can sit unaided and keep their head up unaided.

The slow introduction to food through blw is just excellent imho and I am very happy that we got through it and did it.

http://www.babyledweaning.com/