demands for bottle at 3 in the morning!!

run_Forrest_run

Hi All,
Recently our 7 month old girl went through a rough patch with teething..she would wake at night roarin..anyway after calming her (sometimes with teedex, calpol etc..) we would give her some bottle to send her off to the land of nod...now the teeth are up and she is not in pain anymore..but she is waking now every night at around 3 ballin crying for a bottle..She was never one to do this before (as we never gave her a bottle in the middle of the night). She takes plenty during the day and takes solids also for lunch and dinner.

So has anyone else had this problem? We tried giving her water instead of the milk and she cops on to that one within a few seconds...and starts roarin again...(sometimes I'd say the neighbours are wondering what's goin on!). If we left her she could be crying for 2 hours easily.

Is it a matter of rough it out?? I would like to hear other opinions on this as we are new to it all (and a tad tired now ).

Nevyn

Nothing like teething to totally screw up what ever good routine you had in place.
It sounds like you are going to have to weans her off that 3 am feed which ever way works for you all the best.

We do need to cater to the needs of our children but we have to be the ones who sets the structure to thier lives and everyone needs thier sleep.
It sounds daft but when I was going to something simular I was told to think of the feed as a habit and it is not good for her or yourself and to think of it as a child biting thier nails it is a bad habit and needs to be fixed.
Hard to do when you end up with the guillt that you are not feeding her

If you are happy she is eating enough and is going to bed with a full enough tummy then persist with breaking her of the 3am feed habit.

And really sod the neighbours they know there is a baby next door and babies cry and when they get older they have screaming tantrums.
If a baby/child was quiet all the time there would be something wrong with the child imho.

MrPudding

We had that issue with both of ours. Stick with the warm water. She will soon realise it is not worth the hassle to wake up.

MrP

Ickle Magoo

We broke the night-time waking by just going through & patting our son on the back & telling him "It's bedtime - go to sleep - night night" (but not looking directly at him or lifting him out the cot) then turning & going out again, kept doing this until he conked out - it took a hard couple of days but now he sleeps 8-8 so well worth the hassle! The logic being he didn't get rewarded for waking up with a cuddle or a bottle but we didn't just leave him to scream it out either. Best of luck.

run_Forrest_run

good points there, thanks folks. Ickle Magoo I like your logic about the reward for waking up..it makes sense alright. well here goes, we will start the hellish routine tonight and will see how it goes..Linda Blair springs to mind I tell ya!

embee

I had the same problems recently with my little one, who has just turned 7 months today.

Since she was 8 weeks old, she was sleeping through the night, so for her to suddenly start waking in the middle of the night at 6 months old was a bit of a shock. Like your little one, Rhiannon was (and still is) teething ferociously, and I was initially giving her Dozol before bedtime to take the edge off her discomfort. I stopped doing that though, as I don't want her to get into the habit of thinking she can only fall asleep with the medicine.

What I've found helped greatly was to up the size of her evening solids, and include a lot of carbs (potatoes, pasta, even baby rice). Basically, it means that she's got a full tummy, and is digesting carbs, which are slow to digest, and she hasn't woken up at all since I started doing that.

run_Forrest_run

thanks for your advice embee..we actually delayed her final solids feed until later last night and then gave her a bottle when it was bed time...she slept thru the night! wow, so now that we have found what works we will keep it up...until the next bout of teething kicks in!

embee

Glad to be of help, forrest!

Your wee girls the same age as mine... has yours turned into a cheeky little witch?

Rhiannon went to bed this evening at half eight (her normal time). At 11pm she started screeching (and when I say screeching, it sounded like someone was stabbing her). I raced upstairs, thinking she'd managed to climb out of her cot... well, I peered in the door, and her face was just unreal.... no grimace of pain, annoyance, anything.She was lying in her cot and had twisted around to watch the door. She was JUST screeching cos she'd woken up and wanted the craic.. she saw me and gave me the cheekiest grin and started to clap her hands and burst out laughing....

I do hope she doesn't try to make a habit of this!

