DS woke every 2 hours last night and was crying.. he often wakes throught the night but usually doesnt cry... could he be teething/tummy ache who knows? he already has 8 teeth! i am just so exhaused! i have been breastfeeding for almost 11 months and i wonder if giving im a bottle of formula will help him sleep longer throught the night? I know i have thought of this often and decided against it because I am so PRO BF but im buggered!! would love a magic answer!
Last edited by guccibabe; March 8th, 2007 at 02:43 PM.
hey guccibabe,
Maybe it could be time to try some formula. I had to take Jacob off pretty early (3.5months) due to illness and weight loss.... but once I had him on the formula he has slept every night right through... from 8pm till 6:30am... he might wake during the night for a cry as his teething has just started... but a cuddle and his dummy send him straight back to sleep.... I found that once on the formula he didnt need a comfort feed to go back to sleep... I think that makes a huge difference to mummies sanity!! Oh yeah IM MUMMY!! :P
If he is crying for comfort reasons than formula may not make much of a difference. Do you give the breast each time or try different ways to settle? Sorry I don't have much of an answer, every few weeks my DD will have 2-3 nights of waking often and I have no idea why!
I think it's normal for all babies to have periods of waking more frequently at night. Sometimes I recognise the cause e.g. growth spurt or overstimulation, other times it passes without me ever working out what the problem was. On one occassion when my daughter suddenly increased her night feeds during a period or rapid growth I worked out that she was needing more protein and by upping the protein in my own and her diets the problem was sorted out overnight. Another reason for increased night feeds is illness. A breastfed baby will up the feeds before any symptoms show up and sometimes I have wondered if my babies have fed more frequently when they have been fighting an illness that never progressed very far so I never became aware that was the cause. Unless my child is sleep deprived for any legnth of time I never try to change their feeding/sleeping patterns but instead my solution has always been to try to find ways to get more sleep myself. For starters we co-sleep and feed laying down so at least I am resting if not actually sleeping during feeds. I have trained myself to power nap - this took a long time but now I can rest my eyes for 10-15 minutes and feel as if I've had a proper sleep. If I've had a run of bad nights I'll hop in bed for an hour or two of rest/sleep when dh gets home from work. Dh and I also have an agreement that we take turns on the weekend sleeping in and the one having their turn stays in bed until noon either reading, sleeping, meditating or just resting while listening to the family going about their day. On a good week I don't need that and get up to join the family after a little lie in but on a bad week it's just the ticket to catching up and setting me up for the next week. I've also used homeopathics and aromatherapy sometimes with not much affect but other times it's like magic (probalby when I get the correct remedy). My favorite aromatherapy regime for sleeping is a bath with camomile and a massage wtih lavender and a few drops of lavender in the middle of the bed so that we get wafts of it through the night.
Guccibabe, if DS is crying then it doesn't sound like hunger to me. I would have said it was more likely a nightmare, although it's unlikely he had on every 2 hours. Given the frequency then, my next guess would be pain. I would wait to see what happens over the next couple of nights before introducing formula. In fact, at his age, I don't think he would need formula ever. If it turns out he needs more sustenance, try increasing the solids first. At 12 months you can add cows milk to the mix as well so I would hold out until then.
breastmilk is usually enough, you dont need formula most likely. it would probably give him a tumy ache if he's not used to it and that make keep him awake at night!
it sounds like maybe teething to me. i wish there was a magic answer but i think comforting and parenting is the way to go myself it wont be long until he grows up.
thanks everyone
yes we co-sleep and i give him the boob when he wakes and this usually gets him back to sleep. i occassionally just have terrible nights and feel like sharing lol sorry! will keep BF and just hope he starts to sleep longer stretches! he is having lots of solids too so I think his night wakings are a comfort thing to. Its just hard cause hubby is studying full time and working long shifts so having to do alot on my own. Its all good though. love motherhood!
Guccibabe -
DS and I went through a few rough nights this past week as well that had me wondering if he is ever EVER going to start sleeping through the night. But then he came down with a cold and cut his 8th tooth so I suspect that was the main problem and we should see some improvement over the next few nights. I've been burning some lovely oil in the oil burner to help his breathing (a mixture of eucalyptus, peppermint, wintergreen and rosemary oil) and offering more feeds. We also co-sleep and he actually seems to be sleeping when he is in bed with us rather than just feeding the whole time, so I'm starting to feel a little bit better. Good luck and I hope your DS starts sleeping better soon...
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waking at night crying
it wont be long until he grows up.
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