demand feeding and got 7mnth old baby to sleep through the night!

Hi. Just wanted to share a positive story for anyone out there who wants to demand feed, but also wants to get a good night sleep!
Im BFing bub no2, and bub no.1 was a terrible sleeper - still is at 2.5yrs old.
bub2 hasnt been so reluctant to sleep, but at 7months was still waking up 3 or so times a night, and we tried just cuddling, rocking etc, a bit of letting her whinge, and not going in until she was really crying - all of the settling techniques etc. But she never really settled until she was fed, and then she'd sleep for another 3-4hrs and wake up again.
I knew i had a good milk supply because she was putting on weight normally, and my flow has always been fast and i could feel getting quite full if she went more than 4 hrs without a feed. But she still wasnt sleeping for more than a few hours before getting hungry again.
Anyway... I was reading a helath magazine that said women need 30g of protein each meal - and i wasnt eating anywhere near that much! I was eating enough calories all together, but not enough protien. So, Ive been making a real effort to eat more protein, and even having a protien supplemenet (Its called aminoplex, i got it from the healthfood shop) and bub is now sleeping through the night!
I cant believe it. I wish I'd known earlier.
Doctors/nurses always asked about my diet to amke sure i wasnt having too much caffiene, and making sure i was eating enough, but noone ever asked about how much protein i was eating.
I dont know the science behind how much of the protein i eat goes into my milk, but bub seems to be gettgin fuller for longer and sleeping much better :)
I hope anyone else out there trying everything to get their bub to sleep reads this and it helps :)

I am glad you posted this. DD1 has been a great sleeper since day 1. DD2 started out great, slept through the night from 4 weeks. When she hit 6 months she started waking up 1-2 times through the night for a feed. Like you I tried all the settling techniques I could think of. Although I eat pretty good protein is never at the top of my list.

Now after reading your post I will try and eat more and see if it works for me too. Thank you.

My CHN always said to make sure I ate lots of things like eggs, beans, and other things high in protein and "good fats" whil bfing. Makes sense, they keep us full longer so it would no doubt work for bubs too. Glad you found out about it and you have a good sleeper :)

Thank you for posting this, I will make sure i get more protein I hardly get any! I need to redo my whole diet because i know im not getting enough calories for bf'ing twins but i dont get enough time to eat either lol

thanks Blackstar, I'm going to try this! I don't eat meat so I don't get much protein in my diet but I'll make an effort to now :) My bub has never slept through the night, so it will be very interesting to see what happens!

I never thought about it, but I'm demand feeding (not co-sleeping though so I don't know if that would make it harder), but DS at 6 months is now sleeping from 7pm-9am with a feed at anywhere between 9pm-11pm (well, this may not qualify as demand...I go in and feed him) and between 6:30am-7am (when he "demands") and we never did any "training"....but I do eat a decent amount of protein at each meal (but not too much as I'm doing Weight Watchers at the moment - so it's pretty healthy protein and reasonable serving sizes). I don't know if this qualifies for sleeping through, but I think it's pretty good. Oh - and this is true most nights of late...but not all...last night was not fun at 4am.

You may be on to something.

I'm vegetarian too, but thought I got enough protein with eggs, dairy, soy etc. But 30g per meal is actually quite a bit to get when you don't eat meat. Actually, I don't think a lot of women who eat meat would even get that much. For me, the protein supplement from the health food shop has been a really easy thing to add to my diet. There's 29g in 2 scoops, which I just put in a smoothie. I have to admit it doesn't taste great, & it was $30ish for the jar, but it lasts a while & I don't have to worry about eating eggs for every meal!

i noticed bub sleeps better depending wat i eat and after chicken and eggs she sleeps more

hmm - i eat eggs everyday and either chicken or fresh fish for dinner every night...sometimes red meat

Wow think I'll try this too. I also dont eat meat and have never even thought about how much protein I am getting. Probably hardly any come to think of it.
Thanks for sharing :)

off to get me some protein lol!

I am really struggling to get 30g of protein per meal. I am not a vegetarian but I don't eat alot of meat. I am going to have to try the powder I guess. You said you have it in shakes, should be easier to do although I am limiting my dairy to help with DD2 who seems to react if I have to much. May have to use Soymilk:sick: for a little why maybe.

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I am really struggling to get 30g of protein per meal. I am not a vegetarian but I don't eat alot of meat. I am going to have to try the powder I guess. You said you have it in shakes, should be easier to do although I am limiting my dairy to help with DD2 who seems to react if I have to much. May have to use Soymilk:sick: for a little why maybe.

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Just wanted to suggest rice milk for your shakes if you havent tried it already. It still doesnt taste that great on its own, but in a smoothie I cant taste the difference from cows milk. You can get one that is protein enriched too :)

Wow this is fascinating. My DD slept through the night from 8 weeks (yes demand fed bub too) and DS from 10 weeks (but he had bottles which I thought may have contributed). I would have a meat dish of some sort pretty much every night, but very little eggs (DS is allergic) and beans (they just totally hate me lol). Very interesting!

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Just wanted to suggest rice milk for your shakes if you havent tried it already. It still doesnt taste that great on its own, but in a smoothie I cant taste the difference from cows milk. You can get one that is protein enriched too :)

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Thanks, I will give it a try. Willing to try anything before resorting to soy:)

I am giving this a try, I am going to make an effort to have more protein rich foods in every meal. I bought a protein powder today, and just had a glass mixed with milk with lunch then I read on the pack that it is not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding women. I missed the warning in the shop as it was covered by a sticker. Anyway I looked up the website and it says:

"On the define label it says ‘Not suitable for children under 15 years or during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.’ Why is that?
Due to the higher levels of vitamins and minerals in define, it is classified as a “Formulated Supplementary Sports Foods.” Children and pregnant women have specific requirements which need to be taken into account. Although Vitalstrength products do not contain any harmful ingredients, Vitalstrength recommends consultation with a health care professional before define is used by children under 15 years of age and pregnant women."

I'm worried now, I've already had some. I'm wondering though if they mean using it as a meal replacement, which I am not. What do you think?

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"On the define label it says ‘Not suitable for children under 15 years or during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.’ Why is that?
Due to the higher levels of vitamins and minerals in define, it is classified as a “Formulated Supplementary Sports Foods.” Children and pregnant women have specific requirements which need to be taken into account. Although Vitalstrength products do not contain any harmful ingredients, Vitalstrength recommends consultation with a health care professional before define is used by children under 15 years of age and pregnant women."

I'm worried now, I've already had some. I'm wondering though if they mean using it as a meal replacement, which I am not. What do you think?

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I take that as its not suitable for breastfeeding etc if you are using it as a meal replacement.
I have started taking a protein powder too. I got one that is purely the protein supplement, no flavours or additives. i have a fruit smoothie most days anyway so I just as it to that and it doesnt really effect the flavour. The lady in the shop said you can use it in cooking/baking too. i can get the name for you later if you like :)

thanks munchkin mumma, that's kind of what I thought, that they mean as a meal replacement type thing. I think I might keep using it but just sprinkle a little bit on my muesli and yoghurt in the mornings, as it does have lots of other stuff in it which I don't know if is a good thing really (and it's too expensive to waste), and maybe get the pure protein one for a smoothie or milkshake with lunch. The name of yours would be great thanks! :)