Nevyn

Oooooh the first blatant let's wind Mammy up!

run_Forrest_run

that sounds familiar alright...you hear crying, think the worst and when you enter the room the cries are suddenly replaced by laughter and clapping of hands..yep, they are all having a laugh at our expense! ah sure we wouldn't change it for the world!

Kashkai

You think you have it rough, we have twins that have never slept through the night (they're nine months old now).

Our first daughter was sleeping through the night from 6 weeks old but these two monsters have ensured that my wife and I never have more than 2 or 3 hours of continuous sleep a night. If one of them does sleep for say 6 hours straight, you are guaranteed that the other one will be awake for hours wailing.

We've tried everything from letting them screech, giving them water, giving them a large feed of solids before bedtime etc. Nothing we've tried has worked and we've resigned ourselves to the fact that they are bad sleepers. They've started crawling now and hopefully the exercise will tire them out and make them sleep (though I wouldn't bet on it!!!).

Anyhow, as I was leaving for work this morning at 6am, I put my daughter back into her cot after a feed and before she rolled over for a sleep, she gave me one of her cute little grins - always makes me forgive a multitude:)

mayhem#

Jayzus, will you give the poor child a bottle!!
Breastfeeding would have even been better..

E.

Nevyn

It is the only way really or else the child will want a bottle at that time constantly and will establish a sleeping pattern like that for several years.

mayhem#

Thaedydal wrote:

It is the only way really or else the child will want a bottle at that time constantly and will establish a sleeping pattern like that for several years.

Ooh really?!
I gave all my kids a bottle if they woke up crying for it when they were little.
None of them have developed an "ab-normal" sleeping patern....

E.

Nevyn

There gets to a point where both the child and the parents need uninterupted sleep and managing feeding patterns is part of this.

mayhem#

Thaedydal wrote:

There gets to a point where both the child and the parents need uninterupted sleep and managing feeding patterns is part of this.

If you find your un-interupted sleep more important than the needs of a 7 month old child I don't know if you should have children in the first place...

E.

embee

mayhem# wrote:

If you find your un-interupted sleep more important than the needs of a 7 month old child I don't know if you should have children in the first place...

E.

Are you for real? Seriously?

7 month old babies do NOT need to be fed every 3-4 hours. Once babies are established on solids its a well known fact that the frequency of feeds drops considerably. Most babies are sleeping through the night by 6 months, it is really only the minority of babies that will continue to waken. And at that, its habit that causes them to wake up. I know this personally as Rhiannon has been sleeping through since 8 weeks (she started doing it herself with no input from me, it was a pleasant surprise), but every now and then she'd wake up. Purely from habit, as she wouldn't take a bottle that was offered. I always also noticed that, if she'd had an unsettled night (ie waking up at all during the night, even briefly) that the next day she'd be cranky and crabby for the entire day. Why? Because she needed her sleep. The more physically active a baby becomes, the more sleep they're likely to need. Babies also grow to become more aware of night time and day time as they get older, and nature itself starts to tell them when its bedtime. There are all sorts of ways to coax babies into a regular sleeping pattern. Babies and children can be taught out of habits (and a good thing too, otherwise adults would be walking around sucking dummies and dragging comfort blankets everywhere). A baby needs to be taught to sleep through the night. It shouldn't happen in its own time either imo... when you "wait" for this to happen, it can, in some cases, lead to having 3 or 4 year old children who wake continually during the night, every night. Establishing good sleeping patterns at a young age (ie under 1 year) is recommended as the earlier they are established, the more likely a baby is to stick to the pattern as they go from baby to toddler to child to teenager to adult.

I'll just add as an aside - who on earth do you think you are telling Thaed that she shouldn't have children in the first place?! Why shouldn't she?? I might say that someone with a seemingly militant outlook wouldn't be the most nurturing role model to a child, but then I'd be judging you without knowing you. Its not nice, is it?

Oh yes, and explain this also...

mayhem# wrote:

Jayzus, will you give the poor child a bottle!!
Breastfeeding would have even been better..

What does breastfeeding have to do with any of this? The OP was asking about dropping night time feeds, not about your opinion on breast v bottle.

