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Exhausted: sleepless nights and weaning

  1. #1
    Paddles is offline Registered User
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    Exhausted: sleepless nights and weaning

    I have a 17 week old who has been an angel, sleeping 12 hours a night for the last month. She take 4 feeds a day of 8 ounces. She's almost entirely formula fed with an occasional EBM.

    For the last 4 /5 nights she has woken at least 3 times a night, I have tried to rock her/ pat her back to sleep but it seems unless i feed her she won't settle. Last night she was up every hour and i fed her 3 times - she takes between 4 and 6 ounces each time.

    My question is, I know that they don't recommend adding solids until 6 months, but she is taking more than the recommended formula feed for a 7 month old and i can't possibly give her any more - she weighs 7.5kg, so she's quite big for her age.

    Is this common - a growth spurt or a phase they go through at this age, or just hunger or a bad habit that I need to stop and if so does anyone have any suggestions, unfortunately i can't leave her to cry for too long otherwise she unsettles her twin sister - who has also started waking up twice but i think this may be due to all the activity and noise in the room, she is much easier to settle back down.

    I'm sure there's no definitive answer, but i'd appreciate some opinions.

    Thanks!


  2. #2
    HappyV is offline Registered User
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    Sounds like a growth spurt.
    Please don't give a 17 week old solids! That's not even four months.............


  3. #3
    oharibo is offline Registered User
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    the baby wake up during the night, may be the baby experiencing abdominal pain or discomfort, they will often arch their backs or draw up their legs.


  4. #4
    rebekah is offline Registered User
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    some people suggest there is something known as the 4 month sleep regression...


  5. #5
    MommyTo3 is offline Registered User
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    Sleeping comes from the brain not from the stomach ... that's what my US pediatrician would always say (his book is famous all over, but especially in the US). My oldest was / is very big, always 95%. I started solids at 4 months, same with the twins. At 6 months, they were eating wheat bread and other regular foods. They were all quick in that respect. I don't think there is anything wrong with starting solids at 4 months (assuming no allergies, etc. in your family) and the fact your child is above average weight and consuming a large amount of formula. However, I don't believe she's waking up because she's hungry.

    I've always been told not to feed babies more than 32oz or so of formula ... and I never did. And my kids are good eaters.

    Regarding the wake ups ... I would just let her CIO. She has been sleeping through the night before, so there is no reason for her to wake up. She's well fed, etc. Maybe you should also look at her bed time. Once they get older (and more active), often an earlier bed time is needed in order to avoid overtiredness. Overtired children have more trouble falling and staying asleep. My twins were in bed at 6 pm at 2 1/2 months (not sleeping through, but close), my oldest was sleeping 13 hours straight at 3-4 months, going to bed at 6 pm and waking up at 7 am. Never had any sleep issues with her (nor with my twins). Personally I don't think sleep regression if necessary if you continue looking at your child and their cues. Your child changes so their sleeping needs change and often they require earlier bed times in order to sleep better.

    ETA: Just noticed you have twins ... anyway, I would temporarily seperate them (that's what I did) when needed. We had our boy in our room since he was a slightly worse sleeper, very loud but also battled reflux (spitting up blood, etc.).

    HTH.

    Last edited by MommyTo3; 09-29-2008 at 12:41 PM.

  6. #6
    Paddles is offline Registered User
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    Thanks for all the comments:

    I don't think she's in pain, she seems pretty relaxed and not pulling her legs up or arching or anything. She has her hands in the mouth and if i give her a pacifier she sucks very hard.

    Mom2sophie&twins - i'm ineterested that you say you put them to bed earlier when they are more active, she does seem a lot more tired and wants to go to bed earlier, but i put this down to her bad sleep patterns, her daytime sleeps have gone wrong too, and i've been keeping her awake a little in the evenings to stop her falling asleep at 6, because i thought that she was going to bed too early and that wasn't helping.

    I've also read that you shouldn't give more than 32 ounces and she's taking more than that now and I'm not sure that's good for her..

    HappyV - I thought that 17 weeks was considered to be 4 months...


  7. #7
    Klam is offline Registered User
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    My son was the same and with the recommendation of our ped. we gave him very small amounts of solid at 3.5months. This seemed to work for him and was back to sleeping throughout the night. However, do talk to your ped before feeding your baby before 4 months.

    I really don't know why the recommended age for solids is now at 6 months (could be to do with allergies maybe). When my daughter was born 7yrs ago, the recommended age was 4 months and everybody I knew started their babies at this age.
    Like Mom2Sofie&Twins, my son was also eating wheat bread and other regular foods by 6 months.


  8. #8
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    fennho is offline Registered User
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    i thought at 4months, the babies' tongue thrust reflex is not fully gone yet, and their digestive systems are not that mature to process solids..hence the adjustment to 6months for starting solids.


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