Help! Is this a sleep problem or feeding one?

My 8 month old keeps waking between 1.30 − 2am every night for BF. She has a very big feed too ( 30-50 mins) , and although we have tried resettling without the feed, she will always howl until she gets boob or if we get her back to sleep she will re wake within 10 −20 mins and will keep doing so till she gets her BF.
I have tried cutting the feed short, but she cries and wont settle back to sleep untill she has had the full amount she wants.

She also wakes at about 10.30 pm - midnight, and will wake again for a feed at 4am.

She can be resettled with the late night wake without a feed but the 2am she is very insistant about.

I am so tired. Surely she dosent need to still have that all milk during the night?

DH suggested we substitute tonight with water from a bottle? I'm not sure if she will accept that or not.

What is the problem here and how do we change it?

Each baby is different. If she didn't need it she wouldn't take it. So maybe she needs it. Might b a big eater

U tried solids??

My daughter's exactly the same, almost down to the same waking times.

Do you bedshare? I find being able to drift off during her night feeds is a godsend. If she wasn't in with us, I'd be running on empty most days. In fact, the night before last she didn't even need my boob in her mouth to go back to sleep for one of her tiny feeds. We were in an awkward position and as I started repositioning her, she grabbed my face, licked my cheek, and went back to sleep! :rofl:

i don't necessarily think there's a problem - i think it's probably quite normal for her still to be waking for a few feeds overnight :) fwiw, my DS woke frequently overnight for feeds until he was well over 12 months old (actually more like 18 months).

you could try water but the BF isn't just nutrition for your DD, it's a comfort as well so it may be that she won't want to settle without it. my personal opinion (so please feel free to completely disregard it!) is that it's really tough to try & force changes to feeding o/n on a baby younger than 12 months, esp when milk is still their primary sounce of nutrition. it does sound like she's having a good, long feed so it sounds like she still does need it!

we co-slept from about 5 months until DS was almost 2 - it kept me sane with the night wake ups! not sure if that's an option for you.

Does she have solids as well ....?
It sounds like a habit but then if she is having a growth spurt then she needs the boob.
My 13 month old has been bottle fed and I have been very lucky I could give a bottle and he would self settle and practically sleep thru from 6 months.
Or you may just see if she just needs a reassuring cuddle. Good luck :)

I think she just needs it. Sorry!

My DD2 is 9 months old and still having at least 3 feeds a night. DD1 was the same until around 14 months.

We cosleep and I just attach her and go back to sleep, can you try that? And don't look at the clock. Seriously, it helps :hug:

I'd say she needs it too, 8 months is still really young. Ds is 14.5 months and still has milk early in the morning. In his case he probably doesn't 'need' it and could wait for breakfast but I don't care, I'm happy to feed him. At the moment he's feeding stacks, day and night. I think that if it's a real problem for you maybe try some gentle methods in books like the no cry sleep solution book.

I would say she needs it too. I think some babies just don't like feeling empty. My DD1 slept threw the night from 5 weeks and was fine. DD2 slept threw from the same but she wakes every morning at 5am for a feed, then straight back to sleep. I figure she needs it and I would rather feed her and her go back to sleep for a few hours then have 5am as her wake up for the day.

It is exhausting but it will end one day:)

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My daughter's exactly the same, almost down to the same waking times.

Do you bedshare? I find being able to drift off during her night feeds is a godsend. If she wasn't in with us, I'd be running on empty most days. In fact, the night before last she didn't even need my boob in her mouth to go back to sleep for one of her tiny feeds. We were in an awkward position and as I started repositioning her, she grabbed my face, licked my cheek, and went back to sleep! :rofl:

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Lol. That's super cute.

We substituted bfing with water for ds as my milk ran out. It took a lot of screaming and about a month but he eventually happily started waking up and sorting himself out. He is now hopelessly attached to his "beer" (water, he calls it his beer because the water bottle has a stubby holder on it like dads beer *sigh*) tho and takes it to bed as a comfort item.

My LO needed night feeds until 15 months. It sounds like your LO needs the feed too.

It's perfectly normal to still feed at night at this age. Something like a third of 1 year olds still do, so many 8 month olds would. My DS was 18 months before he could go all night without food. I night weaned at 14 months but he still need food & water till 18 months (and on occasions up till 2, in fact)

Im another who's gonna say she needs it. DD was still having one night feed at 18 months. Nothing I did was going to change that, she was so determined and just would not go back to sleep woth out it!

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My daughter's exactly the same, almost down to the same waking times.

Do you bedshare? I find being able to drift off during her night feeds is a godsend. If she wasn't in with us, I'd be running on empty most days. In fact, the night before last she didn't even need my boob in her mouth to go back to sleep for one of her tiny feeds. We were in an awkward position and as I started repositioning her, she grabbed my face, licked my cheek, and went back to sleep! :rofl:

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Lol that is so cute!!

And I agree with the bedsharing. Izzy isn't a bad sleeper at all, but I am definitely happier being able to doze while he has his 5am feed.

DS is the same - Goes down at 6, wakes at 10ish, 3ish, then up at 5/6 (plus another 2 feeds during the day). He has 3 meals with snacks in between and drinks plenty of water.

It will end one day, that's what I keep telling myself anyway....

You may be able to stretch out by really really encouraging cluster feeding before bed. See if she will feed hourly for a few hours before she goes to bed.

my DD is 13 months nd still doing this im still trying to figure out how to deal with it good luck

At this age, our baby went from the three wakeups at the same as your bub, to six a night, but we didn't want to try to alter her night feeds till she turned one. Due to illness (hers and ours) and other every day "stuff" popping up, it wasn't until 14 months that we did anything about it. It took one night of patting her on the bottom to get her back to sleep, and she started sleeping through...... having said that, every time she is teething or ill, we go back to night wakings...... I think it turned out that way because she was just ready to sleep through- nothing special on our part..........

Thanks for the replies.
I do sleep while she feeds in bed with me. I have tried sitting up too, but got even more exhausted than putting her in bed with me.
We did not try water last night after agreeing that she feeds so much and wants it so much she must still need it. Last night she fed as she did the night before for 50mins at the 2am wake up. But she also slept till 5am insted of 4am. We have had some weeks where she will wake every hr and half!
I am going to try getting more hearty solids (she mostly been eating small amounts of fruit and rice crackers so far) and milk into her during the day and see if it makes a bit of difference

eta - i need to see what the time is otherwise I will over feed during the times she is waking every hr or so ;) ...too easy to stick a boob in her mouth and go back to sleep. She seems to need night milk but not that much!