Nothingcompares

Just to remind everyone there is more than one way to bring up a child and your way is not the way everyone should do it.

Snowbie

Prosperous Dave wrote:

You think you have it rough, we have twins that have never slept through the night (they're nine months old now).

Our first daughter was sleeping through the night from 6 weeks old but these two monsters have ensured that my wife and I never have more than 2 or 3 hours of continuous sleep a night. If one of them does sleep for say 6 hours straight, you are guaranteed that the other one will be awake for hours wailing.

We've tried everything from letting them screech, giving them water, giving them a large feed of solids before bedtime etc. Nothing we've tried has worked and we've resigned ourselves to the fact that they are bad sleepers. They've started crawling now and hopefully the exercise will tire them out and make them sleep (though I wouldn't bet on it!!!).

Anyhow, as I was leaving for work this morning at 6am, I put my daughter back into her cot after a feed and before she rolled over for a sleep, she gave me one of her cute little grins - always makes me forgive a multitude:)

Try a Soother Dave.Always worked here for us.

mayhem#

embee wrote:

Are you for real? Seriously?

7 month old babies do NOT need to be fed every 3-4 hours. Once babies are established on solids its a well known fact that the frequency of feeds drops considerably. Most babies are sleeping through the night by 6 months, it is really only the minority of babies that will continue to waken. And at that, its habit that causes them to wake up. I know this personally as Rhiannon has been sleeping through since 8 weeks (she started doing it herself with no input from me, it was a pleasant surprise), but every now and then she'd wake up. Purely from habit, as she wouldn't take a bottle that was offered. I always also noticed that, if she'd had an unsettled night (ie waking up at all during the night, even briefly) that the next day she'd be cranky and crabby for the entire day. Why? Because she needed her sleep. The more physically active a baby becomes, the more sleep they're likely to need. Babies also grow to become more aware of night time and day time as they get older, and nature itself starts to tell them when its bedtime. There are all sorts of ways to coax babies into a regular sleeping pattern. Babies and children can be taught out of habits (and a good thing too, otherwise adults would be walking around sucking dummies and dragging comfort blankets everywhere). A baby needs to be taught to sleep through the night. It shouldn't happen in its own time either imo... when you "wait" for this to happen, it can, in some cases, lead to having 3 or 4 year old children who wake continually during the night, every night. Establishing good sleeping patterns at a young age (ie under 1 year) is recommended as the earlier they are established, the more likely a baby is to stick to the pattern as they go from baby to toddler to child to teenager to adult.

I'll just add as an aside - who on earth do you think you are telling Thaed that she shouldn't have children in the first place?! Why shouldn't she?? I might say that someone with a seemingly militant outlook wouldn't be the most nurturing role model to a child, but then I'd be judging you without knowing you. Its not nice, is it?

Oh yes, and explain this also...



What does breastfeeding have to do with any of this? The OP was asking about dropping night time feeds, not about your opinion on breast v bottle.

Are you a civil servant by any chance?

E.

Nevyn

mayhem# wrote:

Are you a civil servant by any chance?

E.

What on earth does that have to do with the thread topic ?

mayhem# wrote:

If you find your un-interupted sleep more important than the needs of a 7 month old child I don't know if you should have children in the first place...

E.

Thaedydal wrote:

There gets to a point where both the child and the parents need uninterupted sleep and managing feeding patterns is part of this.

Clearly you did not read my reply.
Mayhem I suggest you read the charter for this forum.

Thaedydal.

mountainyman

mayhem# wrote:

If you find your un-interupted sleep more important than the needs of a 7 month old child I don't know if you should have children in the first place...

E.

It may be that the need to get into a regular pattern of sleep is more importat that the need to eat at 3 AM. Uninterrupted sleep is important. It is for parents to set limits and teach their children that they can't always have what they want.

I also think that your response was rude and that you should apologise for it.

MM

mayhem#

Thaedydal wrote:

What on earth does that have to do with the thread topic ?
Thaedydal.

Is has to do with the obesession with establishing a forced pattern over going with natural instincts and patterns. Civil servants are know for the "need" to structure and compartiment everything rather than go by instinct and what's natural...

