[adahc]

I know that some baby might not sleep through the night but my baby who used to wakes up at around once or twice a night when he was 2-3 months old, now wakes up just like when he was a newborn!

So many problems at the moment. Firstly he (exclusive bf)suddenly rejects to feed from bottle. He used to be bottle feed once a day (Breast milk )at 5-6OZ on his last meal (6.30pm) then sleep through to 2am, then feed then up at 7am.
Now he rejects bottle so I have to bf him for all meals. His scedule at the moment is
5-6am up and feed
9am feed sleep for 2 -3hours
12am feed plus a table spoon of solid (banana puree or sweet potato or carrot
2pm feed and sleep for 2 hours
4pm feed
6.30pm feed and sleep
9pm up and feed to sleep
12am up and feed to sleep
3am up and feed to sleep
sometime he is up at 4.30am to feed then sleep till 6.30!

Babies should be able to sleep a bit longer at this age at night I would have thought.

nother point is that he enjoys the solid and can carry on eating for up to about an ounce or 1.5OZ if I let him. Is that too much?

My main concern is his sleeping routine which seems to gone back to a newborn time! or does he sleep too much during the day (4-5 hours)?

[Lucylou]

I think perhaps you should give him more solid food, it may be because your baby is hungry and the milk is not sufficient? Also the amount you are BF'ing him may not be sufficient. I bottle fed my daughter and she was having 180mls of formula 4x a day, and baby rice for breakfast at 6 months. She has been sleeping through the night since she was 4 months old (she is 9mths now). Another trick I have heard is to give them baby rice or a bottle of formula before bed as this is heavier and the baby won't become quite so hungry in the night. Also, your baby knows when he is full so if he is enjoying his solid food let him have as much as he wants - he will soon tell you when he has had enough.
Also - is he waking and screaming? Sometimes my LO wakes herself in the night (bad dream or in a light sleep) and whimpers. I leave her and she will go back off on her own accord. Perhaps try leaving him for a while before heading in to his room and picking him up. Good Luck!

[adahc]

He rejects botttle and I don't know why. And he is a very happy child through out the day, ven at night he;s never been fussy. just wakes hinself up and goes to slee straight after feed!
When and how do you increase the solid?
I thought breast milk suppose to be the main food until 8-9 months?

[Lucylou]

They say babies can start on solid food at the age of six months. Starting on baby rice once a day(mixed with either breast milk or formula milk) usually then gradually moving on to other things and three meals a day. It is a case of trial and error and trying various routines to see which works best for you. Also - another reason could be that he is teething and just feeling very sorry for himself and soothing himself on your breast?

[adahc]

Thanks a lot. Now I'm worried that you said I might feed him too little milk. I usually feed on demand but he tends to feed only 10-15 minutes max(15 mins is when I'm luky). If I give him too much solid that might make it worse and take even less milk!
What do you think?

[Lucylou]

I can only talk from a formula fed point of view, but they should begin to drop milk feeds once they are on solids, experts also reckon that you should aim to have them off milk by the time they are a year old! My LO is on 3-4 bottle feeds a day - 1 in the morning, 1 mid-morning, 1 sometimes in the afternoon and then 1 for bed-time, taking 180mls at a time - I find looking things up on the internet helps me a lot, especially the feeding side of things. You need to look after yourself as well - you must be exhausted!

[sherwes]

Hi, for what its worth I tend to agree with the other posters - maybe your baby is hungry and needs more food (either more breast milk or solids). Sounds like you are pretty confused about how and when to give solids. I know how you feel because I felt exactly the same - it's very difficult. I am not a big fan of routines or anything too prescriptive for babies (I think that mothers have great intuition!) but I bought a book on weaning and found it really helpful. It was called "The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning" by Gina Ford. It is pretty prescriptive (Gina Ford is known for this and I am generally not a Gina Ford fan!) but I just use the information as guidelines rather than hard and fast rules. It basically sets out when to introduce what foods, how much food and how this might impact your babies milk intake. I hope this helps....

[adahc]

I tried to feed him a bit more solid (about 2 table spoons) today as an in between meals between 6am feeding and 9amfeeding time AND between 2pm and 6pm. feding. I hope that he will sleep better tonight although I'm a bit concern if it is too much solid for him. I gave him solid and followed by around 5 mins of bf whch is as much as he wants, otherwise 10-15 mins bf at the rest of the time. I cannot give him morethan that now as he will not take it for any longer!