I will not get into a long drawn out pedantic discussion (unlike others here) but I am worried by the lack of common sense displayed in this forum...

E.

Nevyn

An uninterupted sleep is a natural pattern it is something everyone needs, if you are unsure about this ask your gp or baby nurse.

There are any many different parenting sytles and ethos and there is what is works with each child but there are certain things that everyone needs be they parent or child and that is a good nights sleep, somethimes this can be a long time in comming, sometimes it doesn't happen until a child is 3.

Natural instincts and patterns ?
Many things we teach our children to do could be deemed unnatural form many points of view be they cultural or otherwise.

Mayhem you are entitled to your opinion but you are not permitted by the charter here to cast slurs against other posters or to insult people by infering they have no common sense.

mayhem#

Thaedydal wrote:

An uninterupted sleep is a natural pattern it is something everyone needs, if you are unsure about this ask your gp or baby nurse.

There are any many different parenting sytles and ethos and there is what is works with each child but there are certain things that everyone needs be they parent or child and that is a good nights sleep, somethimes this can be a long time in comming, sometimes it doesn't happen until a child is 3.

Judging from the lack of punctuation and bad grammar you are getting in a right tizzy about this, aren't you?

Natural instincts and patterns ?
Many things we teach our children to do could be deemed unnatural form many points of view be they cultural or otherwise.

And that makes it OK?
I am not referring to anything cultural social or demographic. We are all humans with simmilar human instincts. Some of us seem to be grossly out of touch with these instincts to a level where they require external advice to carry out even the most basic human functions...

Mayhem you are entitled to your opinion but you are not permitted by the charter here to cast slurs against other posters or to insult people by infering they have no common sense.

I am not inferring anything, the lack of common sense is quite obvious...

E.

Nevyn

mayhem# wrote:

Judging from the lack of punctuation and bad grammar you are getting in a right tizzy about this, aren't you?

No, I am dyslexic, where as you are just rude.

mayhem# wrote:

And that makes it OK?
I am not referring to anything cultural social or demographic. We are all humans with simmilar human instincts. Some of us seem to be grossly out of touch with these instincts to a level where they require external advice to carry out even the most basic human functions...

So you would be of the opinion that parents should not look for guidance outside of thier insticts on how to rear thier children, fair enough that is your opinion.

mayhem# wrote:

I am not inferring anything, the lack of common sense is quite obvious...

E.

That is the second time you have had a go at the posters in this forum and at me personally for no good reason, other then you seem to be spoiling for a row.
You are banned for a month from the forum, hopefully you will take the time to read the charter and behave better when your ban is lifted.

Hobbes

My Son is going through this at the moment. He has a cold, nothing serious but its clear he was stressed out wondering what the heck was going on with the little flood from his nose and nose being blocked.

A bit of vicks on his tummy and he goes to sleep again but the last couple of days hes looking for a bottle as well.

We gave him warm water, he drank for about 2 seconds, took it out of his mouth, looked at the bottle and then threw the bottle out of the cot. The next day we gave him a bottle he looked at it beforehand (was funny to watch) and then threw it away.

Ickle Magoo

embee wrote:

I always also noticed that, if she'd had an unsettled night (ie waking up at all during the night, even briefly) that the next day she'd be cranky and crabby for the entire day. Why? Because she needed her sleep.

I completely agree with you embee, if my kids don't get uninterrupted sleep then they are so cranky the next day, falling asleep in their food so they don't eat properly, etc, etc...both of mine fed when they wanted yet they naturally gravitated towards a 4hr feeding interval & sleeping right through the night by 4months old. I too can't see the point of having a child that only wakes out of a habit the parent refuses to address

OP, some kids do need a nudge to get them into a routine that suits all - ie when little, my son would sleep 8hrs during the day & wake up every couple of hrs at night so we had to nudge him around to our clock...glad the solids have solved the night wakings for you!

run_Forrest_run

OMG! You should be awarded with a medal...we have one child and this 'rough' patch is wrecking myself and Mrs Forrest..to have twins who do not sleep well...now that's just something I don't even want to think about!